When first preparing to play ‘The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood’ I found lots of information about the emotional gravity packed into this game. With that in mind, I prepared myself for a severe punching in the feels. Even when booting up the game and seeing the content warning in the menus about sensitive themes, I was choosing my play times wisely. With a galvanised heart I started playing.

This narrative-led game developed by Deconstructeam, and published by Devolver Digital has you playing as Fortuna an exiled divination witch. Fortuna’s exile was handed down by the covens’ leader, Aedana. The 1000-year sentence was because Fortuna foretold the covens’ demise and spread it to all who would listen. Inclusive to the exile, Fortuna was stripped of her tarot cards thus leaving her with no means of using her divination.

After 200 years and yearning for freedom Fortuna decides to incite a forbidden incantation to summon a behemoth for help. Abramar, the multiple-eyed behemoth answers the call and offers Fortuna a pact. Desperate Fortuna accepts the pact by accepting a price to pay when the time arrives, all for the ability to design her own tarot cards with more intense power.

As mentioned earlier, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a narrative-led game. You will be reading everything as there is no voice acting. This may be a deal breaker for some but for those it isn’t, the text is clear and easy to read. Since Fortuna deals in divination, the telling of fates is central to the core mechanics of the game. Thusly when you reach the points in the game that require you to make decisions, they are final.

The game auto-saves regularly and there is no option to go back and make another choice. The only way you can see if a choice will have a different outcome is to start a new game. Personally, I loved this feature as it made you think of what decisions you were making before deciding on your selection.

Conversation pieces are not the only times you will be making these fate-altering decisions. As Abramar has given you the ability to construct your own magic cards, they too come with a level of permanency. Abramar will talk you through the construction of a card and it is very simple. First, you pick a background, then a figure to display on your background, then symbols to place about the card to give it some flair.

Each of these parts comes with meaning which is laid out in front of you so you can decide what direction your card is going to take. However, selections are also bound by how much magic you have in the four elements, fire, wind, water, and air. If you don’t have enough magic, you won’t be able to select the choice you want. Gaining magic is easy as the cards you construct when used on visitors to your home/prison when divining their questions award you more magic.

Now this is where for me I became most disappointed. Dealing with fate and being warned of a highly emotional tale, my first play-through lasted 12 hours as I took my time to choose wisely. Apart from Abramar, I did not become attached to any character. I’m not saying that the other characters weren’t interesting. For me, they lacked any impactful resonance. I found myself more bored and just clicking through the motions. Again, I’m not saying the story is bad, I was just let down as I was expecting more emotional depth.

I did return for a second play-through and changed how I approached every situation to see if my choices would elicit emotion, but my disappointment remained. However, with different choices in both conversations and card construction, I did get a different ending. How many endings there are I’m unsure, but this may be enough for some to revisit repeatedly. With only mild variations in responses to your conversation choices, fast-tracking the dialogue will still run you about a five-to-six-hour playtime.

Personally, I’d much prefer to discuss my endings and share my card creations than play through any more times. So, if that interests you visit our MKAU discord and place a message in the MKAU Staff Post Boxes under ‘WhiteDireTiger’.

The pixel art graphics are exquisitely beautiful. They are so eloquently designed they do not appear pixelated at all. The animations are also smooth which further adds to the precision and care they were crafted with.

The music takes centre stage with the audio. The beautiful orchestral tones never feel unwelcome or overdone. The sound effects are very mild and unnoticeable as they take more of a background approach. Ultimately, this works well as I never felt bombarded and was able to enjoy the ambiance while reading.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has a lot of things going for it. For me, it was a mixed bag but ultimately not delivering to my expectations. With beautiful music, pleasant graphics, an interesting story, and my fondness for Abramar it just wasn’t enough. The emotional impact I was preparing myself for never arrived, either that or I’m just dead inside.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove