Some otome games heavily emphasize the escapism element by placing their player characters in fantastical or perilous scenarios where surviving and finding love go hand in hand. Sympathy Kiss isn’t that kind of game. The most recent otome game released in English by Otomate and Idea Factory is set in a very typical workplace and features a heroine who works a regular job. When the game begins, Akari Amasawa (whose name you can alter if you’d like) has been employed for almost a year as a designer for a company that creates news apps. She is then presented with an offer that she finds difficult to turn down: the company’s main app isn’t performing well, and she has the opportunity to redesign it. This, of course, places her in the path of eight desirable men, two of whom are secret and six of whom are evident, giving her the opportunity to succeed in both her career and romantic life.
Though there are a lot of routes, Sympathy Kiss isn’t a really complicated game. The duration of each route is approximately six chapters, and the entire experience can be completed in forty to forty-five hours, based on your reading speed; the time may be reduced if you disable the voices. (I understand the extreme pain hearing voiced lines can sometimes cause, but I don’t encourage it because the performance is outstanding, especially KENN as Nori.) Every potential partner seems to fall neatly into a particular genre stereotype (the chirpy one, the tsundere one, the human-pet one, etc.). There are two pathways with clearly older characters—one standard and one secret—and they’re written competently enough to be engaging. It rarely feels like you’re just going through “the red one” or “the blonde one,” even with the more cliched aspects of each character, which broadens the appeal.
The game’s common route is thankfully brief, and by saving at every option, you can choose a different character route for every new game without having to skip too many steps. The paths that don’t involve a colleague begin immediately and are determined by a single option (Nori’s route begins as soon as you decide to allow him to stay with you, for example). On the other hand, coworker paths start when you select whether you would like to collaborate with Mitsuki, Kohei, Yoji, or Rokuro at the conclusion of the common route. One main path doesn’t unlock until you’ve finished a game, while the other two secret routes can be reached by decisions made inside two of the main routes. With a few intriguing gameplay aspects, each route offers a rather unique plot that is contingent upon Akari making standard dialogue choices.
The work/love balance is the main one. The majority of options are classified as satisfying one of those two requirements; the how you balance them dictates which of the three outcomes you receive. I enjoy that none of them are terrible; I don’t play otome games to feel unfairly punished by a terrible conclusion. Instead, I play them for enjoyment and escape. Every character has three ends: work, love, and perfect, which is attained by balancing the other two. After selection, the choices are color-coded so you can readily identify which gauge you’re filling in. You can also check which gauge you’re filling on the status page. There’s a chance that this will make the game seem less replayable. For completionists who don’t want to put too many hours into a single game, it’s just a great bonus that you can still go back and manually attempt for the other two endings. The way the game uses the heroine’s phone to connect with other players—ringing making the Switch controller buzz and vibrate like a vibrating phone—and the emotion selection are two more excellent elements. In response to a question, you are presented with a choice between two emojis rather than a verbal response. It has a greater influence on Akari’s personality than anything else, and her responses are recalled and frequently utilized in subsequent routes.
If you’re a picky person, the art is a little more difficult. Overall, it has a decent appearance with lots of original CGs, some of which are spicy, and nice backdrop details. (Sex scenes end abruptly.) I’m really in love with Akari’s apartment’s features, which somehow manage to look both whimsical and like a fully functional human home. The problem lies not only in the fact that Akari’s face is never shown above the eyes—that’s really rather normal for the genre, although a little strange. However, masculine characters appear chronically overtired due to the excessive number of wrinkles on their faces, while Usui, one of the older possibilities, appears malnourished. However, each love interest has a wide range of facial expressions, and unlike some otome games, the clothing isn’t overly picky. (As I gaze upon you, Amnesia.) Whatever your taste, it works well. It appears slightly better on the small screen of the handheld Switch, but it doesn’t appear stretched out on the large screen.
Regarding the plot, the standard disclaimers for otome games are applicable. Some players might be wary of a number of the routes due to power disparities, and Akari lacks personality in general. That does, however, start to change as you go along a route, and she at least starts acting more like an adult instead of a high school girl trapped in an adult body. The most of the romances are consensual, so there aren’t any obvious warning signs, but the plot lines aren’t very well-written or explored—rather, they’re just “that happened, and it was a thing” rather than anything more. The fact that Akari’s language is never written out and is instead limited to, “I told him that I felt this way,” could further irritate some viewers. Positives: You can choose to read the side stories chronologically or save them all until the very end. The side stories from the perspectives of each love interest are charming and provide depth to the plot.
Sympathy Kiss is a fun game all around. Despite its workday context, it offers blissful escapism despite bad writing choices and an overall lack of story tension. For those who enjoy otome games, this is a great low-key treat whether they play it on a large or tiny screen, or purchase the remarkably large limited edition (which comes with accessories like notebooks, a travel cup, and more) or the usual version.
