2024 has been a generally down year for me with Choicescript games, which is why I have to commend you. Your game was a pleasant surprise, definitely a highlight both for this year and amongst all HC games. Thanks for that, and hope it does well! Looking forward to what you do next!
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I just finished my Teo run and this is certainly one of the best HC games I’ve ever played. Kudos!
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You two made my day with these comments. 
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
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I haven’t had time to play yet, but I’m looking forward to (definitely bought it on day one).
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Yes! That’s the reason I couldn’t even finish the demo. If it was part of the premise that the whole “check if you are chosen” thing was entirely voluntary and MC always dreamed to become warrior-mage and was hoping to recieve the call (with some different motivations to choose from) I wouldn’t have any problems. But while I as a player want to explore this plot I just can’t force myself to play as MC who is forced into slavery and is happy about it. The fact that MC is stripped of all agency (and it is presented as a good thing) is a big turn off.
The MC being somehow compelled to accept the call, to my mind, was totally in keeping with an older society, perhaps slightly renaissance or a bit later, but definitely not modern. As a Princess or even as a Prince, you did as you were told. Its strange to us as we do have the freedom to choose our lifestyle. Travelling and doing a lot of things we take for granted were simply not expected, nor would families allow it.
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That’s not how it is at all, though. There’s no one with the authority to force you to do anything. You simply don’t hear the Call unless it’s truly right for you.
It’s more like living in a world where people have soulmates, and you’ve just met yours - the one person on earth who can bring you the greatest joy and with whom you can fulfill your highest potential. You could walk away, but why would you?
If you’re not comfortable with the idea of magic that knows what’s right for you better than you know yourself, fine. But what happens in this game is absolutely not comparable to being “forced into slavery.”
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I find “the Call is never wrong” is a bit of a cop-out, personally. Even if it’s never been wrong before, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question that assumption of infallibility. And I think it could have made for some excellent drama to let the player character chafe against the call, knowing that this isn’t the life they want despite everyone telling them it’s their destiny. It could provide some great conflict for the player’s kindred, with them slowly realising that they were wrong to choose this person and then doing everything they can to help them break free even as it breaks their heart to know they’ll never see them again. And it could add to the romance too - the player is trapped on this island, desperate to escape, and yet they can’t deny the feelings they’re developing for this other person. Maybe in the end they could escape together, leave Ra’zai and the king behind as they forge a new life free of both.
Maybe this is just my personal aversion to unquestioning devotion to tradition. I do like the game as it is, and I realise maybe these things are outside its scope. Once again, these are just my thoughts.
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The thing is, a character who heard the Call and really, really didn’t want to be a Kitherin wouldn’t be “trapped, desperate to escape.” They’d simply leave. There’s no indication anyone has ever been forced.
Why? Magic in this setting is essentially a force of nature that works in reliable ways.
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I’ll leave it to the author to give a definitive answer, but there are a few things that seem to indicate that you can’t just leave. The ferryman says “You do know that if you’re chosen there’s no going back?” and later if you tell Thea you’re not interested in keeping the balance of worlds, she says “Nevertheless it will be required of you.” As for why question it, questioning our assumptions is the only way of getting to the truth. But maybe that’s getting too philosophical.
I think the main problem here is the framing. The player isn’t travelling to Ra’zai with the intention of being chosen; they’re a spy sent there against their will, and who (initially at least) may or may not actually want to be a Warrior-Mage. Perhaps a better framing (especially since the spy thing doesn’t seem to impact the plot all that much) would be for the player to be someone travelling there in the express hope of becoming Kitherin, perhaps with a choice of backgrounds and motivations for doing so - a scholar seeking to learn about dragon runes, an adventurer hoping to gain power, a criminal looking to escape their past etc. Then it would have been made an explicit part of the narrative that this character wants to be chosen, and all this uncertainty would be cleared away.
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I actually feel that it is worse because I see it as a mind control (magical gaslighting?), like MC is stripped of the freedom of thought. MC can be reluctant but then it is suppressed by this external magical force (so no one can even think to fight it). I find it horrifying.
