Release Date: February 27, 2024 (North America)
Developers:  Otomate
Publishers:  Idea Factory International
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: T (US/Canada) | CERO D (Japan) | PEGI 12, USK 18

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SYNOPSIS

About a year has passed since Akari Amasawa started her new job as a designer at Estario, a mobile app maker. While she doesn’t dislike her job, she’s not deeply passionate about it either. After her yearly performance review, she’s given the opportunity to join the Estarci team.

The company’s namesake app, Estarci is a news app that made a big splash when it launched but has since fallen behind rival apps, including apps run by Estario itself. Management has decided to give the app one last chance before shutting it down for good, and Akari and all of her new co-workers will need to give it their all to save the app from the chopping block.

Will Akari find true love? Will she find what it is she wants to do in life? Will the app get shut down? Wait, was Akari only given this opportunity because the company was looking for an excuse to fire her?!

ART AND MUSIC

Illustrator/Artist:	Fuji Rito (Main), Iga Oma (Chibi)
Supporting Character Design:	Iga Oma, Ayu Nekoi
Scenario:	Shiho Kitayumi, Yoshino Oyama, Hiroe Aoki, YUKI, Kanata Hoshino, STUDIO-M, Usagirisu Co.
BGM:	Marie Akita
OST:	GENIC PALLET
Lyrics, Composition, &Arrangement:	Luna Haruse, Keita Miyoshi (OP), Himi Izutsu, Kentaro Ishii (ED), Tota Fujiwara (Featured Song)
Director:	Hiroe Aoki (Main), Yoshino Oyama (Assisting Director)

Japanese illustrator Fuji Rito, the main illustrator behind Lover Pretend, is also the primary artist responsible for the character design and main CG illustrations in Sympathy Kiss. The game’s character sprites were definitely a sight for sore eyes. The variation of outfits was definitely brilliant, and I have pretty much enjoyed most of the *thirsty* CGs the game offers. Sympathy Kiss’s OST and BGMs were also fantastic, though it’s nothing to write home about, in my opinion.

If you’re a fan of limited editions, I definitely recommend getting Idea Factory International’s LE set for this game, as it comes with some really cute and nifty items befitting the game’s “office romance” theme! You can check out my unboxing video below if you’re curious what items are included inside the LE!

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★Voice Acting

Gakuto Kajiwara as “Mitsuki Saotome” – Mitsuki Shirota (Jack Jeanne), Akira Mikado (Cafe Enchante), Luka (Honkai Star Rail), Hiiro Amagi (Ensemble Stars!), Kamuro (Tengoku Struggle), Nukemaru (Touken Ranbu), Ced (FE Heroes)

Yuichiro Umehara as “Kohei Minato” – Paschalia (Radiant Tale), Benkei (Birushana), Canus Espada (Café Enchanté), Enishi (Jack Jeanne), Demento (Period Cube), Shingen Takeda (IkeSen), Sage (Nekopara Catboys Paradise), Oochidori (Touken Ranbu)

Kazuyuki Okitsu as “Yoji Kobase” – Ankou (Virche Evermore), Tsukuyomi (Olympia Soiree), Epilogi (Café Enchanté), Hachisuka Kotetsu (Touken Ranbu), Dante (Jack Jeanne), Ray (EPHEMERAL), Kuya (NU Carnival),  Kyrie (Ozmafia!!), Keith Knight (Iris School of Wizardry)

KENN as “Nori Tainaka” – Limbo (Bustafellows), Shelby (Cupid Parasite), Futo Asahina (Brothers Conflict), Minakawa Asahi (Gakuen Club), Totomaru Minowa (Kenka Banchou Otome), Kei (Ken ga Kimi), Yukimaro (9 R.I.P.)

