Cardamom : A Musical Visual Novel

[h1]If life were a musical... :o[/h1] [h2]Introduction[/h2] [i]Cardamom : A Musical Visual Novel[/i] is a cozy visual novel developed and published by Box of Black Spiders. You take on the role of Cardamom, an abandoned cat who ends up at an apartment complex in NYC. There are three residents in particular that Cardamom can get to know: Vicki (the dancer who's moved to NYC to pursue her dream career), Suze (the workaholic writer), and Kent (the lazy, aspiring rock musician). Each resident has his/her own story, and Cardamom can get to befriend them. (Also, there's an alley cat that Cardamom can get to know early on. XD) Can Cardamom help out these residents while finding a home with one of them? As for the gameplay, numerous choices are presented throughout the story. Early choices determine which route Cardamom goes on - Vicki's, Suze's, Kent's, the alley cat's, or the alone route. Once Cardamom is on a route (assuming that Cardamom chooses one of the humans XD), the choices made from there determine if the resident ends up befriending or even romancing one or more of the residents as well as determine their good or bad endings. Without a doubt, lots of different endings can be obtained, along with their corresponding CGs. This is all while the residents occasionally perform their individual songs. There's a bit of partial voice acting, and plenty of Steam achievements are present although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited". [h2]Review[/h2] [i]Cardamom[/i] caught my interest early on, especially after seeing posts about it on social media. It's the perfect blend for those who adore cats as well as enjoy singing Broadway musical numbers. ^^ Thanks to the wonderful developer, Box of Black Spiders, I got the chance to experience this cozy game as well as to finally give my thoughts. Even though the story starts off on a bit of a sad and scary note, with Cardamom being abandoned in an alley, Cardamom is a brave cat who's curious about her surroundings. I adore her as the main character since she's so sweet and cute. How can anyone resist not petting her? Then I like how Cardamom stumbles upon the apartment complex and gets to know and befriend its residents. They have their own stories, and I enjoyed reading all of them. Cardamom can definitely help out the residents resolve their problems. For example, on Kent's route, Cardamom can take actions that help Kent become more work-oriented and perhaps even help out with a relationship in which he had a falling out. My favorite route, though, would definitely have to be Vicki's because (story spoilers ahead) [spoiler]I found her personal struggles with getting along with the other female dancers to be very relatable. I experienced such trauma and toxicity myself in the past, and some of my friends have, too, so I like that if Vicki can befriend Kent, Kent can help her out[/spoiler]. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3609475596 Although it's possible to have otome and yuri romances as well as plenty of friendships, relationships are secondary. The main focus is on the chosen character and helping him/her work through their problems by taking particular actions. As for the gameplay, earlier on, I experienced technical issues occasionally with the game crashing and then refusing to load. I was only able to resolve them by exiting out of the Steam client and then reloading the client and opening the game. Of course, this was before the very recent update, so this crash may no longer occur. I noticed as well that the issue I had with music and sound settings resetting to default upon starting up the game was gone. All Steam achievements are obtainable at the time of this review, and many thanks to the developer (who is one person) for taking the time to help me out with getting all of the achievements. ^^ With the art, the style is very cartoony and colorful. I like the original art, and the sprites and backgrounds look very cute and have that lovely, hand-drawn vibe. Especially, the CGs look great, and I just want to take a little time to showcase a couple of them. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3609475755 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3609475913 In regards to the music, it's definitely my favorite aspect of this game. There is plenty of variety in the tracks, and the musical numbers are wonderful. At times, I couldn't help but want to sing to the lyrics. XD At any rate, it's rare for a visual novel to present music in this fashion, with the characters singing at times and expressing their feelings through music. [h2]Conclusion[/h2] Would I recommend [i]Cardamom : A Musical Visual Novel[/i]? If you're looking for a cozy, fun visual novel in which you can role play as a cat and help out others, then this is definitely the game worth checking out. At the asking price, you'll get a lot of gameplay time and getting all those Steam achievements will take time (but they're worth it in the end). I'm only sad that this game hasn't received more attention since I certainly think it conveys wonderful positivity, and you can play as a cat. ^^ Finally, I'd like to thank Box of Black Spiders for the review key. It was such a delightful treat to experience Cardamom's, Vicki's, Suze's, and Kent's stories, and I'd love to go back to visit these characters again. [quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]

