Rose of Winter for PC

“It was rather beautiful:

The way he put her insecurities to sleep.

The way he dove into her eyes

And starved all the fears

And tasted all the dreams she kept coiled beneath her bones.”

--Chris Poindexter

Source: Steam

Rose of Winter is a charming visual novel style game, developed and published by Pillow Fight. You get to play as Rosemary, an aspiring knight who left her home farm to follow her dream. The game begins in a tavern, and Rosemary is trying to find some work. Lucky for Rosemary, there are four princes who need a knight(or rather a mercenary), to assist them across the mountain. What adventures, and possible romance, await?

The art style is very charming, and I’m a big fan of each of the characters’ designs. The colors also have a soft quality to them, giving this visual novel a very fairy tale appearance—to me anyway. Rosemary isn’t your typical small, helpless otome girl. She’s got a little meat on her bones, she’s tough as nails and she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. This is a girl I can relate to! The princes are each also unique—different races, stories, and personalities. I've seen in some forums where people complained, or wondered about Rosemary being a bigger girl. I look at it this way, if Rosemary were an RPG character, she would be the Tank. She needs to be a bigger lady to handle that giant Cloud-esque sword, right? Plus, she's adorable. 

Each of the Princes has a happy and a sad ending. I have played through and gotten the happy endings for all of the princes, and replayed to get the sad ending for the dragon prince. Each of the princes has their perks, but the dragon prince, Tirune, would have to be my favorite prince. Tirune, Crow, Kuya, Falkner would be the order of my princes. Falkner would have been higher on the list if he hadn’t acted like such an insufferable jerk most of his arc.

Tirune

Source: Screen Captures from Game

The music also was also wonderful, and fitting for the game. The title screen music is dramatic and sets the tone for the game. Once you start, the music changed to something more upbeat and bouncy—fitting the introduction of Rosemary.  For sentimental moments, there is charming harp like music that plays, setting the scene just right. Pillow Fight really did a marvelous job with the music selections.

Kuya

Source: Screen Capture from Game

  

The stories are all a good mix of romance(of course), drama, and comedy. No two stories are alike. Each ending was unique, and I didn’t mind replaying them to get the endings (or even again just for fun!). There is an achievement for playing through the Crow arc 5 times, and I enjoyed each one. While Tirune was my favorite prince, I am a sucker for dragons after all, I enjoyed Crow's story the best, and Kuya's story made me laugh the most. 

Crow

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Overall, this game was so enjoyable. I would go as far as to say that it is one of my favorite otome games I have ever played. The only downside for me is that it is so short. I have about 4.5 hours worth of gameplay in, with all the endings and achievements. If there was a sequel or spiritual successor to this game, I would buy it so fast! Anyhow, you can try the game for yourself, it’s available on steam *here*. 

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

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Email: bellannmae@gmail.com