Olympia Soiree is the otome game that no one thought would ever get localized and yet, it’s the latest Otomate title to make its way to the West. Olympia Soiree definitely touches on heavier themes than you’d expect to see in an otome game, but this more mature spin is a welcome change. Follow Olympia, last of her kind as she seeks out her husband to preserve her bloodline. On her journey across Tenguu Island in search of your perfect partner, and along the way learn more about the island and it’s people. 

Otome Soiree Game Details

• Fantasy | Romance
• Where to Play: Nintendo Switch
• Price: $49.99 (Standard Edition) | $59.99 (Limited Edition w/ Soundtrack)
• Gameplay:  80 Hours
• Similar Games: Steam Prison | Norn9 Var Commons 

Olympia Soiree Official Synopsis

With her entire clan wiped out years ago, Olympia has been isolated for most of her life. Now she lives as the only person on Tenguu Island who can perform the ritual that restores light to a world shrouded in darkness. The heads of each Primary district—Red, Blue, and Yellow—lead a society governed by the island’s rigid class structure. As Olympia travels between the districts, she discovers their wonders and their weaknesses, as well as an entire underground community of shunned individuals whom she becomes determined to help. If she can find the person destined to be her soulmate, she will finally be able to open her heart and reveal her true name, continue her bloodline, and save the world before it is destroyed.

–Official Synopsis

Worldbuilding and Setting of Olympia Soiree

The setting, Tenguu Island is a place with a rigid social hierarchy based solely on a person’s color class. Each class has their own unique roles on the island and the social order is strictly adhered to–the Primary colors (Red, Blue, and Yellow) are at the top of the totem pole and serve as the main governing body of the island, followed by the Secondary color classes (Orange, Jade, Fuchsia, etc.) who are more or less treated as nobility. On the other end of the spectrum are the Versi, those born with “unsightly colors” or multiple color traits who are discriminated against and sent to live underground in Yomi. There is a strong desire among the higher color classes to maintain one’s color, so relationships between the various color tiers is strictly regulated, with many choosing to… keep it within the family to produce children with the most beautiful color traits (which leads to obvious problems). Love matches are rare and women on the island as seen with a few exceptions—one of the side characters from the Yellow clan fell in love with a woman from one of the lowest castes and was exiled to Yomi, while his partner was executed. 

Being the last of the White clan, Olympia doesn’t have to adhere to the class system and can choose her partner from any of the existing color classes. Because she was raised on Tennyo Island, away from the color classism of Tenguu, she doesn’t agree with the system and after befriending some of the residents of Yomi decides to change things on the island by traveling between the various districts and getting to know the diverse people that live there. 

I’m going to put a spoiler warning in here, though most of what I reveal is addressed in the common route.

Skip to Final Thoughts

Character of Olympia Soiree

At the start of Olympia Soiree only Riku, Tokisada, Yosuga, and Kuroba are available, after finishing those Himuka’s route unlocks. Akaza’s route unlocks only after you’ve gotten the best ends for all of the other LIs. Honestly, you can play the first four routes in any order you want, but for the best experience, I recommend playing: Riku ➤ Tokisada ➤ Yosuga ➤ Kuroba ➤ Himuka ➤ Akaza

This progression eases you into some of the heavier storylines, Yosuga and Kuroba’s routes go hard with the problematic sh*t (which is why I’ve included trigger warnings for each route). Each route focuses on it’s own story, though there are hints at an overarching story, but that doesn’t really come into play until Himuka and Akaza’s routes. There is a Compass Dial that will help determine which endings you are headed toward–the Sun icon indicates “best” choices and the Moon icon indicates “bad” choices.

*I included trigger warnings for each character route, just click the colored bar to open the dropdown and see them.

Character bios used from Official English site

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Olympia – The Heroine

She is the last remaining member of the White, known to the people as Olympia. She possesses the power to bring light to the sun through her dance. She has lived most of her life in solitude on Tennyo Island, kept company by her pet mouse Daifuku. On her eighteenth birthday, she begins her search for a husband. 

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Yosuga

VA. Uchida Yuuma

The proprietor of Yomi’s largest establishment, the bathhouse known as Shikinjou. Yosuga is known as ‘Jigoku-dayuu’, or the ‘Steward of Hell’. He is a powerful man and the de facto ruler of the Yomi District. He specializes in flower divination and is renowned for his hospitality and medicinal baths. 