I understand that there is no point to give player the choice to refuse the call (because it is instant game’s end) and that freedom of will is not the game’s theme. I just puzzled why premise is “You are playing as MC who is forced to become mage-warrior by some external magical force which knows what’s better”, when (based on other’s reviews) forced part is not explored and MC is not allowed to question this force, and not simple “You are playing as MC who wants to become mage-warrior”. But well, this is not the first game where I don’t buy the premise and that’s fine.
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Exactly. People can come up with any number of in-universe reasons as to why the story plays out the way it does, but the fact remains that those creative choices made me (and quite a few others it seems) feel a certain way that’s contrary to the sort of feelings the author seemingly wanted to evoke.
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The premise is that you would accept the call if you hear it. Full stop.
The choice to follow the calling was already made by the MC and is not an option because of that fact. So, the idea that you are “forced” or “enslaved” does not hold up under the premise.
Edit:
We disagree on this.
While we agree on this.
It is weird how we both read Leia’s beginning and come to different conclusions.
My position (which Leia may correct me on) is: The player is being sent as an unwilling spy, but one who is determined to make the best of the situation that they may; if they hear the calling they aim to accept it.
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Then why give us the option to be reluctant in the first place? We’re not angry about the character wanting to be Kitherin as part of the plot. What’s frustrating is being given the option to say “I don’t trust magic” or “I like my life as it is” and then, thanks to some fantasy mumbo-jumbo, suddenly we’re all “Woo, magic! This is my destiny!” That’s what makes us feel like we’re losing character agency.
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I feel many people in life may be thrown into a situation where they express reluctance or dislike about elements of that situation but are determined to make the best of that situation as they can.
If this is where your MC is coming from (I don’t trust magic, and/or I liked life as it was) that is the mind set your MC is entering the new circumstances in… but at the same time, the MC is also coming from the mind set that they are going to seize on the opportunity to regain their agency if that opportunity presents itself (even if it is through magic and it means life changes because of the calling)
I don’t see “fantasy mumbo-jumbo” being used to compell your MC. Why? Because the MC could have refused the call (and the game would be over) if they so desired.
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It’s not that they’re being compelled as such. It’s more that “no-one who feels the call ever wants to deny it” is used to hand-wave the character’s potential personality shift. Why give us the chance to start out as a character who doesn’t want to be chosen (and there are actually options to say “I hope I’m not chosen”) if you’re just going so say “actually, now that you have been chosen you can’t imagine resisting it”? Why let us make that initial choice about our character if you’re not going to let us follow through with it?
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I interpreted the “I hope I am not chosen” choice as a hope, but not a decision to deny the call if I hear it.
I see it as: “I hope I am not chosen, but if I am, I am going to make the best out of it.”
We seem to be interpreting the MC’s initial feelings differently.
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Even if it is a hope rather than a statement of intent, it would have been nice to have the option to express that same sentiment at other points in the story - “I wish I hadn’t been chosen”, “I miss my old life” etc - and even have the option of slowly coming around over the course of the story as you embrace the thrill of magic, the beauty of the island and your new bonds of love and friendship. Instead it’s kind of a jarring leap from “I hope I’m not chosen” to “Welp, I’ve been chosen, time to fully embrace my new life!”
Ultimately this doesn’t bother me all that much, as like I said, I’ve since restarted as a much more enthusiastic character and it feels much more satisfying without that weird dissonance. But it does leave those initial reluctant options feeling kind of redundant.
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I think this is wonderful feedback.
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I think it’s kind of a shame because this obviously isn’t the experience Leia wanted to create. She wanted to make a fun romantic adventure in a tropical paradise full of magical secrets to discover, and for the most part absolutely delivered on that. It’s just these few small things that took me out of that experience and into “Is my character a prisoner here? Do they even have free will? Is Rae going to be stuck redoing the trials until she dies?” - which isn’t the intended experience at all.
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