Kate's Reviews (New: Choice of Rebels: Uprising)

[Kate27]

Hello all! Woof, my first post on the forums So for years, I’ve been a fan of Choice of Games, Hosted Games, and Heart’s Choice. But in the past two years, I’ve made it a mission to review EVERY game I have on Steam—which was a resounding success. Of course, I rediscovered some CoG/HG games I loved when I was a teenager. And reading them since has been quite a wonderful experience, so yep, I’m back in the community.

I’ve done quite a few reviews, which I would like to share with the community. I have a couple reasons for this: I’ve noticed a lack of long-form, through reviews. Especially on Steam, I’m really quite surprised by how a lot of games have less than 50 reviews? I know IF is a niche niche, but this fandom is quite passionate, so it seems like there’s a lot more people out there. Though, of course, many people can buy a game, less people play through it completely, and even less review it. But I’m glad my reviews get a bit on traction on Steam. I’ve had some mutuals comment on the text-based format, and the general view is that seem really cool with strong writing, but there’s too much competition to purchase one. I know a lot of my mutuals would like IF if they just try!

Writing these reviews has helped my clarity and reasoning. It’s quite easy to say “I liked this writer’s prose,” but so, so difficult to say why. I’m working on it. Anyway, I have quite the backlog to port over, if anyone is interested. If not, I’ll post it anyway for posterity. I’ve found a few hidden gems!

Of course, my reviews are not professional (or paid or influenced in any way!), but I’m hoping (a) they could help authors understand what a reader might like or dislike, (b) some older games could get some attention, and (c) people might want to post their own reviews. Happy reading, all

Reviews posted in chronological order:

Rent-a-Vice by Natalia Theodoridou, ☆☆ (8/10)

The Road to Canterbury by Kate Heartfield, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Life of a Mobster by Mike Walter, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Samurai of Hyuga by Devon Connell, ☆☆ (8/10)

180 Files: The Aegis Project by Karelia Hall, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Hollywood Visionary by Aaron A. Reed, ☆☆ (8/10)

The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book One by Mishka Jenkins, ☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

Blood Money by Harris Powell-Smith, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book Two by Mishka Jenkins, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Sabres of Infinity by Paul Wang, ☆ (9/10)

Guns of Infinity by Paul Wang, (10/10)

Choice of the Vampire by Jason Stevan Hill, ☆☆☆☆☆☆ (4/10)

The Parenting Simulator by Matt Simpson, ☆☆ (8/10)

The Great Tournament 2 by Philip Kempton, ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)

Affairs of the Court: Choice of Romance by Heather Albano and Adam Strong-Morse, ☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

Crème de la Crème by Harris Powell-Smith, (10/10)

Lords of Infinity by Paul Wang, (10/10)

Love at Elevation by Steve Wingate, ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (3/10)

An Odyssey: Echoes of War by Natalia Theodoridou, ☆ (9/10)

Tally Ho by Kreg Segall, ☆☆ (8/10)

Mask of the Plague Doctor by Peter Parrish, ☆☆ (8/10)

Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale by Kreg Segall, (10/10)

Drag Star! by Evan J. Peterson, ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)

Choice of Alexandria by Kevin Gold, ☆☆ (8/10)

Noblesse Oblige by Harris Powell-Smith, ☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

The Magician’s Workshop by Kate Heartfield, ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)

A Midsummer Night’s Choice by Kreg Segall, ☆☆ (8/10)

Changeling Charade by Ruth Vincent, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Hunter: The Reckoning — A Time of Monsters by Paul Wang, ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)

Tin Star by Allen Gies, (10/10)

Fool! by Ben Rovik, ☆☆ (8/10)

Royal Affairs by Harris Powell-Smith, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Choice of Robots by Kevin Gold, (10/10)

Samurai of Hyuga Book 2 by Devon Connell, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Werewolves: Haven Rising by Jeffrey Dean, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Samurai of Hyuga Book 3 by Devon Connell, ☆ (9/10)

A Study in Steampunk: Choice by Gaslight by Heather Albano, ☆ (9/10)

Honor Bound by Harris Powell-Smith, ☆ (9/10)

Samurai of Hyuga Book 4 by Devon Connell, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Fallen Hero: Rebirth by Malin Rydén, ☆☆ (8/10)

World War II Armored Recon by Allen Gies, ☆☆☆ (7/10)

Elite Status: Platinum Concierge by Emily Short, with additional content by Harris Powell-Smith, ☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

Professor of Magical Studies by Stephen Granade, ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)

The Hero Unmasked! by Christopher Huang, ☆ (9/10)

Heroes of Myth by Abigail C. Trevor, ☆ (9/10)

Fallen Hero: Retribution by Malin Rydén, (10/10)

Asteroid Run: No Questions Asked by Fay Ikin, ☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

Samurai of Hyuga Book 5 by Devon Connell, ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)

Choice of Rebels: Uprising by Joel Havenstone, ☆ (9/10)

[Kate27]

Right, thanks mods for approving the post! First review:

Rent-a-Vice

By Natalia Theodoridou

☆☆ (8/10)

I see the reviews are mixed, and I totally understand why. It’s dark. You play as a semi-defined protagonist. The endings range from bitter to bittersweet. It’s short. But that’s why I like Rent-a-Vice so much—well, everything except the last part. Even with its pacing flaws, I found myself thinking about this little IF long after I closed the window.

For those not super familiar with interactive fiction, most protagonists are “blank slate characters,” i.e. you can easily self insert. They don’t have strong opinions, backstories, or personalities, so you can mold them how you see fit. In Rent-a-Vice, you play as the complete opposite: you are a grizzled detective with an ex-partner, young child, and a crippling amount of debt. When you’re approached by an attractive, mysterious individual who offers you a huge payout to solve a case, you already know this isn’t a simple cheating-spouse stakeout. Of course not. Why would anything be easy in this world? No, you are going down the deep, dark underbelly of “virtual experiences”—a technology that makes VR look like a baby’s first headset.

Warning: I’ll be discussing mild story spoilers, along with some potentially triggering mentions of self-harm, drug usage, alcohol usage, and depression. And a HUGE thank you to IndieGems and CoG for giving me a free copy

Pros:
The premise/worldbuilding. The old adage for writing—all writing—is that you need a hook to grasp your reader’s attention. Well, Rent-a-Vice has that in spades. Even in the store description, my attention was grasped. “Virtual experiences” are the name of the game (literally), and it’s like virtual reality on steroids. (Or crack cocaine, whichever’s worse.) VR allows you to experience anything you want in the safety of your own home. VE, on the other hand, allows you to experience anything you want—with all the strings attached. VE actually happens to the person called a “feeder.” For example, there’s a scene where a feeder slowly works through buckets of fried chicken. Listen, I love me some KFC, but not when my eyes are dull, I’m chewing slowly, and I’m forced to finish the damn thing. There’s a scene where you get to choose a VE. I chose being trapped in a coffin underneath the ground, with the soil slowly weighing on me as I tried to scratch my way out. Not fun.

Writing. A good idea crumbles without solid writing to support it. I found Natalia Theodoridou’s prose effective, even though it’s not my preferred style. I would describe Theodoridou’s prose as clipped (?). Not simple, per se, but grim and restrained. Descriptions of feelings or observations are usually a one-liner that hits hard. He lets the unspoken linger in between the lines. I usually prefer the opposite; I like long, flowery language, à la George R.R. Martin or Dostoevsky. Gimmie the pages about characters just yapping, or what food is served. But Theodoridou’s style contributes to the dark atmosphere/tone of the work. For example, when trying to convince someone not to self-harm, you can be angry: “That seems to cut him deeper than any razor. You can see it in his face. ‘You have a right to be,’ he says. ‘But I still have to do this. I’m sorry.’ He looks at you a moment longer. ‘If only we’d met elsewhere, some other time.’ ‘Some other life,’ you say. ‘Yeah.’” OUCH.

