Do you like fairytales? Do you like otome games? What about visual novels? Well, Cinderella Phenomenon covers all of these!
The story begins by introducing the main character, a female protagonist named Lucette. Though you can change the name, I like to keep the default names when I play games that offer them. The character begins as an icy, indifferent young lady who was taught throughout her entire life not to trust anyone around her by her now deceased mother. A sad story, though realistic in some aspects.
She ends up cursed! As expected of most fairytale settings. No one remembers her, though she was crown princess of the land, except those who are also cursed, or the witches and fairies who can cast such curses. As stated, others who are cursed remember who she is. So, she ends up having to lean on these fellow cursed folk to help her cure hers.
Like many Otome games, you pick your romantic route. You have a choice of which of the five romantic interests will help your character get rid of their curse. I won’t go in to the characters in detail, because each route has a lot of story spoilers but they are Karma, Rumple, Rod, Fitz and Waltz. I particularly enjoyed the Karma and Waltz routs. You have to get two good endings with Karma, Rumple or Rod to unlock Fitz and Waltz storylines, but it is certainly worth the effort. This can be a bit difficult. The game offers a setting that shows a reaction when you have picked the ‘good option’ in dialogue, but if you have the game on Steam there is an achievement for getting a good ending without the help.
All in all, no matter how you play this game, you are going to find an interesting fairytale and a lovely romance story. And guess what? A sequel is in the works!