REVIEW - The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has potential, but needs deeper mechanics
New dealer.
By Jonathan Garrett
24/08/23
Reviewed on Switch.
Review copy provided by Deconstructeam.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a game of contradiction; for every lovely execution of its pixel art design, there’s a wonky line of dialogue or narratively confusing choice that doesn’t seem to fit with the implied direction of the story. Of course, there is an element of subverting expectations that is intrinsic to a game built on the premise of reading Tarot. However, a pervasive lack of depth leaves the experience feeling hollow.
As an exiled witch thrown out of her coven for a reading gone awry, you’re befriended by Abramar who seeks an audience with you to potentially reshape your future. The strongest aspects of their back and forth, and in fact any of the extended cast you interact with, is your ability to decide the outcome of each reading from a selection of pre established choices. The dialogue you get in return, and the direction the story takes, is entirely determined by said choices.
The story shines brightest when its narrative indulges your own ability to fill in the blanks. In moments where the writing is more explicit, particularly during a flashback sequence in the first third of the story, it doesn’t quite stick the landing. Some of the dialogue feels stilted, and attempts to lean into discussion of sexual exploits doesn’t feel representative of how those conversations would likely play out.
Your mileage with a title like this will be determined by the investment you’re willing to make in its gameplay loop. Designing your own cards that tie in with the four key elements is a nice touch, and the controls for this are pleasingly feature rich. But too much time is spent navigating through a script that could have easily had some fat trimmed. Providing additional context is one thing, and very much appreciated, but certain moments could have been scaled back to preserve flow.
It’s important to acknowledge the aspects that really work here; the pixel art style is striking, and looks wonderful on Switch. Your decisions really do matter, and that’s very much appreciated. But without a leaner script, the missed opportunity of not including voice acting, and a lack of more nuanced mechanics, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood falls short.
Remember to be nice to the giant interdimensional being, okay?!
WORTH IT?
At the bottom of every game review, we ask the question: Worth it? And the answer is either “Yeah!” or “Nah”, followed by a comment that sums up how we feel. In order to provide more information, we also have “And” or “But”, which follows up our rating with further clarification, additional context for a game we love, or perhaps a redeeming quality for a game we didn’t like.
NAH.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood doesn’t provide enough depth within its mechanics to match the scope of the story.
BUT
It’s a well designed title from a visual standpoint, with excellent use of its pixel art style.
TARPS?
At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.
