Olympia Soiree is a complicated and memetastic story of love, fate, and establishing yourself as the person you want to be in life. Utterly beautiful, uncomfortable, shocking, and sweet. Literally the best love story I’ve played so far.

☆ Game Name: Olympia Soiree
☆ Developer: Otomate, Idea Factory
☆ Publisher: Aksys Games
☆ Platforms: Nintendo Switch
☆ Age Rating: Mature (ESRB)
☆ Price: $49.99
☆ More Info: Website

Disclaimer: This game contains some triggering content such as violence towards women and children, sexual assault, and non-con.

Ratings

Premise

“Her entire clan wiped out years ago, Olympia has been isolated for much of her life. Now she must travel to Tenguu Island – the only person who can perform a ritual that will restore the sun to a land enveloped in darkness. If she can find a mate who will help her continue her lineage and save the world before it is destroyed, she will reveal to that special someone her heart and her true name.”

– Game Description (Website)

The game synopsis is pretty terrible at explaining what the game is about, to be honest. I went in with some thoughts that had given me an entirely different idea about the game, all of them cleared up in the first ten minutes. So, yes, Olympia’s people were wiped out when she was young, but she has been living on Tenguu Island for over a decade, and the land isn’t really enveloped in darkness but you’ll learn the specifics of that in the game.

So what is this game about? Well, it is literally about Olympia finding a husband and getting to the baby making to keep her color class alive. Although that is the main goal, there is really so much more to the story that made it amazing to me. Each route in this game has a different plot to run congruent to Olympia’s goal of finding a husband, and each route comes from a different perspective to the point that none of them felt the same to me.

I really enjoyed that the plot doesn’t overshadow Olympia’s goals, which are more than just finding a husband, but ultimately also finding a husband. It was a treat to see both the LI’s conflict and Olympia’s addressed and while not always a satisfying conclusion, at least Olympia exists outside of support for the man on her arm.

Game Trailer

Story & Gameplay

Olympia Soiree is an utterly beautiful, uncomfortable, shocking, and sweet story about establishing yourself and where you belong.

Me. I wrote this. It’s a good quote!

The premise starts out rather simple: Olympia needs to find a husband as the last remaining Woman of the White. The story is anything but simple from then on out. Why is she the last remaining member of her clan? Why is there a color class system in the first place? Are we sensing undertones of racism in the writing when talking about how muddled the “colorless” people are? You’re not entirely wrong on that front, but it’s echoing classism rather than racism. Just… classes are created based on the color traits a person has so when you’re defined by color it seems an awful lot like a parallel to race.

There is a steady stream of info-dumping, as the entire world is fictional and we’re meant to learn everything important before we really get into the meat of each story. Unfortunately, this way of relaying information can cause many questions to go unanswered, or make it hard to recall info especially since the standard dictionary included is pretty useless in Olympia Soiree. If you want to remember the color classes, sorry, that’s not in the dictionary. However, if you’re curious what a tile roof is you can find that in the dictionary. Truly a far more common thing to look up.

The story tackles some uncomfortable concepts like sexism, classism, uncontrollable disease, privilege, corruption, eugenics, and unjust or unequal punishment. The society also puts a large emphasis on reproduction, setting women into the role of breeding stock for the most part. It is not for the faint of heart, and that’s not counting the many shock-value endings or scenes where sexual assault and violence are used to drive a point home. The mature rating on this game is there for our fun sexy-times, but also because some of the other stuff can just be hard to read about in general.

Run as a typical visual novel, there are no other gameplay mechanics to worry about. You will make choices that are weighted that will lead you to your ending. There is a love catch to show if you answered correctly or not. You run through several chapters with no choices until you come to the route choice screen. If you want to make it here without forcing the text on subsequent runs save Olympia will say “Well, here I go!” right before the route choice screen comes up. Save on Olympia’s last line. This is roughly four chapters into the game already.

The pacing is pretty similar throughout the game, but there is a hilariously annoying amount of flashback sequences that you will be able to recite by heart by the end of the game. Once on a LI route you will have a few chapters establishing the conflict and relationship between the characters, and typically there’s an entire – yes! A full chapter! – of romance after the resolution.

Characters

Have you ever wanted to be part of a Mature-rated Skittles fanfic? Here’s your chance! Olympia Soiree hosts a cast of six single and sexy studs that all have their reasons for not being wedded already, and some haven’t even bedded. Get down and dirty with every one of these cuties– erm, I mean, find love and romance with each one of these hot pieces of ass completely upstanding citizens. You’ll get your chance to ride grind taste experience each color and find your favorite among them.

