The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood review – It’s not about the cards you’re dealt

The past, present, and future are all connected by the current moment, bridging between what has already happened and endless possibilities. It’s rare, if ever, we get to control the odds to make a more favorable outcome, but that also saves us from the responsibility of being aware we are guided by fate. In The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, players are liberated, then chained, by fate.

All throughout this title from Spain’s Deconstructeam, players will create a Tarot deck from their isolated home for the last 200 years. While they work to free themselves, players will also manage the relationships and deal with the consequences of being a one-of-a-kind fortune teller unlike any other. It culminates into one of the most accepting and devastating titles I’ve ever played, and it was all my fault.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a gem from start to finish and largely references itself in ways that never ceased to surprise me, even when I predicted exactly what I said. It’s a title that encourages replayability in a unique way, while also making sure that it tells a complete story and requires no more than that. In the end, I feel like a better person and want to go again to try and save everyone I care about.

The consolidation of the Moirai

Fortuna is a Witch of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, a collection of around 100 magical women and non-binary beings, which is bound to the Cosmic Wheel. The Cosmic Wheel determines the chance of events in the universe, with the main character having unique insight into the power of fate. The way the narrative folds in on and references itself using this ability is such a genius narrative idea. One of the best executions of this was a plot twist near the end of the game that had me panicking in real time.

Throughout the entire game, I was consistently surprised by how The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood evolved on itself, with the weight of my choices growing alongside my Tarot deck. Every conversation with the diverse and beautiful Witches in the galaxy feels like a negotiation, with a couple of obvious exceptions the game makes clear, and I loved meeting every new character Deconstructeam introduced to me.

I ended up being forced to deal with the result of a fortune told to me by the Behemoth I conjured, which is pretty interesting juxtaposed to the player character. There’s definitely a building pressure in the last two-thirds of the game, and it all culminates and releases in a big way, which is something I have complete and utter respect for. You will feel every cell in your body try to fight fate at one point or another, guaranteed.

The representation of different identities and societal ideas is something I have a lot of respect for, especially at a time when many are fighting just to be recognized as people deserving of space. None of the ideas for society are perfect, but the game doesn’t pretend they are, instead looking into the flaws that come from beings and how they will always impact the larger Sisterhood.

The game is very heavy on politics and does it masterfully, but the ideas are genuinely optimistic and something that is worth striving for. No one is treated poorly for their ideas outside of the more conservative and individual-damning perspective, but that hasn’t really worked for the coven so far.

Untold power left up to chance

Right before reviewing The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, I played Sticky Business, which has a very simple creative mechanism where the player will use pre-made icons to make a larger picture. The tone is much more varied in this title, but the ease of creativity and inspiration for new Tarot cards was one of the more fun parts I consistently looked forward to. That was true even if I wasn’t completely sure what effect each different card had on the fortunes provided.

The collecting of energy to create cards imbued with the core essences of magic is the only limited resource, outside of time, and must be harvested from situations or specific fortunes. You have to spend this energy making new cards or purchasing specific outcomes for situations that benefit you, but I often had some saved up until it became more precious in the late game. Getting more resources often meant choosing between an outcome I wanted and the essence I needed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack, which is basically a curated version of those Lo-Fi Beats live streams on YouTube. It’s very relaxing most of the time, but players can really feel the pressure evolve when the game puts them in more intensive moments. Even still, it was an incredibly relaxing experience that often eased me into a sense of relaxation before pulling the rug out from under me in amazing ways.

Visually, it’s a pretty standard pixel game for most of the experience, with more detailed scenes zooming in to show characters or scenarios that are outside the standard game loop. Most of the time, players will be on the same meteor, with the world coming to them with the same animations over time. That’s not a bad thing, but it did surprise me when this base area had a pretty noticeable bug where a copy of the interactive items appeared just left of where they were supposed to be.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is one of the more impressive titles I’ve ever played that mixes narrative and creative endeavors. Players can see the impact of their art on the story and will reflect on what could have happened if they drew a different card. It’s a brilliant idea that explores systems that seem simple at first but make me endlessly curious about what would happen if I tried again with new cards.

Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!