[h3]Great for theatre nerds. [/h3] I love the vibe. I laughed so hard when I met the first human, said one line, and a spotlight came out of nowhere and she started singing. The staging (an apartment in NYC with residents pursuing broadway dreams and dealing with different confusions) gives classic musical energy, like tick tick boom or rent (fem ver). Played as a female feline. Be nice or be evil, purr or loaf on the carpet, attack stray cats and boxes. Adopt your human, and help her build a career and friendships. The idea is simple, and the characters grow well. Vicki especially felt strong since I mostly interacted with her. [h3]Cons: Too many bugs and stucks that really hurt quality of life. UPDATE: it looks like the devs have addressed most problems. I have not run into any bugs since the hot patch. [/h3] I pushed through because I love musicals, but if you’re not a musical fan, skip it for now. It feels more like a beta than a full release. [spoiler]If I give the key to Susan and give the pie to Susan, Vicki’s end-of-day phone call with her parents gets stuck after this line: “My neighbor from downstairs, the writer. Yes, the one who let me in!”[/spoiler] Nothing appears after that sentence and the game will not progress. It’s super frustrating, because I’m mainly interested in the relationship between these two characters. [spoiler]I then tried giving Kent the key. He took it, the camera moved to the chair outside the building, and no one appeared. Stuck again.[/spoiler] [h3] There’s an unavoidable heterosexual subplot in ch2.[/h3] No manual save or load, only autosave at the end of each chapter. This was fine until I hit a bug and got stuck. I had to restart and lost the whole chapter’s progress. No skip or speed-up. I want to try different paths, but replaying without skip will be painful, especially since the songs are slow.

Esse jogo é lindo demais, é um pecado não estar com um milhão de jogadores

This game soooo cute and wholesome! I love the music, songs, and the art style. I just wanted to review since there weren't many, yet.

I’m a cat and musical lover so this game was made for me! The songs were so well done. I haven’t minded replaying them. I love the attention to detail, the character emotes, and the cat’s emotes are especially cute. There’s just so much story with the multiple endings that I’ll definitely have to play more later. The game is absent of adult themes so it’s one I can share with my kids once they get a little older. My daughter also LOVES cats!

I love cats, musicals, and visual novels so this game was made for me! It has adorable art, fun choices, and you get to be a cat. The only negative is that you can't skip scenes when you start a new game.

Cardamom is a musical visual novel game with a cute hand-drawn aesthetic and fully voiced/composed musical numbers. You play as an abandoned white cat (who inevitably gets named Cardamom) dropped off at a New York style apartment with three main characters you can interact and bond with. Your choices influence not only who potentially adopts the cat but also how the relationships between the three protagonists develop. I particularly enjoyed this spin on the dating sim formula, where the focus lies more in the matches you make between other characters. Following the stories of each of the three apartment tenants is rewarding as each has their own unique personality, struggle and covers themes ranging from burnout, loneliness and the impact of small acts of support. There are plenty of fun dialogue scenes between tenants and Cardamom, with really cute and fun animations and emotes, as well as a mailroom in the apartment which you can check periodically to get a unique environmental narrative glimpse at each of the three main protagonists. And of course the fully voiced musical numbers are a particular highlight, featuring synced dancing characters and really powerful vocal performances Cute illustration cards bookend the chapters/acts in the game and whimsically punctuate the passage of time and the butterfly impact of the choices you make as Cardamom. There are multiple potential endings (some surprising ones, like one where you can end up living an alley cat life) and unique scenes that reward multiple playthroughs/focusing on different characters. Overall I’d definitely recommend this game for anyone looking for a cozy visual novel with a unique take on dating sim gameplay or anyone who’s a fan of musicals and video games.

This game is both charming and full of depth. Previously viewed scenes aren't skippable, but otherwise the game is excellent. Follows the standard VN branching format and each playthrough lets you learn more about one of your protagonists and try out new relationship dynamics between them. Even when things don't go to plan in a playthrough, you still get to be an adorable cat, so it's hard to have a bad time.