Recent reviews by Amaranthium

Tl;dr you'll probably like it if you enjoyed the first book. It has the same positive qualities... and the negatives.

Stat checks were not so restrictive in my experience, though a few times I couldn't get out of a situation without failing the relevant check. I didn't have a great time juggling the stats in the first book, so I appreciate the option to skip it by making a template for your character.

It's good to see the story picking up from where it left off, introducing new things while not straying too far from its premise. There are more duels to fight and more places to explore, so the experience isn't repetitive. The new characters are nice and varied. I like how the brother tries to live out a version of courtly love. It adds to the theme of your duelist being a knight to the ladies of Belle-de-Nuit (and the gentlemen, if you like that). Oh, and your duelist can have a little murder, as a treat, which takes the story to a darker turn.

But there was one out-of-character moment that stood out like a sore thumb to me. It's with Lou the bartender, whom you could help to be more confident. I didn't do that because I like them just the way they are. But if Lou is male in your game, and you decide to propose to him before the final confrontation, he'll turn the question on your head, and you're forced to accept it. Why the game would offer that choice only to pull a bait-and-switch is beyond me... I liked the version with female Lou just fine. It's what I expect from his dynamic with the duelist anyway.

• In comparison, Sebastian just says yes and is not bothered by it at all.
  
• The game doesn't actually follow it up with a scene where you and Lou redo the proposal, despite implying that you will. It feels tacked on and unnecessarily heteronormative.
  
• If Lou has to be the one who proposes, it would make more sense to gate it behind their confidence stat. It's probably what players who did help him would expect, otherwise it's rather contrived. (Some might even be pleasantly surprised that female Lou would be the one asking, since you're making character development a conscious choice on the player's part.)

Tl;dr experience 17th-century Parisian life with a colourful cast of characters. Liked reading it, didn't like playing it. I'll dive into the negatives first.

Your duelist is somewhat predetermined, sometimes doing things without your input. This may bother people who don't like a defined protag. It's subjective, yes, but there were moments where I was like, "She would not say that."

Roleplaying options are further restricted as the gameplay doesn't support playing your character in a way that is natural and allows for character development. You want to be someone who is hardened and stoic, but sometimes hesitates or tries to be friendly? Nah, gotta stay in-character or risk muddling your stats. It distracts me from appreciating the story and makes your character look two-dimensional compared to the rest of the cast.

Most of the time, you're given only 3 options that test your skills. God help you if your stats aren't high enough or you like to have a balanced personality. You don't gradually build your character's skill set so much as you're forced to pick certain traits to go with, say, swordsmanship, unless you want to blunder your way through your challenges. Sometimes I couldn't even guess what they were for. "Does this polite, charming option use Cajolery or Grace? Is it even a skill check?" "You want to be friendly to Sebastian? Five points from Toughness!"

I also don't like that you can only reach one or two goals with certain character builds. Want to max out your relationship with someone? Sure, but you can't get the kitten, or win the duel against Sebastian, or play the matchmaker with Madame and Denjeux, or fully uncover Lou's past.... It makes me feel like I'm being punished for wanting to develop my character in a way I like.

But I don't want this section to be all negatives, so I'll say that I do appreciate how your duelist can be a stereotypically masculine woman, wearing men's outfits and solving problems by being loud and acting tough. And while stat requirements aren't clear, at least most of the choices are not misleading and play out like they say they will.

While it's not plot-centric, the premise delivers on what it promises with a nicely paced and easy-to-follow story. The prose is good, a genuine pleasure to read when it's not trying to cage you with its choices. There is a wealth of details about urban life in Paris to appreciate, with references to works of art, history and culture, etc., written in an accessible way for people without the relevant knowledge. It makes some effort to be inclusive of the marginalised and nonconforming while being mindful of the time period.

The love interests are fun to be with and have some depth, each having different things to offer. They have their own lives independent of the protagonist and moments where they develop. This is very much a character-driven story. It's also romance-centric, though side characters like Madame and Jacynthe are entertaining as well.

I only have one minor gripe about the writing, and it's the anachronistic language. It could have benefited more from polishing the dialogue and narration to better reflect the time period. I don't read historical fiction very often, but one of its appeals is the differences in culture and language (and a myriad of other things), offering the reader a chance to live in another time and place. Having people speak in modern diction detracts from that.

If you're not interested in buying the sequel, this book is fine as a standalone story. It will not leave you hanging on a cliffhanger. You can even play it for free on the Heart's Choice website to see if you'd enjoy it.

(Note: I beta tested this game, which essentially means I got an earlier version of it for free.)

Tl;dr an engaging gladiatorial romance that balances intense, high-stakes drama with light-hearted moments. Focuses on character interaction and development. Has its flaws, but they weren't deal-breakers for me.

Heart of Battle was a riveting and well-paced read, one that explores themes of justice, power, and identity. The main plot threads are competently introduced and wrapped up. While romance is arguably the main offering, it does not overshadow the rest of the story in such a way that the fights and the intrigue of the arena feel shallow in comparison. I would say its greatest strength lies in its gritty action and stellar romances, with moments and revelations that I will remember fondly.

