Hey, all. I’ve completed my review for Samurai of Hyuga Book 5. Thanks for reading!
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Your choices doesn’t matter at all lmao, I feel like I was reading a ebook.
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Just like in previous four books, what a discovery
I mean, if you’re so disappointed, by this, why are you still playing, exactly? It’s been like this, since, like, forever.
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I like this book, but didn’t like many stuff, and expressed my disappointment here, and will continue to play so, you got a problem with that?
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Not at all. But the lack of real choices has been, is and will be a essential part of this series’ game design. Which, however, will not prevent people from complaining about this with the release of the sixth and seventh book
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There is tons of choice, the perspective shifts and you can see the core choices in each recap, it may not be what you want, but it’s still a choice and they do affect the outcome and perspective you read from. Plus relationships and stuff. It’s a book not a improv show/open world video game.
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SoH has less agency when it comes to the MC. It is a valid criticism but we are already in the 5th book and I don’t see the author changing that mechanic for Book 6 and 7. The discussion for having less agency has been discussed before and it’s like beating the dead horse at this point imo.
It’s best to move on from this discussion.
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Saw the author’s comments under the review guys page, Devon even said he doesn’t even like interactive fiction which got a chuckle out of me
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Often times in these kinds of games, the choices are not about making story altering decisions or major branching paths, but rather allowing you to control and shape how your character perceives things. That’s a perfectly valid way of using the format, and honestly necessary, too, or any game (especially one with sequels) would become untenable from a development standpoint. The Hyuga series definitely leans into that mechanic. That’s a good thing.
Devon uses those kinds of choices creatively and with a fair bit of reactivity to those personality traits throughout the games. I haven’t replayed the games that much to test what does/doesn’t happen (the one time I can recall doing so was seeing if there was any way to rescue Momoko from her fate in Book 2) but because of how the personality system is utilized, I have always felt like I’ve been playing a very distinct version of my character. The world reacts to my MC based on how I have shaped him. That’s been more than sufficient as these games have always been day one purchases for me. It’s a world and character that I look forward to returning to.
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@K_Douglas
I said I wasn’t a fan of choicegames, which is a lot different than saying I don’t like interactive fiction, period. The Wolf Among Us, Indigo Prophecy, and G-senjou no Maou are great examples of IF games I do enjoy. They all feature established, pro-active characters, who are inherently interesting and by no means blank-slates.
Across these forums, I’ve written plenty of posts about why I dislike second-person perspective so much. Those reasons are why I’m not a fan of choicegames. It doesn’t matter how many stats “You” have; if “You” are in the story, then your character is a walking placeholder. As I get older, I find I have less patience for this sort of protagonist.
@phimseto
I would be very interested in knowing what the average number of play-throughs a typical choicegame has. If we take out the outliers, like those who didn’t finish and those who’ve played through it dozens of times for achievements and perfect stats, my guess is that the number would be something like ‘1.x’.
In a popularity battle between “wide, but short” choicegames versus “narrow, but long” ones, it’s not even a fight. It’s a massacre. Long, narrow choicegames, like SoH, aren’t just better suited for the casual audience who will only play through it once, it’s also (as you’ve pointed out) ideal and necessary for creating a series.
This was a conscious design decision I made years ago, because I was very much a casual fan myself. And I think that’s been more of a boon than a bane.
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I think I might have to conclude that the interactive part of SoH has been on the decline. It’s a great fiction, but good interactions need to matter. It was a bane of TellTale and the rest of them, having so much false choices - you were waiting for the things to come back and for the guns to finally fire, but it wasn’t always the case.
SoH kinda has it even worse - it doesn’t even give false choices to keep the reader interacting, it’s just quizzes. Sure, typing in stuff in the first parts of the book 3 was fun, because it mattered. It doesn’t really matter if the Ronin remembers the name of the fucking horse tho. While I understand why it’s happening (there aren’t many fork roads and we need to be somehow involved while we are getting there) it’s not a good form still. I wish that the next books would see an improvement in this regard.
