Cinderella Phenomenon is a gorgeous otome game by Dicesuki. Oh my god, you guys, this game. I love the world SO MUCH, and the art is incredible, and the writing is superb, and the plot is phenomenal, and I’m going to run out of positive adjectives to describe it if I try to keep going. Thank you to everyone who recommended this game to me, it is amazing.
The premise of the game is that the protagonist, Lucette (renameable), is a crown princess of her kingdom. Despite her life of luxury, she is a miserable and cold-hearted person, feared by her subjects. She is cursed by a witch, causing everyone to forget who she is and transforming her into a pauper. In order to break her curse, she has to perform three good deeds -- which is harder than it sounds, for someone as awful as her. Taken in at the Marchen, a tavern specifically for those afflicted with fairytale curses, Lucette tries to become a better person, and possibly finds love in the process.
More below the cut!
This game has heavy themes of parental abuse and neglect, as well as a good number of fight scenes with descriptions of bloodshed and death.
Rod: Jerk Type
I love that Rod’s shota type look, complete with fricking rabbit stuffed animal, is completely undercut by his actual personality. Rod is the least cheerful love interest in the entire game; there is not an iota of bouncy childish wonder to this man. He may be younger than Lucette, but that doesn’t stop him from being downright brutal to her initially. Obviously, Rod’s “tragic back story” characteristic of the jerk type is, well... Actually Lucette’s fault, so it’s hard to blame him for his treatment of her. But the development of their relationship over the course of his route is beautiful, and the game is long enough that it isn’t rushed the same way this sort of path normally is. I’m usually kind of creeped out by step-sibling routes, but I personally found Rod’s to be really enjoyable and possibly my favorite in the game.
Karma: Mysterious Type
Karma is (literally) dazzlingly beautiful. He’s definitely friendly enough, although he’s occasionally moody. However, his conversation is a little bizarre and somewhat shallow. From the moment Lucette meets him, it’s clear that Karma is hiding a lot about himself, from the details of his curse to his life before he came to the Marchen. Although, with time, some snippets of his past are gradually revealed, he remains stubbornly unwilling to talk about the nature of his curse until the very end of the story. Karma is a fun character, even if he’s frustrating at times with his unwillingness to communicate.
Rumple: Player Type
God, I hated Rumple at first. But I absolutely love the way the ice-cold Lucette takes him down. Their constant bickering over whether flattery is good or dishonest is actually pretty interesting, and adds a lot to a dynamic that usually just involves the protagonist being constantly insecure that the player character doesn’t really like her. As more of Rumple’s history and personality are revealed, he turns from a kind of two-dimensional joke of a love interest to a genuinely intriguing guy, and I ended up loving his route. Don’t judge a book by its cover, I guess, even if the cover is littered with blithe compliments about the beauty of your eyes.
Fritz: Best Friend Type
Well, best friend might be strong, but given Lucette’s reclusive tendencies he’s definitely the closest thing to it. She grew up with him, and despite her general distrust of people she does trust him. For his part, Fritz is loyal to a fault and puts Lucette’s safety above his own. And, without spoiling too much, that’s what makes his curse so tragic. I like Fritz, but I have to admit I think his routes is one of the weaker ones since we don’t get to spend as much time with him.
Waltz: Shota Type
Waltz is a very unique character. Despite being trapped in a child’s body, his dark hair and red eyes still make him look somewhat intimidating. He’s truly an adult, and is generally fairly even-tempered and well spoken. However, he also hosts some childlike aspects, like his passion for puppets and magic shows. Waltz is definitely my favorite of them all, in terms of both character depth and plot.
Walkthrough (scroll down a lot, it's there I promise)
The Knife of the Traitor is a visual novel by Clua, made for the NaNoRenO challenge in 2012. I thought the premise was really interesting, and if anything I wish that the game was longer so that it could be developed more. If this were turned into a commercial game, exploring the adventures of Lady Os as she tried to repent for her past and turn Ulla into a beautiful kingdom, I would buy the fuck out of it. As it is, the game is pretty short, but still well executed and worth playing. Because of how short the game is, the relationships don't develop much, but that's honestly for the best. Given how much everyone but Corvus hates Lady Os, it would feel forced and unrealistic if they were suddenly completely devoted to her. Coding, spelling, and grammar are all superb in this game, and I didn't notice a single error.
The premise of the game is that Lady Os, ruler of the kingdom of Ulla, has woken up after a long cursed slumber. A knife through her neck seems to have taken both her voice and her memory. In the game, she and her servant Corvus search the tower and talk to the prisoners there. The game is in conventional visual novel format, with text that you click through and occasional choices that you select from a given list.