Yosuga is the master of the bathhouse in Yomi and a shameless tease! He is the law and order down in Yomi and serves as the district’s unofficial leader, handling things from minor disputes to drunken surface dwellers harassing his people. Despite flirting it up with Byakuya and supporting her through her great husband search, everything else about him is shrouded in mystery. Yosuga always seems to know more than he lets on and rather than just give anyone a straight answer, he’s more likely to just tease you to death first. He reminds me a lot of Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (the book not the film), at first blush he seems like the ultimate tease, but in reality he’s really quite selfless and sweet. He secretly does nice things for Byakuya like building the mailbox for her delivery service and he sneaks her konpeito to cheer her up when she is discouraged. And any man that can cook delicious food is A-OK in my book (the food porn in this route had my mouth watering)!

I was not expecting much from Yosuga, since flirty types rank low on my otome LI list, but I ended up really liking his route! Yosuga’s situation is very similar to Byakuya’s (sans the baby making stipulation) and it was nice to see him let his guard down and be himself around her. If I had one complaint, his constant desire to die really put a damper on things for me, I had enough of that with Kei in Collar x Malice–I didn’t like it then and I certainly don’t need that here (Olympia Soiree has plenty of drama as it is).

Olympia Soiree – Yosuga Walkthrough

Fun Facts about Yosuga

• Byakuya’s fairy godmother, giving her sage advice on how to bag the perfect man and delicious food to soothe her soul.
• He makes medicines and elixirs in his spare time (In Kuroba’s route he gives Byakuya a “sleep aid” that smells like Kuroba… for recreational purposes)

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Kuroba

VA. Sugita Tomokazu

The deputy director of the Kotowari and a doctor specializing in the field of immunological medicine. Though sharp-witted, he often lightens the mood by taking on the role of Olympia’s big brother, teasing her every chance he gets. Deep down, he resents the hierarchy in which people are confined to classes by their color traits. 

Kuroba is a young doctor from Yomi’s Black class who despite being the lowest status on the island was able to rise above his lowly beginnings because of his big brain–he tested highest on every IQ test. He’s a brilliant doctor, specializing in finding a cure for Haku–Tenguu Island’s version of flesh eating virus–and he provides free medical treatment to the residents of Yomi. He serves as Akaza’s 2nd in command at the Kotowari and is very vocal about his dislike of the color class system on the island. He’s very flippant about most things and tends to be on the cheeky side, teasing the hell out of his cute “lil sis”, Byakuya. He tells her that the way to bag a good husband is to drop her handkerchief and wait for a hottie to pick it up (which she does) and then he legit turns around and picks it up all “sorry miss, did you drop this? 😏

I love Kuroba as a character, but the writers did my bae wrong with this route–literally ever cheesy romance drama cliché in the book is in this route and it hurts. From ridiculous misunderstandings to love rivals, its all here and Kuroba deserved so much better than that! There is a side character in this route that I would love to yeet right off the island, but karma gets him in the end. I loved the chemistry between Kuroba and Byakuya, especially how sassy she gets with him when she thinks he’s having a go at her. But, he can be sweet and you get the sense that he cares more than most about certain things, his status just doesn’t allow him as many freedoms–the saying “You have to work twice as hard to get half as far” comes to mind a lot with Kuroba… and irony that he is in the Black color class is not lost on me.

Olympia Soiree – Kuroba Walkthrough

Fun Facts about Kuroba

• He can do origami and he even makes origami fish for Byakuya so she doesn’t feel so lonely when he’s busy working
• He and Yosuga are childhood friends and it’s because of Yosuga’s encouragement that he became a doctor

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Himuka

VA. Horie Shun

A young boy known as ‘The Undertaker’. He possesses the power of Batsu and uses it to transform the souls of Yomi’s deceased into crystals known as Shou. Since he rarely speaks about himself, very little is known about him. 

Himuka is the quiet kid who sits in the back of class doodling in the corners of all his notebooks. No one knows anything about him and you’re not even sure you’ve ever heard him speak. He mostly keeps to himself, though he’s always lurking just out of sight, watching everything you do. Himuka is a huge Olympia fanboy to the point that he practically breaks down in tears every time she talks to him. When he isn’t simping over Byakuya, he works as the island’s undertaker taking care of the dead in Yomi, by transforming their remains into Shou (soul stones used to power the Sun). He’s very efficient at his job, but because he works so closely with the dead most of the folks on the surface shun him, so he lives alone in a small cabin by the north beach. Most of the time, he’s a shy recluse who doesn’t really engage much with the rest of the world, but whenever some one threatens Byakuya he’s quick to do whatever it takes to ensure her safety.

