You are currently viewing Celestia: Chain of Fate Review – Calling All Otome Fans!

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review – Calling All Otome Fans!

I’ve loved Otome games since I was in high school, when I was introduced to Mystic Messenger. Since then, I’ve played many mobile Otome games, but never any on PC. If you’ve never played an Otome game before, you may not know what they are. Essentially, they’re story-based games that center heavily around romance, and they tend to be marketed for women with a female protagonist. When we were offered a code for Celestia: Chain of Fate in return for an honest review, I jumped at the opportunity. I was in love from the second I watched the trailer!

Celestia: Chain of Fate is a romantic visual novel with heavy fantasy elements throughout. While Celestia offers a very casual playthrough, that doesn’t mean it lacks in content. Overall, it’s a very charming game that’s easy to lose yourself in. As you’re playing, you can tell that the developers put a lot of work into all aspects of Celestia to create a truly magical experience. If you love Otome games as much as I do, keep reading this Celestia: Chain of Fate review to see why it’s worth trying for yourself!

Story – Welcome to Celestia Academy!

When it comes to Otome games, the story is arguably the most important aspect. Sure, romancing cute boys is enticing, but it can quickly become boring without a compelling narrative. Celestia: Chain of Fate really excels at creating both an immersive AND interesting storyline. The story is broken up into chapters, which can help the player to find a good point in the game to save and quit. However, at the end of each chapter I found myself moving right into the next one without a second thought. It’s seriously so hard to walk away from Celestia once you’ve loaded it up!

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review
The image illustrates an angel and a demon, the subjects of a child's bedtime story, in a loving embrace.
The game opens up with our protagonist being told her favorite bedtime story about an Angelus and Daemon in love.

You play as a female protagonist (and you get to name her!) who has been raised as a human her entire life. On her 18th birthday (presumably; the game makes it clear she’s reached adulthood), she receives a strange letter inviting her to enroll in Celestia Academy. After taking this letter to her adoptive parents, it’s revealed that she’s actually a half-Daemon, half-Angelus hybrid. As far as everyone knows, she’s the only hybrid of this kind. Her family reveals that she must attend Celestia Academy for her own good, so she can learn how to use and control her magic.

The image shows our protagonist, a blonde young woman. She is shocked to receive an invitation to Celestia academy.
Our protagonist is shocked to receive an invitation to Celestia Academy.

Meet Ash, Luke, and Val

Once you’ve begun your journey to Celestia Academy, it’s not long before you start meeting our potential love interests: Ash, Luke, and Val. The first one to be introduced to the story is Ash. He is a half-Angelus, half-human hybrid. You meet him while waiting for the train to Celestia Academy, after helping a woman who turns out to be his mother. Even this early into the game, you get to see what kind of a person Ash is. Although he comes off a bit guarded at first, you quickly find that he’s very kind and caring. After your initial meet at the station, you’re able to share a train car with him while traveling to the academy, which makes for some pretty cute cutscenes right off the bat.

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review
The image features Ash, one of the love interests, on a balcony, leaning against the railing. He has light blue hair and blue eyes, and is surrounded by a light blue breeze.
A cutscene on the train shows off the beauty of both the artwork and Ash himself.

When you finally arrive at Celestia Academy, something dangerous happens. I’ll have to be a bit vague in the interest of keeping this review spoiler-free so you can enjoy the story yourself. However, this is also when you get to briefly meet both Luke and Val. All three boys work together to save your life, which allows you to get a glimpse of Luke and Val’s personalities. Val is a full Daemon, and while he can come across harsh, it’s easy to see that it’s because his emotions run deep. In contrast, Luke is a full Angelus. He’s the complete opposite of Val in nearly every way. Luke is very sweet and gentle, and he knows all the right things to say to make your heart swell.

The image shows all three love interests: Val, Ash, and Luke. Val has red hair, golden eyes, and black horns on his head. Ash has light blue hair and eyes. Luke has white hair and green eyes.
Val, Ash, and Luke (respectively) work together to save your life once you arrive at Celestia Academy.

Stay in School, Kids

Although it’s extremely easy to get swept up in all of the romance and magic at Celestia Academy, it’s extremely important to focus on your classes as well. Failing to do so can easily lead to trouble more than once throughout the game. It’s crucial to make sure that you’re working on controlling and strengthening your magic. In order to graduate from the academy, students must complete trials related to their race. Your scores on these will be important, particularly in the Daemon and Angelus realms. The higher a student ranks in the trials, the higher rank they are given when they graduate. This can determine your status for the rest of your life after graduating.

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review
The image shows text that conveys the protagonist's desire to be the best student at Celestia Academy.
Our protagonist wants to be the best student and get the highest scores in the trials!

Celestia’s story isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, but I like it better that way. The romantic scenes feel so much lighter when there’s a little turmoil in between! While your main goal is graduate with high scores in the trials, there are several smaller objectives that you’ll be working on as well. Sometimes these side objectives can lead you into dangerous situations, but they’re important to the overall story. All the more reason to study hard in between your romantic adventures!

The image shows Lilith, a young woman with purple hair and pink eyes. She is the main antagonist.
Lilith, a main antagonist, always has to have the last word.

Gameplay – Follow Your Heart With Caution

As is typical with Otome and other visual novel games, the majority of your gameplay in Celestia: Chain of Fate consists of clicking through the story and making choices as they become available to you. However, Celestia does a great job at making sure that those choices actually matter. Of course, you should follow your heart when making your choices, but you should also be mindful in Celestia.

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review
The image shows what it looks like when you have to make a choice in-game. Three options are given.
When it’s time for you to make a choice, there are always three options. Choose wisely!

As I mentioned above, the storyline in Celestia isn’t pure fluff. You can easily find yourself unlocking a bad ending in this game. Don’t worry, though! As long as you’re saving frequently, this won’t be an issue. Unfortunately, one of the downfalls of Celestia is its lack of autosave feature. I learned this the hard way within the first five chapters. I hadn’t saved regularly enough and had to replay through nearly two dozen lines of dialogue to get back to where I’d been. Once I started to save nearly every time a choice was presented to me, I didn’t run into any more issues.

Nobody’s Perfect

In general, the game could do a better job showing the player how to use certain features. Some of them are pretty crucial to the game, in my opinion, but Celestia seems to leave you to your own devices when it comes to actual game mechanics. For example, I wasn’t able to save for the first three chapters (at least!) because I didn’t know how to do so. Purely by chance, I right-clicked, and was blessed with the pause menu. From there, I was able to manually save my game, as well as find the ‘guide’ to Celestia’s mechanics.

The image shows the game's 'guide,' which shows you how to use various features.
Once you’ve managed to find the ‘guide’, things move much more smoothly.

While there is a quick save feature, it’s a bit counterintuitive and I’m not sure I trust it. Quick save files aren’t stored with your regular save files, but instead they’re loaded by pressing the ‘G’ key. Frankly, I didn’t use it as I was scared to lose any progress. On the bright side, once you’ve found your way to the ‘guide,’ it’s smooth sailing from there in terms of gameplay. I was finally able to use features I didn’t even know existed.

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review
The image shows the text bubble for confirming a quick save. It reads: "Are you sure to quick saving?"
The occasional spelling/grammar mistake in this game can be a bit jarring.

Lastly, if you’re a stickler for grammar and spelling, Celestia can occasionally make your eye twitch. Generally the interactions and overall text read well, but sometimes you’ll come across something that just isn’t right. It’s rare, but when it happened, it took me out of the story a bit. It didn’t impact my overall enjoyment, but it could for others, so I felt compelled to warn you all.

Audio & Visuals – The MVPs of Visual Novels

I don’t even know how to make you guys understand just how many screenshots I took for Celestia. The ones you see in this article are seriously just a fraction of the ones stored on my laptop! I am genuinely obsessed with the art in this game. Sometimes, particularly in Otome games, the visuals can fall short in terms of showing a character’s emotion. Celestia kills it in this category, though, and not just with the three love interests. The protagonist and even side characters have a wide range of emotive scenes, which really helps to immerse the player in the story.

The image shows our protagonist with an exasperated smile on her face.
When a character makes this face, I can’t help but laugh. It’s one of my favorite expressions in the game!

The art style within the game is extremely versatile as well, ranging from breathtaking shots of Ash, Luke, and Val to unsettling scenes at night. It’s clear that the artists for Celestia put a ton of passion into this project, and they did an exceptional job. There were many times I was kicking my feet and giggling or literally laughing out loud at the scenes in this game! The art brought a lot of joy to my overall experience, and I really appreciate all of the work and detail put into it. I wish I could make a gallery and share all of my favorite moments with you, but you’ll just have to experience them for yourself!

Celestia: Chain of Fate Review
The image shows a different art style in the game. Ash and Val are surrounded by adorable white, round creatures with exasperated looks on their faces. Luke and the protagonist joke about helping them out.
You can tell that the artists worked hard to convey every emotion to the player. Sometimes they even change the art style to make it happen!

A Beautiful Soundtrack, and Great Sound Effects

The soundtrack and general sound effects are also quite impressive in Celestia. As you play, there’s a generic soundtrack for the background music that’s very easy on the ears. It reminds me of Lo-Fi, which I personally love. I toggled the volume to keep it fairly quiet; just enough that I wasn’t playing in silence, but not so loud that it impaired my ability to read the story.

While the soundtrack is nice background noise for your Celestia sessions, the real star of the show is the sound effects. They’re integrated into nearly every part of the game, which really adds to the atmosphere as a whole. You’ll find them in nearly every scene, from combat to the more romantic moments. I didn’t expect such a comprehensive soundscape from an Otome game. It was just the last piece of the puzzle to make Celestia’s story a truly immersive experience!

I can’t help myself, I have to include one last great scene from this game! It had me laughing out loud.

Verdict

Although I admittedly have a soft spot for Otome games, Celestia: Chain of Fate has quickly become one of my favorites. Of course, attractive love interests are a must-have, but I’m always looking for a great story to go with them. Celestia goes above and beyond with its storyline, both in quality and quantity. I’m only a little over halfway through the game, but it has already provided over ten hours of gameplay. That doesn’t even include the side stories!

This is one of those games that I could gush about for hours, and honestly, that’s high praise from me. Celestia: Chain of Fate has provided one of the most immersive, fleshed-out experiences I’ve ever found in an Otome game. If you’re also a fan of this genre, or have been curious to try it, I highly recommend giving Celestia a chance. I think you’ll be glad you did!

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Celestia: Chain of Fate (PC)

£24.99
8.5

Verdict

8.5/10

Pros

  • Stunning artwork
  • Immersive storylines
  • Plenty of content

Cons

  • Occasional spelling/grammar mistakes
  • Some features are hard to find
  • No autosave feature