Tone/atmosphere. All of the above contributes to a beautiful grim, dark world. In Vice, you can be as fucked-up as you want. You can choose to be a drug addict or abuse drinking or even self-harm. You can even choose to not even get better. And as strange as it sounds—I’m glad to have this choice. It’s different; it’s refreshingly real. If the world is so unjust, why wouldn’t it be reflected in your psyche? All of this folds together into a tone that feels grimy in a way most IF tiptoes around—where every protagonist is secretly two therapy sessions away from being okay, and every world politely avoids the kind of ugliness real people wrestle with. But Vice doesn’t do that. There’s this thick, oppressive atmosphere: neon lights flickering over alleyways that smell like smoke, people running from their own ghosts, and a city that feels like it’s chewing you up. I usually bounce off bleak stories because they can feel edgy for edginess’ sake. But here, the bleakness isn’t misery-porn; it’s a mirror held up to a world where the cracks show, no matter how much you try to paint over them. It’s refreshing to see a story acknowledge that sometimes the world is unfair, and sometimes your internal landscape reflects that unfairness. Let people be unhappy, damn it!

Semi-defined protagonist. For me, I loved having an ex-spouse and a child. Again—it’s different. Having a pre-established family made my character more real to me.

Ethical dilemmas. You get to choose if you support VE or not. Usually, most IFs have one side that’s clearly better than the other. Not to mention the arguments rarely changed my mind. But in Vice, I was staunchly anti-VE—until the narrative shocked me so much I switched allegiance to pro-VE. That has never happened to me. I’m impressed!

Bittersweet endings. Again, I usually don’t like bittersweet endings, but I do love the trope of “I got everything I wanted. But at what cost?” There’s something haunting about it. You can claw your way toward your goals, rebuild yourself, or cling to whatever scraps of happiness you can find, but the story always asks you to acknowledge the shadow trailing behind those victories. Did you trade your health? Your relationships? Your sense of self?

Cons:
Short length. This is the biggest problem. Vice is only 150,000 words, and while I love what we have, there’s some rushed scenes. Vice tries to fit a whole psychological spiral, a mystery, a family drama, a cyberpunk noir plot, and an existential meltdown into that space … and the seams definitely show. The third act, in particular, has a lot of mega bombs dropped on you, but you can’t really relax and think about what happened. I kept wanting to pause the game like, “Wait, no, go back. We need to actually process the life-altering revelation that just got dropped on my head.” The story has weight, but it doesn’t get the quiet moments it needs to sink in.

Characters are flat. Because of the short length, you don’t get to interact with the characters. Even with your family, you only get a couple bonding scenes, not to mention with the other side characters. You’re told these relationships matter, but you don’t feel them because the story never gives you time to actually be with them. There should’ve been smaller domestic moments, messy conversations, shared history—anything to make the eventual emotional stakes hit harder. The side characters were very much plot devices too; I can’t remember any.

Not stat-based. I didn’t mind this personally, but your stats rarely come into play. They reflect who you are, mostly, and your stats mattered only a couple of times.

Not for everyone. IF is already a niche of the “choices matter” category. But to have such a dark tone, as well as a protagonist with a lot of baggage? It’s no surprise a lot of readers won’t even pick this one up.

[Kate27]

JFC, just when I post my review, I notice so many typos. If you see me making edits, no you don’t <3

[Kate27]

The Road to Canterbury

By Kate Heartfield

☆☆☆ (7/10)

What an underrated (and slightly overhated) gem! I asked for a free copy (thank you IndieGems and the devs) because I loved the demo, and a pilgrimage to Canterbury sounded so unique. I love medieval settings, but there are quite a lot of them in the CoG collection. I hoped for great storytelling and an immersive feeling of wandering the roads of London in the fourteenth century. I got what I asked for … mostly. I got the great storytelling—both in-game and out—as well as feeling like I was on a horse, taking in the sights myself. However, I can’t help but see the missed potential here. The game is short, about 175,000-words. Most CoG or HoG games are at least 200,000, I think? As a result, the character development and some plot/mechanics need work. Some of the plot is rushed or underbaked, and the characters are strangely flat and blend into each other. I can see the role the author wants the characters to play because the foundation is there, but other readers may not. Still, I would gladly read more of the author’s work.

