This is the dedicated thread for discussing Jazz Age by Nicola R. White.
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Congratulations Nicole ā¦ I really enjoyed what Iāve read so far - the street car hopping vignette is one of my favorite every day life world building snippets Iāve read recently.
I might borrow the idea myself 
5 Likes
Honestly, I didnāt like it: 1/5
The demo to me was to short and not long enough to get the ball rolling. I took a chance and bought it for that reason, and so far, I do regret the purchase.
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I know from the description and from that one choice that appeared in a chapter that there are only two romances, John/Lila, but the problem is that I was interested in everybody but those two. The reason why is that none are interesting to me. One is pretty much absent by the time I get to choose who Iām interested in, and the other one is coming off way too strong for my liking.
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I could have kept reading if I had the option of choosing not to be interested in none of the two, but I didnāt get that, so I stopped playing.
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I didnāt like the spoilers at the stat section either.
Maybe Iāll play it again later to see if I change my mind.
13 Likes
I was excited for this one but it was kind of a let down, in my opinion. I really loved the setting and the ambiance of the story though.
Seeing that we only have two ROs I thought that weāre gonna have more interactions with them and more intimate scenes, with a little bit more distinction about the way the ROs interacted with your character based on the stats you chose. For me, I went gay for John and he was very charming but his plot was kind of abrupt and was resolved instantly.
At first he came of as someone with a dark traumatizing past, but after that we never really talked about it until the confrontation at our home. Then after that, the final interaction with him near the end while also the moment when you get to choose and be officially with, between Lila and John, even though I treated Lila as a friend the whole game. Maybe I just thought that since it is a HC game weāll be focusing more on the gradual growth of our romance with them, but thatās just me nitpicking.
Anyways, Iām so happy for HC and I canāt wait for future releases. 
28 Likes
I think the story is too short and the problems were resolved way too fast. I thought there would be more on each problem but they were resolved with barely a thing. I skipped audition but managed to snatch the role just by dancing in front of G.W and that was a let down. I was expecting he would be much harder on us.
on the romance partā¦ Yeah I agree with you. I was being nice to Lila as friend but she still came to me and claimed to be in love and that was really awkward. Also thereās barely any character development to these people. I mean Iād love to know more about Toni (the socialite)and her family and those LIs. It feels like an unfinished work for me.
20 Likes
I agree. I feel like itās also lacking interactions between the ROs and the supporting characters.
I was hoping that saving my family meant that at the ending, my romance option would at least interact with them and go back home. Anyways, I really donāt get why Vilma and Lang has (kind of fleshed out) routes even though you canāt romance them.
8 Likes
I know this is a romance game, but it really didnāt do much for me. I kept both of the LIās at a distance and yet they both confessed at the end. MC was blindsided by it, and so was I to be honest. Like, John was only at 46% and suddenly heās in love with the MC? Also, that man flops from being like this to being like that. Dude please, what do you want?
There was an option to pick one or both, and not to reject them. Like, I said āI know this is a romance gameā but I felt forced into it so I quit the game.
I liked the plot well enough but, as mentioned before, it was resolved too fast. I definitely wouldāve like some more things to. I know writing is intense and costs a lot of time, but not much happens in the book. Though, what is in the story is good, itās solid. I just wish they had expanded it a bit more.
7 Likes
I also felt it was kind of weird that both Lila and John confessed, especially when my character showed 0 interest in her. I was like, wut?
Iām OK with unrequited love in stories. I like the drama, even, but in this case it was just confusing lol. Poor Lila.
I loved the game otherwise. =)
3 Likes
I really like the setting, a country bumpkin with hopes and dreams coming to big city. I somewhat want to actually perform in Broadway, and be successful and famous, not just get a role. I feel like the story ended pretty short and didnāt have a chance to explore relationships with romanceable and non-romanceable characters. Fortunately, out of two people we can romance, I really like John. But the romance feels like itās out of a CoG or HG game, not from a HC label which is focused on romance. There were 2 scenes with your LI and that was basically it. Not saying I didnāt enjoy, I DID enjoy the game but I wished thereās more content.
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The Heartās Choice contract is for 60,000-word games (i.e. the length of Choice of Broadsides) ā¦I sort of shudder to think what the reaction to free, short, ad-supported games will be, considering that the shortest HC is 125,000 words and thereās a lot of āthis is too shortā here.
11 Likes
Jazz age was my second most anticipated HC game and I was left kinda disappointed. I agree with the people who say itās too short but not because of the word count but because of the pacing of the plot. It just kinda jumps from one thing to the other and makes you choose paths without fleshing the issues out in a way that makes me actually feel engaged as a reader.
Also I kinda felt awkward playing as a gay male reader and character in this without a way to tell the F!RO that I wasnāt attracted to her when the author started writing in descriptions that she was into me when I had sperificly clicked the I want to be her friend option
20 Likes
Loved the setting and the background story, but as others say, the romance wasā¦ lacking. And forced. I felt as if I was obliged to be attracted to them both, regardless how I felt.
