Olga Doesn't Die

Lesbians, politics, revolution and a witch. Count me in!! I really liked the story and the way the romance was handled

surprisingly not feeling this one. the storytelling is terse in a way that makes the romance feel unearned, i think. i might give it another shot later but i got to the first outright romantic scene feeling zero emotional investment so it's hard to recommend at the moment!

It's... weird. The romance is good. In Niko's case, [i]very[/i] good. The use of context is weak, however promising the Rasputin retelling was. The writing is very awkward at first, but either it gets better or I got used to it. The story stays awkward way longer. It never decides what to do with politics, and the only two "debates" we see are so surface-level it feels like a parody ("There should be no monarch." "I couldn't agree with her.") It would have been understandable if immortal Olga stopped being invested, but the others should have cared, and even Olga should have some opinions about the system she protected for centuries! It's hard to put into words, but the politics felt off. It didn't even come off as the devs trying to be impartial, it felt like both sides barely knew why they believe in what they do. (which looks particularly bad for the revolutionaries) (at least it stops mattering near the end) I really liked Niko's route and endings, the writing really shines there! Olga's (lack of) morality, their selfishness, the realization that she never knew Niko coupled with the decision she doesn't care how bad she is, it was all really good. Toxic yuri at its finest! T…

Reading this as part of the Fall in Love VN Festival 2026. ✔️ Tested on Steam Deck, it works fine (01/09/2026). 'A' button to advance text and touchscreen for menu and choices. Communist lesbians? Doomed yuri? I say yes. Jokes aside the way this vns portrays Olga's helplessness really got to me, I wasn't expecting a short story to have such emotional impact on me. Knowing she can't die doesn't make watching her get hurt any less awful.

It's not a perfect game, but for the price of free, it hit me right in the feels in all of its endings, for better or worse. It also gave me an amazing soundtrack to binge listen to, and a great experience overall that I hope forms some very fond memories to look back on.

One of the best short visual novels I've ever played; if not the best. I've also played Shino's other VNs before this one, and wasn't sure how I felt about the Russian setting (my interest lies more with Japan & China) but this one blew me away with it's quality. I really like all 3 main characters, and think all 3 will hold a special place in my heart. Katusha is adorable, but the qualitively strongest two characters are definitely Olga & Niko, to me. I really felt for Olga the whole ride. The 4 endings are also all sublime, and all unique too [spoiler]my favorite ending being the 'good' (for lack of a better word) ending of Niko[/spoiler]. There's not much choices, yet with how unique the endings are, it almost feels like there were. A true recommendation for lovers of toxic yuri!