[i]“...like a mosaic. Metaphors and self-deception, the true face… Lie, and you’ll burn in agony, eternity will take back what its due… Beg, demand, plead – they’ll be deaf to your cries… Serve.”[/i]
[b]Note:[/b] You can read the full, un-cut review, on the [url=https://otomelovers.com/2025/06/30/caball-sunset-hour-review-by-jeminijess]Otome Lovers website[/url]
[h2]The Game[/h2]
CABALL: sunset hour is the second game in the CABALL game “series”. It follows one of the endings from the first game. This ending is called “Shackles of the Soul” and it followed the character of Gaspar, as well as a bit of Mael. Due to this, these two become the main focus of Veronica’s life and the story they go through in this game. This is mostly a kinetic visual novel. There aren’t many choices and only one really matters.
[h2]Synopsis[/h2]
A month has passed since Veronica got tangled up in the life and death encounter she had with Caball. She’s tried to go back to her regular life and has ignored the presence of Gaspar, who Veronica is now tied to. Despite her wanting a semblance of her normal life back, she can’t seem to return to it. Her crescent earring charms that had protected her up until that point, don’t seem to be working correctly anymore and are draining her energy. She sees the faces of the “demons” in all the passersby she passes, even in her own reflection. Due to this, she has no choice but to get involved with Gaspar and Mael, the other mysterious creature she met in her adventure.
There are only two endings in this game, and surprisingly the split for the two “routes” is essentially at the beginning of the game. Although both routes cover similar plot points, they cover mostly different areas of those points. This makes it easy to get all the achievements since all you really have to do is just get both endings.
We do learn a few things in this game that were left open in the first game, so you can rest easy knowing that at least we aren’t continuously left in the dark on everything. There are still questions to be answered and even more due to this game, though.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3512520617
[h2]Gaspar and Mael[/h2]
Gaspar is interesting, in that he very much wants to respect Veronica and her wants, as well as protect her in his own way. Which is where he differs from Mael, who is much more of the wild one and wants to let Veronica do things the way she wants. Mael is very much the play loose and have fun, kind of guy. He is all for showing their world to Veronica and letting her do things the way she wants to while Gaspar just wants Veronica to have a normal life as much as possible. Because Mael is the way he is, he has no problem digging into Veronica’s secrets, which is very much the opposite of Gaspar. While Gaspar knows of Veronica’s secrets, thoughts, and past, because of their bond, he does not bring them up with her unless she touches the topic first. Mael does not have this kind of sensitivity and will just nonchalantly bring things up, even if the topic is traumatic.
Mael’s route feels a bit more spicy, in terms of what is talked about and implied, while Gaspar’s was very soft on that front. BUT I really do love the sexual tension that Gaspar and Veronica have in his route. Mael being clumsy is quite funny to see. Imagine this very old fae-like being, who even others are terrified of, just getting taken out by tripping over a chessboard? We do also get to learn a bit more of who Mael is as well, and his relationship with Gaspar and their past. Mael’s route has some extremely hot CGs that were a big joy to see.
[h2]Graphics[/h2]
The graphics for the game are basically the exact same/similar in looks and tone to the first game. The sprites have been reworked just a bit. They still look good and the new added details are nice. There are two new sprites that just don’t really feel like they fit and are a little uncanny. This might simply be because they only show up in one scene each, and weren’t as important for making it look like it fit.
The developers for this game are all the exact same from the original. Since there are two artists, it does show in some of the CG’s. Some of the CG’s have a more hard look, while others are more soft. Even the way some of the jawlines for Gaspar/Mael feel different between the CG’s. The first game was the same way.
Just like the first game, some of the backgrounds have movement. The first game had movement in terms of movement effects like shaking and vibration and an old school video effect, but some of them in this game have actual particles floating and an artistic steam coming from a house.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3512547729
There are quite a few new backgrounds. They feel like an improvement over some of the ones from the original game as well (some of those were made with 3D assets, and were very noticeable, compared to this game).
[h2]Sound[/h2]
The music sounds very similar to the first game, so I’m unsure if it is different. It still has that mysterious and creepy tone to match the atmosphere of the game. One of the tracks reminds me of lofi. There was one that I ended up really liking.
[h2]UI[/h2]
Clean and simple, has: Back, Skip, Auto, Save, Options. You can press escape or right click to open/close the menu. When Veronica is thinking, black bars appear on the top and bottom of the screen to signify that the speaking in the text box is internal. There is a part where there is some yellow text with an effect that is a bit harsh on the eyes and hard to look at.
There are 9 pages of save slots, with 4 slots per page. You can display fullscreen or windowed, skip options, language option between English or Russian, text speed, auto reading speed, music and sound volume. For a backlog, it only lets you scroll back to previous text. There is no proper text log where you can view all what is previously said. 16 CG’s (gallery)
[h2]Misc[/h2]
There is a bit of spicy-ness. While no full nudity is shown, the characters do reveal exposed flesh in some CGs (ex: Veronica’s under-boob is shown and the guys are topless). They talk about intimacy, sex and it is implied. Some of the things they say are a bit steamy, which had me squealing a bit.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3512548444
There is also some talk of violence. There is a section in the game's description for Mature Content that you should read before buying the game.
Also due to the ending this continues from, we do not see Veronica or Lynn.
[h2]Final Thoughts[/h2]
I’m so glad that there is a continuation to the Caball game. I truly enjoyed Gaspar and what little of Mael we saw from the first game. I really hope we continue to see more of these characters and the world. There are so many more questions to be answered and I’d be surprised if we don’t get more content based on how this game ended and what we learned. I feel that what happened on Mael’s end needs to be expanded upon, but also Gaspar’s ending there are bits there that need to be continued as well.
You definitely need to play the first game before this one, at least the ending that this continues from. Otherwise you will not understand some of the content, characters, and what is being said. Mael and Gaspar are just such interesting (and good-looking) characters and I would love to see more.
Otome Lovers wishes to thank [i]Levistok[/i] for providing a free review copy of this game.
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