Play CUPID - A free to play Visual Novel

"Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love" *

A thrilling, powerful yet dreadful business love is, when its whole content and capability is considered. It gives birth to all kind of miracles like affection, sympathy, passion, anger and even redemption. Yet I'm not penning this review to inform you about the package love may drop on any sane person to portray a new psyche. I just wished to take a moment and celebrate the creator of this visual novel for her in-depth and through understanding of the concept, with all its bliss and dread all the same. It is not love letters, bright sunshine and butterflies all the time. It grows, it consumes, it hurts... and that lecherous winged Roman god, Cupid would keep smiling all the same.

In 1600s France, we are invited to follow Rosa, a beautiful yet troubled young orphan, led by the sound of her mother in her head. She'll soon discover the whole content there to be for love, gain a family, lose a friend and decide the fate of the one she loves/hates the most. Any more specific storyline description would present complete spoilers, thus, I'll avoid telling you more of the story. It should be suffice to warn you that this game is most assuredly +18, dealing with both explicit and gruesome topics like abuse, self-mutilation, mental instability, suggested incest and detailed sexual narrative once or twice. If you feel like you might be offended or this might simply not be your cup of tea, pick something else.

Cupid is an astonishing visual novel in both its thematic choice and narrative, which surprises me even more that it’s a freeware. The concept is slightly influenced by Roman mythology, with a darker approach to the subject compared to Renaissance idealism. There is a certain elegance in its narrative display, a hint of literary education and eloquence, and a philosophical undertone for the concept of love and human nature itself. There are sharp twists in the story masterfully presented that will keep you on your toes: from light-hearted to shocking, from fleetingly beautiful to despicably banal without a warning. All characters involved are presented with genuine depth and they harbor many facets of the human soul. They are anything but one dimensional or stereotypical. All five different endings of the visual novel rely on another concept that might born out of love; most gruesome, some heartbreaking... all bitter as the end of any love.

Display is more than appealing, with lots of beautiful CGs, elegant character designs and fitting artwork. The soundtrack brought together from a wide selection - from classic to romantic baroque, from Mediterranean to dark wave - is another proof that labor was put into this work. The game bears many choice option which may alter the ending and takes 7-8 hours if you are to go for all ending.

Take one evening, and let your heart whimper under the brilliant narrative. Take the crushing role of Rosa's mother - the voice within her head - to either lead her into wild retribution or mending compassion. You'll be astonished by the end.

*Lyrics by Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love

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Great game, with cool graphics and music, and a lot of achievements. Approved!

Just casually browsing free games to play, was a little skeptical because some of the last VNs I played were not so great...

Lot's of achievements, interesting storyline and multiple endings, and I found myself immersed into the world of Rosa and others. This game has worked its way into a special place in my heart. This game is worth more than the free to play stamp it has on it.

i am confused and afraid. if you, too, enjoy being confused and afraid, then this vn is for you.

When a friend of mine posted her screenshots of this visual novel, I was both intrigued and slightly disturbed at the same time. I would walk away from my computer, but those images would stay in my mind. I never thought I would play something like this, but you know what they say...

So once the kiddos were safely put to bed, I played it, prepared for a really sordid, disturbing, gratuitous time....and actually got something quite different.

Nothing in this visual novel is gratuitous. This visual novel really is a dark fairy tale at heart, taking its inspiration from Greek/Roman mythology, which can also be pretty twisted if you read it. The story itself (I really don't want to spoil too much, since you get enough of a hint from the store page.) is dark, sensual, and passionate. However it can also be endearing, touching, and lighthearted. The tricky thing is that this visual novel can change tones in a heart beat, so when it goes from light to dark or disturbing, it can be really startling. I know I jumped a few times, because there is no warning. There are many many achievements because there are so many ways that this story can be played. The game is only as twisted as you want it to be. The first time I played, my character had a good motivation, and the mother was not as abusive as she could be, but understanding and ultimately fueled by a parent's love. As a mother, I couldn't help but insert myself in the mother's role and try to pick the best responses. When you go down that path, you reach the happiest and least sordid of endings. But then I got curious...and I discovered that the more dark you want the game to be, the story will match how far you want to go....and it can go a LONG way downhill. Far worse than the sexual content of this game (since most of it is read anyway) are the themes of child abuse and verbal abuse.

Now the look of the game is beautiful. I love the Victorian time period, and the colors are just gorgeous. I loved the fashion and the beautiful places you get to go to. The game features some disturbing visuals as well, but they are done in a way that you can't really look away. I've never played any other visual novels except The 39 Steps, so for a Free to Play, I would say this is very very good work.