Pros:
Some really lovely, witty writing. I wish I took better notes but the writing seems to be pretty apt for the period. There’s some great description about what characters wear and the setting, as well. A lot of description on food! Very George RR Martin-esque. What I really loved is how grounded it all feels. The world isn’t romanticized; it’s sort of dirty, desperate, and alive with superstition. Yet, there’s beauty in that despair: the hope of redemption, love, or even a good story told along the way. It’s philosophical without being preachy and historical without being dry.

Slight inventory system. During the game, you have to control your spending. The currency is pounds, shillings, and pence. You also get to have a horse! You can buy food, clothes, little trinkets, and donate to poor people. This was super great.

Storytelling. In game, about each day, each pilgrim will tell a story. You can decide if you like it, and you can also tell your own story at the end. I also liked seeing stories I was familiar with (Bisclavret mention!). Your reward is some awesome holy relic. I, of course, did not win, but whatever. There’s alo chances to talk to the poor and sick. One of my favorite scenes was visiting a hospital filled with lepers.

Historical focus. Canterbury is just such a unique premise. There’s a lot of politics in regards to England, France, and the Hundred Years’ War, which I enjoyed reading about.

Choices matter. After peeking into the code, I was surprised by heavily how your personality and stats matter. I liked how at the end, if you ask one of your fellow pilgrims for help, their reaction is based on their relationship with you and your own stats. Asking a knight for help if you were cunning and prideful got me a “no.” And interestingly, the threshold for stats seem to be razor-thin. For example, I’ve read many modern works with 50-59% of a stat is middling, 60-69% percent is okay, 70-79% is good, and anything above that is incredible. But for Canterbury, the checks are within the same decad, i.e. 52% is good, but 54% is what you need to pass a stat check. I kinda liked it, actually. Many times, I barely passed a stat check, which made choosing decisions more real/difficult.

Cons:
Short length. I’ve read worse, more rushed works, so this isn’t the game’s worst flaw by any means, but the word count made me pause. The main plot of the pilgrimage and storytelling is great. But the background of the story is the Hundred Years’ War. From the first page, you’re expected to make up your mind about how to side for. I know it from popular fiction vaguely, so I was a proud #English loyalist, BUT for newer readers, I don’t see why they would care. It’s hard to actually pick a side; we’re not told much in-game besides what the characters say. I’m glad the author doesn’t preach about what side she prefers, but the most I got from the narrative is “war is bad.” True, yes, but kinda dry. Additionally, there’s a duel at the end of the game, which you can take part in? And you can fight? And your decisions could lead to two people dying? But this is treated pretty nonchalantly in the narrative. I have no knowledge about duels in medieval Europe, but I feel it’s pretty strange for the protagonist, a relatively normal person, to go through that.

Romance is undercooked. A symptom of the problem above, I think. There are a couple romance options, and I picked Selime, a Muslim woman from Constantinople. However, my character and hers fell in love after about 10 days and decided to travel the world together. I didn’t have a lot of time with her, and while the romance has a yearning vibe to it, it just feel flat, especially at the end. I also found it a bit strange that there was an openly gay couple, as well as my character and Selime. While introducing time-period discrimination is accurate, it’s not fun, sure. But clearly, the work prides itself on a (semi) accurate historical flair, so I found it strange how no one seemed to care about my female character romancing a non-Christian woman. Oh, well. #Gayrights

[Kate27]

Life of a Mobster

By Mike Walter

☆☆☆ (7/10)

I feel like I say this a lot, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Life of a Mobster! Written by Mike Walter, this is one of the earliest Hosted Games, all the way back in the ye olden days of 2014. As you might cleverly guess, you play as a mobster. The store description doesn’t do it justice, I think. For one, the game follows your whole life, starting as a kid to an adult. Second, it’s quite stat/mechanic/choices heavy. While I don’t know a whole lot (read: anything) about coding, it seems like the author must have a good grasp on coding. Third, the story is surprisingly gripping. My only complaints are the length and character development. All in all, though, a solid work, especially in 2014. (And thank you to the staff for giving me a free copy!)