Before we get started on introducing each amuse-bouche for your titillating pleasure, let’s cover the basics of the routes and LIs. There are six LIs for this game; four (Rikuu, Tokisada, Yosuga, and Kuroba) are available at the beginning, one (Himuka) becomes available once the previous four good ends have been obtained, and the last (Akaza) is available after Himuka’s good end is obtained. There is one Good Ending and two Bad Endings per route. All of these have CGs if you’re into collecting pictures, but do note that the bad endings are always bad. There is no question about if it is possibly just a normal ending– no. It is bad. Which I love. So if that’s not your thing and you’re not aiming for completion, skip ‘em.

The recommended order is Rikuu > Tokisada > Yosuga > Kuroba > the two unlocked; but I like to buck the system and do my own thing, so I randomly determined my order and really enjoyed the way the story progressed. I went with Rikuu > Kuroba > Tokisada > Yosuga > last two unlocked. Basically, pick what you want, when you want, but I do think that Rikuu really is the best to start with (as recommended and also as my random order ended up starting with).

Main Character (MC)

☆ Name: Olympia/Byakuya
☆ Pronouns: She/Her
☆ Voice Actor: N/A

Olympia is the queen among queens in my book. She’s well written with complexity and a realistic rawness that creates a MC with a strong-personality, but is still relatable. She carries the story on her own many times. Even if I were to attempt to throw shade at her, the fact that she calls on the sun to shine would keep every shadow from touching her. She keeps that shade at bay. Don’t worry, this isn’t a big reveal, it is literally how the game starts.

You’re introduced to Olympia with no prompt to change her name, and this certainly causes a lot of confusion because it’s always there, ya’ know? But not in Olympia Soiree. You have to get a few chapters in before the screen prompts you to pick a first name for the MC, or you can go with Byakuya, the default name. There is a story reason for this, but also note that the MC goes by Olympia for 90% of the game. Despite the name “Byakuya” showing up on the screen when she’s speaking, few people call her it. So, if you want some steamy scenes with Byakuya’s name being murmured, keep the name.

Olympia appears as a sprite next to the text box, with her own pose changes and emotive facial changes. She also changes outfits down there too, but since you can only really see from the cleavage up it’s not a huge change. She is not voiced, but her expressions are great and easy to read. I believe she is also in practically every CG, save for a few where it wouldn’t make sense for her to be in the picture, like the introduction CGs for the LIs.

This very pale MC stands at 5’3” and weighs a whopping 101lbs. If the white as snow thing bothers you, it’s a theme in this game and isn’t going away since the whole thing is about color traits defining each person. Olympia is the last remaining White. Her skin is as white as the clothes she wears. Her hair is the same color. Her eyes are even white-ish.

If you’re already sighing because you’re tired of the pale, tiny, delicate MC, just know you’re about to have your world rocked. Olympia is anything but delicate and her personality doesn’t just take up more space, it takes up all the space. She is my favorite MC, hands down, no question. Sorry to my other loves, Olympia is just sublime.

First, this chick is thirsty. It’s very nice to see a MC be more forward about sex, and I dig that in Olympia. Second, this woman is feisty. The way she claps back, the way she pushes her agenda, the way she speaks her mind is all so hilarious refreshing. I love her. Third, Olympia is 100% human and normal and honest and real in everything she does. She comes at people and realizes she f*cked up and stepped out of line, and acknowledges that and corrects herself. She cries. She laughs. She awkwardly navigates life and relationships and it was a journey I’m glad I was able to join her on. She grows during the game. And she doesn’t always make the best choices, but that’s what makes her feel real and complicated, she’s flawed but not to the point that it’s a trope, comedic prop, or only for plot reasons.

Rikuu

☆ Name: Rikuu
☆ Color Class: Blue
☆ Pronouns: He/Him
☆ Potential Endings: 1 Good, 2 Bad
☆ Voice Actor: Shimazaki Nobunaga (島﨑 信長)
☆ Tropes: Tsundere, Social Obligation, Squeak

Rikuu of the Blue is such a pretty man. Look at that hair! I just want to brush it and braid it and– what do you mean he’s a tsundere? Can a tsundere be that pretty? As much as I don’t want to believe it, Rikuu is the tsundere of the group. He’s got a grump face that makes him rather adorable, and that blush! Rikuu and his route unlocked a new fetish of mine (like I don’t have enough) and I realized that my need for grumpy bois being flustered goes waaaaaay beyond just being at a loss of words or stammering. I need to hear them squeak. Rikuu, you did this to me. Take responsibility, okay?

