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| Yosuga isn't even trying to hide the Anaxa agenda on here. |
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/olympia/catharsis/
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/olympia/catharsis/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v52265
Release date: 11-18-2025
I wasn't really sure if I should get this sequel but... I liked Riku a lot so I got it just for him.
I had no real expectations and just decided to keep them low.
If you haven't played the original then I don't suggest starting here
since it builds on the original game and requires investment.
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself.
Pro's
- Story wraps up the character's arcs & develops even minor characters without sprites.
- Art and Music are as good as the prequel.
- Good content value to warrant the 8500k yen price.
Grey area
- Those wanting something short and sweet may be in for more than they bargained.
- Convenient writing. Rainbow rain? that is canon for all now.
- Epilogues can feel samey but no one was done dirty.
Con's
- A new character; Nathanael feels like a third wheel that just exists in most routes.
- Some routes much like the prequel have bad CG pacing and/or a lot of them at once.
- Padding and pacing issues galore.
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I loved the OP movie this time a lot more than the OG! has nice gentle feel to it.
Best ending song was pretty decent, the art aesthetic of it was good.
The bad ending song was OK but the tone felt weird to me
it had a sad-happy vibe? like shit happens, anyway!
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System
Same as original, there's not much changed.
- Art appeared to be as gorgeous as it mostly was in the OG.
I discovered atleast one CG in Tokisada's route that seemed like they had to meet
their quota more than anything else, most of the other CG's were good so who cares.
- Music is the mostly the same which is nice and familiar.
- UI is a lot better and you can reach the backlog more easier now.
They also separated the save and load buttons so its an improvement indeed.
The text was also easy to read, which was a relief for my grandma eyes.
- Pacing and chapter length felt like it was about the same as the original.
There are a lot of chapters again but the length is again 30-45 min to an hour-ish.
I suppose the length can depend on your reading speed, someone slow
and taking their time is going to take longer than a fast reader.
- Clearing all routes took me around 75 hours or so my switch says.
The individual route length was roughly 8-10 hours or so and Akaza's route was quite a bit longer than the others.
- You don't need a guide if you're after the best ends, cuz of the correct choice
indicator, left side of the compass is where you wanna be for a good time
but to the right always leads to a bad or sad end. Its really easy to get the good end
and its nearly impossible to not get it. The tune for bad choices is indeed a warning.
Bad endings are well bad, I only liked maybe two of them in the whole game and one
focused on Kanan was one of them. Wait what?! why...? because oranges are better when peeled.
🍊🍊🍊
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The prequel was relatively open ended, happy enough but not fleshed out.
Tenguu island main issues aren't entirely gone and they still tried to keep the same shitty
traditions despite there being noticable improvements so there was still some crap going on.
You can't have a wedding with that so before that happens Olympia and her LI of choice
iron out any issues. Not everyone was happy with what the heroes or so to speak tried
to achieve which tended to lead to a lot of drama.
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Due to its contents this was not a FD but more of a direct sequel.
Upon starting the story, you're shown a prologue what appears to be a continuation of Akaza's
route but what they did is make certain elements (not all) of Akaza's route canon for all routes.
To put it simply the rainbow rain fell for every one. (Or did I get the wrong impression?)
Some things from all route canonically happened within two and a half years.
There was also atleast one flashback per route that was about
Himuka revealing himself to Olympia or those he trusts.
The prologue lasted maybe 2ish hours, depending on reading speed.
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| Then just go pray to the goddess, in hopes he is not a white.😂 |
Early on I was still a bit confused on the prologue over how things were implemented.
I find most of the characters competent enough and capable of dealing with things
if they put their minds to it so this didn't seem like an impossible turn of events.
Looking back at the original, some route had very little issues by the time of their end anyway
so the writers can get away with some of this just to drive the narrative as a whole forward.
I also realized most of the crap that happened in Akaza's route in OG was Tsukuyomi's fault.
So the stuff with the mirrors was likely not as big of a deal for everyone in other routes...
i'm making excuses am I not? and otomate is getting away with it.
Catharsis also had the same route restrictions as the original game, so if you thought
you could jump straight to Akaza its hahahah no you go everyone else first.
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| Akaza fans live reaction upon finding out his route is locked. |
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I did notice some audio issues, they were mostly in the prologue; in it there were a handful of
dialogue lines where the voice was a bit off; the most obvious was Himuka and there was
one moment where Daifuku sounded off like the voice file was damaged or something.
The rest of the game was fine and I encountered no issues, likely an oversight.
There were still a decent amount of flashbacks but they were for the most part used properly.
Other characters such as Hairi and Asuha had there sprite & voice actor changed, this took
a while to get used to but this is because they're older now, they grow up so fast huh?!
Though he still had that same foul mouth... tho a little less now.
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Overall, I kept my expectations low but it was a pretty good follow up!
I find that its weakness is that it can focus a bit too much on side characters
but most of the drama seems to be intertwined to the character of that route.
Whether old side characters showed up a lot depended on relevance, the new ones
took up the majority of the run time. In some cases like Riku it complimented
what was build thus far. Individual route's plot was still inline with the
characters personal struggles and good at closing off their stories.
Now what I found excellent is that even if the character had no sprite their story continued
i'd say that's excellent worldbuilding but its a shame they are still spriteless.😖
This sequel wasn't the short and sweet type, it had substance.
Content value was good, the routes in Catharsis didn't feel as short as in 9RiP sequel.
Nathan the new white guy wasn't very relevant for most of the game, like he just
exists and instead it focuses more on the current LI's problem or that of side characters.
It isn't till the final route that he feels part of the story and idk if that is good or bad.
Routes that never went into the truth don't go into that and are relatively self-contained.
I can forgive some of that. They took some liberties with the prologue afterall
but the routes were all follow ups to the ones in the prequel.
I recommend Olympia Soiree Catharsis to anyone that was invested into the characters
and would generally like to see more with them. The game is only difficult to recommend
to those that lost investment over the years. Or expected something short&sweet
because the routes were long and require time to complete.
The story also heavily focuses on healing and forgiveness so if you dislike this
or a huge focus on side character drama it could be a skip.
TL;DR
I enjoyed Riku's route!!! but struggled with Tokisada's. Yosuga was fine...
and thought Kuroba was pretty good even if I don't like him as a LI.
Disappointment ensued by how little relevance Nathan had in the initial 4 routes
its not till the locked routes the actual story picked up. Some routes weren't actually
all that interesting, those tended to focus too much on new side characters.
That Baraku guy was such a bonehead problem child, I'm so tired.
Akaza's route felt longer than most but his was the only route that brought resolution.
Atleast with Riku I found some stuff that compliments his character arc. I don't even
remember much about Tokisada's route other than Baraku stomping around.
The romance was still good but it was rather plot heavy, I'd say its worth it to get
more contents with your favorite LI but if that LI is Himuka or Akaza you could
suffer trying to get to them since their routes are locked. Other than that this just had
its ups and downs but most of it wasn't too bad. Even if I only liked my favorite
it was still a worthwhile investment, afterall I don't need to like every route.
Unfortunately I think they switched the writers at the end of Akaza's route because
at one point I had to wonder if I was playing the same game that I had started 70 hours ago.
Thankfully the resolution was still satisfying but man... wew lad.
8/10 As for the recommended play order; the same as the original game is fine, which is
what I used. Its also okay to do any of the initial available LI in whatever order you want.
My play order: Riku > Tokisada > Yosuga > Kuroba > Himuka > Azaka.
Character rambles and shitty text dumps after the jump, I share a few of my fav CG's
but not all of them. Better stop reading here if you don't want spoilers.
