Olympia Soirée, developed by Idea Factory and published by Aksys Games, is a romance-adventure game, presented in the visual novel style. The main plot of this game centers on Lady Olympia, whose real name can be chosen by the player. In a world made up of different social classes based on color, Olympia is the only person from the White class left. Some kind of catastrophic event that is hinted at through the entire game wiped out her family, and it is now her sole duty to pray to a goddess to ensure the sun comes out every day.
There is a complex magic system and mythology within this game, and Olympia serves essentially as an audience stand-in so characters can deliver exposition realistically. The real conflict of the game begins when Olympia is told that she must find a husband within the year in order to ensure the White class can endure, as their role in keeping the sun around is unique and vital. She is particularly concerned by this task because her mother’s request for her was that she would find someone to love and be happy with. She fears that she won’t have enough time, and will be forced to marry the man who made the request of her, whom she finds cold and unappealing.
The gameplay that follows involves Olympia meeting various characters as for the first time in her life, she ventures out into society and tries to make connections with others. She lives with Lord Douma, a powerful figure whose past with Olympia is a bit of a mystery, but is often cruel to her. Once out of his manor, she realizes she can make friends and do fun things, which also risk distracting her from her main goal of finding a husband.
As with other visual novel style games, a majority of this game is clicking through dialogue. In playing for several hours, I was never presented with a choice of a location to go to, or specific dialogue to say. Player choice seems to be reserved for the late game. Something I noticed about Olympia Soirée as well was that flashbacks were frequent and at times, a bit redundant. In my opinion, the game told me a bit too much, and tried to hold my hand through a lot of the lore.
For example, when Olympia is in conversations with people, there would sometimes be flashbacks to a line of dialogue the other character said only moments prior in the same conversation. Other narratively significant dialogue, such as Olympia’s mother’s request that she fall in love, is repeated many times. After perhaps the third repeat, I felt that it had sunk in enough and I likely didn’t need to see it again.
Similarly, there were times where I thought the game might allow me to come to my own conclusions about what a character had said, but then Olympia would break it down bit by bit in her head. I found myself wishing the game would release the player to form their own opinions more readily.
Though I may have wanted some more choice earlier in the game and some story beats felt a bit redundant, there is no denying that Olympia Soirée is a very visually beautiful game. Character designs were particularly interesting, and the locations were very detailed. Even if I wasn’t taking a super active role in gameplay, I was always enjoying the art. Furthermore, I found the narrative and worldbuilding very intriguing, and wanted to continue playing to find out what would happen next.
All these aspects in mind, I would give Olympia Soirée an 8/10. I think it is a narratively and visually strong game, and for people who enjoy the visual novel format, this is sure to be a favorite. Though I would have liked to make a few more choices, I was engaged enough by the worldbuilding and visuals that I still had a very enjoyable experience.
Check Out the Olympia Soirée trailer – https://youtu.be/QnpP_l8EK3Y
Olympia Soirée has been rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, visit www.aksysgames.com/olympia
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I have been playing video games since I got my first pink Gameboy Advance SP when I was six years old. From that point on, video games have held a special place in my heart and I have been fascinated by the way games involve the player in the narrative and how their mechanics interact with that narrative. As an aspiring video game narrative writer, I jump at the opportunity to play any and all games at my disposal.
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