If you know anything about Otome games, also called dating sims, you have probably heard about or already started playing the newest and possibly most popular addition to the great many apps available, Mystic Messenger. Mystic Messenger is brought to us by Cheritz, which is a much smaller Korean company than other popular Japanese companies like Voltage or Shall We Date?. Even as a new comer to the Otoge (short for Otome Game) world, they have made quite the splash with this new game, which has only been released in English since late June of this year but has already seen a much wider spread of popularity than others. As a lover of otome and 2D romance adventures myself, I have played the entire game through as of about a month ago, before I began to notice the boom in popularity. So, if you haven't played or started to play it, you probably have no idea why everyone seems to be losing their minds over it. Mystic Messenger has many things that set it apart from other popular Otome games that are currently on the market. If you're anything like me, the first thing you may look for is the animation. The animation is stunning to say the least. The CGs and character designs are beautiful. All of the characters both male and female are blindingly attractive. Otome games sometimes neglect characters that aren't main characters or there is always one character that is a little less attractive than the others, but I think everyone can agree that is not the case with Mystic Messenger. If that wasn't enough, not only are the characters all supremely attractive, they also all have very different and developed personalities. Regarding just the main characters with routes, you have the resident "cute shota" boy Yoosung, the seemingly happy-go-lucky but interesting and mysterious 707, the refined and serious Jaehee, the rising musical acting star Zen, and the quiet kuudere cat-lover Jumin. The characters are all given development of their own regardless of if you're on their route and attempting to romance them or not. By the end of every route, you feel like you have made a group of comfortable, lifelong best friends in addition to gaining a lover. It makes your relationship feel very supported and healthy because you keep all of these friendships that you've built and it doesn't become an isolated romance where the game sort of forces you to choose your lover over your friends. And speaking of the way relationships are formed, the interface for this game is unique to all other otome games I have played or seen. Usually, they follow the basic visual novel format and occasionally you may have interactions via your email or letters within the game, and in a vast majority of cases, you never hear the voices of the characters. Mystic Messenger uses a chat-based system in which you can interact with all the characters at once in a special chat room. You also receive texts and calls from them in which you can actually hear their voices and respond to what they say. The chats also follow real time, so while you can spend money to get hourglasses and open more chats immediately, you can also wait until chat rooms open in real time to participate. In our world of virtual communication, where forming relationships with other people via the internet and virtual messages is not rare or strange, it makes it seem very real. This attachment to reality allows the player a fully immersive experience. It also integrates some visual novel snippets later on in the routes in order to help fill you in activity that you may or may not be a part of but that is necessary to drive the plot forward. Speaking of which, the plot is also intriguing and unique with plenty of mysteries that will only be unraveled the longer you play and the deeper you're involved with all the characters. Another thing that sets this game apart from other otome apps is that there is a female character with a route! Usually, the characters with routes are exclusively male with most female characters being minor side characters, or your closest confidant and not only do you usually not get to know almost anything about them, but they are also out of the loop with any male friends you might make in the process. Here, the female character you can play is an integral part of the main cluster of characters and her route is played in such a way that if you wanted to construe it as same sex romance you absolutely could or if you wanted to construe it as extremely close platonic friendship you could also do that. This game is definitely LGBTQ+ friendly and that is another huge plus that it has going for it. They also inquire as to whether one of their members is gay quite frequently but they make sure he knows that if he is, it's ok and they accept him regardless. I've never felt like I could (if it was an option) tell the characters in the game that I'm not straight and feel certain that they would be just as accepting of it and of me as they were before and for me that is an enormous positive. This game manages to suck you in with everything from beautiful animation and great music, to a unique, supportive interaction system and a suspenseful, interesting plot that is filled with secrets. If you haven't given this game a try yet, I strongly recommend you do so! As a little player's tip, play the three "Casual Story" routes first and then the two "Deep Story" routes and be sure to play 707's route last if you can help it! If you skip out on this one, you are definitely missing out. Happy gaming!