Each of the four love interests feel distinct, having their own strengths and flaws. I especially appreciated the times when they showed an unexpected side of their personality; it was executed in a way that feels intentional. The rest of the cast is also well-rounded, likable or not. They don't feel like cardboard cutouts made to fall by the wayside to prop up the love interests. While at times it felt like some characters were favoured over others, the writing was solid enough that it's not very noticeable, and is a subjective point in any case.

The style of narration leans more towards straightforward than poetic. Again, this is subjective, so some might find this appealing, some might not. But I wouldn't say it's bland; there's plenty of imagery and sensory detail to take in. It's not too heavy about its themes, but there is a good amount of nuance to keep you intrigued. It can alternate between comedic lines and thought-provoking sequences (and other tonal shifts) without feeling jarring or overstaying their welcome.

The game takes place in a Greco-Roman-inspired world (though the names are from all over Europe instead of Latin specifically?). Tension lies between Coritan and Messimera, and characters from the latter will encounter instances of xenophobia. The worldbuilding is decent and unlikely to leave readers confused, although some parts of the lore could use more fleshing out.

Summing it up, for the most part it was well-written; most of what I consider to be its shortcomings are with the interactive side.

I want to start with the fact that this game lets you choose the gender of your character AND your love interests, as well as allowing for polyamorous and asexual romance. True, plenty of CoG and HG do this, but not so much Heart's Choice, which is geared towards romance specifically, so this is a real treat for fans of the genre. I hope more HC games will follow this trend.

In my time playing, I felt my choices mattered, given a variety of endings and goals to work towards. There's also a fair amount of customisation for personality traits and background, the latter subtly influencing the text. For me that meant plenty of replay value to experiment with different narratives and character journeys. Another positive was getting to spend plenty of time with the love interests before having to choose one (or two).

On to the negatives... Much as I love this game, one definite flaw is the unclear connection between your choices and the stats they might modify or require to succeed. It's not obvious, hence my surprise when I found that a LOT of the choices are actually skill checks. Even if they sound like they're only asking what you think or who you want to spend time with. I can't say I'm a fan of this; it felt like I failed some choices because the game considered them to be out of character, as if people can't be nuanced and act in ways that surprise even themselves. It's a shame because it kind of undermines theme of redemption, of prison making one change slowly, yet drastically.

But to do a Whitman and contradict myself, failure isn't punished too harshly, and I will concede that the game tackles it in interesting ways. To me, one of the fun things about branching stories is the potential of failure as a building block for narrative, and this potential certainly appears here. You get to see some banter, new insights to the characters, and some interesting moments. And at times I didn't even really get the sense that I failed a skill check; the narration could be like "you failed, or you failed in a less embarrassing way," or "ideal outcome, or less ideal but still desirable outcome".

The other negative I think depends on your roleplaying style. I played as different characters romancing the same person, and after a while things started to feel a little samey because each relationship ultimately involved the same dynamic. There are hints of this in one of the routes (Ferrado, the aristocrat), which is why I would have liked to have this with the other love interests. You could be an unrepentant, belligerent murderer or an unjustly imprisoned noble soul, a social butterfly or a lone wolf, et cetera... and the LIs will still make sheep's eyes at you until you turn them down. I get that this is a romance trope. Still, I would have liked to see more of what it's like to fall in love with your polar opposite (one who might even compromise your principles), as opposed to someone who's more similar to you or is already your type. To be clear, I don't mean the romances should have been locked based on player choices, but it's more about wanting to see how each LI might react differently based on the player character's established personality.

Got into a bit of a nostalgia trip so might as well. HOMMV was my introduction to turn-based strategy and boy does it hold up to the test of time. A solid and rewarding game overall, with a good variety of units and choices to develop your heroes into powerhouses of their faction. If you only care about gameplay, then buy this instead of the original HOMMV + Hammers of Fate. Tribes of the East has alternate unit upgrades and two new factions (orcs + the dwarves from HoF), as well as some small quality of life improvements.

The UI is well-designed so you won't have a hard time navigating around. The story of the main campaign is decent at best, but there were some genuinely hilarious lines and fun characters like Zehir, Freyda, and Agrael. Graphics are all right for its time. It's like watching a cheesy old movie and still enjoying it for its sheer campiness. And honestly, that's more due to budget/technological constraints than anything; just look up the concept art for this game. The town screen animations are breathtaking. This came out in 2006! So sad they were cut out from later iterations of HOMM.

I mean, look at this. This is some galaxy-brained Islamic Golden Age stuff. And god, the irony of the NPCs of this game deriding wizards for being atheists, and their main hero Zehir being queer-coded. I love that. The Academy town theme is probably my favourite track, but that's not saying much considering how good the soundtrack is. Still hits hard to this day.

As you can imagine my view of this game is very much tinted by nostalgia so take this with a grain of salt.

