Review: Battlefield Waltz Is a Switch Otome With Strong Characters

I love when we get otome games with a heroine who isn’t a blank slate. Just because a company may want to make it possible to self-insert, doesn’t mean the lead needs to be a weakling in need of constant saving. Battlefield Waltz is a new otome from Idea Factory International that switches that up by making the lead a bearer of the legendary Cursed Sword who even had aspirations of protecting those important to her before that, and she’s surrounded by love interests who both can handle themselves in a fight and seem to respect her abilities too. In the midst of learning the sword skills necessary to help her father defend their village, tragedy strikes Lan’s life. Enemy forces invade, claiming to be searching for some legendary sword. When the lives of her mother and a neighbor child are threatened and she sees she doesn’t have the immediate strength to fight back when outnumbered, she calls for help. Said Cursed Sword responds and becomes bonded to her soul. She awakes at Nirvana Academy, a school for future warriors in the kingdom geared to hopefully train those who will protect the peace, and it’s heavily implied that agreeing to attend is her only option. However, it means becoming a strong warrior, protecting the people she has left who matter to her, solving mysteries, and doing good, all with falling in love as a bonus, so she agrees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkAFfn8Xqiw Battlefield Waltz is a fairly typical Idea Factory International and Otomate otome visual novel for the Switch. We’ll go about Lan’s day, try to learn more about her situation, and adjust to her life as being bearer of the Cursed Sword in different ways. This is all while getting caught up in different situations as a result, and falling in love with whoever’s route we end up on. A few things do help set it apart from others from the company, which I appreciated. One is that Battlefield Waltz is as realistic as an otome game about a girl whose soul is tied to a Cursed Sword with an entity in it can be. Nirvana is a military academy. She and her classmates are going into battles and getting caught up in political intrigue. There can be bad endings or unpleasant situations. However, it isn’t overwhelmingly dark, which I appreciate. Images via Idea Factory International It also offers a chance to get to know more than just the love interests. These guys are great. Make no mistake. The only one I didn’t really care for is Tifalet. I even enjoyed Pash’s tale, and usually I that “type” of character is one I don’t pursue. As you go about Lan’s story, you’ll eventually be able to explore the town or school and talk to people on the map. If the romance option you’re trying to get closed to isn’t around, you can spend time with supporting cast members, and it’s really fun! I’m a big fan of Yuriana, and Mephisto and Ignis are great too. I mean, there are really only two potential flaws I could possibly point to in Battlefield Waltz, and neither one is all that damning when it comes to how otome games work. One issueis that the pacing isn’t always perfect in some routes. However, there’s only one character whose story suffers from this! I feel like it happened because he isn’t really a Nirvana, while most of the other love interests are tied to our academy life there, and maybe Otomate just couldn’t reconcile that timing with the others’ routes? I don’t know. It’s one character and in general it’s interesting since it offers more insight into a certain NPC and other elements, so it still works out to a pretty good tale. Images via Idea Factory International The other issue is that you get all of the answers regarding the Cursed Sword in one character’s route… which only unlocks after all of the other ones. Again, this isn’t deal breaker or a big deal in general in Battlefield Waltz, as this is pretty common for otome games. I think it’s more that I just wanted more background hints on the other storylines as well, but all of the biggest reveals for Lan are locked away behind this one romance option who ends up feeling like the other main character as a result. Like I said, the two issues I had are barely issues at all. Especially since Battlefield Waltz is also such a gorgeous game. The character designs are fantastic for everyone. It doesn’t matter if they’re a love interest. There’s clear attention paid to each person. It’s one of the situations that meant getting to visit the secret shop area to see concept art actually ended up being of interest to me. Battlefield Waltz is one of those Switch otome games that I feel is a good option for folks who want a strong protagonist, fun love interests with fascinating backstories, great art, and an opportunity to get to know supporting characters. There’s so much to this game. Plus, it includes some mature elements and topics and tends to handle them pretty well, all without being depressing. I’m a fan, and I think it’ll end up being one of the stro

Apr 1, 2025 - 15:36

Review: Battlefield Waltz Is a Switch Otome With Strong Characters

I love when we get otome games with a heroine who isn’t a blank slate. Just because a company may want to make it possible to self-insert, doesn’t mean the lead needs to be a weakling in need of constant saving. Battlefield Waltz is a new otome from Idea Factory International that switches that up by making the lead a bearer of the legendary Cursed Sword who even had aspirations of protecting those important to her before that, and she’s surrounded by love interests who both can handle themselves in a fight and seem to respect her abilities too.

