Olympia Soiree

All the pieces of Olympia Soirée work together seamlessly like the colors of a rainbow naturally drawing together. Just as we all comprise multiple roles, some given to us by family or tradition and others that we seek out ourselves, Olympia Soirée takes its roles of comfortingly traditional and refreshingly modern otome with pride and executes them with great skill. The welcome mixture of seeking out a soulmate and working towards societal change bestows great merit on the game’s storytelling as a whole: just like how looking for love in real life doesn’t have to get in the way of your other goals, an emphasis on romance doesn’t have to get in the way of an interesting story. Olympia Soirée is proof positive that an emphasis on romance, or that being “a game for the female audience,” should never by itself be used as a point of contention against a game.

Otomate has a rare gift for weaving together enchanting, sexy romance and thoughtful, often challenging themes. Olympia Soiree is as fine an example of that as any, using its romantic themes to go down some dark, confronting roads—but roads that need to be travelled, to say things that need to be said, and ultimately ending up in a hopeful place. And with the studio’s penchant for sublime artwork, sharp writing, and absolutely gorgeous character designs, it’s an enthralling journey from start to finish.

Olympia Soirée really is a distinctive and interesting visual novel, however. The Shinto themes and elements give it an entirely Japanese aesthetic and tone, and that's supported with just the most gorgeous soundtrack, filled with traditional instruments. The art and setting for the game are both impeccible, and while Olympia Soirée will put some players off with its harder, darker edges, this is ultimately a game that has something to say. Yes, sure, that means it's not always the feel-good romance that you might have been expecting from the screenshots... but wouldn't you rather a game that got you thinking? I know I do.

There are a lot of words that I could use to describe Olympia Soirée, and most of them are positive. Even if social commentary isn’t the reason why you play video games (goodness knows it isn’t mine), Olympia Soirée‘s decision to fearlessly tackle situations that parallel ones within our own world shouldn’t cause you to shy away from its wonderfully romantic story lying in wait. If you’re a fan of Otome VNs, I doubt that this one will let you down.

There’s been a fair few games where I’ve thought about the events of the game for a while afterwards. Maybe it’s my choice of romance games, but Olympia Soiree is the first time the good route of a game still caused me to have a nightmare when I went to sleep that night. If you’re ready to deal with this kind of story, then take the plunge.

There are some routes and plotlines in Olympia Soiree that stand amongst the best Idea Factory! has put out, but the price for entry is just too high. There's some beautiful art showcased here, and some memorable moments, and each person in the audience will find a bachelor that fits them… but it's hard going. The deluge of exposition, and dragging slow start makes it a slog to get to these points. This combined with the overly edgy "bad endings" tarnishes the experience as a whole.

Olympia Soiree ends up feeling awkward for many reasons. The class system, the focus on getting the heroine married and pregnant, and the information dumps get to be so much. Once you do finally get to a route, the pacing improves, but before that it is just so much to take in and process. I do think some people might end up enjoying Aksys’ newest Switch otome game, as there’s a solid localization and some characters are lovable. But I feel in the long run it will end up being one of the company’s more forgettable localizations, like Period: Cube or Bad Apple Wars, rather than a captivating and memorable one like Code: Realize or Collar x Malice.