One potential problem, as I saw it, was that the final battle (EDIT: after your powers get the boost, that is) almost seemed to simply be a case of “repeatedly hit the enemy with your best stat”, which made it seem rather dull in comparison to previous encounters.
I was able to use my lightning power - i liked it… and the presence behind my eyes coming for me … very brooding.
1 Like
Not sure if its a mistake or not so I figured id just point it out, with the hero-antihero stat I was able go well beyond 100% (I ended at 150% anti). Just thought i would point that out.
Also this is defiantly the best CoG i’v played in a while.
Plasma}, I hope you’ve been keeping a certain degree of disconnection from this shit-show. God knows I can’t. What do we do? Consider this your first experience with the worst part of leadership."
she trails off, taps out some cigar ash into the tray.
Ya, the author either needs to use fair math or re-balance stats.
This thread, and people not using proper spoiler tags, unfortunately spoiled me for a few of the game’s twists.
I’ve got attention and concentration issues at the moment so I was only able to play as far as when we join the new team and are about to do the fight.
I felt up until that point the characters, with the exception of Courser, felt rather flat. I’d no friends at school if I turned down the twin’s romantic interest, and I was disappointed that in doing so that stopped them from being my friend. I felt school zoomed by so quickly I felt disconnected from it all.
I did like the capture the criminal vignette.
I liked the writing in general in fact. I thought you’d some good ideas.
I found Courser the most interesting of your characters. He seemed to come to life off the screen in a way the other characters didn’t.
From what I read, not much at all, I think you’ve definitely got the foundation of something good here. Due to the spoilers I read, it’s probably not the sort of game for me. I am glad to see more superhero games though.
Hmm only other notes I’ve got written down are
With Frederic I’d have liked to have talked my way out of the situation or at least tried. And I was most frustrated that I couldn’t attempt to. I’m not going to resort to my powers unless I have to. None of the options presented were what I was feeling.
1 Like
I liked it was really good
Love the story so fair, you’re an amazing writer♥️, is there a bi. Opinion tht I missed?
Will the MC get the chance to become a villain even in the early school screens?
I’m just gonna ask flat out, are the twins doomed or if I find all of the evidence can I save them
Well, I’m still hoping for a spurious resurrection in the sequel… (Hey, it’s superheroes. It’s not like it’s uncommon. 
)
I have one word for this game…WOW.
Although it is a shame we can’t save dawn I liked her.
1 Like
I love this game I played last night over and over. I just wish we had a choice of powers. Other than that A+±±++
Made it to chapter 2. I like the fact that my power is just Electrokenisis. Like i’m usually a typical Pyromaniac (or Darkness if the option is possible or makes sense) but i like shocking people.
Anyway just finished my interview with Cursey McGee Aegis.
Why did she say i was well rounded?
I’m literally this stats right now as i write this.
Vital Statistics
Brawn: 3
Brains: 3
Bravado: 1
Power: 1
Sure i focused on brains the most and went brawn second but… Like this counts as well rounded?
Boss Aegis this is why you read the fucking resume, manual thingy. Ahem.
Edit:
Looks like i just pissed off the actual pyro and her boytoy- I mean her Friend Blueshift.
Off to a GREAT start there Gabe.
This was a beautiful game that felt both nostalgic and fresh. As a choice of games junkie I’ve played all the superhero games they have and yours, while in the same vein, is completely different. I don’t feel like I’m playing a game similar to that. I applaud you on finishing your wonderful game! The characters felt real, but I recommend spending more time fleshing them out especially in the relationships with the player. The story felt short but believable and I really felt like a part of it. Thank you and congratulations on what I believe will be one of the best games about superheroes!
I’m confused as to why the Classical/Anti-Hero stats are named as they are given that it basically comes down to the age old Free Reign vs Regulation debate. I noticed choices involving that issue affecting the stats more often than choices actually being relevant to acting like the archetype Hero or a true Anti Hero. As it stands, it’s impossible to play as an Anti Hero that’s anti-regulation because they share the same stat. Maybe consider splitting it into two. One for out heroic attitude/persona, and one for our view on the need for regulation.
Example: I chose to attack Manhattan Mike without giving him pause like a traditional hero would. I expected the Anti Hero stat to go up. It didn’t.
Anyways, not gonna lie, I knew it was Sentinel right from the beginning. It’s always the older hero stuck in the good old days that turns out to be the villain. Just look at Rebellion from Heroes Rise. Not to say that it wasn’t enjoyable, but I wasn’t surprised at all.
So I finally got my thing together and played this.
PROS:
- alternate endings
- muslim superhero
- engaging characters
- pacifist run possible
- u can be the gay batman u always dreamed of being
- nice take on the world of superheroes and powers, especially regarding evolution
CONS:
- there’s literally no reason why there isnt a nb option. like, seriously, your gender is hardly ever brought up, just tack on some neutral pronouns and mash together the male and female formalwear option for the night out and you’re done.