In the midst of learning the sword skills necessary to help her father defend their village, tragedy strikes Lan’s life. Enemy forces invade, claiming to be searching for some legendary sword. When the lives of her mother and a neighbor child are threatened and she sees she doesn’t have the immediate strength to fight back when outnumbered, she calls for help. Said Cursed Sword responds and becomes bonded to her soul. She awakes at Nirvana Academy, a school for future warriors in the kingdom geared to hopefully train those who will protect the peace, and it’s heavily implied that agreeing to attend is her only option. However, it means becoming a strong warrior, protecting the people she has left who matter to her, solving mysteries, and doing good, all with falling in love as a bonus, so she agrees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkAFfn8Xqiw

Battlefield Waltz is a fairly typical Idea Factory International and Otomate otome visual novel for the Switch. We’ll go about Lan’s day, try to learn more about her situation, and adjust to her life as being bearer of the Cursed Sword in different ways. This is all while getting caught up in different situations as a result, and falling in love with whoever’s route we end up on.

A few things do help set it apart from others from the company, which I appreciated. One is that Battlefield Waltz is as realistic as an otome game about a girl whose soul is tied to a Cursed Sword with an entity in it can be. Nirvana is a military academy. She and her classmates are going into battles and getting caught up in political intrigue. There can be bad endings or unpleasant situations. However, it isn’t overwhelmingly dark, which I appreciate.

Review: Battlefield Waltz Is a Switch Otome game With Strong Characters — Images via Idea Factory International

It also offers a chance to get to know more than just the love interests. These guys are great. Make no mistake. The only one I didn’t really care for is Tifalet. I even enjoyed Pash’s tale, and usually I that “type” of character is one I don’t pursue. As you go about Lan’s story, you’ll eventually be able to explore the town or school and talk to people on the map. If the romance option you’re trying to get closed to isn’t around, you can spend time with supporting cast members, and it’s really fun! I’m a big fan of Yuriana, and Mephisto and Ignis are great too.

I mean, there are really only two potential flaws I could possibly point to in Battlefield Waltz, and neither one is all that damning when it comes to how otome games work. One issueis that the pacing isn’t always perfect in some routes. However, there’s only one character whose story suffers from this! I feel like it happened because he isn’t really a Nirvana, while most of the other love interests are tied to our academy life there, and maybe Otomate just couldn’t reconcile that timing with the others’ routes? I don’t know. It’s one character and in general it’s interesting since it offers more insight into a certain NPC and other elements, so it still works out to a pretty good tale.

The other issue is that you get all of the answers regarding the Cursed Sword in one character’s route… which only unlocks after all of the other ones. Again, this isn’t deal breaker or a big deal in general in Battlefield Waltz, as this is pretty common for otome games. I think it’s more that I just wanted more background hints on the other storylines as well, but all of the biggest reveals for Lan are locked away behind this one romance option who ends up feeling like the other main character as a result.

Like I said, the two issues I had are barely issues at all.

Especially since Battlefield Waltz is also such a gorgeous game. The character designs are fantastic for everyone. It doesn’t matter if they’re a love interest. There’s clear attention paid to each person. It’s one of the situations that meant getting to visit the secret shop area to see concept art actually ended up being of interest to me.

Battlefield Waltz is one of those Switch otome games that I feel is a good option for folks who want a strong protagonist, fun love interests with fascinating backstories, great art, and an opportunity to get to know supporting characters. There’s so much to this game. Plus, it includes some mature elements and topics and tends to handle them pretty well, all without being depressing. I’m a fan, and I think it’ll end up being one of the strongest Switch otome games in 2025.

Battlefield Waltz will come to the Nintendo Switch on April 8, 2025.

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