Words cannot describe the disappointment I felt when I reached the end of the demo fkhdhf Your writing is fantastic, and I’m such a sucker for Hades/Persephone stories, especially ones that give Persephone more initiative. I don’t think it’s progressed far enough that I could see how the NPC initiative mechanic comes into play, but I’m definitely excited to see it! I tend to play as a more reserved/shyer PC and it’d be amazing to see how different ROs would approach that. Can’t wait for more!
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Been a while since I updated here, so I’ll drop in to say I’m still working on the next chapter—over 30k words in so far. I expect it to land between 50-60k in total, and my pace has picked up lately so hopefully I won’t keep you all waiting too much longer!
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Thank you so much for the update and the hard work! I replayed the game a few days ago, was reminded of how great your writing is (I totally love your style) and how great the game overall is. Looking forward to the next update! Do take it easy though. Have a good day! xx
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Hey there!
First things first, I want to thank you dearly for this game. I was looking for games with an arranged marriage RO, and I was redirected here by a kindly person.
And when starting the game, I had the pleasant surprise to see another thing I’m always looking for in games - the possibility to have ROs who take initiative with the MC! You couldn’t imagine how GLAD I was!
And well, once I’ve started, what can I say… the game is SO enjoyable! I’m extremely eager for future updates, really!
Honestly, it’s hard to give truly constructive feedback on this one… I liked everything about it so far!
Well, I guess there was ONE option to ONE choice I felt could be added - when being guided by Charon, and he asks MC to forgive Alekto for her behavior. It would be nice to be able to answer a bit dejectedly “I’m used to it…”, considering it seems a lot of people disregarded the MC in Olympus.
Ah, I also have a question, actually!
The two premade name/god options for the MC are Persephone and Dionysus, and I was really surprised about Dionysus. I mean, I’ve seen you’ve mentionned somewhere in the OP that the MC is also Dionysus, so I’d assume some of the myths you’ll adapt and weave in MC’s story will be about Dionysus. But I was wondering if you had a specific reason for choosing him, really? You could have looked for less “important” deities, or merely have offered Persephone and a random rather male name for the premade options. Not that I’m complaining since I always have male MCs.
EDIT: oh also, is it bad if MC doesn’t attend the party? I didn’t when playing, but then I skimmed through the code, and noticed a fair amount of content for the party, and now I’m wondering…
Anyway, I think that’s it, really!
Thanks for the great experience, again!
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Just found this WIP! I’m always interested in any Greek mythology / classics WIP, and this one has such a fun start. I really enjoy the fact that there are so many options to try and capture the MC’s perspective and reactions. I find that adds a huge amount of investment to the character.
I was primarily playing my MC as a snobby Olympian who is not quite a big fan of a dreary arranged marriage and misses the grandeur of Olympus and I was glad to see that this take on the MC fits some of the options! I very much hope for that to continue. I’m also very interested in any political gameplay and decisions the MC may have going forward, especially in Olympus/Underworld relations.
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Oh, this is a great idea, thank you—I’ll be sure to add it!
So there is actually some theory floating around that Dionysus is in some important sense the male counterpart of Persephone—both are Chthonic deities with ties to certain plant-based domains, and I think there may have been a few mystery cults they had in common… I don’t remember all the stuff I came across in my research exactly, but there seemed to be a reasonable connection there. Also, I wanted PCs of any gender to feel like there was someone cool for their character to be based on, so having another choice there for inspiration/starting point that felt kind of “even” with Persephone was something I was interested in. I hope that answers the question. 
Not at all! There’s a lot of code for the party, and it allows you to, if you want, establish a backstory connection with an Olympian goddess of your choice, but there are also exclusive options available for people who don’t attend, so I hope they are roughly equally-rewarding.
So happy you’re enjoying the game so far, too. The next chapter will be out very soon!
I definitely wanted “entitled snob who gets some character development” to be a valid option for PCs to take! It’s completely understandable for a PC not to be happy with their situation for other reasons, of course, but it was a definite choice to add an outright snob angle on that too haha. There will certainly be more choices to reflect it in the future, along with what is hopefully opportunity for developing them out of it if desired!