- nothing is stopping you from minmaxing and still getting the best ending
- it’s damn easy to minmax to the point where you’re unstoppable
- repetitive final boss fight
- first character in like, half a year of CoGs that ive wanted to romance and… theyre not a romance option
- there’s a distinct lack of flavour text that makes it very hard to immerse yourself in the world. the characters are good, the plot is good (if a bit tropey but isnt all superhero fiction?) but after the part where you graduate there’s very little connotative description of the world around you. it lacks atmosphere and comes across as bland and generic
- if you don’t romance dawn/allen, their deaths come across as… boring and don’t really invoke a response because you don’t know and emphasise with them very well. same with your early days as @FairyGodfeather mentioned
5 Likes
Pfft. I play him in CCH. This guy is my gay superhero with electric powers.
2 Likes
You are right, the whole genre does have a bit of an issue with tropes - but that’s also due to the necessary simplicity of writing a story which the player can have a huge effect on. Paradigm was originally going to be a more complex story but it became a cost/reward exercise.
Sentinel does actually like you - or, to be more accurate, sees promise and potential in you, even up until the very end.
Your team is rather trustworthy too, and Exarch’s ending isn’t the only one available.
@Mim @Eiwynn Chevalier is British, yes (with a French name) who has distanced himself from his past by becoming American. So, there’s a bit of irony to that achievement name.
As for the continuity errors, Eiwynn - well spotted. The first one is a problem and I’ll need to examine the scripting there. The second is a fault of me not being as clear as I should be with my prose.
@anon98911805 - originally the player was going to be able to choose a special talent that’d bolster their power. For example, the ability to pick up someone’s surface thoughts through skin-to-skin contact. It became very complex and was something that had trouble thinking of interesting ideas for. It’s on the cards for the sequel, though.
@ParrotWatcher - that’s a good point. Between this and what some other posters have said, I’ll see about getting a non-binary option in.
With the final battle… Originally, there was less hints in the prose (eg: “Use your brawn…”) was absent. A few of my initial testers were unsure of what to do and felt that it was too easy to lose. It’s one of those things where I have to weigh up people feeling cheated and off-loading the thinking work onto players when presented with the options.
As for the twins, Well, one of them does have some strange life-giving powers…
@Nakami_Nukaim - There’s no true villain path, sadly (It’d be a completely different story!) but you can get a bad ending in Capetown if they think you’re not hero material!
@Lithophene - The idea was more of ‘traditional caped hero’ and ‘modern-day special agent’. I may have to rejigger them a bit and figure out a better name. It was also going to affect decisions that could be made, as well, but I ended up not liking the idea of restricting a player’s input.
@Bagelthief - thanks for the detailed writeup, it’s very helpful. Out of curiosity, who was the character you wanted to romance but wasn’t an option?
To everyone else, I just want to say thank you for the positive feedback and for the issues you’ve picked up on, both big and small. I’m taking everything that’s been posted under consideration as I work on a patch. Some of the bigger things are things I’d relegate to a sequel - or, alternatively, what I’d like to call a Director’s Cut of Paradigm which would be a more substantial update at a later date. I would have replied sooner but I was away for the weekend!
7 Likes
That’s fair enough; it certainly shouldn’t be too hard, but it doesn’t really change the fact that it’s what, four separate brains/brawn/bravado/power checks in a row, which does make it somewhat repetitive.
You could roundabout this and have it be something like “use your strength”, or connotative words like “pummel”, “punch”, “shove”, “smite” which people are going to already know are physical attacks?
Maybe just “traditional” and “modern”? Nowadays we associate heroes more with the grittier, more realistic depictions Alan Moore created than their originals, partly due to exposure.
No problem! 
I’ll go into detail on what I would do for the cons. You don’t have to oblige, however!
Blueshift. …Is this even a spoiler?
you’re planning on fixing this.
You’re on the right track to doing this already in the final fight, but what losses you do sustain from not passing a stat check feel bland because of your lack of descriptive text. I think there should be a slightly higher threshold on a few too.
Combine two stat checks, especially in a big fight. For example, with Courser, even if you have no Brains you still manage to see an opening when attacking him with Brawn. This should really hit a Brains check too. It encourages people to branch out instead of putting everything in one stat.
Or describe how many lives were lost because your Bravado stat was too low to get them away. Put some empathic force in, like the view of a crying child having lost a parent, or something. I feel you’ve handled specialised minmaxing better than any other CoG author, but still, could be better and more rewarding.
Flavourrrrrrr texxxxxttttttttttttt. Up the tension. Repeated words in lines with slight differences. Short sentences. Sensory description. Do it.
im petty lmao ignore me
write with your senses. go outside and feel how a city feels boxed in and claustrophobic or why stone walls feel cold and unwelcoming. The smell, the sounds, the touch, the feeling, not just the sights, all help contribute to a more immersive world. go outside and observe places if you’re struggling
look up connotative language examples. show, not tell
I really liked the camping bully scene. If we don’t go on the trip, they could write letters to us or being us back something? We could have a scene where we’re helping them with homework which is our first sign that maybe they don’t fit in here or something. To make us feel more for them.
Your romances are going somewhere, but still kinda bland. Once again, it’s a lack of tension and descriptive text that makes everything come up flatter than I’d expected.
There are hundreds and hundreds of sexual tension writing tips out there on Google. It doesn’t have to be sexual; it can be solely romantic with no sexual connection, but they’re good things to read up on for your writing (at least when you’re not a grey-aroace like me who only gets it a quarter of the time).
3 Likes