I think the version of the quest that can be found in Choice of Games for Android app broke → it is stuck on the first page of chapter 2 and says “The game has updated. Restarting chapter” whenever I click “Next” but does not advance and stays on the same page
The thing I find to be a little troubling about this book is that it’s been nine years since the first Heroes Rise game. I don’t exactly know what it is, but the lack of progress is just a little bit upsetting to me.
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Progress as in? Because there’s one big elephant in the room here…
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Writing quality & meaningful choices.
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You may have to restart the game, unfortunately.
To be fair, I got the impression that Zachary learned a lot from his past books and improved himself, even listening to criticism to some extent. This story is a lot less directly preachy than Hero Project: Open Season, for instance. While the writing itself remained consistent, he has shown, through the various spiritual sections in this and other stories, that he has considerably progressed morally. As I wrote in my review, that is not enough for us readers (we are interested in the gaming experience itself, the story, not with a conversation with the author’s psyche), but it was a gracing point in my mind.
Either way, you have a point.
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Sergi has definitely improved a lot in the morality section. We can clearly see that just in the names of stats changing over time. The first game used ruthless/genuine as personality stats, painting subtler characters as conniving bastards whether intentional or not. Similarly, regime/rebellion was used where regime almost always has a negative connotation compared to rebellion’s neutral connotation.
In the second game he changes ruthless/genuine to calculating/trustworthy, a huge improvement. In this third game, he relabels regime/rebellion as protection/revolution, another big improvement. Furthermore, the seemingly self serving goal of becoming as powerful as possible is painted in a flattering light in that Thomil needs power to save loved ones, rather than a negative megalomaniac light it probably would have been painted as had the same goal been presented in the first game.
As had been said, however, Sergi still has a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps it’s a result of the first game being too ambitious, but Sergi wrote himself into a corner with the finding Dhanial mission and having so many people to memory travel and so few people confirmed in the first two games. It’s understandable (though for some not necessarily forgivable) that he felt compelled to speed through some parts and write out so much of the main cast.
I think this series likely would have benefitted from having four games instead of three, though I understand that might not have been possible
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There is an illuminating interview with Zachary in the Choice of Games news section. Quite a few of the thoughts shared here get mentioned, and Sergi also says he considered making The Deathscapes as two books.
And to my surprise, he hints at working on a story regarding the Heroes Rise characters at the very end. I don’t know what form that will take, but I know I have been burned by unkept promises a bit too much now. If it turns out to be a new book, I will simply not buy it and will never know what was supposed to have happened with the characters. I hope it’s not a new book itself, but a much-deserved extension of the existing ones.
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At this point it might be wise for him to take a break and then sit down and write a ‘redux’ of HR and VS, to smooth out the hiccups, make the worldbuilding more consistent etc. before tackling anything new
Like, looking at what ‘isn’t there’ in hr1 or OS alone could easily expand either game to 500k+ words instead of 100k.
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Just a couple of thoughts to leave here and just to make it clear i am very appreciative of the author for his time and passion in creating both heroes rise which i love and this versus trilogy, THANK YOU for your efforts sir 
Now my honest thoughts of this final book of versus which i was highly anticipating, i thought it sadly felt very rushed, i was reading alot of the memory travel dialog and was yawning like crazy because it felt like ALOT of nothing at all, political religous stuff that i care nothing for in real life either, this was a struggle i found to stay interested in, also and this is probably my own fault, i was expecting the characters of heroes rise herofall to be in this book, i thought it was going to be a crossover event lol clearly i thought very very wrong, which made me very sad also, all in all the one word i use to describe this final chapter is MEH
Sadly, it just didnt grip me at all, i have literally just finished it and without spoilers i really didnt like the ending, it once again felt rushed and HIGHLY anticlimatic, i hate to say it but im dissapointed with this one,
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I should rephrase, I meant multiple canon endings.
Since everyone is leaving their review, here’s mine. Warning Spoilers:
I liked this book, but not as much as the two before it. As mentioned above, I think this book is rushed or the author wrote it out of obligation, not for love.
What I disliked
- It was pretty disappointing that most of the characters were not in the story for like 80% of the book. I get it, there were lots of them, but why not make the book longer, then? I’m pretty sure most readers wouldn’t have cared, we waited for this one a lot of time.
- Political issues seemed like they didn’t matter anymore. Correct me if I’m wrong, but why put so much effort on MC choosing a side in the prior book if in this one rebels and elite would merge together anyway?
- Romances. As I said before, we don’t get to spend time with most of the cast, so, yeah. I know romance is not a focus of this game, but, this simply feels off. No time for bonding, no enough time speaking to RO… most of it players have to headcannon. And well, Oli’s romance ending is just… I mean, ok, if we at least got to spend more time with him before his sacrifice, I would still consider myself satisfied (even if there was no way to save him) but it just feels wrong that when we’re finally able to spend time with him BOOM he dies.
