not done with this yet but really loving it. it took a little to grow on me since its sorta plot heavy but i really enjoy it now
edit: ive since completed, it was really fun, i enjoyed how different the routes were and how they approached filling in plot puzzle pieces that all made sense at the ending. i dont know how i feel about 'true routes' like in this case Akaza. it sorta defeats the purpose of even having other LIs when you delegitimize them like that by saying "yeah, thats fun and all, however [insert LI] is MCs canon LI". idk, for me the Akaza route is clearly intended to be the end all be all of Byakuya's story so it kinda erased any of the other LIs. which was a shame bc i think Kuroba was really my favorite. idk maybe this makes no sense. it was a fun game that i'd still recommend and took me about a week to complete all the routes.

Definitely a must play for any Otome fan. I could write a really long review here but I won’t cause it’ll go on forever lol. So I’ll hit the main points: the music and artwork are beautiful, and I did enjoy the short stories after you complete each route. Voice acting is excellent and I think the themes that the game touches on are really interesting and relevant, and I have a feeling the writers were definitely trying to go for subtle commentary here. I do feel that each route is unique enough apart from others that each one is enjoyable. My favorite was Akaza’s as I love kuudere, quiet types, and usually Otome poster boys/locked endgame routes end up being my favorite. My only gripe with his route is that I personally found Olympia’s tsundere attitude for the first half to be incredibly annoying. It’s rare for me to find a tsundere that I actually like/find endearing, and unfortunately Olympia in Akaza’s route did not fall into that category. It got much better in the latter half though. And for anyone who’s played, they know that this game can get REAL SPICY 🥵 I cannot stress how many times I’ve rewatched Akaza’s love scene because DAMN. IYKYK.
I will say as a minor complaint that I do feel the game is a bit too long. I think it could’ve been condensed quite a bit. And yes, TW for sexual assault and rape on bad endings.

Otome games infelizmente sofrem do mesmo mal que assola qualquer coisa feita para mulhere: são considerados menos que as outras coisas no mesmo meio. Não há meio termo, os moleques ranhentos sempre vão reclamar que são coisas paradas, chatas, com "harém reverso" e fúteis. Pior ainda, otome games ainda são 99% visual novels, gênero que já é excluído naturalmente de qualquer discussão, então pouquíssimas pessoas sabem o que se passa nesse mundo.

Eu com certeza era uma delas, se não fosse por insistência da minha namorada, não teria dado uma chance. Não sou perfeita, tenho meus preconceitos também e o principal motivo é que eu simplesmente não tenho interesse em homens, nem 2D, que são o chamativo dos jogos. Qual foi a minha surpresa, então, a ser apresentada a um novo horizonte que faz muito jogo mainstream comer poeira e que alinhou perfeitamente comigo.

Olympia Soirée, pela premissa, é um jogo fofo onde cada pessoa tem uma cor atribuída a ela, e assim todo mundo da populosa ilha é extremamente colorido, criando um arco-íris diverso. Mas no primeiro segundo o jogo não faz questão nenhuma de segurar que um mundo assim sofreria racismo sistemático intenso, e esse é o tema do jogo inteiro.

Obviamente pegar homem é o foco do jogo, e isso é correto e moral, mesmo que não seja para mim. Há em torno de 6 rotas de personagem e cada uma lida com um aspecto diferente deles e da ilha num geral. Eu admito que tive um pouco de dificuldade de gostar de alguns personagens porque vários agem de forma esquisita e manipuladora, mas por outro lado entendo que faz parte desse meio e não é como se mídia voltada pro público masculino não fosse pior nesse quesito. Foi importante entender esse contexto de minha namorada, e sem ela meu entendimento do que rodeia esse gênero seria mais pobre.

O jogo é surpreendentemente shinto em quase todo seu canto e a sua mitologia é enraizada em todos os seus temas, inclusive na critica de seus rituais e crenças. Doença, impureza, medo da morte, e preservação dos mais privilegiados são temas comuns. Aponto tudo isso porque realmente me abriu os olhos. O jogo falou de varias coisas que me interessam, e eu jamais teria experenciado isso por conta própria. Me fez pensar o quão importante é expandir seus horizontes de vez em quando.