But seriously, Rikuu is the no-nonsense member of the military that is navigating his own growth and unpacking of baggage while Olympia does the same. They’re very cute and he was my 3rd favorite boy. 

Tokisada

☆ Name: Amakusa Shirou Tokisada
☆ Color Class: Green
☆ Pronouns: He/Him
☆ Potential Endings: 1 Good, 2 Bad
☆ Voice Actor: Uemura Yuuto (上村 祐翔)
☆ Tropes: Younger LI, Moral Guilt, Genki

I’d be hesitant to call Tokisada of the Green a shota character, as he’s 17 and not really in the pre-pubescent range that shota characters usually fall in. However, he dresses in a way one might if a child and acts quite young despite being nearly the same age as our MC, Olympia. I had already learned by this point that I have a thing for slightly younger LIs calling MC onee-san, or nee-san, which basically means big sister. Tokisada does this, coupled with his easily flustered and childish personality I was very interested in seeing where this route would go. What I got was something way more than I could have anticipated.

Overall, it was very cute. You can sum it up as two teens falling in love and trying to navigate the weird world while also trying to live up to societal expectations. It has angst and a half. Unfortunately, Tokisada hit last on my best boy chart, but that doesn’t mean his route was bad at all! I really loved it. I loved this entire game.

Yosuga

☆ Name: Yosuga
☆ Color Class: Purple
☆ Pronouns: He/Him
☆ Potential Endings: 1 Good, 2 Bad
☆ Voice Actor: Uchida Yuuma (内田 雄馬)
☆ Tropes: Host, Social Mask, Super Successful at a Young Age

Yosuga of the… Yomi? Now, Yosuga is supposed to be a really pretty man, but I never really saw him that way. Maybe it’s just the way he was designed, or his friendly personality. He certainly has the proprietor and host personality, and oozes sensuality, but I just find that pretty men that try to exude hypermasculinity are waaaaay more my thing. In the fictional world I kind of find it adorable to be like, “Awww, honey. You tried. Sure! You can be the big bad man. I’ll pretend to believe it.” And Yosuga never really tries to be that, so I just think, “Man, you are cute. Aw, what a perfectly timed and proper response to not offend anyone.” And it’s good, it is, don’t get me wrong.

Yosuga is entertaining in his own right, and his route brings about a side we don’t get to see of him in any other route and I really loved that. He’s sexy and sexy and sexy, and did I mention sexy? He’s also very cute and the biggest man-child this game has. Yosuga landed at #4 in my best boy ranking

Kuroba

☆ Name: Kuroba
☆ Color Class: Black
☆ Pronouns: He/Him
☆ Potential Endings: 1 Good, 2 Bad
☆ Voice Actor: Sugita Tomokazu (杉田 智和)
☆ Tropes: Flirt, Teasing, Classism

Kuroba of the Black. Yeah, no, I get it. He’s the darkest-skinned character and his class is literally the Black class, and you find out very quickly that it’s the lowest color class, so surely this is all about dark-skinned people being racially profiled, right? No, not really. The lore gets into how this isn’t a correlation drawn to real world racism, but instead to a system designed around primary colors being the “purest” tiers since they were the first colors to exist, and so when you get down to black, well… literally in art black is a mixture of many pigments.

It’s unfortunate that dark pigment ended up also being something the real world tends to discriminate against, but I believe in my heart of hearts that this isn’t a commentary on modern racism. Of course, I haven’t had to deal with racism in my everyday life, so this could be a big trigger for BIPOC out there that feel it hits too close to home. It’s fine if this angers you. You’re valid in being upset about upsetting things. Take a pass if you were on the fence of this game, it’s not worth it to get upset about entertainment– unless that’s your thing. Which is also fine.

Now that that super serious talk is over, let me tell you about this hunky heartthrob that will talk to you plainly in matters of sex and other uncomfortable topics. Kuroba is just :chef’s kiss: He gives everything to Olympia straight in every route, even if he does tend to tease her a lot, he doesn’t hide difficult matters from her. He’s flirty, funny, and incredibly bright. He apologizes and communicates. I fell for this man on first meeting. I just wish he had some nips, tbh. Kidding, kidding– I mean, I’m not because they didn’t give anyone nipples, but that didn’t change my thoughts on Kuroba.

