Otome Game Review: Cinderella Phenomenon

Do you like gaming? Do you like romance? Do you like a horde of good looking men with interesting personalities all clamoring to be with you? Then I may have found a game for you. First of all, the art is absolutely stunning throughout. Each storyline is also very developed and gives you all the feels that you expect from an otome game like this. Let me delve into the plot first....

The story starts with you playing as a young princess. This princess has an icy demeanor that has given her the name "Ice Princess." She is feared by the villagers and staff in the palace. One day, one of her precious dolls, who actually turns out to really be a witch, casts a Fairytale Curse upon her. Her curse, the Cinderella curse, causes everyone to forget that she is actually the princess. Instead, she is just a common girl with nowhere to go. The only other people that know her true identity are witches, fairies, and other people who have been cursed. As the princess tries to survive on the streets, she is saved by two other cursed men that bring her back to a tavern that boards other cursed villagers. The witch who cursed her is also there. She explains to the princess that in order to break her curse, she must perform three good deeds. After the prologue and first two chapters, you are then able to choose a guy to help you break your curse, as well as trying to break his. There are five routes to choose from. Each route has two endings. There is a bad ending and a good ending. As you make decisions in certain scenarios, it will determine which ending you get. Every time you make a correct choice, you will get a crystal. If you get enough crystals, you will receive your happily ever after. If not, you will have to start over to see if you can get your happy ending. Luckily there is a fast forward button that helps you get to the choices faster. I only receive a happily ever after on one route on my first try. On Rod's route, it took me about ten times to get all the right choices because I kept forgetting what to pick. I will now break down each route in the order I did them without spoiling too much.

Rod- He is actually the main character's step-brother. He is inflicted with the Mermaid's curse. He can only speak through a little stuffed doll. He can seem pretty cold and distant. He is not very forthcoming with his feelings. I think that is one of the reasons it took me so long to get the happy ending with him. He was a very complicated character.

Karma- He is inflicted with the Beauty's curse. Because all women fall in love with him as a man, he is forced to dress as a woman so that he can fend off a multitude of women. There is more to his curse, but he isn't very forthcoming about it until near the end of his route. So I'm staying mum about that. This storyline was actually my favorite of the five. The story is not only beautiful, but Karma is absolutely charming and even made my heart flutter a bit.

Rumple- He is inflicted with the Rumpelstiltskin's curse. He cannot remember his name or anything about his past. He is also a giant flirt. He flirts with every woman in sight. His character makes me chuckle a bit with some of the lines he comes up with. He can seem a bit obnoxious at first, but he grows more endearing as the story goes along. His story is very cute, and the bad ending actually made me tear up a bit. So try not to get it!!

Fritz- His story is only unlocked after you finish two of the first three. Fritz is the princess' personal knight. He is inflicted by the Little Red Riding Hood curse. He doesn't know he is cursed though. His curse causes him too have two personalities, and he has no memory of the other personality. His story was probably my least favorite probably because there is more development with the alternate personality than there is with Fritz. I wasn't as attached to him as I was with the other characters. However, the story is still intriguing and has a lot of depth to it.

Waltz- Oh, Waltz, where do I start with you? Waltz's story has to be unlocked just like Fritz. Waltz is a male witch, who is inflicted with the Peter Pan curse. So basically, he is a grown man, but is forced to look like a child. Now before you think, "Romance with a child?? What??!!" His curse is broken like halfway through his story so the romance really only buds then. I am actually so happy I saved Waltz's route last. It was more in depth than any of the other stories and also gave more of an ending to other people's stories as well.

All of the stories are amazing and full of swoon-worthy lines. It is enough to fill any woman's heart with joy. It definitely brought a smile to my face. I encourage anyone who loves otome games to play. I've seen that the game is offered online for free, but the developer is accepting donations. I would encourage donations if you can because I think this game is actually quite impressive for a free game. I would love to see more from them. Hope you enjoyed my review!