karma's good ending makes up for EVERYTHING. worth it omg it had me giggling and kicking my feet and bashing my head into a wall and screaming and

It's quite good, an interesting twist to the fairytales in the routes. About 16+ hours of game with seen dialogue skipped. At first the routes have similar text that I thought should have been skipped, but it was clever in that each route covering the same topic revealed different parts of it giving the player characters background more depth and further information in each route, so that at the final ending unlocked you pretty much have the entire story on the characters childhood and issues fully revealed. If you like otome visual novels, this is a great one, and free if you are hesitant about it.

I'm torn on this one, but I ultimately suggest it. You DO have to be a little masochistic. Not to enjoy it thematically game-wise, just spiritually as a game-lover.

The positives: New takes on 'twisted fairy tales', so the curses and plots are intriguing. It keeps you reading through the story - sometimes just because the characters are all hot messes. Technical-wise: easy to navigate screens and plenty of save slots (YOU WILL PROBABLY NEED THEM). You can complete both good and bad endings, and, though depressing, the bad endings are also decently thought out and are sufficient for their characters if you're into that, but it will not let you 'pass' the game so to speak. Despite the fact I only seem to navigate what becomes a 'bad ending' route, the tales are engaging enough to keep selecting new characters' plots just to see what they're about. For a free game, no matter the outcome you receive, if you like story-driven content this is definitely something to keep you engaged on a rainy day.

The In Between: There is a system settings option that shows you 'right' and 'wrong' choices. Where this is helpful for 'GOOD' endings, it takes away from the experience of the story as a whole and the mystery of your decisions while trying to sus out what each storyline needs. You can disable it, which I do like, but that that leads into the following---

The Bad: Without the 'right' choice, it is so incredibly unforgiving. This game has made me manic in that despite only answering a few questions wrong for an entire route you WILL fail and get a bad end. It is very much a "choose your own adventure" where all paths -but one- lead to destruction. The creators do draw attention to the save slots, but navigating 20 different save points just to guess where you went wrong with minimal story differentiation is miserable. At the 8-10 hr point after only getting bad endings I literally started maniacally laughing to myself. So if the creator wanted me to feel helpless and identify with the main character about being desperate to break curses - they've certainly succeeded. While this increases engagement for the replay, unless you want an endless loop of misery, I suggest you play once through with the "right" settings off for your own choice led version which you will most likely fail- then turn them on for the future replay. This will help you retain some level of sanity. (advice I give freely but won't take myself. i'm too far gone now that i'm x-many-times 3 failed stories deep)

Generic Opinions more for the creator, not user, should they choose to read it: This seemed like it potentially could been a 5 part story where each breaking of a different person's curse gains the MC part of her salvation since she needed "large" redeeming gestures, but the MC's curse isn't broken until all characters are saved. But overall it would need to be a little more forgiving choice-wise- especially at the beginning when you're just 'meeting' the characters and don't know how to best respond accordingly. That way we -the gamers- are forced to engage with all stories, maximizing content time and engagement with your media. Then, perhaps, you choose your final ending with one of the characters. Replaying a final chapter or two from a final save point to experience all endings feels more fun than constant failure. :(

Unrelated, I know it's themed otome and that's why certain story choices were made, but I think this really could have stood very well as an independent title in a story-rich catagory with some tweaks. Maybe then it could have left the (SPOILERS) vague references to forbidden familial relationships and pedophilic themes to the wayside. It's a choice, for sure, which you were well within your rights to make, but story-wise I would have loved if there was more than one way to break a character's curse depending on your choices. I would have loved to see a 'friendship' ending or literally any other options that didn't involve only constant death. At some point it becomes discouraging as a player; having only one right answer every single time means the pleasure of choice is removed and it becomes a memory game instead of an otome reading experience. I think with the addition of either more paths OR a larger passing margin for a successful ending experience OR if you simply fail quicker once the bad decision margin is reached instead of dragging it alllll the way to the end - it would boot your game to the next level (including confidently charging a decent price for your game). And, if Steam so kindly would turn aside here... *whispers* this could potentially make a really good multi season online comic-style story that would gain traction as well. It has the right set-up for what could be some really fleshed out stories with an interesting initial plot and deep dive into the world you/your team created. If you've done this already, someone send me titles and platforms.

Over all, I genuinely think the mutated fairytales made for a great read. Even though Rumple was pretty obvious, uncovering the curses, how they affected those around them, and which characters they represented was fun irl! My incredibly late 'a-ha' moment for Karma made me feel like an idiot, but that's only because it was well revealed. I think you could do a lot more with these themes if re-visted in the future. Similar style world. Different characters. Different POV.s Whoever's imagination did the world-building should be applauded for a good story premise. Predictable good vs evil themes, but still uniquely executed. I'll keep an eye out for any releases in the future.