É um jogo comprido, 50 horas de visual novel é cansativo, mas sempre tinha alguém com quem compartilhar então foi muito divertido. Claro que eu fazia corpo mole quando não queria jogar ou queria jogar outra coisa... Mas no final das contas fico feliz pela insistência. Otome games, igual qualquer coisa, possuem obras com variados níveis de qualidade, e é injusto renegar dezenas de jogos a escuridão só porque é voltado pro publico feminino.

No mínimo, respeite que existem coisas boas que não são feitas para você.

Speaking as someone who is not cishet, the male and female soulmates + reproduction premise is more funny or eyeroll-inducing than romantic to me, but I generally enjoyed this game. It was visually and aurally gorgeous from start to finish, with one of the most believable transitions from portraits to CGs I’ve seen in a VN. Often character portraits are intricate and on point anatomy-wise while CGs are less quality, but Olympia Soirée does not cut corners anywhere. And boy, are those character designs fancy.

The romances can be nice and sometimes spicy; the M rating is earned, both for the implied sex scenes and the darker themes present. This is a game you’ll want a certain tolerance level for, and I’ll list content warnings at the very bottom of this review in case you wish to go in blind. Tokisada and Akaza have the most believable romances in my opinion, having a good focus on developing their early feelings, but others have disagreed and that’s fair.

The protagonist has a strong characterization and gets a small portrait to display her expressions throughout the game, which is really nice. It goes a long way toward letting her be her own person, considering she doesn’t have voice acting. The game doesn’t shy away from acknowledging her sexual desires either, refreshing in a niche where the male love interests are usually the only ones who get that.

I also like that this has a canon route instead of a Grand Ending, and one that doesn't try to suddenly fix everyone else's problems in an unnatural way.

My criticisms are:
- How generally weak the gender commentary is (men are Men and women are Women. Basically different species with different places in life. They are soulmates tho❤︎), and lack of acknowledgment of non-cishet attractions in a world where love in general is so often criminalized.
- Bad ends generally rely on getting a certain number of wrong choices instead of a clear single branch, making it tedious to gather more than one ending per character. There is no Skip To Choice option.
- How often certain lines are flashbacked to leads me to believe this game is meant to be played over a year or more. Sometimes the same line is flashbacked to ten lines later. As Douma once said (and was repeated one hundred times), “Uugh…!”
- How skin color is addressed is a little weird.
- The short stories section is good for filling out details that either were not in the game or might have slipped your mind, and generally it’s fine to read them as they are unlocked. However, do not read Kanan’s Memoirs until you’ve completed all routes if you want some reveals to be total surprises. If you don’t mind big hints, go ahead! I’m not your parent.

In conclusion, pretty :)! and sometimes pretty stupid :)!

Content Warnings (if I forgot one, leave a comment!): rape, dubious consent, sexual coercion, drugging, forced impregnation, incest, CSA, kidnapping and confinement, violent misogyny (including murder), suicide, classism-based bigotry, body horror

Eh. It was fine.
The world was super interesting and had me hooked in the start but it really doesn't feel like they did anything with it. None of the side characters were really fleshed out, the overarching narrative was a little boring, and the romances outside the true route were kind of rushed. I did like most of the male leads design and personality wise, but like the setting, it feels like they didn't use them well enough. I don't really regret my time with it, but it's pretty forgettable.

Full video review: https://youtu.be/J2k1uSdH8Hw

Been a while since I covered an otome game, but this one looked pretty cool and I finally finished it after a month of playing.

Art:
Starting with the art, since that’s what put this one on my radar. You got these super-detailed character designs, backgrounds that really sell the setting, and an overall look that just fits perfectly with the Japanese fantasy mythology theme. That and the game has a lot of good CGs, really emphasizing the strengths of the character designs. It’s not the most animated visual novel, but the rest of the art is fine and there’s some nice music to back it up. On the aesthetic front, Olympia Soirée does great.

