Sympathy Kiss review

Or “How I Helped My Company Bounce Back While Avoiding the Office Creeper”

Otome (literally “maiden games”) routinely transport us to noteworthy settings. Whether it’s London Detective Mysteria’s visit to the Victorian-era capital city, Collar x Malice’s envisioning Shinjuku as an epicenter of violence, or the Hakuoki’s duology fantastical take on the Edo period, the backdrops are often exceptional.

Enjoyably, Sympathy Kiss disrupts this custom. Much like their 2021 effort, Cupid Parasite, Otomate’s latest takes place in a decidedly modern-day workplace. Instead of worrying about criminality and enraged demons, protagonist Akari Amasawa faces a much more contemporary dilemma: having to decide between work and a love life.

Threads by Meta: The Game

Agreeably, there’s motivation for each pursuit. At the Estario office, you work as an interface designer, who’s become a bit disinterested in your duties, as evidenced by your latest evaluation. But when the company’s news app continues to hemorrhage users, it’s evident that a change needs to be made or else the Estarci application will go offline, potentially resulting in layoffs.

As such, it’s up to you and a small team to boost the program’s popularity and safeguard the livelihood of your coworkers. And after a succession of visual novels with decidedly fantastical goals, Sympathy Kiss’ slice-of-life-style predicament feels delightfully fresh. Even the game’s bachelors feel fresh, as you get to see their temperament outside the office.

Work, Love, Team, and Other Four-Letter Words

Expectedly, Estario’s aspirations put you alongside a group of eligible bachelors. Some have also been assigned to the Estarci project, so you’ll have frequent interactions with resident workaholic Yoji Kobase or Planning and Development specialist Mitsuki Saotome. Convincingly, Sympathy Kiss shows a rather static depiction of your coworkers when you’re in the in the office and even conveys a feeling of synergy as you work cooperatively. But you’ll see a different side of your colleagues in the game’s branching routes, as they reveal more intimate details of their personality.

Other bachelors might have more of an adjacent role, such as the son of one of Estario’s business partners. And then there are the guys who don’t have any affiliation with your company, such as Shuya Usai, a compassionate bartender who works at a nearby restaurant. Altogether, readers can expect six principal eligibles as well as a pair of secret routes, resulting in at least 40 hours of reading. Mercifully, the novel offers a hundred save slots as well as a story chart to minimize the amount of expositional reiteration.

Akari’s Quandary

Unsurprisingly, the tension between being a part of a successful team and relational entanglements are at the core of Sympathy Kiss. Periodically, you’ll be asked to make a decision that feeds into the two contrasting forces. These choices gradually fill a meter that determines which ending you’ll see. For better or worse, the novel’s goal seems to be finding a work/life balance. Although there’s no ‘bad’ endings to be found, being able to discover equilibrium results in some of the novel’s most rewarding outcomes.

But that decision isn’t the only bit of interactivity. Periodically, Akari be asked to provide an emoji-like response to an object or event. Effectively, your responses help shape the protagonist’s personality. And there’s a LINE-inspired app called RiNG that helps keep your relationships going, even during company hours.

Largely, Sympathy Kiss scripts Akari as a bit of a cypher, drawing her ambiguously and not providing her character with voice acting. But when your preceding sentiments get reiterated, it can feel like you play a minor role in shaping the character. That said, I did yearn for a scripted, more sophisticated character. Although the player is supposed to identify with Akari, her indistinctness was distracting.

Conclusion

Otome habitually deliver bouts of escapism, employing sweeping historical settings or plot devices like the supernatural. As such, Sympathy Kiss’ exploration of the tensions between work and play is interesting; it’s probably an occurrence that many people can relate to.

Sympathy Kiss was played on Switch with review code provided by the publisher