Gritty fairytale reboots aren’t a new concept. Many people forget that the original story’s were often far more horrific than Disney would have us believe. Enter Traumendes Madchen, a French dev team that uses a German name to tell unusual stories through visual novels. Their newest project, Chronotopia is also designed to leave players questioning their expectations.
Chronotopia is a dark retelling of the non-Disney-fied fairytale, Donkeyskin. In the story, a King has fallen into a deep depression following the death of his beloved wife. A deceitful druid tricks the King into believing that his daughter, Kionna, is actually the reincarnation of his wife and that he should marry her.
Ewwww Dad.
The original fairytale takes it’s name from the donkeyskin that Kionna must wear to escape her father’s kingdom. In the Chronotopia version things aren’t so simple. Kionna will have to rely on help from her best friend, Nahima, and her Fairy Godmother to escape her fate. There is also the small matter of being sent to Purgatory.
Questioning Expectations
Remember when I mentioned that Chronotopia will leave you questioning your expectations? If you somehow managed to overlook both Kionna and Nahima being women of color; perhaps the next remarkable twist will finally catch your attention. In Chronotopia, you take on the role of a reincarnated soul who must seek out memories of their previous life or be damned for eternity.
How does this relate to the Donkeyskin tale? I have no idea, but I love seeing developers who are willing to do something unusual to breath new life into their stories.
In typical visual novel fashion, you will have to make choices that will either save or doom the characters. There will also be chances to freely explore the castle and discover more of its secrets.
Traumendes Madchen is currently seeking $15,270 on Kickstarter to bring Chronotopia to life. There is a demo available and you can also vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.
(Ed: we’ve added the promising Chronotopia to our Kickstarter curator page, check out it and the other titles we’ve selected at http://kickstarter.com/cliqist.)