Story:
The setup here is not really something I’ve seen done before in the medium and, on the surface, might actually raise a few eyebrows for its parallels to modern society. You’re basically thrown into this society where everyone is born into and raised as a specific “color”, which their hair color represents.

The protagonist has just turned 18 and you’re presented with the otome game classic: she must find a husband of any other color class and continue the white bloodline (since white can marry outside of their color). The ultimate goal is simple, but we rarely ever get visual novels that cover topics like racism and classism and it was really cool to see such topics tackled in an otome game way. It may not go super in-depth like we see in many modern movies and such, but for a visual novel it’s pretty good.

Otherwise, the structure is pretty similar to other otome visual novels. You get your cast of pretty boys, each with their own route, and a couple routes that are only unlocked after every other route is cleared. The game follows an overall “multiple route mystery” theme, with each route covering some aspect of this society along with the usual romance stuff.

The common route is fairly short and is used mostly to introduce the cast so I’m gonna run through each character’s route in order from my least to most favorite and try to explain why.

Tokisada:
Tokisada is the youngest character of the bunch. He’s 17 – only one year younger than our protagonist – but acts much younger than that and that is ultimately what brought his route down for me. He has one of the most interesting backstories – even if it does go a bit overboard and melodramatic towards the end – but the entire time I was like “dude, you’re like 12” and I just could not take the romance seriously.

Himuka:
Himuka's route is only unlocked after you clear the main four routes and for good reason – a lot of the “big” story stuff happens here. The pacing is handled much better than Tokisada, but, just like that route, the romance comes across as forced and just doesn’t flow well. Himuka also goes through an absolutely jarring character shift a ways into this route that left me wondering if perhaps the route was planned to be longer. It’s not slow, but it lacks the buildup that some of the other routes got.

Kuroba:
Kuroba's route explored the concept of the black color group, which was interesting, but also tacked on this whole “tug of war” romance thing where our protagonist acts out of character compared to literally every other route and Kuroba himself constantly flip flops between two character states in a seemingly random way. And I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say this route uses a certain plot device that is just completely uncalled for and serves no purpose other than to drastically raise the stakes when things aren’t progressing all that much. Overall: good character, poor route.

Yosuga:
Whereas Kuroba had a bunch going on in his route – Yosuga doesn’t have nearly as much. This is good in that it avoids some of the problems I just described with Kuroba, but bad in that it does not leave the route feeling memorable – it felt more like your standard otome romance route with just a bit of story dabbled on top of it. I guess every otome game has to have a route like this, so it at least serves its purpose.

Akaza:
Akaza is next and is by far the most story-packed of the routes. Unlike Himuka’s though, the romance stuff on top of it actually comes across as natural AND with good pacing. The buildup was done well, the beginning was not overly slow, and the major reveals towards the end actually felt like such. Granted, it’s a bit unfair to other routes because this one you cannot play until the very end of the game and by that point, you’ll have already become familiar with everything and the route won’t need to spend so much time info dumping.

Riku:
My favorite route of the bunch and also the second one I played. What we got here was an excellent introduction to the world of Olympia Soirée that manages to hit all of the game’s good points: well-paced romance, just the right amount of conflict, and a good dose of worldbuilding without feeling like an info dump. It was probably that last point that really sold the route for me, but the character himself was solid too.

Protagonist:
Unlike other otome game protagonists, Olympia is not the pushover type. She sticks to her ideals and actually works towards getting stuff done. She is not afraid of putting herself out there, yet is not this brick wall of stubbornness either. It is super refreshing for an otome game and, while she may be tempted by food a bit too easily, that just makes her all the more likeable – easily my favorite character in the game.

Overall:
Olympia Soirée is a bit of good, a bit of bad, and a bunch of just “okay”. Some routes are a chore to get through with their slow pacing and all, but then you get these really good routes that kinda level it all out. I started the game off not really liking it and kinda growing to appreciate it – even through its low points. It’s definitely not bad – although it’s also not a shining example of the genre.