Great writing, but very much on rails. Great if I go in with a mindset of āI will romance this characterā but otherwise I felt rather restricted. 
Would love to read more from Nicola, but more open in choices and more romance options. 
8 Likes
I havenāt played it, but it is a romance game. I donāt quite understand why a player wouldnāt go in with a mindset of āI will romance this characterā?
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I think what Taylor meant was that they didnāt feel like there was an opportunity to actually get to know the characters before choosing whether or not your character was attracted to one or the other.
And from what it sounds like, both characters hit on the protagonist without possibility of saying āI am a gay man/gay woman, please stop hitting on me.ā So itās not that theyāre complaining about forced romance in a romance game, theyāre critiquing the speed in which it occurs and the way the writing felt to them.
30 Likes
Makes sense! And yeah, Iād want it to be responsive about orientation statements from the player. I should play more of it so Iām more able informed, Iāve met the LIs but havenāt been hit on much yet 
@Taylor_Enean I hope it didnāt feel like I was jumping on you, itās a general topic that Iāve been pondering in my day job and I was probably still in work mode!
2 Likes
Well I purchased it if that could be taken into consideration as I want to support the authors. Perhaps it could be an input for future titles. We are quite used to with detailed and complex story so it felt a bit abrupt. I actually like the setting a lot because prohibition era is one of my favorite settings and I like my MC and the choices to shape their character. I just feel there are so many rooms to explore in the story.
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Yup, you got it right there, thanks for elaborating on my part. 
Nah, no worries, I guess I was a bit unclear. 
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Iām really excited about these HC games, but I was very underwhelmed by Jazz Age, even though I enjoyed the setting. I feel like CoG games are very good at creating an illusion of complete control, where even if some of the choices are arbitrary, they accomplish making you feel like your character is really yours. Even if you donāt get a lot of say in your overarching goals in certain games, you get to decide how your character feels about certain events, why theyāre in this situation, sometimes even the option to say things they donāt really mean.
I hadnāt felt that way at all with this. The options were very one-note and surface-level, as were the paths your character can take. I couldnāt get as attached to my character because I was given so little room to customize her, and I felt like the romance options were surprisingly limited and rushed. I was hoping that because these games were focused on romance that they would at least have the level of character development as a standard CoG, not less.
Iām gonna give the others a shot though, and see how that goes.
10 Likes
For me, part of it is that I didnāt realize there was only one potential romantic option (based on my orientation.) Toni was the first character I met, and I was primarily interested in her. When I met Lila, my brain said āThis is the second romantic option, but I prefer the first.ā Then I met Vilma and thought, "Sheās interesting, is she the third RO? I still like Toni best, but letās see how it develops "
The problem, of course, is that there wasnāt a first, second and third romantic option. There was Lila. Iām so used to playing other CoG games, not to mention Love at Elevation, that it never even occurred to me the only choice Iād have in a romance-based CoG game would be āthe man or the woman.ā
As far as Lila goes as a character, I liked her as a friend and mentor, but the power dynamics between my characterāa young woman in her late teens, fresh off the train with almost no money and no contactsācompared to a woman who owns her own salon, her own speakeasy, and is connected all over town (which, in my mind, placed her in at least her early 30s), and is also both my boss and my landlord? It just all felt like a big no thanks to me. Red flags everywhere.
If I were attracted to men, John wouldāve been even worse. He arrested me and tried to turn me against my friend. If I could have avoided him from that point on, I would have. Instead, I told him with the strongest language I could at every opportunity āNo thanks, leave me alone.ā
And still I found myself in a scene where two people I had no romantic interest in were confessing their love to me after very limited interactions, and my only options were:
A. One of the people Iām not attracted to.
or
B. Both of the people Iām not attracted to.
Meanwhile, Iām thinking āWhere the hell is Toni? Whatās even happening right now?ā
So I closed the app. If Iād had the option to choose neither character, I wouldāve made that choice and finished the game, possibly working on a friendship with Lila. It wouldāve been a disappointing experience overall, but at least it wouldāve felt like Iād had the option to express what I was feeling about the situation. Instead, it felt like an arranged marriage I hadnāt even realized had been arranged until I was being walked down the aisle.
So, yeah. I liked the authorās writing style, but this Heartās Choice game had fewer romantic options than any CoG game Iāve ever played, and didnāt feel in any way more romantic than any of them.
That said, I could maybe enjoy a game with very limited ROs if those ROs were deeply developed. That wasnāt the case here, and the romance felt more like a B-plot than the focus to me. Thatās fine in CoG games, but not what I was looking for here.o
38 Likes
Wow, I am really loving this storyā¦As an actor, and the theatre speak/knowledge is spot on! I also love the setting and all of the characters so farā¦great job!
I cant believe you.mentioned Helen Hayes 
!!! I am a DC actor, and our professional theatre awards (aka our version of the āTony Awardsā) are called the āHelen Hayesā awards. You did your research and I you so hard for it!!!
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