Vosges: Shota Type
Vosges is a shota type solely because of his appearance. The mushroom hat is a part of his torture devised by Lady Os, forcing him to keep the body of a thirteen year old boy no matter how old he becomes. His attitude, however, betrays his age and situation. He despises Lady Os for her horrible treatment of him, so his attitude is far from the cheery and excitable persona that most shota types possess. Likewise, Vosges is very knowledgeable and has spent much of his time in the tower researching, rather than being naive as is common among shota types. Lady Os repeatedly calls him "kid," but he staunchly asserts that he isn't a child.
Gervase: Jerk Type
Although all the prisoners hate Lady Os, Gervase is the most confrontational. He calls her a "bitch" to her face, and repeatedly tells her to "fuck off." Gervase has a tragic back story like most jerk types, although all the characters in the game have experienced one horror or another and Gervase's (known) story sort of pales in comparison. Gervase is unquestionably the most vulgar character in the game, as well.
Lilja: Eccentric Type
Well I mean, just look at him. Lilja is absurd in practically every way, from his attitude to his appearance to his actions. I thought it was rather interesting that Lilja is supposed to be a god, given the typical image of gods as poised and refined beings. I guess there's no rule that says gods can't be completely ridiculous, especially when they've been effectively held prisoner on earth for years. Although Lilja was really too comedic for me to take seriously as a love interest, I still thought he was an interesting addition to the cast.
Corvus: Best Friend Type; Protective Type
Corvus does have a human form, but for almost the entire game he is physically a crow. He has been Lady Os' servant ever since she was a baby, so to call them "best friends" does seem like a bit of a stretch since their relative positions of power were so unequal. However, he is as close to a friend as Lady Os has, since he's literally the only character who does not hate her and tries to treat her well. Corvus is also very protective of Lady Os. He tries to keep her from hearing the insults of the prisoners, is wary of possible attacks by residents of the tower, and even tries to hide facts from Os that he is afraid will pain her. Seriously, though, Corvus is actually adorable and his ending CG is my favorite. Please overlook the fact that he is literally a bird and play his route.
Days of the Divine is a visual novel released by Circle Pegasi. The game has absolutely gorgeous artwork, in terms of both the sprites and the background images. The plot is unique and interesting, and pulled me into the story. Additionally, I didn't notice any spelling, grammar, or coding errors in the game, which is a big achievement for a fairly long free visual novel like this. If I have a single complaint about this game, it's the romance. Although all three characters below are hypothetically "romanceable," I replayed Liufan's ending three times with different choices afraid that there was some "best" ending that I had missed, since he didn't seem "romanced" at all and figured I had somehow gotten a friendship end instead. None of the character endings have CGs, which was kind of a downer for me, and while I admit that the characters do seem to be starting a relationship on Maru and Senrei's path there are no cute confessions or kisses to be found. Although there certainly is a little bit of romance in the game, I want to ensure that you play this game for the story as well, since if you go into this game just looking for cute scenes with the romanceable character of your choice you will be disappointed.
The premise of the game is that the protagonist Biyu and Liufan are best friends who live in a shrine to Senrei. Liufan worships a different god at another shrine, to which he travels regularly to maintain and perform his duties. One day on his way to his shrine, Liufan is hit by the mists which float around the area and steal people's memories. Biyu finds him and brings him back home, then goes to perform Liufan's shrine duties. There, she finds a mysterious boy named Maru (who also seems to be having memory troubles) and brings him home as well. In all three good endings of the game, Biyu helps end the mist and free the people of the village from its curse, although the methods in which the mist is brought to an end vary immensely in the different endings. The mechanics of the game are conventional for a visual novel; click through the text and make selections for Biyu's actions from a set list occasionally which will impact the plot of the game.
Liufan: Best Friend Type
Liufan is a very unconventional best friend type because at the start of the game he gets amnesia and loses practically all his memory, including that of Biyu. As such, he and Biyu do not have a very conventional best friend relationship at the start of the game, and Liufan even assumes that Biyu must have disliked him given how sad she was every time they spoke. If she pursues him, Liufan does his best to relearn his past, including getting to know Biyu again. Even when he does not remember Biyu, Liufan is very kind towards her and often does her duties for her.
Maru: Shota Type
If you can't tell from his hands and his cute little face, Maru is a shota type. He is very easily excitable and finds amusement in little things. He is also frightened somewhat easily, as when he fears that there are monsters under Biyu's house, but is naive as well and trusts Biyu when she tells him that the monsters cannot get him if he goes to sleep by bedtime. He even has the characteristic love of sweets. However, as is later revealed, Maru is far more than just an immature boy.
Senrei: Villain Type
Senrei is the god causing the mists which drive animals insane and cause people to lose all their memories. In his attempts to destroy other gods with the mists, he does not care whether or not humans are hurt, making it clear that he has been corrupted from the benevolent god he once was. Although he is initially very cold towards Biyu, if she pursues him she is ultimately able to understand his motivations and eventually change his mind.
