Variable Barricade Gets February Release Date and Details on Physical Goodies

Aksys Games has revealed the release date for Variable Barricade. The otome game was originally expected for late 2021, but delayed to 2022. Now we know it’ll be available on Switch on February 24, 2022. Besides the digital edition, it’s possible to buy physical copies of the game, and a special bundle with the game and its soundtrack CD is currently being sold exclusively via Aksys Games Store.

Variable Barricade tells the story of the young mistress Hibari. Heiress to a very rich and powerful family, she now has to deal with her old man’s nagging at who she should marry. Worse of it all, he just drops her and four hand-picked bachelors at a villa. Now she has to resist daily temptations and try to scare those young men off.

Considering this is an otome game though, I imagine things won’t go as well as the protagonist, who is voiced by Saki Fujita, initially expects. Voice actors for the main guys include Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kenji Nojima, Kousuke Toriumi, and Hiro Shimono. The title includes character designs by Kagero Usuba (Will o’ Wisp, Wand of Fortune and Reine des Fleurs) and is directed by Shinobu Iwata who also worked in the aforementioned otome titles.

The first run copies of the games will also include an exclusive set of six cards with all the main characters. They will include small tidbits about them along with their illustrations so you can actually learn a little bit about them before playing if you’d like. Here’s an early look on what to expect of them below: