Branching narratives within games can quite often be a cheap marketing slogan to sell copies but here it matters.

Your playthrough of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood can be really different from someone else’s based on the choices you make at various stages. It starts out with you summoning a Behemoth and beginning five days of training, attuning your personality.

The choices you’ll make at the start of this are pretty deep and heavy and lack the context you may feel you need. Such is the nature of the game you’re about to play.

Do you condemn your coven to complete ruin, or be bold enough to abolish your immortality? Maybe you want to be pitied or adored. And what is your greatest desire in life? These are big questions and going into the game blind, forced to make them, is deeply unsettling.

You haven’t even met the full cast yet, nor got the full picture of your circumstances. You’re just placing all your trust in this entity, hoping they have your best interests at heart.

And once  the game starts proper, does the dread ever start to set in. Suddenly, you’re learning more about your coven, you’re seeing flashbacks to your previous life, you’re learning more about the entity you’re bonding with, and finally your friendships are allowed to flourish. And every choice you’ve made beforehand is coming into play, gradually, slowly, horrifyingly.

God I love The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood.

Made by Deconstructeam, creators of equally powerful narrative hits Gods will be Watching and The Red Strings Club, two other games I adored, this might just be their finest work to date.

The premise is simple, you need to rebuild your deck of tarot cards, lost after you’re expelled from the coven, and you do this by attuning to the elements, combining the arcane, and carefully composing the imagery on your card after selecting components that match Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. This means your deck can be quite heavily personalised and really have your own distinct style on it.

Once your witching embargo is lifted, people will come and visit your house up in the stars, hanging around outside the window, then come in to ask for readings. As Fortuna, your readings are infamous in the witching world for being blunt, on the nose and to the point. They’re highly specific and in the case of an ever-branching narrative, what you’re reading back to your listeners is almost certain to come true.

During your readings, there’s often several questions you’ll need to answer. They start simple enough, like, what’s my future or will I ever be great at my profession. Naturally, over the course of the game, the weight and impact of your decisions increases, and the questions get deeper and less simplistic. It will all feed into those original choices.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is definitely meant to be played more than once, and each playthrough clocks in around 8 hours. The multiple story possibilities are pretty staggering, to be honest, and there’s plenty of narrative to absorb and decisions to make. I don’t even want to fathom how many strands are in the game, and the thing is, you can’t even go back and replay from a previous save should you not be happy with your choice. You’ve got to live with it, like it or not.

Story is the game’s strong suit, of course. There’s some lines in here that read a little clunky, but the depth and layers to these characters, the scenarios you’re presented with, and the way relationships progress keeps you glued to your Switch. Where the game plays like a dream, by the way, with the option of touch screen in addition to button presses.

Aesthetically, the game builds and brews tension beautifully between its unsettling score and the use of visuals throughout, with sometimes something as simple as shapes filling the screen, yet still creating a powerful effect.

Branding this as simply a visual novel does it a disservice, but perhaps going as far as calling it a deckbuilder is a slight stretch. It’s something in the middle, with impactful decision making, weight and balance to the story, and a ride you’ll want to go on again.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is another masterclass from a studio that ooze talent. In fact, it might just be their best yet.

Verdict

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a deep, affecting story that is personalised every step of the way. Layered characters, impactful decision making, great writing and powerful aesthetics really make this one stand out for all the right reasons. A must play.

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Pros

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The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is out now on PC and Switch

Code Kindly Provided by Devolver Digital for review purposes

Tested on Switch