Spellbound: A Ghost Story (WIP) [Updated November 23, 2023]

I’ve been struggling to come up with feedback beyond :heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes:. So far, nothing. But I need to replay a few times…

OMG this was definitely one of the coolest stories I’ve read in a while! It didn’t even really seem like a WIP because of the fluidity and structure. It got me thinking how this story could branch out into completely different stories, especially during the part where you’re contemplating theories on Callum’s supposed return. I really enjoyed thinking about the different ways the story could take me. I can’t wait for the full release! :slight_smile: :blush:

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Can Calem be redeemed? Please I need to help the MC’s adopted brother…

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Great WIP so far! Not many games here includes and play with the afterlife idea/theory which I’m personally interested in. I’m glad to see it in yours and to combine it with fantasy/magic (one of my favorite genres) is a great idea! I’ll be following your WIP to see where it goes. Good luck!!!

On a side note I do wonder about the army stats in the prologue. It seems to just be there for the prologue and is gone later when I was checking my stats towards the end of the demo. Is it just there for the prologue? And how does it impact the the story and and our choices? Sorry if this is a bit nitpicking.

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Awesome WIP !! I don’t see too many supernatural titles like this (where you get to play as a ghost) and this seems like an interesting story.

Quick question; will the aura stats affect anything story-wise? Like will some characters be drawn to us more than others or even affect certain choices?

Well, when I say “first-time author”, what I mean is that this is the first project I’ve actually had the confidence to share with more than two or three other people. I’ve been writing in some capacity for many years.

“Beta testing” is a strong way of putting it, but I did have a couple people play through just to make sure there weren’t any really glaring mistakes. If it seems polished, it’s more because I spend ludicrous amounts of time scrutinizing my own work.

Hmm. I don’t see any coding reason why this should have happened. My best guess is that you got caught playing the game at the same time I happened to push an update to fix some typos? You get kicked back to the beginning of the chapter when that happens. Let me know if the problem persists, though.

Callum died.

For the purposes of the prologue, the Army stats are window dressing. They’re there as a mechanical illustration of your army’s dwindling strength, and yes, eventually they disappear because your army itself no longer exists. They don’t (yet) serve a gameplay purpose, if that’s what you’re asking.

They will come back in the flashback chapters, and I have some thoughts on how they might impact gameplay in those, depending on how you decide to build your army. Either way, though, they will never be a huge deal—this isn’t really meant to be a management game.

The Aura stats are just your personality stats as a ghost, and they all correspond to personality stats you had as a human (hard = harsh, hot = passionate, etc). This terminology will make more sense after the next update, when Valerie explains what your “aura” actually means in the context of the story. But to put it in gameplay terms: it’s just a slightly more abstract way of expressing the kind of character you’re playing.

As for how personality stats in general affect the story, all they do is change certain passages, so (for example) a “light” MC will generally have more optimistic internal narration than a “dark” MC. I don’t anticipate ever giving those particular stats a bigger role than that—my attitude toward these stats is that they should be potentially malleable, like a real person’s moods, and therefore shouldn’t lock people in or out of any content that’s actually important. It’s more for flavor than anything else.

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:pleading_face::weary::sob: he diserves redemption! Let me save him!

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That has to be one of the top demos I have played on here. Can’t wait for the next update.

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Very cool and interesting premise. Looking forward to seeing more.

This some how feels like The Legend of Damocles well the death part if it anyway all in all this was great can’t wait to see more.

Normally I hate introductions this long. Probably because we do in fact already know what’s gonna happen. I have to activetly try to not skim the first chapters. BUT in this case the introduction was awesome! I never felt bored for even a minute. Your writing is amazing honestly. It was so much fun to read. I probably never enjoyed a long opening this much

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Love it! Not going to lie, I’m a big fan of revenge stories so I was hoping the revenge against Callum would be for the long haul, but at the same time it makes me even more curious to find out what is actually happening. Great job, love your writing!

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I love the game so far! The only thing I’m struggling with is the “All Due respect” achievement , does anyone know how to get it? I’ve tried everything .

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I think you have to get Callum’s respect to 0? But I’m not sure what more.

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@SourPeaches is correct. You have to bottom out Callum’s Respect stat before the end of the prologue. This will give you slightly altered dialogue and the achievement during your confrontation with him.

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This was absolutely fantastic. I was engrossed from the first moment, and your storytelling is so engaging. I’m really interested to see where the story goes from here: I was enchanted by Valerie, and Callum seems like such an interesting character–I want to know his motivations, his reasons, and more. I’m excited to see what more will come! Plus, I mean, revenge? Ghosts? Magic? What more could tempt me?

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firstly, I really love the story so far. Especially how much work was put into the prologue (both story and stats wise) and establishing our character and our situation. Also looking forward to meeting the rest of the cast.

purely out of curiosity though- how much will we actually be able to actually physically interact with the world around us?
Are we just going to be able to use magic, talk, and watch? or will we be able to touch/move things and be physically injured?- unless that’s something that’d be too spoilery to answer.

(this question has nothing to do with romance i promise)

I loved this so much!!! The prologue set the story very well and instantly got me hooked. I also loved Valerie after like 3 sentences. I’l looking forward to reading more!!!

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Love what you have so far! The betrayal! delicious and potential to see Callum again???!! <3

Also I hope we have the chance to tease Rawlin about his Goatee /huffs/

There was one part where ‘Feral rage’ and ‘feral something’ was used pretty close together - not sure if it reads a bit repetitive to anyone else but I just thought to bring it up.

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i find the achievement for dying ironic since you were destined to die. it was like:

“congratulations you died. maybe being a ghost can help you turn the outcome of this battle,
you being the great leader that you are. go on help your troops

they are dying out there you know.

don’t feel bad it’s not your fault anyway for being too trusting and naive. maybe they will all become ghosts too and you can lead them again to their dooms”

i really like the story tough writing is clean and easy to follow. action and emotionally packed(poor dyren i will avenge you). Valerie is adorable, bites more than she can chew, looks like we gonna have to protect Valerie :smiley:

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