Pros:
Story. Who doesn’t want to be a mobster? Walter puts his own twist on the genre, though: the game follows your whole life and the rise and fall of being a mobster. The breadth is insane, and there’s so many scenes about (what I imagine to be) the nitty gritty. Sure, you choose who to kill (or not!) but there’s also scenes where you debate about who to promote or where you want your HQ to be. You can choose to be a hitman or decide to be a pacifist. You can end up as the top dog by the end or get silenced. You can even be a turncoat and side with the FBI as an informant.

Choices that matter. There’s real reactivity to this game. Choose to have a wealthy upbringing; you won’t get in trouble with the police because you’re “one of the good kids.” Choose to major in law; use your knowledge to help you with your criminal endeavors. Be a loyal soldier; your boss will remember that. Adopt a child; you’ll have an event where they’re kidnapped later. So many little and big choices!

I love the mechanics. First, there’s criminal rackets: extortion, drugs, gambling, loan sharking. You can have multiple rackets and multiple types or put all your efforts into just one type. These bring a certain amount of money. Then there’s 13 skills, and I think 9 or so reputation bars. But there’s also a fantastic inventory/management aspect. You’ll have a certain amount of money, and you get to decide what you spend your money on. And again, the choices matter, even the little things! For example, I bought a bright yellow car. A couple characters riffed on how ugly and unsuitable it was for a tough gangster. How did the author know to include that? There’s guns to buy, police to bribe, vehicles to repair, so much stuff. I could spend a whole ‘nother book on just this inventory system.

There’s also a prison mechanic, which involves molding your reputation and money as you see fit. Of course, you have to start from zero, but I was impressed by how there’s a new yet similar mechanic halfway through the game.

I really like how when you choose an option, the game tells you which stat goes up and by how much. I also appreciated knowing the greyed out options that were unavailable to me.

I was also surprised by how many romance options you could have. There’s … five, I think! And a couple flings, as well.

I’m a fast reader, and even though Mobster only lasted an hour, it felt longer than I expected.

Cons:
After reading, I think it’s pretty clear Walter is a story/choice writer, rather than a character-focused writer. Of course, it’s best to be both, but these are indie writers after all. There’s a noticeable lack of character development or character anything, to be honest. You barely have the time to get to know the protagonist, side characters, and especially the romance. There’s no talking, no bonding with any character, but especially the romance. For example, I chose to get married to a celebrity and adopted three kids. I had a short proposal scene and a short marriage scene, but I had no dates, no domesticity, no actual romance? Just “click this button” and you’re together now. Same thing with kids. I had three scenes with my children, but there was nothing about them growing up! Or their school life, or how they acted as a teenager, or you know, parenting scenes. Because parenting is kinda a big deal. The characters, in general, felt very bland; it was hard to tell people apart.

Quite sudden ending. All of a sudden, the game announces this big event is happening, no lead up or anything. I didn’t solve the crisis, sadly, but I got an okay ending. That ending is a short paragraph talking about my life, but no mention of my family or friends.

I feel like skills are a bit too harsh. There were quite a lot I had 0% in, and in a lot of checks, I was always 5 or 10% short. There were also a lot of skill checks at the end that were 95% needed.

No consequences to poor relationship with your mob crew. I had a 0% relationship with someone, but I don’t think anything happened.

[Helpmefindthetruth]

How many playthroughs do you do before a review?

[Kate27]

For the vast majority, just one. But I am a code reader, and I read all the differing scenes to see what I’ve missed : ) Though, now I wonder if authors mind nosy readers like me …

[Writing_Fever]

@Kate27

now I wonder if authors mind nosy readers like me …

I personally don’t mind people looking through my code! I get a kick out of it when people message me on social media if they find some of my variable names or *labels humorous.

