Chronotopia: Second Skin

[i]Chronotopia[/i] has a lot of cool tricks up its sleeves. It starts off as a fairly typical fairytale retelling of Donkeyskin but quickly establishes its own style and spin on the concept: Kionna's story quickly deviates from the most well-known version of the story as she attempts to find her perfect ending, and I couldn't help but root for her as I watched her story unfold and her character evolve. In general, I tend to be wary of modern/new takes on fairytales. They are easy to get very wrong by making simple stories feel simplistic rather than exploring why these simple stories endure and evoke such strong emotions in readers. Chronotopia smartly avoids a lot of these pitfalls, first of all, by establishing the authors' extensive knowledge of European fairytales and folklore. The game relies on (with added documentation in the bonus section of the menu) dozens of attested variations on Donkeyskin, Cinderella, and other much less well-known stories to create a universe that feels both very grounded in actual details of medieval France and Italy as well as steeped in fairytales (pretty much every detail comes from one story or another, and it's delightful to chase these influen…

I knew this game was dark, but it still caught me off guard. Before, I had limited knowledge of the Donkeyskin fairytale. And even then, my prior knowledge came from The Wolf Among Us. I originally backed it on Kickstarter, because it's not often I see characters that look like me, with sapphic love interests, no less! But it was the story that really roped me in. At first, I was inclined to romance Nahima, but by the end of her route I was eager to go for the fairy godmother instead. And she's my favorite love interest in the story, despite the final lover being more of the ideal ending and pairing. Wasn't really feeling that guy, though he was a far better match than the princes. I won't get too in detail about other aspects of the story or paths, but if you're worried about triggers, I def recommend checking those out before you play. That aside, I was pleasantly surprised to see some asexual and trans rep! The former wasn't much of a surprise, but the latter was. It was fairly subtle, too. Oh, and the archive lists numerous references to fairy tales that inspired the main story. There were a few I weren't familiar with, such as the shapeshifting near woman. So if you like …

If you, like me, are fairly ignorant of classical fairytales, don't worry; although themes and story beats are clearly inspired by a menagerie of them (all of which are helpfully summarized in the game's archives), they are woven together into an engaging and believable narrative that stands on its own. Familiarity with the source materials is nice, I'm sure, but in no way a prerequisite. At its core, Chronotopia is the story of a young princess named Kionna who finds herself stuck in a time loop, trying to escape a terrible fate. She starts out naive and immature, but as she makes various attempts to lead different lives (all of which culminate in some horrific manner), Kionna gradually grows and changes into someone who can truly earn her happy ending. Watching her growth over the course of the story was sincerely enjoyable, and perhaps the most exceptional facet of the game. The game's art is terrific as well; lots of beautiful sprites and backgrounds, great music (always an important aspect for me), and a UI that captures the fairytale aesthetic. There's also the occasional visual effect or flourish that really enhances the depth and feel of the game, especially at certain cr…

I had written 4 paragraphs praising the game, but the page closed and it wasn't saved. Take my advice and buy the game, you won't regret it. It's a heart wrenching, beautiful, visual novel that pays tribute to dark fairy tales written in the medieval and renaissance times.

disclaimer: i've worked with the game's director before, but i was entirely uninvolved with this game's development. that being said, this is a lovingly crafted visual novel with an absolutely stunning style. worth picking up just for the visual presentation alone, and the opening hook is immediately intriguing.

This is a game that I finished on June 21th for one reason. I really felt bad how this has so little Reviews on Steam. so I used the excuse that this had two W/W romance options to try to finish this just to review it. I did play this on Itch io when I first discovered this. so that absolutely gave me a reason to get my hands on this for Steam. The problem was, I had no real good reason to try to finish it. so I decided to use June. that might have been my only mistake on my end, because this is a dark, mature fantasy story that uses Donkeyskin to explore some dark stuff and managed to handle them better then I thought. another thing that helped me get a bias for this game is the fact that this has a love for fairy tales, like you can collect a bunch little facts of fairy tales like this one through out play throughs. I think part of the reason why this is under known, is because of the fact that maybe the languages this has are only are in English and French. I hope there is some way, even if it is through making this review, that I could get more people to know about this game. like fans of fairy tales and dark stuff that are perfect for Halloween . I just love this f…