CABALL, developed by Levistok, is a short visual novel that follows Veronica in a world full of inconvenience, curses, and demons. Working for a fortune teller known as Snezhana, she hopes to collect her pay for her recent work. However, Veronica’s life is entirely flipped on its head as she doesn’t find the woman she was hoping to see. Instead, she meets Lynn and Amalia, two people with whom she is not that familiar – barring the fact they work for and follow the fortune teller. In this world of mystery, perhaps you can get the answers our MC deserves, and maybe a little sprinkle of romance?
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Upon starting the game, you are at Veronica’s place of work, expecting to receive her owed paycheck. However, instead of Snezhana, you’re met with Lynn and Amalia – soon to realise all of you have been thrown into a mess by a woman you once worked for. Lynn has been given three notes. One for each of you, but we only see Veronica’s. Your boss has requested you get her a lipstick that matches the colour of the beads included with her letter, and from here you can start to split into different paths, which will have a significant impact on the later story. You can choose to either make the lipstick or search the office to see if Snezhana has one she left behind. Once you’re done there, Lynn requests the group reconvene the next day to meet where they have been told to go – a place that will change the beliefs of Veronica permanently. After living her life not believing in the fortune telling that her boss has always shared, she comes face-to-face with a species called Caball. Demon-like creatures with their own cult following who shall make their own demand, wanting to know the location of the now-disappeared Snezhana. There are three different main routes you can follow here, depending on choices. Work with Lynn, Amalia, or Gaspar – a Caball who works under the one we have just met.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275357353
While the story of CABALL includes plenty of mystery, there are other plot points included – the main side-plot being romance. As I am reviewing this for Otome Lovers, you can imagine that this was something which took my interest when I started this game. However, while I love romance being added to a plot, I feel this game did not have enough length to handle both a mystery-filled plot with unique lore that needed filling in with the combination of romance. There’s very little acknowledgement to it, really, other than the mention of the occasional date and [spoiler]a kissing scene Veronica gets[/spoiler] with only one other character. My personal suggestion would have been to scrap the romance for us to learn more about the characters, world, and mystery – since there are many questions left unanswered, which leaves me praying for a sequel for the answers.
Speaking of the world, I enjoyed the overall story that was told. You get to see the cult world from the eyes of someone with such scepticism and disbelief – someone who still manages to keep her head screwed on the whole time despite her beliefs being turned upside down. Veronica is a great MC, not falling into some tropes I’ve seen. She’s strong, and confident enough to not cower even when people are in danger. The Caball are a foe clearly not to be reckoned with. Their powers are interesting yet terrifying, and I wish we saw more of them – learned more about their lives and powers.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275357325
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, I feel the game does not dive into telling us much about the other characters enough. Often we’re blasted with some big information, and it either feels forgotten about or just not really… touched on enough. I understand this is due to the fact that this is a rather short visual novel, but I also feel like the game could have benefited from more lore, character development, and general world building. There’s some characters, such as Gaspar, that I’d absolutely love to see more of. However, due to the lack of information, there isn’t all too much I can tell you about the characters. Not other than the fact that Gaspar was certainly a favourite, with Amalia certainly being… one of my least favourites. Not to say she is a bad character. Simply one I dislike for my own reasons, mostly being her strength in belief over the fortune telling and Caball, and the fact that [spoiler] I was shocked she didn’t betray Veronica in every ending. I don’t think I’ve ever trusted a character so little.[/spoiler] Perhaps this is another thing that could be settled with more exposure to the characters themselves, who they are, etc. While I cannot say much on this topic, there’s a secret character that I absolutely loved. Meeting them only made me more desperate for a sequel. Levistok, please??? Or give me an after story for Gaspar. On my knees begging.
An important part of visual novels is often the art, and I felt CABALL did not fail in this aspect. The art style chosen was very pretty and unique enough for it to stand out – and the basic effects of some of the CGs were fantastic. In fact, the game had more CG content than I expected. Not [i]all[/i] of the backgrounds seemed to fit entirely, but there was also plenty of variation and some of the backgrounds looked fantastic. Notably the ones in the Caball’s home. While the music wasn’t anything particularly special to me personally, I feel it felt the game and the vibe it was hoping to give off. It’s good enough that I was happy to listen to it – to help settle into the mood of the game as it changed.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275357381
Overall, despite some of the complaints I have had about my experience with CABALL, I believe the quality for the price is certainly worth a recommendation. The amount of great art that is included, the fantastic characters, and the story itself all work together to make a short yet interesting story. I do believe some things like romance could have been removed, but I also understand it may have been to make Lynn and Amalia's routes more filling (which, let me say, they have nothing on Gaspar). This is likely because you learn much more about the Caball and their world through his, whereas the routes with the other humans were much more... Plain is the world I’d use for it. Yet overall, CABALL has been an enjoyable visual novel experience I could certainly recommend at its price, and I do truly hope for more content from this world in the future.
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[i]Otome Lovers wishes to thank Levistok for providing a free review copy of this game.[/i]
I played the game in the route order listed in [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3249949550]JeminiJess’s guide.[/url] A fantastic guide to follow! I recommend playing Gaspar last.
[quote]Be sure to check out Otome Lovers other excellent review of this game by [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/JeminiJess/recommended/2307780/]Jess![/url][/quote]
[quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]