[hustlertwo]

Good on you for doing these on Steam. That platform gets less reviews but the reviews arguably have more weight and importance if a game can get a classification like Very Positive or whatnot. May the words flow freely!

[Dvalor53]

Good luck with your reviews! It’ll be nice to have more reviewers on the forums. It reminds me of @BourbonDingo’s reviews, who I always looked forward to. I’m looking forward to yours just as much!

@Kate27

now I wonder if authors mind nosy readers like me …

I don’t mind it personally. Sometimes there are too many options to really expect people to replay until they see all of the options.

[hustlertwo]

I highly doubt any author cares about codediving. If anyone wants to see the duct tape and wire I used to hold my games together they’re welcome to it.

And I was also thinking about Bourbon, but his mission was a lot larger in scope (to do ALL the games) and ultimately proved too much for him.

[Snowflower]

@hustlertwo

I highly doubt any author cares about codediving.

If anything, code diving has helped me help the authors make their games better by finding out why they (mis)behave.

[Kate27]

@Writing_Fever

I personally don’t mind people looking through my code! I get a kick out of it when people message me on social media if they find some of my variable names or *labels humorous

Glad to hear it! I can’t remember which games did those, but some games have serious variable names, but others have sillier, slightly spoiler-ish names! I like seeing both haha.

@hustlertwo

Good on you for doing these on Steam. That platform gets less reviews but the reviews arguably have more weight and importance if a game can get a classification like Very Positive or whatnot. May the words flow freely!

Thank you! Yep, I was quite surprised by how few reviews some games have. I suppose there’s a quiet majority of users who buy on the app or website? But I grew up as a Steam user 100%, which is how I got introduced to IF. Seeing Mixed reviews at such a low rate made me nervous as a new user. I can imagine it’s the same for potential customers, which is why I want to leave detailed, positive reviews : )

@Dvalor53

Good luck with your reviews! It’ll be nice to have more reviewers on the forums. It reminds me of @BourbonDingo’s reviews, who I always looked forward to. I’m looking forward to yours just as much!

@hustlertwo

And I was also thinking about Bourbon, but his mission was a lot larger in scope (to do ALL the games) and ultimately proved too much for him.

Wow, ALL the games? That’s crazy. I love the idea. I mean, it’s doable, for sure. I would just need a LOT of time haha. Maybe that can be my lifelong goal, review everything in the backlog

I appreciate the warm welcome from everyone!

[Morkai]

These are ace! I think something like this is really useful, get a proper feel for what bits resonate with me. I actually wrote my own reviews for all the games I’ve read just to feed into Gemini so it could use those to give me recommendations, and I’ve read and loved so many games I just hadn’t heard of before doing that!

On the checking out code, I’d be honoured if someone took the time at some point in the future to be arsed looking at the code on my game

[Kate27]

Glad it could help. For me, I just went through every title on Steam to see what caught my eye. I liked doing it all by myself lolol

[Morkai]

Totally get that I read loads before I started doing that and really dove deep into why I really loved these things and what I liked about them, which honestly surprised myself

[Kate27]

Samurai of Hyuga

By Devon Connell

☆☆ (8/10)

Samurai of Hyuga is one of the more talked about games in the Interactive Fiction community. I haven’t read it due to lack of time and lack of interest in the subject matter, but after getting a free copy (thank you, staff!), I found myself finishing the game in one sitting because Samurai of Hyuga grabbed me in a chokehold through my computer screen. It moves at a frantic pace and is truly action-packed, throwing the reader into a mystical Japan—including swords, ronin, and demons. While the prose is hit-or-miss as it’s rather anime-esque, I found myself settling in nicely. While some players don’t like the mechanics, I found them to mold the main character into a living protagonist easier. I’ll definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

Pros:
Excellent pacing. Samurai of Hyuga doesn’t waste time. The pacing is snappy, the exposition never drags, and the whole adventure feels like stepping into a gritty, myth-touched, Japanese-inspired fever dream. Most writers would drop paragraphs on exposition, but Connell cleverly avoids this trap by revealing the key ideas slowly, and only what the reader needs to know. For example, you learn about spirit animals early on. Instead of learning about what spirit animals represent, or if they’re real or not, Connell saves that for later, when the reader has more interaction with spirit animals.