- “If it’s not there, just headcannon what you want” No. I’m sorry but no, we’re buying this book to see all the things that can happen, not to fill the gaps ourselves. This is the reason why so many of us feel like this book was rushed.
What I liked - Philosophical stuff. I know most of other readers have the opposite opinion, but I thought the things themselves were pretty well thought of, just bad executed. Those big chunks of text didn’t help getting the reader get interested, instead they just saw those long paragraphs and went “UGHH”. I think adding the philosophical questions little by little would have been a lot better, because for me, the ideas were pretty interesting.
- Battles. I don’t have much to say on this one, they were interesting, well executed, and had me at the edge of my seat.
- World. This is what got me attracted to this saga on the first place, the world is so beautiful and full of possibilities. Learning more of it and answering most of the questions was good, and the descriptions (like in the other two books) made me wish that versus was real.
What I’m neutral about - Open ending. They are not bad themselves, if the author is planning to make another story in the same world. I’m wondering if that’s the case… I hope it is.
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I agree in large part with your review, and I’ve been feeling very ambivalent about a lot of things in this book. I’ve decided that, just like in Choice of the Vampire, it’s best to not fall in love with someone but, unlike with the former book, you definitely can’t aim for a sort of “It’s better to have loved and lost…” since there was no real love that my MC experienced. Again, like with Choice of the Vampire, I’m happy to have let my character die, even if it’s not the “canon” ending inasmuch as it does not allow us to take the story further.
The thing about the philosophy was, I personally didn’t mind the chunks but after a point, it felt like I was being railroaded into believing a certain philosophy. The initial discussions on empiricism and idealism, on cognition and recognition, were fun. But after a certain point, my interest became purely academic, sifting through the lone semester of philosophy I took in college to identify which thinker the author had borrowed from, and also recognised that my character couldn’t really have a different stance ultimately. Creatures Such as We was a delightfully philosophical book too but it wasn’t quite as heavy handed.
Having said that, I’m glad I have answers to the whole Versus thing and I really appreciate the author’s world building and extensive lore. I wish the recap feature were more in-depth and chronological in order. And I do wish some portions of the book were heavily elided while other, omitted portions (our first day of journey through the deathscapes) were added in their place, but overall, it was fun and the alternate ending satisfied me enough that I was able to take a step back and shrug and say, “Not my problem any more, but good luck!”
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Not sure how I feel about the whole ‘blotboc’ spawning thing that happened with Cadet Gadget and Lockdown. I mean in VS Trials u get the options of Lockdown and Cadget Gadget as RO’s the MC can choose to get close to, in spite of Cadget Gadget’s long unreciprocated pining for Lockdown. And then, the author introduces this whole weird way of their bonding and getting together while Blotbocs, which goes against the whole point of introducing them as possible RO’s in the first place. Sorry if my view doesn’t resonate with anyone else’s. No issue with OtherBoard getting together, cause Imperva is so closed off and unromanceable anyway, from the beginning. Call it whatever "arranged marriage ", marriage of convenience , u will, still weirds me out. Having them as RO’s only for the author to have other plans for them all along.
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Hello! May I ask if there’s a way for Baron Airon/Lockdown (as a RO) to be reborn alongside my mc? (Except the alternate ending)
So, after having gone through a playthrough myself, I was left wondering how to write my review.
And after reading all the other takes here…yea, I, too, think that, while it is a solid conclusion, I think I could have waited for those two books instead of this single rushed one.
The romance…makes me long for the romantic plots of Heroes Rise, frankly(or, at least, from the latter two books of said series.) I am not looking for Heart’s Choice focus on romance, but, having seen it done better in Sergi’s own work(especially through Jenny, Prodigal, and Black Magic)…it definitely feels like an afterthought here.
As for the plot…
I will admit, interesting swerve, having the Empress rule the roost in the middle…but it also led to the political shenanigans of the first two books feeling kinda pointless. Also, while it is nice that Trig gets much more characterization here and MamaNa gets quite a good bit of character growth…the rest of the characters that were meant to replace the blotted ones weren’t given enough to be too memorable.
Again, an extra book would have helped ameliorate this. I did find the trip around the new areas pretty fun, though…but pointing out that you wish you could write more about the adventures in certain areas does not totally absolve the fact that you didn’t do so in the end.
The philosophy aspect teased in the second book definitely gets bolstered here…but again falls prey to the rushed nature of the book, especially with the third big philosophical discussion.
