CHiP Talks Otome: A Villain's Twisted Heart

A Villain's Twisted Heart is an otome game for Android and iOS released on 29th May 2021. The game itself is free to download, however it contains in-app purchases. They game can be completed without them by either watching ads (which can be time consuming) or by picking the non premium dialogue choices, which are not necessary for the game's ending and simply unlock special short scenes with the LIs.

The game is rated PEGI 12, and contains a few non explicit references to violence and fade-to-black sex scenes in the romantic endings.

DEVELOPER: 

Genius Inc

MC:

Female

SCREEN ORIENTATION:

Vertical

PLOT (spoiler free):

A Villain's Twisted Heart follows the MC (default name Jessica, can be modified at any time), who is a university student. One night in the library she accidentally witnesses a mysterious individual named "The Unraveler", a man with the powers to summon anything out of books as long as he reads out loud (a la Inkheart, basically). He summons three characters from famous stories: Captain Hook from Peter Pan, Hisame the Snow Queen, or rather, the Snow KING, and the Big Bad Wolf Grimm. The MC is swept up as the three men form a begrudging alliance escaping from the Unraveler, and finds herself hosting them as they look for a way back to their worlds. 
The MC soon discovers that she is a Reader, that is, a person with the same powers as the Unraveler.

The game is divided in two seasons; the first takes place in the real world, while the second inside the three fairy tales the LIs are from.

The dialogue choices have no bearing on the ending, as you can choose any character regardless of the previous interactions.

GAMEPLAY:

A straightforward visual novel, no further elements. Contains a slot machine minigame to obtain points to exchange for gems for the premium dialogues.

CHARACTERS:

Hook: Hook is, predictably, inspired by Captain Hook from Peter Pan. He is cocky and self assured, but like many other characters with a similar personality, it's mostly (mostly) a facade to protect his true feelings.

Hisame: the Snow King, he is a gender-bent version of the Snow Queen from the titular story. In this universe his androgynous appearance caused the mix up. He  is, unsurprisingly I'm sure, cold and detached, having the most common sense of the group (though granted, that's not saying much) and very little patience for the zany antics of the other two.

Grimm: the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. He is certainly big and a wolf, but the "bad" adjective is debatable. He is a tsundere with a very short temper, but fittingly for his canine nature, he is also very loyal to those he considers close companions (although it should be noted he HAS threatened to eat the MC a few times, which some people not me tho (⸝⸝> ω <⸝⸝) might find somewhat...unfriendly). He is also only HALF wolf, and is able to shift between his kemonomimi wolf form and a fully human looking one to blend in.

MY THOUGHTS:

As you can see by the length of the character descriptions, Grimm is my favourite (,,>﹏<,,). I love me an emotionally clueless boy. 

I personally think that the title (and mind you, ONLY the title) is an attempt to capture the attention of the audience of Twisted Wonderland, because that is a very specific word to use. Also Grimm does remind me of Jack Howl from TW, being dark skinned wolf hybrids with white hair, and an initially gruff personality before warming up to the player character; there's not enough similarities to think it's a one for one copy, but enough for me to make the comparison XD.

The game is short and sweet. The writing and plot are nothing to write home about, but Genius Inc's whole brand is basically "quick and easy otome games to finish in a few hours". It's basically dating sim fast food; it's enjoyable and does have it's replay value, but also if this game wasn't free to download I wouldn't be recommending it tbh.

Them boys do be pretty tho ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

If you reached this far down, I'm here to tell you that I named my MC Erin