Olympia Soiree may be an otome visual novel, but it brings with it a concept and storyline which draws players in immediately. The game stars a young woman named Olympia who is the last of her lineage. In the fantasy world of the game, all of society is born into a class structure based on the colors of their eyes and hair. Primary colors are the most favored and messy, mixed up colors are the lowest of the low. As the last living descendant of the white class, Olympia is held up as a special being, and she also needs to continue her bloodline. Where most otome protagonists simply fall into relationships without ever asking for them, Olympia is outright searching for her future husband.
It’s fun to see a protagonist actively looking for a fitting guy. Thanks to this concept, she’s also free to discuss just how much she doesn’t like certain men, or why they aren’t fitting to her expectations. Another thing to note is that the color class structure in the game has nothing to do with racism. Some players might initially think as much, since “white” is a top-tier class while “dark” colors aren’t. Despite the different colorations, the characters themselves are all fair-skinned. There's no attempt made by Olympia Soiree to tackle racial issues as that's not what it’s presenting here. It’s purely a class-based structure to constrain the citizens of this island. Olympia, as well as other main characters, also express that the class stratification makes no sense and should be ended.
Olympia travels through the “respectable” above-ground society as well as the underground realm (where all the unfavorable classes live) in search of a suitable mate. Despite being cloistered in strict society for most of her life, she possesses an open mind and willingness to try things. She’s unaware of certain topics as well, which makes for a lot of humorous moments. While it might sound like a light-hearted game, things aren’t always that way. One major reason she “needs” to marry is to produce a child that can continue performing her duties once she's gone. Without a member of the white class around, this society is supposedly headed for destruction.
Given the theme, it might be obvious that each of Olympia’s potential beaus hail from different color classes. This brings with them different life experiences and vastly different personalities. We’ve got a rule-obsessed man, a mysterious and androgynous character, among many others sure to suit the tastes of players. As mentioned earlier, some of the routes these character stories go down are dark and disturbed. Certainly thai is nothing new for otome games, but might surprise those who were expecting more of a light-hearted romp from beginning to end. Olympia Soiree has real depth that players will uncover as they play for around ten to sixty hours, depending on if they just want to beat their favorite character’s route or go for full completion.
The writing in Olympia Soiree is great. There’s a lot of work done to ensure the localization is fitting and flows. Unlike some other visual novel releases in recent memory, the script also doesn’t suffer from regular typos or other inconsistencies. This should be the expected minimum standard, but unfortunately we’ve seen how it isn’t always the case with major releases. The only weirdness about text in the game is related to how certain buttons are named. For example, would you expect a button titled “History” to open up your save menu? For visual novel fans, “history” usually indicates the ability to open up and view previously read text.
The artwork in Olympia Soiree stands out as impeccably high quality. Artist Satori is known for their work on a wide range of games, including Ozmafia and Diabolik Lovers. The artwork proves gorgeous thanks to the skilled artistry, detailing on character clothing and even a fun overlay effect around the edges of frames. The styling of the artwork does not look like other games out there, ensuring if you see it then you know that this is a screenshot from Olympia Soiree instead of any other otome title.
Voice acting-wise, there’s nothing to complain about. All the voice work is professional and keeps players feeling immersed. The music also does the same. The soundtrack is lovely, but not such that it typically draws too much attention to itself. Instead players are able to enjoy everything Olympia Soiree has to offer without feeling pulled out of the mood. All in all, these aspects ensure an overall excellent experience.
Closing Comments:
Anyone looking for a new otome game to play will find enjoyment in picking up Olympia Soiree. Even newcomers to the otome genre might want to try it out as this game quickly hooks players with Olympia’s plight and relatable mood. This is an excellent release that gives Switch gamers an ever-increasing bounty of visual novels to choose from. Jump into the colorful world of Olympia Soiree and you’ll be brought on a journey with highs, lows and both surprising and satisfying conclusions.