Celebrating All Things Romantic: Code: Realize – Guardian of Rebirth

I’ve wanted to play Code: Realize – Guardian of Rebirth for a long time, but my Vita copy didn’t cooperate. Fortunately, I picked up the Switch release and finally played it this year.

Code: Realize is an otome about a girl named Cardia, whose body is filled with a deadly poison that melts anything that comes into direct contact with her skin.

Believing herself to be a monster, she lives in isolation and doesn’t care what happens to her, until the gentleman thief Arsene Lupin steals her away. With his help, she begins a quest to learn the truth about herself and her mysterious father, whose inventions led London into a new age of technology.

It has a steampunk setting, and many of the major characters come from literature, which is one of the main things that drew me in.

In addition to Arsene Lupin, you cross paths with Victor Frankenstein, Abraham Van Helsing, and many others.

(And since Lupin is a major character, his nemesis Herlock Sholmes appears in a supporting role. Here’s hoping that other game Shomes is supposed to appear in will be officially announced soon.)

Code: Realize gets high praise, and it deserves it. After a lengthy common route, the story branches onto a specific character’s route for several more chapters. The characters are all great, including Cardia, who learns various skills from her allies and takes an active role in pursuing the truth, while coming to accept the truth about herself over the course of the story.

The overall mystery is interesting and each character has a compelling route. While I started the game with the simple goal of pursuing Victor, it wasn’t long before I knew exactly which characters I would go for next. Even the route where I felt the romance was the weakest made up for it with one of the most interesting stories in the game.

In fact, I would recommend Code: Realize even if you normally aren’t interested in otome games. Each character route obviously involves romance between Cardia and one of the possible love interests, but there’s so much more to them than romance alone.

So whether you’re looking for an excellent otome or a compelling steampunk story (or just want to see this game’s take on the many literary characters that drive its plot), I highly recommend you give Code: Realize – Guardian of Rebirth a try.

Two sequels have been made, so I’ll definitely play them eventually. In the meantime, share your thoughts on Code: Realize in the comments!