Seichirou Yamashita as “Rokuro Yoshioka” – Yoichi (Winters Wish), Yagen (Touken Ranbu), Ryuki (Juuzaengi), Jeremiah Jenkins (Money Parasite), Hugo (Virche Evermore: Error Salvation)

Yuya Uchida as “Shuya Usui” – Galgali (Chainsaw Man), Akira Totsuka (Kamigami no Asobi), Akihiko Kira (Kiniro no Corda), Hendrickson (7 Deadly Sins), Arthur Rimbaud (Bungo Stray Dogs), Arata (Tokyo Ghoul), Furutsugu (Scarlet Fate)

Mayuko Kazama as “Nanami Oe” – Paula Warren (Death end re’Quest 2), Kaela MacMillan (The Legend of Heroes Trails through Daybreak), Alex Chen (Life is Strange), Yukiha (Prima Doll)

Soma Saito as “YOFY” – Yves (Virche Evermore), Akase (Charade Maniacs), Mineo (CollarxMalice), Tsurumaru/Namazuo (Touken Ranbu), Shungen (Birushana), Levi (Psychedelica AH), Yumeno Gentaro (Hypnosis Mic), Kikunosuke (Tengoku Struggle), Ohtaro (Winter’s Wish), Takuma (Kitty Love)

Arthur Lounsbery as “Toshinobu Esaka” – Hyuga (Paradigm Paradox), Toa Quifer (Court of Darkness), Yoru (EROSION), Shigeo Yamada (Masamune-kun’s Revenge), Ken Ichijouji (Digimon Adventure 02)

Kosuke Toriumi as “Tsukihiko Higa” – Ichiya (Variable Barricade), Mikazuki Munechika (Touken Ranbu), Watson (Code Realize)Saito Hajime (Hakuoki), Poyo-Poyo (Period Cube), Shuu (Diabolik Lovers), Kagiha (Psychedelica BB), Rei Mikuni (CollarxMalice), Chojiro (Nightshade), Cecil (Utapri)

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MAIN CHARACTERS AND ROUTES

This game has a total of eight routes: six main routes and two not-so-secret routes, which you’ll stumble upon one way or another during a blind playthrough. The only story that’s locked is Shuya’s, which becomes playable only after finishing your first LI route.

There are no route orders recommended by the devs, and I personally believe that a ‘route order‘ doesn’t matter much in this game. So, feel free to wing it however you like. The game does offer some small non-spoilery hints about the two secret routes. In any case, if you do prefer to follow a play-order regardless, my soft recommendation would be: Mitsuki → Kohei → Yoji → Rokuro = Secret Route #1 → Nori → Secret Route #2 → Shuya. The flow of this suggested order basically follows a trajectory from the heroine working within her company to her work outside of it. I also think Rokuro and Secret Route #1 should be played back to back for plot reasons, but that’s just my opinion.

WALKTHROUGHS

• Mitsuki Saotome
• Kohei Minato
• Yoji Kobase
• Rokuro Yoshioka
• Secret Route #1
• Nori Tainaka
• Secret Route #2
• Shuya Usui

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NOTE: The content below is spoiler-free, though any potential spoiler-y details on my deep dives regarding the plot or characters will be enclosed in a spoiler drop-down, which you can choose to read or skip. Click the spoiler tabs at your own risk!

MITSUKI SAOTOME

• red headed genki but….😑😒
• sweet tooth

Mitsuki is in-charge of Estarci’s planning and development. Although still young, he’s considered a genius hitmaker for consistently coming up with excellent ideas and interesting projects. He’s an intelligent individual with a carefree attitude that can sometimes rub people the wrong way. However, despite this, he remains quite friendly, and even though people may complain about him, they still find him amicable nonetheless.

I started this game with Mitsuki because it’s a rule of thumb to start every otome game with a red-headed genki. (jk).😂 Granted, I was genuinely expecting the typical genki route for this one, but boy oh boy, was I wrong…😅

Let me start with the positives first and say that I really like how Mitsuki was not all talk and that he can really work in great detail, exceeding everyone’s expectations in the company. And y’know what, I really respect co-workers like that. So, even if you come across as overbearing, as long as you can consistently produce SSS in all your projects, you get a free pass from me! I think I’ve also learned to like Mitsuki as an NPC in general; he was really good in Rokuro’s route as well as in any other routes… but his own.💀

To be fair, the game describes him as “having an attitude that can rub people the wrong way” and that’s exactly what happened in this route,😂 he rubbed me the wrong way that I pretty much remained indifferent all throughout his story. So, sasuga writers, I guess?!😂 There’s also some forced angst shoved into this route that made me roll my eyes hard, and his backstory, to be frank, was lackluster. So yeah, this route was my least fav in the entire game.

KOHEI MINATO

• tsundere
• love bites?🫦

Kohei Minato joined the team six months ago after being recruited from another department, and he was promptly assigned to work on Estarci. Despite being older than Akari and Mitsuki, he regards both as his seniors (having to call them “senpai” most of the time). He can be a little cold upfront, but he gets the work done and appears to be very motivated in the office.