Disclaimer: I truly do adore this game, but there are some hiccups that can make it difficult to enjoy. That's why I'm starting with the negatives first.

This game's main story gets VERY convoluted/lore heavy near the end- one LI's story kind of collapsed under its own weight from all the 'plot twists.' There are points in the game where it feels like they're just adding unnecessary plot points for drama's sake.

There's an extremely annoying antagonist that shows up in every route, to the point where I groaned audibly every time he showed up on screen (iykyk).

There are... a LOT of flashbacks. I think somebody actually counted them all and it came out to like, 600. I love this game, but I can only handle watching the 'promise me one day you'll find your soulmate scene' so many times.

Finally (and this is my main beef with the game), there are SO MANY wonderfully written and well-developed NPCs... but they're faceless. They have no art. And that's a serious shame, because a lot of these NPCs have incredible scenes and influence the protagonist in truly beautiful ways, but we can't SEE them. (Fusou, you deserved better)

On to the positives!

The romance in this game is really, honestly, absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Every route felt like I was truly watching two soulmates find their way to one another. Though the overall plot tends to buckle under its own weight at times, the love stories themselves are flawlessly written, to the point where I was brought to tears at times.

The protagonist is great. Olympia starts out as insecure and naive, having been beaten down her entire life by grief and isolation, but she quickly grows into a compassionate, bright, headstrong heroine. I'm a huge proponent of voiced heroines in otome games, and it's a shame Olympia isn't voiced, because she's got some incredible moments. I'm also a huge fan of how she isn't a shrinking violet when it comes to romance. In several routes, she's just as forward as the men when it comes to expressing her love and desire.

The music is GREAT. Not much else I have to say there. Sometimes I'd stop playing just to listen to the music for a few minutes.

The art is truly gorgeous. From backdrops to portraits to CGs, every inch of the game is bursting with color, perfectly setting the stage that is Tenguu Island.

Finally, the voice acting. It's amazing. From tender love scenes, to steamy romance, to snappy back-and-forths, every voice actor gets a chance to shine. I can't think of a single character that doesn't have an incredible voice (besides Olympia, of course).

That's the end of my review! Doctor Kuroba, if you are free Thursday night then my number is

The game really focuses on the fact that the main character is the last of her kind, and how she needs to find someone to bear children with to repopulate her clan. This sort of thing is just really uncomfortable for me, and so I couldn't get into it. The focus on steamy scenes was just the nail on the coffin for me. I'm sure that sort of stuff is really appealing to a decent number of people, just not for me. Definitely a mistaken purchase; I've tried to be more careful with what I buy since then! If those sorts of things don't bother you, the premise is interesting, and the characters seem cool to you, I think you should give this story a try. The parts that didn't bother me were really, really intriguing.

I loved this. I bought it mostly on a whim and started it with zero expectations. I immediately became addicted and could not stop until I finished it nearly a week later.

Five stars reflect my own personal enjoyment, though I don’t think it’s perfect and some of the routes were better than others. A lot of that always comes down to personal taste, so take that with a grain of salt. Also, there is a lot of implied and direct sexual assault in this story, so I imagine the bad ends won’t sit too well with some.

Overall thoughts: the production was stellar, with some of the best art I’ve ever seen in an otome. The music was likewise gorgeous. The STORY is Incredible: lush and operatic, with this deep and mysterious lore that had me completely hooked from word one. Fantastic side characters and world-building; it felt like a fully fleshed-out fantasy novel.

And UNF! The romances are ROMANTIC. Horny, yes (this game is definitely Mature) but it’s much more than that. Each route had its own wild twists and obstacles, revealing more and more of the plot. Pretty much all of the routes tugged on my heart strings in some way, though Riku ended up being a surprise favorite.

I can actually see myself revisiting this some day, which is pretty unusual for me. Possibly my favorite otome I’ve played so far.