I was already enamored with the demo, and the full version is even better. I absolutely love The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, it's a beautiful game that manages to create so much narrative intrigue through its core gameplay system of creating your own Tarot cards and then reading them. It's really fun designing your own card designs. There's also lots of lovely little moments where you are reminded of the choices you have made and cards you pulled, the game manages to really feel like a cohesive whole with a suprisingly large amount of impact the player has on the narrative - I imagine there's a relatively huge variety of ways the story can play out. I especially loved where they took the entire thing in the end, it's a really nice, explicitely political direction (although the implementation leaves some things to be desired).

There's also a lot of joy to be found in the interactions between characters and the way they develop. Some themes and moments really pulled on my heartstrings. Even though this game is about immortal witches, the way the story is told is really down to earth and focused on the small moments, it's kind. The game rules, I want to say, it absolutely rules. I played through it in one sitting (Yes, it's 5hrs long), it's that good. A lot of queer joy here, too. The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has impeccable vibes, a tight grip on its loose themes & a really fun and cleverly implemented central gameplay mechanic. It's a space I will return to, sometime in the future!

2023 is a really great year for visual novels.