Sabres of Infinity
By Paul Wang
☆ (9/10)
Paul Wang, the man that you are! For the uninitiated (though I’m sure everyone knows the Infinity series by now), Sabres of Infinity is known as one of the crowning jewels in Hosted Games—and for damn good reason. The Infinity series is one of the first series I’ve read, way back when I was getting into interactive fiction. I was worried my love for the books was just nostalgia, but I’m so glad to declare it stands on its own two feet as a fantastic game and narrative. I can’t say enough good things about it.
Pros:
Vision. The author has a clear vision: the setting is so otherworldly it takes discipline to commit to it, I think. You play as a male soldier in the King’s army in a world much like ours—except there’s magic, or “Bane.” Having magic makes you noble enough to be “Baneblooded,” with all the privileges nobility entails. The social hierarchy surrounding Baneblooded nobility isn’t just flavor text or the author’s power fantasy. Having such a narrow role shapes every interaction, every insult, every moment of privilege and danger. Usually, most IF games have diverse options: you can play as any gender or sexuality. But in Sabres, you’re locked to being a young, presumably heterosexual male. Still, even as a young woman playing the game, I never felt excluded. Instead, it highlighted how differently power functions when embedded in culture rather than offered as a toggle in character creation. With the care the author puts into his work, having a female soldier would be a radically different experience and would probably double the work. Yet, even from a male standpoint, the author manages to examine class and gender in a medieval-ish world.
Writing and pacing. Man. I can’t say enough good things about the writing. I would call it “detailed” and “clear” overall. Wang lets the narrative breathe instead of ushering the player onto the next scene. There’s paragraphs upon paragraphs of pure detail: how sludge in the winter melts into spring, how thousands of soldiers square off in a field, the screams and gunshots of battle. The writing is so vivid it really lives up to the whole “power of your imagination” thing. I was literally picturing myself as a male soldier, even though I am most definitely not either of those things. No typos or grammatical errors either.
Some long paragraphs I loved:
You would speak of honour sir, but honour in whose eyes? The Antari? Who turn their commoners into slaves, who impale their prisoners upon stakes? Who declared war upon us because they believed it easier to fight a kingdom led by a child rather than a monarch grown? The Antari have no honour left sir. The only honour we must concern ourselves is with the honour of the King and our regiment. We may ride forth tomorrow and fight with honour, but a defeated man’s honour is folly to those who watch him die. We would only disgrace ourselves then. Who is honourable, who is disgraced: that will be decided by the victors and the victors alone."
“Then you must trust me when I say that there is greater honour in seeing your men out alive, and taking every precaution to that effect, no matter how disreputable such measures may seem.”
“Those stories are not war. Those stories are written by bright-eyed lunatics who’ve never smelled the stench of blood and bowels. This war, it is a terrible thing. It punishes the good. It gives the wretched and the bestial the right to pin coloured bits of ribbons to their chests and call themselves heroes. Of course those of us left, men like you and I, we may fight with honour, we may salute our enemies on a bright field and draw honest steel to protect the innocent and the crippled, but this war will not let us survive. Poor old Montez tried to fight with honour, and he died for it. So there are our choices, we either cling to all that make us noble and good so that we may die with pride and have our bodies burned and our ashes discarded in some Saints-be-damned pit, or…” Elson gestures northwards, to the woods across the river through which Cazarosta and his men are likely moving into position. “…we discard our honour and become like him, who never had any to begin with.”
“You ask why I ‘chose’ to do this or ‘chose’ to do that, when in fact, choice does not enter into the matter at all. The Saints create us for a purpose. Each of us is a part in their great machine, and we have no choice but to do what we were made to do. This what drives us to our actions, our functions within workings which we have no concept of, to a purpose which we shall never know in this life or the next. Our purpose for existence is to fulfil our parts and await whatever is planned as our fate after. We are sabres in the hands of infinity, to move and act as we are bid. The fact that we sometimes have second thoughts in the obeying gives us the delusion that we have some ability to determine our fates, that we are born with a freedom to choose our actions: to be kind or cruel, good or evil. That is mankind’s most glorious and beautiful dream, but it is a delusion nonetheless.”
The commonborn Dragoon clears his throat. “Then I best say this now, in case one of us don’t make it back. … Sir, it’s been five years since I first served under your command. In those years, I’ve seen you on your good days, and your bad. I can’t say you’ve turned us into the best drilled lads in the King’s army, ‘cause we ain’t. I can’t say that we’re the fiercest lot o’ knaves in the world, because we’ve seen fiercer. I don’t claim that we’d stick by you through anything, because if it came down to it, we’ve still got some good sense left. What I can say is that there are men where who’d bend their own sisters over and bugger them blind if you asked’em too, and I’m proud enough to name meself one of them. So here’s to you sir!” he shouts as he raises his mug. “Here’s to the only baneblooded git in an army of baneblooded gits daft enough and good enough to drink with his own men!”
Aw, yeah, give me those fourth-wall breaking monologues about how war is a terrible, grueling thing, not fit for honor or boys who dream of glory. GIMMIE
Topic. I don’t think I’ve ever read something so military-focused. Yet somehow, I found myself enthralled by the discussion of battle tactics, weaponry, and sovereignty. That’s what makes a great author, I think, if their writing is so talented it transcends any qualms a normal reader might have.
Choices matter. After taking a peek into the code and finishing two playthroughs, YES, I can tell you your choices actually matter. What you choose as a parting gift from your family will show up years later. What you choose as your top skills correlates to your success as an officer, but strategy is also needed to build on your strengths. Your attitude toward your fellow soldiers will come back years down the line. You’ll have to think through each choice like you were an actual officer. And every little choice matters as well!
Depth AND breadth. The branching on the story is insane. For example, in one of the later chapters, you’ll have the option to attack an enemy fort. You can choose to lead the attack or set up an ambush. Each options has three (or more) outcomes. You can die, win convincingly, or win convincingly. Let alone the fact that you decide how to react to your companions, if you want to be merciful or bloodthirsty, etc. Each chapter has an incredible amount of content, not just the climax!
Length. Usually, most CoG/HGs are only about two hours. This one lasted me four to five, though I am a quick reader. But the pacing makes sense. The narrative follows a traditional arc—introduction, escalation, resolution—and thankfully, Wang doesn’t rush the ending like so many others do. Instead, the plot in each Infinity book is a neatly wrapped up narrative and can stand on its own. There’s no “sequel bait.”
UI. You can tell the author loves his work! The chapter titles are actual images that describe the contents (e.g. “In which the officer goes on a journey”; there’s a long glossary, and maps. Super cool, nerdy stuff.
Achievements. Fun and easy achievements 
Cons:
First in a long series. As a rule, I try not to read WIPs or books in a series. The chance an author will finish a long series is virtually nil, in my experience. And I feel like some authors try to drag out their content for $$$. While I firmly believe this isn’t the case with Wang because the quality and momentum of the existing entries inspire confidence, committing to a multi-book saga always requires patience. The emotional and narrative payoff is substantial, but it unfolds over years rather than a single release. So far, there’s three books with the fourth on the way.
No romance/sexuality/gender options. Like I said earlier, the game’s narrow role is intentional and thematically coherent, but players accustomed to broad customization may feel constrained. There are no romance paths in this installment, and identity options are fixed. Future entries do expand these areas, yet currently the experience prioritizes historical-military authenticity and narrative focus over personalization.