His route is very story heavy delving into the lore of the world and Byakuya’s role in it, and while there were some cute moments between the pair, I felt like their relationship wasn’t really at the forefront. Himuka is a cute character and all, but I just wasn’t feeling the romance between them. Friendship absolutely, but anything more than that felt like a stretch. I just could not see him as a love interest, he felt more like someone that needed to be protected–though I will admit that passion fruit scene in his route was hot af.

Olympia Soiree – Himuka Walkthrough

Fun Facts about Himuka

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Gameplay and Features in Olympia Soiree

The Olympia Soiree Soundtrack is Fire

I usually don’t pay much attention to music in otome games, but I will readily admit that Olympia Soiree has an amazing soundtracks. There are 24 BGM tracks, an OP, and two EDs (one for both the Best Ends and Bad Ends). The OP, Tatoe Tomo ni and the EDs Dare yori mo and Hitokoto were done by ENA.I am so glad that Aksys is giving us a soundtrack CD, because I could really see myself listening to the music from this game while I relax or write.

Short Stories Expand on the Characters and World Building

Olympia Soiree has 30 side stories that expand on the main story and characters giving more depth to the world of the game. Each LI has an epilogue that continues the romance between Byakuya and her chosen husband after the events of the main story–from intimate moments in bed to a sweet dates, each one is super cute (and a little steamy). There are also character introductions, that are set up like mini interviews that give more insight into the LIs likes and dislikes, and some of them were downright hilarious (especially when the LIs talk about their favorite part of their partner’s body). Lastly are the Memoirs, which are written accounts of the lives of key characters (main and supporting) that give insight to their motivations throughout the story and in some cases offer explanations for things not addressed in the main story.

Satoi’s Artwork Brings the World of Olympia Soiree to Life

Olympia Soiree is one of the prettiest games I’ve played all year! It’s the same artist that worked on OZMAFIA!! and Diabolik Lovers and I really liked the character designs–some lend themselves to more traditional Japanese styles while others have a more modern look.

The story borrows elements of Buddhism and Shintoism for it’s world building and lore, so it makes sense that mandalas would be used heavily in the UI. Mandalas are everywhere from the rainbow colored motif of the backgrounds to the opening title screen and more.

But, I think the feature that stood out to me most is that the title screen changes to reflect the time of day. I pretty much played the game whenever I had a spare moment so I got to see all the variations and my favorite is the afternoon–there is just something really pretty about sunset.

Thoughts on Olympia Soiree

Deals with Heavier Topics than Most Otome

I want to start things off by saying that Olympia Soiree is not for everyone, the game deals with some heavy topics that may make some folks uncomfortable–Yosuga’s route in particular deals heavily with sexual assault and some of the bad endings involve Byakuya in non-con situations. Not to mention Tenguu Island’s strict color caste system that leans heavily into societal bias and class based discrimination, that while not based in real world race politics has some aspects to it that made me feeling some type of way:

• Olympia being the last of the White and as such being the embodiment of “white privilege” as she occupies a unique space that allows her more freedoms than anyone on the island (ie. she is the only person on the island who can marry for love)
• The Black class being at the bottom of the social hierarchy; Kuroba’s route was especially hard because you see first hand what it’s like to be a marginalized person in this class heavy society and there was a surprising amount of nuance to him as a character that really hit home–the internalization of negative societal bias and overcompensation that happens when you try to prove that you are just as good as everyone else (I related to him more than I did Olympia)
• The views on the island that women are to keep their heads down and have beautiful pure babies. One of the side characters is married off to a man she doesn’t love and on her wedding night when they were supposed to consummate their relationship she refuses and gets exiled for her trouble. The women in Yomi are no better off, as they are often the target of sexual advances from men on the surface looking to father healthy children.

Some routes deal with these topics better than others, tackling the island’s biases in ways specific to that route’s love interest that often foil one another. Riku’s route deals with someone of privilege addressing his personal bias, while Kuroba’s and Yosuga’s routes delve into the perspectives of members of the marginalized color classes on the island and the hardships they face because of their status. Tokisada’s route gives an outsider perspective on the class politics on the island, while Akaza’s route deals with someone from within one of the upper color classes using their privilege to actively dismantle the system.

