Sthasy Guerrero

It is now an era were women have opportunities to find games to take part in, but also the notion of female-based stereotypes to what games women should play and if it should be the traditional and cliche romance type games.

Mystic Messenger is an otome, or according to the Japanese dictionary, a “dating simulation game with a female protagonist and male love interests.” It has reached wide-spread popularity, but does the game work against stereotypes or contribute to them? Mystic Messenger is a storytelling messenger game that works by asking players to chat with fictional male characters. It is a romance game that does not cater to the stereotypical male player, but emphasizes a female one instead. 

The game was released in 2016, and it has racked up a lot of interest. According to Ric Cowley, editor of Pocket Gamer, “Mystic Messenger has achieved 2.5 million downloads since launching in July 2016 almost entirely through word-of-mouth.”

It takes 11 days to play Mystic Messenger, which also contains audio, so the player can hear the voice of each of the characters and even get to make “phone calls” with them as they play. The player can interact with the characters in the form of text messages, and the characters even send the player pictures as if they are talking to real people. The game also has a “story mode” that focuses on visual storytelling elements that focuses more on the characters. 

The game follows a female main character, who is contacted by an unknown person. The unknown person makes the main character go inside an empty apartment and has her download this messaging app called “RFA,” an acronym for Rika Fundraising Association.

The player then meets the male characters through this app, and all are bewildered that she has “infiltrated” their RFA app as no one else is supposed to have access to it. These male love interests are not just shocked that someone has found their secret app, but that it is a woman who has done so. Nevertheless, the male characters have no choice but to make her a new member of the association until everything is figured out. 

There is the sense that the main character being female plays a huge role, so the game does not do a good job of portraying diverse love interests — it assumes cis-gendered heterosexuality. 

Furthermore, the main character takes on the task of hosting parties, and so must invite guests and make sure they attend this fundraising party, which is the ostensible purpose of this game. Moreover, the main character then has the chance to interact with the male love interests and the choices she makes along the way and decides who she’ll end up with and whether the ending will be good or bad. 

The male love interests are: a millionaire who is obsessed with his cat, Jumin Han; a hacker who goes by the code name “707;” a musical actor who goes by the stage name “Zen;” a college student who is addicted to video games; Yoosung Kim; a photographer by the stage name “V;” and a game developer called “Ray.” The player also learns that there is something much bigger and mysterious taking place and that not everything is as it seems. 

While these are the main love interests, there are other characters who you learn more about along the way, and they become a big part to the game as well. Jaehee Kang is one of the few female characters in this game, and she is the secretary for millionaire, Jumin Han.

While it may seem relieving that there are other female characters, the male characters fail to recognize Jaehee as female, as she has short hair, is not interested in romance, and only caters to Jumin. Since she is not “feminine” enough the boys do not pay romantic attention to her, and she does not become a threat to the main character, who on the contrary, is lively and girly enough for the boys liking. Another is Rika, the founder of the RFA, who is described as being “motherly” and kind, having done good duties, and what is considered feminine.

What makes Mystic Messenger also unique is that it also contains mature themes which might catch the player off guard. The backstory embedded in each of the characters can be very dark. These emotional backstories, which might trigger some, include coming from an abusive household, dealing with the loss of a loved one, dealing with suicide, dealing with mental illness such as borderline personality disorder and depression, learning not to suppress your emotions, or dealing with past toxic relationships, and the list goes on.

The love interests the female player gets also depends on the “story version” they choose. For instance, the player can either choose between a “casual story,” “deep story,” or “another story.” If the player chooses the “casual story” of the game, the conversations with the characters are shorter, more carefree, and less complex. With the deep story, conversations with the characters become longer, more detailed, and the game gets more plot heavy. Lastly, “another story” focuses more on shocking and unsettling themes regarding the characters and focuses more on plot than romance.

Clearly, Mystic Messenger makes all of these characters complex as they each have their own flaws and quirks. It also shows that it is the female main characters duty to also provide emotional support to the male characters, and that it is her duty to help them escape from their trauma and become their anchor, which caters to the stereotype that women must always be the caretaker. The female main character also goes through “damsel in distress” situations where she also must rely on getting help from the male characters, because she is also seen as fragile.