The soundtrack is gorgeous. It fits the time period perfectly, and also includes classical music when appropriate to the story. The sound effects build tension in the game when necessary, whether its fear, anxiety, insanity, or sexual tension.

Now some cool extras. I've already mentioned the many achievements and the multiple endings, but there is more! There are extras that tell you about the inspiration of the story, how the game was made, and the road that was taken to make the game a reality. The more achievements you get, the more you unlock, rewarding you with entertaining and hilarious extras! I really enjoyed learning about the creative process since it helps you appreciate the story more.

So in the end, I am really glad that I played/read it. I would hope that my review would answer questions or relieve any doubts for other players who are kind of on the fence about titles like this. This visual novel poses interesting questions on the nature of love, and its many faces and disguises. It also takes an interesting look at the question of loving someone and acting out of fear. For a Free to Play, this has a whole lot to offer.

I don’t normally write reviews but I felt I had to contribute due to the increase of negative responses, which does not justify this visual novel.

Cupid follows a nameless female orphan set in the 18th century of France, guided by her mother’s voice who you will play the role of (by selecting choices that pops up once in awhile). She becomes entangled into the affairs of her best friend, Catherine, and her betrothed, Guilleme.

The main theme in this story is love - the good and the bad kind.

It is an extremely well-written visual novel, the pace is just about right, with beautiful artwork and sound-effects to accompany this. It is not your typical visual novel, it has very dark mature content (think psychological horror), so it can become quite complex and disturbing, but I LOVE that!

As this is a free visual novel and it delves into controversial topics, I can see people trying this out and well… not liking it. So I would not recommend this if you do not like dark disturbing content, or reading visual novels, neither would I recommend this as a first visual novel.

However I highly recommend this if you like psychological horror, the twisted kind.

I don't usually look at playing visual novels becasue I usually find them boring.

Oh my Jesus.

This game is creepy, kinky and overall kinda Fu'cked. I love it and it's not what I expected.

Click for full detailed review in Italian

Cupid is easily one of the best visual novels I've ever played. It also happens to be an OELVN, so it proves that occidental visual novels have nothing to envy to Japanese ones. The attention to details and work put into it are not what you would expect from a non commercial one.

The peculiarity in this visual novel is that the player has to play as a third person point of view character — that of Mother. Whether you'll find yourself trying to manipulate or consoling, know that your choices only end up affecting the main character's actions and not completely controlling them.

As the plot takes form, you start to notice that the story is all centered around the theme of love, but not in the traditional 'romance' sense. All its good and bad qualities are present. Be they an obsessive, abusive, twisted love, or storge, love between friends, carnal love.

The story has a nonlinear narrative, events are portrayed out of chronological order. It also sometimes changes perspective from one character to the other, so that the player gets to see other sides to the story.

The artwork is well done, the character sprites have several expressions. Some CGs have a variant for who enables the mature filter content. I wished that the menu had a larger and more visible font.
I loved the music. There are famous pieces (Bach, Rachmaninoff, etc.) next to original ones that I found haunting and difficult to forget (in a good way!).
I found myself surprised in front of details such as the sound effects that were so spot-on with the scenes.

There are four endings and one secret bonus ending that you can get when you unlock all the previous ones.

I'd like to state that maybe you should step back from this game if you think that its dark themes might be too much for you. List of trigger warnings under spoiler: mentions of 'physical abuse', verbal abuse, gore, vomit, suggested eye trauma, parental abuse, suggested parental incest

I don't usually write reviews but this time, I feel like I have to.
This game is extremely dark, twisted, gorey, weird and gross but so cleverly made and well written.
It took about one hour to get one ending and now, almost 5 hours later I am still chasing those last two. Being glued to the screen is an understatement and the best part? IT IS A FREE GAME.

If you excuse me, I got more gore to watch and endings to catch..

1. Interesting, unexpected story
   
2. Intriguing characters
   
3. Meaty, lengthy plot with fairly substantial development
   
4. Interactive (you get to choose what to say at certain points in the game)
   
5. Delivers lots of gameplay hours, even with just 1 play (took me 3+ hours for my first playthrough)
   
6. Nice manga-style Victorian era art
   
7. Even nicer music (great choice of piano pieces!)
   
8. In-game jukebox that allows you to play all songs on their own
   
9. In-game gallery where you can see how many scenes have been unlocked
   
10. Huge number of Steam achievements
    
11. 4 different endings
    
12. Plays well (no glitches, high-quality small touches/details, etc)
    
13. Mature filter can be turned off (do not expect porn though - the story stays classy!)
    
14. FREE.

Note
The above list is by no means exhaustive.