This game was so much fun to play! I really loved being able to make a murderous, ruthless MC that inspired both fear and respect in her crew
I finished the game once with Caleb and they were quite the pair, perfect together. Their endinf was perfect, but I have a question…
It felt rather abrupt how they were ready to defend Nassau and die trying if necessary and fight the Empire, etc., and then Caleb says “nah the odds are against us” and no battle, no emotional goodbye to Nassau, no final confrontation… nothing. They just… leave. And then game ends lol. It felt so sudden I was like “what? that’s it?” I understand that it has to do with previous choices (the fort, the idol) but then there’s no way you can defend Nassau without letting the pirates die and/or stealing the idol? Because the game warned me about how keeping the idol was a TERRIBLE idea, so… idk. I want to play the Governor’s route now but I’m afraid we won’t be able to defend Nassau from Nate’s crew either… So… help? lol
My favorite LI is the Governor heh. In my current playthrough I’m trying to fuck him AND fuck him over lmaooo that choice was glorious.
Loved! So far my fav Heart’s Choice game. Eden was so swoon! Nathaniel was also a great choice, but basically the exact same personality as my MC, lol. Also, the “charming” dialogue options were perfecto.
It was so well written !! I’ve been playing CoG and HG games for a while, but I have never posted on a forum… however, the author deserves so much praise ! I really felt invested in the story and I didn’t want to finish but alas I needed to read my ending with Alexander, taking the pardon with my crew, and the ending was just so lovely!!
I’m not one for romance, really. But I gave the game a try, and was very pleasantly surprised by what I read. I appreciate the gritty depiction of the “End of the Golden Age of Piracy”. Of deconstructing both the romantic depictions of Golden Age Piracy and of genteel country nobility. It was something I wasn’t expecting, but ultimately it (and the PC’s future in such a setting) was what really drove me to keep reading, instead of the romance.
Thoughts
I like the detail given to the world, of 1700s colonial America/Caribbean in all its horror, even if romance was the primary focus. The simple lack of care many had for slavery at the time, but also the existence of indenture and otherwise forced service. The oddly-democratic culture of piracy, but also not shirking from the fact that none of them were angels and some quite reprehensible. The mentions of even the ignored colonial powers active at the time – the English and Spanish get the limelight, but the French and Dutch also get a mention (only missing the Portuguese and Scandinavians, really). The actions of the Anglo-Irish landlords in Rose’s backstory, and the potential for in the diplomat route to not take overt action against the British. The political and diplomatic side of that conflict in the 1700-1850s is also not very well covered.
Sure there are some things that break immersion – language isn’t entirely what I’d expect of the setting, terminology wouldn’t always pass by a nitpicker, the history’s evidently been played with a bit – but everything else made up for it. There is some room for a bit more nuance – for instance many native cultures in both Africa and the Caribbean would sell their enemies to the slavers in the first place – but it was a pretty good glimpse into the Caribbean as it was back then.
I only did the Eden path but I liked the fact that he wasn’t willing to give up his oath to his country over his love. Reminds me of a quote about William Pitt, that he was “married to his country”. Don’t really see much of that in fiction compared to the reverse. The other thing I liked about him was the hypocrisy (is that the word?) of him wanting to bring order with good intent to the Bahamas while not blinking an eye at slavery or oppressing the natives. That paternalistic attitude of colonial governance also isn’t seen that often. In addition I liked his honour yet still being a consummate politician, his confusion at a brash PC. Quite a rounded character.
That all said, I wasn’t too fond of the plot. Exploring the implications of the End of the Golden Age would have made a change from pirate/Caribbean mysticism/magic, which I personally find overused. Pacing could have been somewhat better – I did not expect to be stuck on an island for the majority of the game. The story had a really good start with the taking of the sloop, and then that turned out to be the majority of the pirating involved in the game. I know romance was the main goal, but I felt it needed mentioning. I did also think that the romance was a little fast in terms of time frame – over and done with in a week – but perhaps that’s my personal preference.
My other criticism was that the characters aside from the ROs were a bit flat. There was a glimpse of character, a description of their background, and that was largely it. They feel more like narrative vehicles than characters of their own. Rose, for instance, never mentions having issue with the PC shacking up with Eden until the end despite her grudge. Then again, this was somewhat expected considering that romance is the primary focus (something that appears to be done pretty well in my minimal experience of these things), but it would have been nice if the other characters weren’t just there to fill out the world.
I didn’t get that much of a connection with Darius: he feels like a mechanism for the player to decide between options at a later date. There are hints of something more – mainly through his interactions with Seth – but in general he’s so perpetually stoic and cynical and not much else. Mott seemed the most developed character of the non-ROs, despite being the PC’s enemy. The other one would have been Bellamy, even if he only showed up for one chapter.