I’m always wary of how fantasy media deals with class/race politics, because there is an inevitable sanitization process that undermines any underlying message the writers are attempting to get across, BUT, I was genuinely surprised at how well it was handled in most of the routes in the game. The internalized bias and discrimination is given the appropriate weight and at no point did I feel like the class system was presented as the gold standard of living on the island–in fact, clinging to the old norms is quite literally making the island weaker. Olympia Soiree is a testament to the power of change and how each person, no matter where they fall within the social structure can do their part to make things better for others. However, my biggest issue with Olympia Soiree is that it tries to do too much at once and never full commits to any of its many themes and storylines.

The Worldbuilding Borrows form Japanese Creation Lore

The story borrows elements from Japanese creation myths and Shintoism—the women of the White clan are worshipers of the goddess, Amaterasu and perform a ritual dance to her to keep the sun shining over the island. Other figures from mythology and Japanese history make appearances throughout the story and the writer took a lot of liberties with the source material, blending the lore into the worldbuilding (even if some of it is more than a little problematic). I’m not gonna lie, I really enjoyed the depth of the world building and more than once I stopped playing to look up more info on the lore. But, this aspect of the story doesn’t really factor into the story until the last two routes in the game, so it’s importance is largely lost in the early routes, since it isn’t the focus. Which is a shame because all of the moving parts are interesting enough in their own right to carry the story all on their own, it’s just when you try to mash them all together into a cohesive story that things fall apart. That said, there is a lot to love about Olympia Soiree.

Olympia Soiree Lets You Literally Kiss the Rainbow~

The characters are all great and for once I can honestly say that I enjoyed all of the love interests and their routes–Kuroba and Yosuga being my favorites. Olympia is a fantastic heroine, she has a strong sense of justice and I love that she is not above taking charge an calling the LIs out on their BS. I think she was at her best in Akaza and Riku’s routes since that is where she really gets feisty with them and we stan a strong heroine here! One thing I didn’t like was how often Olympia wound up in “damsel in distress” situations (read: non-con), but those are mostly reserved for the bad route endings. The LIs are all pretty good and I liked their portrayal throughout, though I think Himuka didn’t give me “love interest vibes”, he felt more like an elevated extra and while he’s sweet I liked him better when he was in a more supporting role. On the flip side the side characters were a bit of a mixed bag. One of the side characters Kaina, I loved and desperately wanted him to be a love interest, because he’s just so sweet and funny (and the leader of the Red, Jigen had some serious daddy vibes) and Camelia is a rare example of a supportive otome bestie. But, then you have characters like Kanan and Nagusa who are the absolute worst–I wanted to punt the two of them into the sun–they’re the main cause of most of the bad endings in this game.

Byakuya is an Empowered Otome Heroine

Olympia Soiree doesn’t shy away from sex, in each route Byakuya can bang her bae and while it’s not as explicit as say Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome, the sex scenes get pretty steamy. So, if you’ve been wanting a bit more spice with your otome, Olympia Soiree has you covered and then some. I love that Byakuya gets just as into it as the guys and in some cases *cough* Riku’s route *cough* she isn’t afraid to go for it and push her bae down–she’s out here looking for her baby daddy, there’s no time for being coy. I welcome the more mature romance–I’m grown and I am so over naïve blushing MCs of high school romance otome. I’m all for cute dates, but I need a bit more… if you know what I mean. Though, with that being said, this game does use sexual assault as a plot point a bit too liberally. It’s never between Byakuya and the LIs so that is a small blessing, but many of the bad endings feature Byakuya being sexually assaulted by someone else. Yosuga’s route especially was a bit hard to get through because of how prevalent sexual assault was in the story.

The Verdict – Is Olympia Soiree Worth Playing?

So, I am genuinely surprised Olympia Soiree got localized, because this game is a doosy–color discrimination, a dash of misogyny, and tragedy around every corner, and yet I can’t say I hated this game. For every questionable story element, there were at least five more things to really like about it, whether that was the phenomenal worldbuilding, the interesting characters, or the gorgeous visuals, Olympia Soiree was a fun experience. I want to stress that this game really isn’t for everyone and I strongly recommend paying close attention to the content warnings, because some of the topics will make some folks uncomfortable. But, if you’re looking for a more mature otome romance, Olympia Soiree has you covered!

Thank you to Aksys Games for providing a copy of Olympia Soiree for this review.

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