Apr 052024
Like every other game, the otome game Sympathy Kiss came out earlier this year.
And unlike all those other games, I’ve already finished it.
Sympathy Kiss gives some weird impressions when you first start playing. The main character has no eyes in CGs and no spoken dialogue, which is normally used for self-inserts.
However, the narration describes her dialogue, and instead of being very vague for self-insert purposes, it’s often specific enough that I wished she just had regular spoken dialogue. For example, “I told him that although I had just started, I found myself awed by the complexity of the role.” At that point, why not just give her dialogue?
The game begins with the main character being moved from her current office job in design to a special team dedicated to revitalizing the company’s struggling app.
After a short common route to introduce the characters, you pick a character to work with to start their route (although there are also a couple of secret routes that branch off from the others). From then on, you have two main types of choices.
The major choices, which occur once per chapter, determine which ending you get by giving you points toward either Work or Love. Each route has three endings: one if the love stat is highest, one if the work stat is highest, and the best ending if they’re balanced. The difference between choices sometimes feels incredibly arbitrary, but fortunately you can set the stats manually and replay the last chapter to quickly get all endings if you don’t want to go through the whole thing again.
Minor choices also pop up that have you respond with an emotion. For example, if a character offered you black coffee, you could choose to be either happy or sad about that. Later on in the route, the character will remember you choice and proceed accordingly.
Little details like that, along with the beautiful art, make Sympathy Kiss feel high-quality despite the off-putting impressions from the eyeless, voiceless protagonist.
The first route I followed was for the character who appealed most to me (Kobase, the intimidating yet kindhearted boss)… but unfortunately, I ended his route with mixed feelings. Certain aspects of their dynamic felt off, and the route’s conflict was annoying. The game wasn’t off to a good start.
But I liked the next route (Minato, who would prefer to work alone) much better, and several others after that were also enjoyable to play through. Sympathy Kiss has a total of 8 routes, 6 main routes and 2 secret routes, and while some felt rushed or annoying, others were incredibly good. Even one of the last routes I did (Tainaka, who has no home and just crashes with random women), which I expected to dislike, actually was a joy from start to finish.
Sympathy Kiss has some low points for sure, but it ended up being a game I enjoyed a lot. You won’t find high-stakes action or mind-bending plots here, but if office romance with character drama sounds like your cup of tea, it’s worth taking a look for some genuinely heartwarming and enjoyable romances.