I couldn’t exactly recall the last time I had a taste of Umehara portraying a tsun tsun character, so his flustered baritones in this route were certainly a treat! In all honesty, this route’s *plot* was substandard and mediocre at best, but I’ve gotta say that I surprisingly enjoyed it because of Kohei and Akari’s interactions. While Kohei is your typical tsundere, he’s also the scheming type and he loves to get a reaction from the heroine, which I thought made their dynamic so good! There were definitely moments in this route where you’d go “hehe“, 🤭 & giggle on the side. The heroine, Akari, was also a little extra here; especially during her drunken moments.😏In addition, in contrast to Mitsuki’s route where they were always working even on dates, I love that in Kohei’s route, he and the heroine actually spent quality time together and did something other than work. All in all, not a bad route per se, provided you can overlook the anticlimactic office drama plot they attempted to weave into the story.🤷‍♀️

On a different note, the smut in Kohei’s route was extra goooooood! My goodness! They did it until the break of dawn! Why is it always the silent types that possess the stamina of Jason Momoa?!

YOJI KOBASE

• workaholic, erotic 👀
• best boss

Yoji is Estarci’s director who takes the lead in its renewal project. He is trusted by the President of Estario, and he’s handpicked each and every member of his team, including the heroine. He is very workaholic, and his private life is almost invisible. With his tough demeanor and stern tone, he is feared within the company.

Okitsu as the stern and sexy megane boss is such a good combo, isn’t it? I went into this route with zero expectations, other than, well… that! Let’s be real, here!😏 (cackles) On the contrary, I was taken aback by how good the first half of this route is. Akari being overworked and making huge blunders in the company, getting constantly reprimanded by her superior, was too REAL. I felt all of it! And despite Kobase having an uptight, tough nature as a boss, he was very kind and considerate to Akari, and still recognized her hard work. Almost the perfect boss to have in the corporate world, if you ask me! And no, they don’t exist in real life, sadly!😂

Albeit extremely cliche, I loved the trope they used here to fuel Akari and Kobase’s closeness (read spoiler section if you’re curious). Unfortunately, the work conflict in this route was very uninteresting to me. Again, a lot of conflicts and forced angst seem to get thrown out of nowhere to move the plot forward, and I really didn’t care for it, to say the least. It was the romance and the relationship of the heroine with Kobase that I was really invested in. And speaking of which, the fanservice in this route was on the money! I feel like this route is going to be a fan favorite for that aspect alone!😏

ROKURO YOSHIOKA

• modern day ouji-sama
• best boy! 😭

Rokuro Yoshioka is the heir of the IT Company, Tempesty, a chief business partner of Estario. A lot of women are drawn to him for his good looks, intelligence, and wealth, yet his current focus leans more towards work than love.

As a Sei-chan biased, Rokuro was the character I was most excited about in this game, and I actually planned on saving his route for last because I wanted to end my gameplay with a massive brain rot with him at the center of it!😂😂😂 But alas! I couldn’t resist and dove into his story early on, and ngl, I kind of regret it! (laughs) Rokuro was just too perfect, but what’s the catch? I was literally on edge because, in most games, the “perfect” character normally turns out to be a gigantic red flag in the end. Turns out, my doubts were totally out of place! Rokuro was genuinely the ideal love interest! Perfect is an understatement; the dude was damn flawless! And his route? It was peak kdrama!😩👌 I absolutely enjoyed it from start to finish.

NORI TAINAKA

• male wife
• sugar baby

Nori is the young man whom the heroine found collapsed in the streets. With his persuasive puppy-dog eyes, he talked himself into staying at her apartment. He’s a couch surfer and normally exudes a soothing vibe.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of Nori, nor the tropes in this route, and even after finishing his story, my opinion of him remained unchanged.😂However, I did find myself getting pretty invested in his story, regardless. Perhaps it was because I was eager to learn more about Nori’s personal history—Who is he? Why is he homeless? 😂I found myself intrigued during the first half of his route. However, after his *big reveal* which turned out to be somewhat underwhelming😅 (for me, at least), I lost interest in his story halfway through. What I did like about Nori as a character, though, was that he was such a good friend not only to the heroine but to everyone. He genuinely cares, and he’s naturally perceptive of people. He can read the room and even knows when to skedaddle if he thinks he’s stepping on boundaries. That, to me, is always a commendable trait!