As for the finale…I cannot speak for the Heroes allusion since I got the “Sacrifice” alternate ending…but the fact that it is identified as a non-canon alternate ending is what leaves a bit of a bad taste about it. Allude to an ending that lets the reader connect to your greater canon if you must, but making it sound like a bit of a failstate or not the correct ending kinda feels like a slap in the face to the player for choosing such.
Otherwise, the revelation that the Empress was just a scout was nice. Felt a bit too neat just closing the wormhole lickity-split like that, but at least it was more of an advance force rather than the whole hog. And the final battle at least felt epic, if simpler than what I would have liked.
All in all, despite the above gripes, I did find it a decent conclusion to the trilogy… I just feel that it would have been better served for both the readers and the stuff left on the cutting room floor if the series was a quartet instead, even if there would have been an extra wait.
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Ok ok lol i just did a speed run through the book and got an ending that for me was MUCH better and much more satisying than the first i got,
Since book 1 i wanted to go back to prisca, my first ending i didnt get that so it annoyed me, now i chose a different ending a got to go back so i feel happier about the experience now lol
I still stick by most of my prior review, it does feel rushed, it does still feel very meh in alot of places, but a satisfactory ending can be achieved,
Now i have a question that i need to ask but have to avoid spoiling anything at the same time,
Ok here goes an attempt at that…
What does it require to create a duplicate to sacrifice?
Lol anybody no what i mean?
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Oof. So this could’ve been really good, but the Versus series really felt like it lacked identity. Sergi’s writing hallmarks are here, both good and bad. His descriptions are nice and the overall framework and high concept are interesting. ‘Bunch of aliens forced in a Death Game’. The problem is that aside from that, the story simply has too many characters that just don’t matter. I swear a good 30% of the cast could be cut and the story wouldn’t suffer, simply because they don’t matter or affect our PC’s arc. We never get downtime or a choice to talk to any of them of our own volition, something that is needed in a game like this with a massive cast.
My second problem is that throughout the trilogy, nothing we do matters. Hell, second game, you can just freakin die and have to restart the game. The second book is probably the most boring because nothing happens aside from meeting MaMaNa and I guess genderfluid Dionysis. Again, we get loads of characters, but no time to hangout with them. Why can’t I chill with Pinkaju on the IceCaps and get to know her better? Or go flying with Breeze or Lockdown? If I had the choice to hangout and get to know them, maybe borrow their powers and actually progress like an actual game, I’d care.
Third, let’s talk about the Capitalization of things and the sci-fi slang. I found it really hard to read and understand sci-fi terms when they’re all capitalized and sound so silly and gaudy that I can’t take them seriously. Wone, Woning Bird are just some examples. They just sound so… silly? And this is coming from a huge sci-fi fan here, I’m used to transporters and phasers. But those words in the fiction aren’t capitalized or written in such a way that they stand out, they’re a part of the world and don’t need to be capitalized, even if they are nouns. The names also suffer from this and just don’t sound right in both reading and saying aloud. This might be me, but Pinkaju and Beheylo just sound… weird and not in a fun sci-fi way. More like a merging of words that sound unique, but in use are just hard to take seriously. You can have your sci-fi characters be named Fyn or Max ya know.
That aside, I liked how I could actually play a character who’s sheltered and somewhat anti-social. Most Choice of Games really don’t allow that and to play a xenophobic backstabbing jerk is fun, even if it’s not ‘canon’ (more on this later). And the characters that Sergi has decided matter enough to be major are fun. MaMaNa was the most interesting out of the three, with her being a creepy mentor to my borderline sociopathic PC being fun.
Ok, final though. Canon ending. I’m not a stranger to this idea. Many creators have endings that they consider canon, especially if the work if left open-ended. But this is a game and a book. The lines are a little blurred here, but usually, there are multiple endings depending on what happens and the choices made. To say that one ending isn’t your personal canon is defeating the entire point is renders everyone’s choice pointless. It’s an insult and a backhanded take on something that kind of isn’t your call to make. And that Heroes ‘cameo’. It was bad. Not even bad, it’s borderline false advertising. I mean, I don’t know what I expected, but this trilogy wasn’t very well planned out beyond each book’s ‘message’. For a wanna-be MCU-style connected universe, it fails to form a connection with the Heroes series, something that was literally set up but never delivered. I honestly expected book three to team up with the Heroes characters to fight the big bad Endgame style. Three heroes working together to stop a galactic level threat.
So yeah, I brought this just to have in my steam library, but regret it due to its rushed nature. At least Sergi can, I dunno, buy some coffee with my money?