Samurai of Hyuga is at its strongest when it leans into its writing. The prose has a clarity and confidence, even when it’s cheesy. Action sequences, in particular, are handled with a level of precision and momentum that’s rare in interactive fiction. Usually, my eyes glaze over from boredom, but reading about your ronin cutting down men feels fast without being rushed, descriptive without being florid, and consistently cinematic. Even quieter scenes maintain that sense of sharp pacing. There’s never a moment where the story drags its feet or gets lost in backstory. It knows exactly what kind of tale it wants to tell and moves with the rhythm of a well-edited novel.

The ronin protagonist ends up being one of the most memorable parts of the experience. Instead of being a blank slate, the ronin is a fully realized character with flaws, fears, and a human sense of weariness. They have a defined backstory and semi-defined personality. Honestly, the ronin is kinda … an ass. But I appreciate it! Still, the game quietly slips in moments that make them feel real: a confession of illiteracy, a rare moment of vulnerability, a reflexive act of kindness they didn’t intend to show. Bby the end of the book, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve watched someone change.

The supporting cast. They’re a lively mix of outsiders (weirdos), and each brings something distinct to the narrative. They challenge the ronin, irritate them, humanize them, and occasionally drag them into trouble, but they always move the story forward. Even though the bonding period was short, I found the group’s dynamics to be … well, dynamic. Each character had their own mini-arc, as well.

The setting is a blend of Japanese-inspired fiction and mythological horror. I didn’t read the store description closely enough and was surprised by the strong mythological plot points. However, I found myself warming up to it! Again, rather than dumping lore on the reader, the game reveals its world through strange creatures you encounter on the road. I found it refreshing how there wasn’t any questioning if demons or oni were real; they were real. The question is: how do you handle them?

I’m a big fan of the attunement system and spirit animal concept. It adds a psychological texture to the narrative and reactivity. Instead of relying on traditional stats (like charisma or strength or agility), the game ties your actions to internal attitudes: calm, stoic, ruthless, impulsive, charming, or perverted. You get to pick a spirit animal that matches your personality. And when your choices align with your established attunement, the story gains a sense of thematic cohesion, almost like you’re reinforcing the ronin’s identity rather than cherry-picking reactions. Instead of feeling like my player agency was removed, I found it reinforced.

I’m not sure of the importance, but I liked how twice, the game asked me to recall a choice I made. And of course, I remembered

Cons:
The personality-based mechanics can feel restrictive, especially in the later chapters. Once your core traits settle into place, the story often assumes your ronin must respond in a way consistent with those traits (e.g. I had a Calculating trait, so I responded in a calculating way often). Moments where you want to pivot emotionally or morally may simply not be available because your character is already “locked in.”

It’s rather difficult to understand what choice raises what stat.

For all its strengths, the story is ultimately linear. While you can adjust tone, relationships, and reactions, the actual plot beats remain fixed. Players who want major branching paths, alternate endings, or dramatically divergent routes might find the interactivity more limited than expected.

For all the humor and wackiness, the game does lean heavily into intensity: trauma, angst, self-destruction, guilt, that sort of thing. I can see the narrative getting darker in the future. While well written, it may come as a surprise to some readers.

Ends on a cliffhanger! Nooooooooo!

[malinryden]

I, for one, love it! Code is there to be explored and go wtf occasionally.

[Kate27]

I will keep this in mind when I get around to reading the Fallen Hero series, though I’m sure you don’t need another glowing review : P Which will be sometime, I hope! I just. Have soooo many great IFs to read. Life can be so hard smh

[Morkai]

Fallen Hero is for me top tier, hope you enjoy