Needless to say, the saving grace for this route was his lovey-dovey relationship with the heroine and, of course, the smut! I just feel like people will forgive a character because he brings good smut to the table, no? 😂 Apparently, he ranked second in Japan’s popularity poll, and I was kind of mad knowing that the two DILFs got shafted last. This is me typing this atm, with a stink eye!🤨

SHUYA USUI

• green flag dilf is my favorite color!
• Usui route in a nutshell

Shuya Usui is the owner and bartender at Evergreen, a restaurant and bar with a great vibe located near Estario.

This is it ya’ll! A proper dilf route! It had been 84 years since we got Kaoru Rindo in CE, and I wouldn’t really count Cef in Benibana, since that game was old.

But ermahgerd! This route is feeding every dilf-deprived atom in my entire being! My crops are suddenly watered, my skin is cleared, my wig is snatched, my depression is cured! God bless, whoever put this route together, you deserve a raise! I was very happy about this route because they handled the age gap between Shuya and the heroine so well. There was consent in just about everything. In fact, there was so much consent that the heroine ended up being extremely frustrated all the time! 😂

I have to admit, Shuya’s story took its time to rev up, but the moment when MC (Akari) started acting up, that’s when this route got me hooked! It had me gasping-yelping all the time; the girl was just down bad for Usui. And I was right there with her! I had a huge grin on my face in every chapter because I kept anticipating what she was going to do next. 😂

On a more wholesome note, Shuya was also an exceptional love interest. He was very kind, very calm and very mature. I was blown away by how he handled Akari’s advances. He was remarkably tactful, and you could clearly see how he was very careful with his responses to the heroine’s impulsiveness. Consent is indeed the sexiest thing ever! Honestly, this was a great route altogether! Definitely a main course for dilf lovers, like myself!

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SECRET ROUTE #1

SECRET ROUTE #2

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AKARI AMASAWA (Main Heroine)

• a.k.a YOU! 🫵
• thirsty af

Akari is your eyeless protagonist, who has zero spoken lines which, ngl, took me a while to get used to. This approach seems to stem from the developers intending for this game to have a more “yume” (self-insert) approach. However, I’d argue that the only factor tipping the scales toward making me think of her as a self-insert MC is the lack of dialogue. Her own thoughts were profoundly articulated during the game, and more often than not, she is her own person with a distinctly established personality.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed Akari as the protagonist in Sympathy Kiss. She was hardworking, smart, bold, and very mature! I’d like to emphasize ‘mature’ because this trait really stood out to me about her. In almost all the routes, if any miscommunication happened, she would immediately attempt to hash it out, so misunderstandings never dragged. Akari was also very proactive in resolving conflicts with her love interest. It was refreshing to see her take the initiative and be the first one to address their relationship’s issues.

I also loved how she can get a bit h0rny at times. Her thirstiness really tickled my funny bone so much that I found myself mostly cheering for her the entire game. She was very relatable and authentic, and as a working adult woman myself, I was able to vibe with her easily.

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

The localization for Sympathy Kiss was pristinely done, and I have no complaints in this department. Its user interface adheres to the standard Otomate interface. There are, however, a few added features to the gameplay, such as the “emotion select system,” which basically involves selecting different emotions when reacting to the LIs during your playthroughs. These emotional choices range from happiness, anger, sadness, etc. and sometimes they alter the course of the narrative during your conversations with the characters.

Additionally, there’s the RiNG feature, which allows the MC to exchange messages and engage in conversations with her LIs. While this feature isn’t entirely new, as we’ve seen it adapted in several popular games in the past, such as Variable Barricade and Collar x Malice (to cite a few examples), I think it’s still a nice touch to kind of bring about the ‘modern-day office romance’ vibe element into the gameplay.

Lastly, I think the spin-off stories (which come up at the end of each chapter) were a delightful addition to the story episodes. It was quite interesting to see the POVs of our gents during certain peak scenes in their respective stories.

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

Despite having eight love interests, I was surprised by how quickly I finished this game. It took me approximately 40-45 hours to complete and unlock everything. I mostly played on auto-mode, so in theory, you can probably finish the game in less than 40 hours.

