Celestia: Chain of Fate Review – Almost the Taste of Heaven

Celestia: Chain of Fate – A Fantasy Otome Adventure

Celestia: Chain of Fate is a PC and Switch port of the first book of a mobile otome game. The title comes from Indonesian developer Agate, which again partnered with PQube after the Valthirian Arc simulation games.

In the game, we play as a young noblewoman named Aria Silverwings. As a kid, she loved a fairy tale about an angel and a demon who fell in love. Once she became old, she learned that this story was actually her past. Her biological parents are members of the Angelus and Daemon realms who fought everything to be together. However, they had to entrust Aria to the human realm and live in hiding due to various circumstances.

Now, as an adult, Aria has to choose between continuing life oblivious to her lineage or becoming a student at Celestia Academy. The former path will lead her down one of the game’s many bad ends. Meanwhile, the latter will tell her about magic and the true nature of her world.

This prestigious magic academy symbolizes the realms’ coexistence, but it can also show tensions between factions. This is especially true for Aria, a taboo that never happened in the school’s history. As the story progresses, she becomes a natural target of some people and creates rivalries with haughty individuals of proud lineage. The mysteries related to her origins, her parents’ whereabouts, and how each realm operates also come to light.

Romantic Choices and Character Development

With Celestia: Chain of Fate being an otome game, romance with multiple bachelors is essential to the experience. Soon after joining the school, we get closer to three particularly handsome boys of different origins who will become our teammates for the academy assignments. We first meet Ash Winterlight, a half-Angelus nobleman from the Glasia Kingdom. He usually plays cool and composed but hides a competitive side that can make him quite childish when provoked.

Val de Lucifer, a top-tier Daemon who’s the next in line to succeed the throne of the Daemon realm, is the person who irritates Ash the most. He’s another one of Aria’s bachelors, an energetic young man who can be pretty daring for most things, though he gets flustered easily regarding romance. While the two bicker, Aria also has Luke, a high-ranking Angelus. He’s the kind of person who can get people to relax around him and easily makes many friends. However, despite looking inoffensive, he can be very forward when showing his feelings.

The absence of voice acting detracts from character immersion, though the beautifully designed visuals and CG scenes bring charm to the game.

All three of them have their own circumstances that they must solve. Instead of just making each character a route, like usual for romance visual novels, players can pursue all three simultaneously. While it’s good to experience their stories in a single playthrough, sometimes, it cheapens some of the player’s decisions. This is especially true as the romance can evolve quite quickly and become physical, but these things are never acknowledged in the “plot moments.”

Challenges in User Experience and Interface

It’s a shame because I enjoyed the romantic moments and how the characters conveyed their interests. However, it feels like they’re disconnected from the rest of the story, with Aria just living in the moment without any care for what it means to get so intimate with all of them and then dump them. The log system is another aspect of the game that doesn’t work well. We can’t use it once we move to the next chapter or load a save. Losing those messages makes the game much less practical than usual for the genre.

Celestia: Chain of Fate immerses players in a magical world filled with romance and mystery, but leaves key threads unresolved by its conclusion.

A similar issue also arises during CGs, as those special illustrations force us into a situation where the menu isn’t available. Because of that, the log is missing; even saving isn’t allowed until we finish that section. Another subsystem in Celestia: Chain of Fate that comes a little underbaked is the love interest indications. The game doesn’t have any visual or sound cues to show we’re in the right direction to getting the character’s story in motion.

A Beautiful Yet Incomplete Story

We do have an Affection menu, which even says in which chapters the character will have their next romance development. However, even though I had the three maxed out at 94% during the last chapter, Ash didn’t become an option in the final choice, leaving that aspect unclear.

All those aspects drag down the experience, and the same can be said about the game, which leaves many threads still open at the end due to being only “the first book.” It feels like the experience could have at least offered more closure. However, the game’s magic world is fascinating, and every chapter reveals more about how things work. There are also extra stories that show more of the characters, which we can unlock at the end of the chapters.

The game also exudes charm in its visuals, with charming character design and good use of lighting and colorful lines to evoke magic. It can be pretty stunning, especially during the CGs with some slight camerawork. The soundtrack offers a pleasing ambiance, but fans of the genre will likely be disappointed by the lack of voice acting. It’s honestly a shame that it doesn’t have any at all, as it could help make the characters feel more alive.

Final Thoughts: Charm and Shortcomings in Celestia’s World

Celestia: Chain of Fate is an enjoyable otome game. While it unfortunately doesn’t offer proper closure and could have a more polished user experience, this is a good pick for those who enjoy romance and fantasy.