I dunno, I looked at Kuroba and I saw a lot of my own husband in him, and it just made the route even better for me. I guess that’s not something I should be saying right before admitting that Kuroba is #5 on my best boy list… Sorry, honey, some 2D guys are just more rainbowlicious.

Himuka

☆ Name: Himuka
☆ Color Class: Colorless
☆ Pronouns: He/Him
☆ Potential Endings: 1 Good, 2 Bad
☆ Voice Actor: Horie Shun (堀江 瞬)
☆ Tropes: Effeminate, Mysterious, Dramatic

… … … Okay, I’m going to say it, I’m really into dark and macabre stuff. If it’s creepy-cute, it’s my thing, and nothing really says creepy cute than this effeminate, shota-looking character that carries around a skull and deals with dead people. Like Tokisada, I wouldn’t classify Himuka as a shota character, as he’s more feminine than young – a design showcasing beauty rather than age or physical maturity. He is adorable in form, and I also find the death that hangs around him quite adorable. Himuka is known as the Undertaker and definitely gives off some creepy-pasta vibes on first meeting. Plus he carries around that skull and normal, well adjusted people don’t carry around skulls. #SorryNotSorry I’ll take my corpse-looking cutie and keep him all to myself it you don’t want him.

All this talk about death and cuteness and I haven’t actually said anything about Himuka besides his looks. His route was a rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I died a little inside and I hoped for the best for Olympia and Himuka. I’m in love with this awkward and quiet boy with his thigh-highs and long hair. Himuka became best boy numero dos for me. Would romance the not-really-shota again. 10/10

Akaza

☆ Name: Akaza
☆ Color Class: Red
☆ Pronouns: He/Him
☆ Potential Endings: 1 Good, 2 Bad
☆ Voice Actor: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (松岡 禎丞)
☆ Tropes: Kuudere, Sins of the Father, That Autistic Energy

Finally, we have Akaza of the Red. I waited forever for this route. I romanced man after man after man to get to this absolutely perfect being that I wanted to romance first and claim forever, before I found out he is the locked route. I found him extremely relatable, and I’m not sure that’s something to be proud of but it certainly made romancing him easier because all the answer came so naturally to me. He gave me this strange sense of comfort where I could say, “I get you.” And not only that, but “you get me” as well. This man was made for me.

Perhaps I’m looking at him through rose-colored glasses (pun intended), but I don’t see Akaza falling from my good graces for a long, long time. He knows who he is. He knows what he wants. He knows the rules and how to circumvent them, but also picks his battles and is very logical about how he approaches everything. He is pragmatic and might be a man of few words, but what he says is always important. I admire him, and someday I’d like to be a fraction of the character he was written as.

Akaza’s route is as awkward and meaningful as you would expect. It rightfully is the truth route, in which all the left over questions you might have get answered in it. That doesn’t make his route any more canon than any other, honestly. Every character felt like it could be the one. I just choose for this to be my one. If you couldn’t guess, or haven’t been counting, Akaza is the best boy in my book. I have never been so sure about a LI making it on my top ten LI list as I am about Akaza. This is one true boy route I’ll gladly accept. I bleed red. #AkazaStan4Life.

Final Thoughts

I walked away from Olympia Soiree both shocked and awed. Shocked because I have played my fair share of localized otome and none came close to giving equal parts romance and plot as Olympia Soiree did. Awed because I had a newfound appreciation for fluffy and cute, and despite the occasions that the game had issues with plot I still thought it was an amazing game. And I think that’s the charm in a game like this, where you can recognize that it isn’t all good but still appreciate the entertainment you got from it including the parts that were not to your liking.

If you don’t mind bad ends and content that covers uncomfortable (sometimes extremely so) themes, this game is golden. There is some criticism about the number of flashbacks (numbering in the several hundreds), and the author’s use of sexual assault for drama without an obvious resolution to those scenes, and those are completely valid complaints. The story treats women as lesser persons – not much more than breeding stock in several cases – and while despicable the setting doesn’t excuse this behavior and instead hones in on it being a source of conflict, which I appreciated.

You’ll like Olympia Soiree if you like: Expansive world-building and characters that are complex and flawed. This isn’t a game about power fantasy, the characters are exceptional in their own right but also live within a system of checks and balances.

Game Info

☆ Game Name: Olympia Soiree
☆ Developer: Otomate, Idea Factory
☆ Publisher: Aksys Games
☆ Platforms: Nintendo Switch
☆ Age Rating: Mature (ESRB)
☆ Price: $49.99
☆ More Info: Website

Disclaimer: This game contains some triggering content such as violence towards women and children, sexual assault, and non-con.

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