This title offers three different endings for each route: the “Perfect” ending, which is technically the best outcome of the story, and you have the “Love” and “Work” Ending. Interestingly, the game doesn’t have any bad endings; almost all of the story conclusions end on a more positive note regardless of which ending you unlock.

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Sympathy Kiss is a game with a theme centered on modern-day office romance. It explores various topics concerning adult relationships and portrays mature romance in contemporary society. All the stories have low stakes, in the sense that nothing grandiose happens that would leave you spiraling on edge; instead, the events are more relaxed and easygoing in nature. No conflicts were unnecessarily dragged, and the game was very consistent in maintaining a lighter and more laid-back tone. This game was also developed by the same team behind Lover Pretend, so you’ll notice a somewhat similar approach in terms of simplicity and the use of effective cliche tropes.

I think what I appreciated the most was that although the game offers you eight routes to tackle, none of them felt shoehorned. More times than not, when a game crams you with 8 love interests, you’d find most of the stories to be quite repetitive and the plot overly compressed to a point where you just couldn’t wait for it to end. In Sympathy Kiss, however, it was just the right sizable portion of everything. While romance undoubtedly took center stage, the office drama subplot also added depth to the storytelling, (though if I’m being honest, I pretty much just viewed it as more of a backdrop, or a catalyst, in moving the story forward.)😂 Furthermore, I was also pretty satisfied with how the game makes sure to shower you with plenty of sugar and steamy content at the end of each story.

Sympathy Kiss is rated CERO D (+17). So yes, there’s going to be some light smut in this title, but it’s not overly suggestive either. If you’re looking for something explicit, though, you won’t find that here!

Of course, the game is not without its flaws. Some routes were written pretty well, while some were pretty meh.🤷‍♀️ As far as the stories went, my favorite route would definitely be Rokuro’s . His route was like watching a B-grade kdrama, – it really indulged me & my chaebol romance fantasies!😂 Though admittedly, secret route #2, came pretty close as well, but for a different reason!👀 That said, he was my second fav!

On the other hand, my favorite route as far as the smut goes,🤭 was Shuya’s! (I know…pretty obvious right?)😂 Kohei Minato takes second place, because you know how it is with the shy boys right?😏

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I would also like to highlight that as someone who belongs to the older spectrum of the fandom, I am very grateful that this game showcased wonderful older gent love interests. 🥰They weren’t just there for the sake of having romanceable older men; their routes were all carefully thought out and handled with care. I really hope this becomes a trend in future localized otome games!

⬇️ Click to View Author’s Personal Commentaries

WARNING TMI: Reflecting on the romance portrayed in this game, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity – almost uncomfortably so! It was as if the characters were drawn straight from the pages of my own colorful dating history back in the heyday (cackling). All of the LIs’ personalities resemble traits of your typical modern-day dating partner, and goodness me! were they all too real for comfort?! They are your typical dudes you’ll see in different walks of life. One you may encounter on Tinder, or if you’re older, OKC! 😂😂😂 (laughs) It’s so amusing and uncanny at the same time!😂 Sometimes it was hard to disassociate even, which is crazy to me because I’ve always been able to separate IRL and fiction. This is probably why I couldn’t see myself liking Nori Tainaka that much despite being a fan favorite who topped second in the game’s character polls. I’ve seen way too many dudes who loves to mooch off a woman’s coin, so I was really squicked out for the most part of his route. On the flip side, this is also probably why I loved Rokuro so much; because he is too perfect; and “too perfect” does not exist irl. So characters who remain in the realm of fantasy are easily handpicked by my brain as the best boy!😂

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Do I recommend this game? YES.
Needless to say, I had a blast playing Sympathy Kiss. This game was a lot of fun! It’s a very chill, modern-day romance-themed otome game with plenty of spicy fillings that are sure to indulge your guilty pleasures. Honest to god, I really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere the game immerses you in. It certainly has a very laid-back charm that I easily vibed with, making it the perfect game to pick up if you’re in the mood for unwinding and indulging yourself in adult romance.

If you’re someone who regularly rotates visual novels, you can play this one as a palate cleanser in between or after a more emotionally demanding story-based game. It’s a lighter read, so anyone who appreciates romance in a simple modern-day setting will surely like this title. With its stunning art and alluring voice acting, the game is just so easy to enjoy! Lastly, this otome game carries a very optimistic tone throughout, so I feel like the best way to play it is to simply sit back, relax, and let the story do its thing!

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