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Perfectly, yeah! It makes sense now that you say it 
I ended up going a bit berserk and trying various options anyway. I think I actually prefer the content when NOT going to the party - the Underworld exploration is sooo cool!
Yess so happy now!
Thanks for the answers!
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I absolutely love this, I’m a Greek mythos nerd and absolutely devour anything related to it. I think hades description is lackluster, as a God he can change the way he looks and you’d think upon meeting his bride he’d want to look more appealing. It could just be a personal thing for me since I think he’s the most fascinating of the gods and see him as the whole bad boy with the golden heart Personally, but with stubble and abs. 
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I dunno, he’s exactly like I’d imagine Hades? I love the way he looks!
Besides, he seems to be reserved, kind and pretty shy, like with his difficulty to make eye contact and so on… So a bad boy vibe wouldn’t be really fitting?
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Awesome!! I am very much looking forward to that – both the growth option and the one that lets them stay as an unrepentant snob. I am a sucker for good growth but sometimes it’s also fun to just play a character archetype to the hilt, so I’m very appreciative of that option too.
Oh, also I forgot to mention – I really enjoy the opportunity to speak with some of the other Olympians during the party. I particularly liked: 1. the descriptions of each of them and how they reflected their personality. Athena is my favorite and I thought it was interesting how you described her, rather less like the remote statuesque figure in classical art but a bit more like someone who might not pay a lot of attention to her appearance. Artemis was really fun too. And I liked how each of them reacted to the different conversation options, including how unexpected it was when the MC went in for a hug – I wasn’t sure which amused me more, Athena responding that she wasn’t the best source for emotional support or your “rival” Artemis being completely confused at the show of friendliness.
I hope there’s more opportunities to interact with them in the future!
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Hello everyone!
At long last, Fields of Asphodel’s demo has an update! New stuff this time:
- The entirety of chapter two; 60k words of new content
- Various minor improvements to chapter one; including a few new choices, typo corrections, etc.
- A function to toggle the Erebus system on and off at will (what is this? You’ll find out!)
- The option to have two pronoun sets (e.g. he/they)
- [WIP] A character dossier with information about the cast
It’s been quite a journey to get to this point, but I hope you all enjoy the new content. If you get the chance and feel comfortable, please do drop me a line about the new chapter; feedback is always appreciated.
Pile o’ Links:
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Well I’ve enjoyed it
There’s one thing I caught though
Really loving Hades
This was definitely worth the wait.
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Ooof that’s a little embarrassing haha. Fortunately it is one character to fix, and that’s done now. Thanks a ton for the bugfind! I’m glad you’re enjoying. 
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No problem at all!
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This is in Chapter 1, but I don’t think it’s intentional 
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He would absolutely pick a name like Hieronymus, too. 100%.
(Also, thanks for the catch!)
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Thanks for the update! This version of Hades and co. is my favorite adaptation 
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Thank you! I’m delighted you like them.
Also this is a very strange bug since that is a fake choice, but I think I fixed it? Thanks a bunch for bringing it to my attention!
It’s an exciting update for multiple reasons, I really liked the dinner scene. Alecto was surprisingly civil there.
A couple of questions:
- May we have more shy/reserved flirt options (with Hades especially)? It appears that the ways that MC could show interest in chapter 2 were either sly or coy, or otherwise forward.
- Do friendship points count towards the ultimate goal of getting close with the ROs? Or do flirt/friend stats work independently of each other? On other words, would a low friend count prevent development of romance?
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Hey, Ekaterina, thanks for the feedback!
On your first point, I can absolutely work on implementing some of those. I tried to include some, but admittedly it’s easier to write for forward PCs with the more reserved ROs so I may have balanced that poorly. I’ll take another look and see what I can do.
On the second, friendship points won’t lock you out of a romance in any case (you’ll be choosing that at a fixed point in the game), but they will occasionally affect how someone responds to you, or more likely how they assume PC will behave or react to something, etc. It’s not going to be necessary to maximize them or anything to get along with people; I mostly intend to use them to flavor text, just in a slightly different way to how I will flavor it if for example PC has been flirting a lot with the same person.
In general I mean for this game to be very stats light; while there will be some pass/fail checks, the vast majority of stat use will be “which block of flavor text appears here?” or “how does this line of not-directly-chosen PC dialogue go?”
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