I’m a simple queer trans girl. It takes little to thrill me. A Victorian setting with lesbians and you add vampires to it? That’s enough to get me invested! Without even trying, the recently released Cage of Roses is a visual novel I feel compelled to talk about this month. Read ahead as to why this spicy vampire affair is Checkpoint’s Queer Game of the Month for March 2025.
Cage of Roses is developed by ebi-hime, a visual novel developer that has really been putting. In. The. Work. They have released sixteen Yuri visual novels and a bunch more BL (Boy Love) experiences, all totaling to a whopping 57 visual novels over the last almost decade. For that alone I have to pay respect to what they’ve been doing in the queer space. I sincerely apologise, ebi-hime, I was not familiar with your game.
This new title follows a red-haired character of royalty by the name of Meike. The inciting incident sees her on a carriage ride by a forest late one night. When bandits attack, slaughtering her parents, she takes to the woods with her maid Henny in search of refuge. Escaping the bandits following a nasty scuffle, she is instead, unfortunately, imprisoned by a mysterious figure in an old, Gothic mansion. However, her captor is Magdalena, a hundreds of years old white-haired undead vampire. Maybe being such close quarters with one of the hottest vampire women ever seen isn’t such a bad thing after all.
The story follows both Heike in captivity and is interspersed with sections starring the escaped Henny helping gather support and numbers to help free her mistress. Though the star of the show is defintely Heike and her captor. It’s here that that trademark ebi-hime writing shines, painting an intriguing world while exploring the deep chemistry and relationship of a pair of women.
The relationship between Heike and Magdalena starts out cold. Meike is naturally not trusting, having discovered that, in fact, vampires do exist and, Oh no! She is captured by one. Magdalena begins being more hospitable to Meike, providing her with a room to stay instead of her prior dank and dingy cell. Magdalena visits Heike each night and isn’t laying a hand on her, instead getting to know her. She never states her true intentions with Heike but she at least doesn’t seem to want to kill her. Magdalena even looks divided and guilty that she’s put Heike in this position. Then she becomes more sincere to Heike and opens up to her. Then they become friends. Then they become something more.
Heike and Magdalena’s chemistry works because the writing posits them as two sides of the same coin. There was a lot of pressure on Heike as a member of royalty, so much so that she was left feeling isolated. Magdalena hasn’t had much company in decades. The two just want someone to understand them, or if nothing else, a soul to hear them out. Of course, they fall for each other!
Cage of Roses’ character art comes from an artist labelled as Rock CR. Their style is striking, making the characters quite painterly and expressive. I’m not kidding when I say the characters look like oil paintings. Meike is a thing of beauty while maid Henny is a soft figure with kind eyes that make her feel like a friend you’ve known for years. When Magdalena is first introduced, she steals the scene, commanding all eyes on her with her domineering presence and icy expressions. For those looking for something extra, an adult patch adds steamy art and scenes to the experience. They’re beautiful and exciting, aptly depicting two women who want nothing more than just each other. Every single inch.
This was my first foray into ebi-hime’s catalogue, and I walked away thoroughly invested in their craft. They’ve delivered a simple but thoroughly enjoyable queer experience here, only bolstering their long-running work. Visual novel fans, I can’t overstate how worth it is to check out their library.
Cage of Roses is available now on PC. After previous Queer Games of the Month? Why not read all about our time with a joyously gay and vibrant Match-3 game that was released last month?
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