*loads six-month-old save to see new changes*
MENAVLION STILL OP!!!!

Never played the original tabletop Shadowrun, but I had fun with this game. It's a good turn-based RPG though not as deep as Wasteland or XCOM. You control and develop one character for the vast majority of the game so it's not quite the same party-building experience as those two titles. Loved the ambiance of the setting and the blend of fantasy and cyberpunk. The animations sometimes look a little dated, but the background art and character portraits are gorgeous.

Would recommend as a bundle/if it's on sale.

Compared to Holy Detonation this DLC was more of a mixed bag for me. I will say it has an intriguing story that reflects one of Wasteland's best qualities, which I think is the room for nuance and grey morality in your choices.

But in all honesty the gameplay side kind of sucks. The fights are more frustrating than challenging thanks to the new mechanics. Sure, you can learn to use elemental resistances to amp up your defences, but I still don't get why it takes ten frigging hits for non-lethal "kills" when 1. it takes less to actually kill someone, and 2. it's not an equal playing field when the workers have no qualms about setting you on fire. With molten tar.

You get some nice new loot/weapons, but they don't measure up to late-game battles, making them rather useless in the end.

Recommended with caveats. Tl;dr your royal screwup of a dad dies and you have to make hard choices and clean up his mess. Low fantasy European-inspired world featuring a large cast of characters and complex relationships. I felt it was worth my money, but there are some definite fair criticisms.

Gameplay and Choices
Often, you're given at least four choices about your thoughts or feelings, helping you to establish your character and become immersed in the story. You can be a leader or stay out of the spotlight like your sister Freya. At times you're allowed to not care about an issue or a character or to do nothing about them. I appreciate these options in particular because a major appeal of interactive fiction for me is seeing how things could go wrong thanks to a "bad" choice or two.

This game doesn't play out like a typical HG/CoG where skill tests are the primary determinant of your success; it's more reliant on the facts of the story and how they will affect people's reactions to your choices. This ended up giving me the impression that your stats and skills don't feel relevant to gameplay, which may be a negative to some people.

Plot-related choices are unfortunately not so great. Some things are scripted to happen regardless of your earlier choices, like the mass poisoning and the rebellion if you become king/queen. The game also sometimes wrongfully assumes your intentions behind one action; for example, I spared the man who poisoned the king because I want to blackmail him and I'm in a bit of a shortage of allies, what with the people planning to revolt against me... and yet the game tells me I've forgiven him. Things like this detract from my roleplaying experience.

Writing and Content
There's plenty of good storytelling to see here, full of tension, intrigue, and, unreliable narrators. We see characters with complex motivations, who think they're the hero of their story even as they make ruthless choices (Charles and his wives, Daemir, arguably Matteo, to name a few). Some of the plot twists were nicely foreshadowed and not predictable, which made for an interesting surprise as I learned them.

The game is all about making hard decisions and certainly lives up to that premise. You will need to consider whether ensuring the safety of your people is worth ruining your longstanding relationships with your family. Show too much mercy and people will decry you as weak and spineless. Be heartless and you may make powerful enemies in the future.

However, I'm sorry to say that the prose isn't of the best quality; sometimes it feels like I'm reading a film script that relies on to-the-point descriptions and dialogue, and not so much evocative imagery or a distinct narrative voice. Efforts into worldbuilding have clearly been made, and I appreciate them. Still, the setting itself doesn't stray very far from the usual Western Europe, just with more gender equality and acceptance for same-sex and polyamorous relationships. The world isn't so much a living, breathing thing so much as it is a backdrop to the characters and their actions.

And yes, sad to say that the game ends on a cliffhanger, which might be annoying if you're looking for a complete story.

Bought this in a sale along with the base game and the Steeltown DLC. Honestly, it's not that bad if you like the base game and are willing to change your tactics. Just make sure your party is strong enough to tackle the admittedly difficult battles in this DLC. I would recommend this if you're looking for more challenging gameplay. The new loot is nice (uranium crossbow is OP with the right mods), and the story is just about what you'd expect from Wasteland.

I just wish I could have handed over Victory as the sacrifice for Deuterium. What? The Patriarch said to keep him alive! I did just that, it's not my fault he's a monster now--oh wait, he always was.

It's a visual novel set in your typical fairytale medieval setting... but with the gender roles flipped. Women are the ones fighting and leading, while men stay at home (not always obediently, of course). Great for some light reading, and the voice acting is a nice bonus. The art style is a mix of shoujo and shounen. You can explore different paths of the story by playing as Amaltea or Ossian*. They're fairly likeable characters, and though Amaltea can be a little grating at times, she's got her moments. I appreciate the VN's efforts to be more diverse than other worlds like it.

It's a little short for its price, so I recommend buying it when it's on sale. But if you enjoyed it, I recommend buying the comics too (and reading Egalia's Daughters). Would love to see a continuation of the story whether in comic or VN form.

*or Amaltea's horse. You will meet a sad unicorn.