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Blank ish slates can be good, if the character development establishes them as interesting and no longer blank after you’ve established your slight personality /self insertion that the author allows, like the Super Hero choiceofgames.(I think HeroesRise/fall maybe) anyways, Taletell I found the choices really don’t even effect the perspective or anything in the ones I’ve played which kind of sucks imo, but the really good games like SoH and Magium are the way you describe with pre established characters that you slightly control.
Or if the story doesn’t rely on the protagonist being interesting as much as the story around him/her, but that’s just my opinion.
Also I find it hilarious that a major author for choiceof says they don’t like choiceof, like I imagine it’s the equivalent of in an office you walk in PJs and tell the manager to F off and go sit in your cubicle with your feat up because your indispensable lmao
To agure against your and MultipleChoice point against game series here can’t having big choices that impact the rest of the games in the series I point to the Infinity Sea series(In which in the first book there is a big impact on the games between the being Knighted and being a deserter endings plus there is what region your character is from which has a impact on book 3, ),Fallen Hero(Whatever you kill anyone,how the fights go in book 1 have an impact on how the Rangers see the villain which has an impact,what your scar is can unlock unique options,what villain career path you pick at the start of book 2)Keeper of(In which each player species have unique sub plots in each book same with the ro’s) and Breach and (FBI or Archangel paths in book 2).
I can understand why one won’t want do things like this due to the increase time investment but it is possible for series to have a bunch of choices that have a impact both in the book that there in and the rest of them. Plus there are still a bunch of casual fans who play though said games once
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To be honest, it wasn’t said that it was impossible, just that the choices aren’t always used for making a real difference in the story, but for flavour and roleplaying alone. SoH’s problem is that it stopped doing even that and for some reason just asks you questions with no real stakes for answering them wrong.
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That’s a very interesting conclusion you make, @Anarore_Kriptih. Something like this, I think, may be a matter of personal perception. If you check the code of Book 5 and compare it to earlier entries in the series, you’ll find that there is a lot more meat (unique paragraphs) in practically every choice you make.
But the thing is, you’re still arriving at the same place and the gamestate probably hasn’t changed. All that has, was how you got there: and that’s the reader’s experience. I design choices that focus on letting the player fine-tune how they want to read through the novel.
That’s why I prefer calling what I make ‘interactive novels’ instead of ‘interactive games’.
As for the memory quizzes, I know they rub some players the wrong way. But there are several benefits that make them worthwhile. They provide a sense of reward for those who do remember and also encourages readers to pay attention. It’s most important function, from a narrative perspective, is to help bring focus to some detail mentioned earlier.
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Ok… But maybe you can do better than “Hey guys! Do you remember the horse’s name that I mentioned once two books ago?” where does not even fit in the context.
Maybe I was a little harsh but I think I made my point
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Oh, I didn’t say that the game wasn’t reactive to the personality we set and the choices made in the past installations. I said it started lacking in interacting per se. Of course it would be better if I had some time to do actual math and count all real and “fake” (roleplaying) choices in previous books vs book 5 and compare the ratio, but that would be a little bit too much. Or maybe I will do it in the future.
But there is just so much of them in book 5. Like, yeah, sure, here and there, and I can agree with your arguments. But they quickly outstay their welcome, and maybe book 5 was a bit too generous with them. At least in my opinion.
Again, I think your way of using the medium of IF and CoG specifically is totally valid, but in the same way there are certain ground rules for making good fiction, there are rules for making a good interactive piece. Meaning that choices must matter and have consequences. As you would say “wide” games can get away with bigger ratio of fake choices. “Narrow” SoH has to make every shot count - dangling an ability to choose in front of our noses when those abilities are rare and, therefore, should be especially meaningful, can create a more severe whiplash. Like in book 2 with Momoko and Hatch’s date. Don’t give me a choice, game, if you are a going to just hijack it from me if I chose “wrong”. Not without a good reason - like the whole Jun/ko mess in book 4. The book spends a lot of time examining their relationship and thus explaining why the Ronin can’t do sensible and healthy things in this instance and in general. I didn’t feel that happening in book 2.
So yeah, in my opinion SoH is a great fiction but could do with some recalibration to the interactive part.
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Hi guys. Does anyone know how many books are left in the series?
If I remember right the plan is 7 books in total
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