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I totally Agree of the Versus series the only one who really captivated me fully was the first Book (I liked the array of characters in it, I loved the Sci-fi setting, The fact the characters come from different planets and that the main character (you) who come from a culturally enclosed planet have to deal with his untapped natural power to absorb memories and so it means expand your mind to new things, the Memorytravel could have been tedious if not for the introdution of the Bomite (Big Foe N°2) and the plan to find Dhanthik (this historical figure of Messiah from your planet shared memories who seemed to be the key to win against the blots). I liked the plot a lot and that made me pick up the sequel
Book Two throw you the ball of the political branches and the Trials to be accepted into the Elites so you either want to win or Favor the VS front group (or side with MamaNa to create equal class … at least that was the plan). It also drop on you the whole shenanigan of the Wone and their pantheon Houses philosophies (ok ok…personality test time, sigh) that is confusing as hell to keep track on, but I still liked the Prince Evelyn character (and his involvement with the player) and that basically tryed to exploit this part of the story to introduce “Big foe N°3” Lord Woe destruction something. Etc. Etc. Make sense for story development but for interactivity is kinda boring. So I just thinked: ok Sergi needed this to give us all we need to play the next chapter fully prepared…
Then this one start with something I feel like is cheating: a rushed story progress: “SO … remember what happened last time ?” Me: Yes, of course I just replayed all previous books…why? “So here is a recap we’re at day 26 and you are already preparing for the 8th match on Versus” Me: Wait wait a minute when that happened? I though I just witnessed the 4th match "Well we’re just getting past 3 of them, they are the boring part about Versus books right? who would like to get choices and read about this fights for how they started? and the part you may have to play in them. SO sit tight here and listen to a quick recap: this guy nobody like is death, this one you believed to be a deux ex machina character, well screw him he has to go.Oh and also 2 more characters died for the other side but you don’t have to know about them in details. Me: you’re joking right? “Oh and what political side you choose to side with?” “Err that would be the: ___ put here Elites/VS Group/MamaNa” Interesting…scribble something on the next page so be ready to run for your safety the whole politics plot is dropped down in the toilet to make The Blots more menacing.
This is a big “screw your previous choices” moment. What the player do? it take it… ok fine whatever at least we’re going simple right: Me, my few pals (I fear the ones in it are kinda a must so no choice on who is on your side here) surviving the blots horde fight the evil queen monster. like Lord in the rings, cool, I could do it.
The Shroud: Wait…you must know now what I am. SO me and my people (who come from different races) we’re the opposing Force to the Woe and we decided to make our own pantheon (we’re much cooler), to understand us and expand your powers (so that you could win against the empress) you must answer this series of questions and choose a color . Me: Sigh…Ok, Personality test number 2, I get it I’m playing Green lantern here right? choose the ring and get the color that simbolize your affiliation…yadda yadda, let’s do this
1 hour later
Me: ugh finished that whole mumbo jumbo now I can play the plot… “You and your chosen companion fast traveled through this inospitable land and stories will be told about how you bounded together” Me: you’re screwing with me right? We skip this part too???
"Oh by the way Feel free to look up this neat trading cards art and follow the link to THE REPRESENTATIVE a interactive series who is kinda integral part to the VERSUS story if you want it to understand better what the heck all the characters here are talking about go check it out Me: and you’re trying to sell me you Patreon only material? what’s next??
Beyhalo: So my people are ALSO divine beings and if you want to know about our other religion NOBODY want to learn about you had to pick this choice and base it on this terms I just given you.
Me: Son of a …
To make it short. This is what you get with the 3rd Book, I’m trying to overlook past some creative choices but clearly this feels like a project the author loved to talk about but didn’t have enough time to properly develop into a true interactive story and so used shortcuts to it. This feel like the vacation trips in my youth with my parents.
You’re in for a ride, seatbelt on and your dad just put on the radio his favorite band and you get no choice on the matter
so you end up hate the experience and just wait for the ride to end to get out of the car.
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@Max_Love you bring up another good (minor) point: The ongoing advertising for his other stuff.
Now, a connected universe between one’s stories is one thing, but just like with comics, when you write in a way that forces the reader to give you more money to read something they’re not interested in just to have the slightest what’s going on in the thing they did want to read… then something is amiss.
People have already criticized the overabundance of pointless IAPs in his writing, so, that’s at least a point he hasn’t learned better at.
A lot of OS and now this game really feel like ‘this scene is here to force/trick you to buy useless stuff’
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Man. Talk about a disappointment. As some of you might expect I Sacrificed myself and romanced Oli I can’t believe I didn’t get to have a proper ending let alone make sure Oli gets to live (DaniOli or whatever does not count, I might have accepted it if they behaved in the same manner but that’s literally a different guy.) I wish I hadn’t began this series at all. I’ll feel frustrated and empty for the next few minutes now.
Like, it would’ve been really easy for the author to make this satisfying. Why did they do such a thing 
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