Same. Good guy who is a blushy mess? Just shoot me, it’s kinder. I still wish I could’ve gotten into an argument with him over his massive privilege. I’ll just headcanon it.
I’m going to try Caleb next (I’m planning a “Black Sails” ish playthrough for him) so I’ll see how that works out.
I haven’t finished the demo yet due to some kind of timer (that’s new O_o). Оne important question (which in part would determine my willingness to buy the game) to those who already finished: how long is one playthrough?
AHHHHHH I finished Alexander’s path yesterday and, WOAH. He is perfection, pfft, I love him. Best LI and best character in general! Felt butterflies all the way Only Nate left, but I’m a bit unsure about his romance because of the Elise thing. I’ll play his path anyway tho! I loooove this game way too much not to see ALL the content!
Just finished this game! It was amazing and I paid for no ads after the second chapter haha.
I was a little disappointed that if you fail to get the statue back from Nathaniel, despite everything else going relatively well through the game, you immediately fail, get shamed and Nassau fails? I honestly thought I hit a bad end after doing so well lol.
I just thought it was kind of out of left field and rather abrupt. Honestly, I would have rather just stayed a pirate and taken my chances
Alexander was absolutely darling and I cannot wait to play with Nathaniel, I really battled it out until the last possible moment while I tried to decide between then haha. Caleb never got my interest, but I might play around with romancing him eventually.
Oh one of my favorite authors , Odessa dating games. Caleb is actually a sweet romance deep down .he says that he never thought he could be so happy and I loved the silent warrior
I finished Nate’s path with the most honorable, kind and shy MC ever and the contrast was soooo good. Their ending when he takes the pardon with her was so sweet and perfect. Now that I’ve played the 3 routes I can say that Alexander is by far the best but Nate was great. Caleb was my first playthrough and he was good too, but the other two were better imo!
This was a fantastic game and I will keep replaying! The differences with MC’s personality and Rose and John Mott were so fun to see too!
Aww. I like how you can still romance even with a contrasting personality. I decided to go with a strong rebellious personality to Romance Nathan (because I thought that would best suit
him) , but the way Eden was responding to my MC’s brazen flirtiness had me second guessing.
Oh well. I’ve already committed.
I’ve played this so many times, trying to find all the different endings with all of the LI’s. But I have to say, I found that there was only one type of MC that led to a satisfying story with John Mott.
Playing as a compassionate, charming, brazen icon/diplomat who tried at all costs to avoid bloodshed (á la Duchess Satine Kryze), only then did Mott really acknowledge MC. He tells Captain Black that he’s done trying to overthrow her and he tells MC that she truly is a good captain.
The times I played more ruthless/hedonistic MC’s, Mott’s resolution wasn’t as satisfying bc he still didn’t respect MC by the end.
This was exactly what happened to me, except I was with Nate. It was a bit of a letdown to be honest.
I wonder if you can’t be a ‘good guy’ AND defend Nassau? Like, my crew was with me, I managed to talk the Governor into handing over the idol, I had no unnecessary bloodshed of any kind, and the ending was just, “Oh well, this will be a hard battle, guess we’ll just leave!” The End. It was like when you get the bad ending in a visual novel. What exactly are we supposed to do to get any kind of ending that has more then a 2 sentence paragraph? …Is it a romance the governor and side with him thing? Do we haaaave to be bad pirates to get an ending with Nate or Caleb? I need some guidance here.
This is interesting because I played the honorable, compassionate, bloodless captain in both my playthroughs with Alexander and Nathaniel. I never tried to be ruthless or conniving lol I was touched when Mott said, he didn’t want to overthrow the player anymore bc she really is THAT great lol
What I also liked with that scene with Mott is Nathaniel also feels bad lol
The compassionate pirate route made me feel like a Disney Princess lol
What did you choose to do with the idol once you had it? I’ve put it back and given it to Spain, I want to try a “fuck england” playthrough where I keep it and fight the Governor. I’ll be bummed if there’s not a “maintain Nassau as a pirate haven via dark magic” ending My goody two shoes Governor romancing pirate got a nice epilogue, I want one for my evil witchy pirate too
Regarding Mott, I did like the befriend option but the undermine option in that scene was pretty funny. Nate basically tells him the deal’s off because he sucks so bad.
Only Nate left, but I’m a bit unsure about his romance because of the 
I’ll give him a chance. All the characters are so dreamy, it’s hard to choose! 
My goody two shoes Governor romancing pirate got a nice epilogue, I want one for my evil witchy pirate too