2nd-toughest-in-the-infants

[2nd-toughest-in-the-infants]

If you're reviewing interactive fiction can I recommend Sentience? It's on IF and really one of my favorites! No pressure though It's just my favorite go to recommendation IF, its by St Sleepy and their tumblr is Sentience-IF. :DD <3

Thanks for the recommendation! I haven’t been able to review anything in a while so this will definitely be a great one to check out.

[2nd-toughest-in-the-infants]

Crown of Ashes and Flames (WIP) on itch.io Review

Author: @coeluvr

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Choice: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Replayability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 4/5

Pros: ANGST ANGST ANGST‼️, absolute monster of an antagonist, compelling characters, regular updates.

Cons: awkward dialogue from younger characters, no return button on UI.

**SLIGHT SPOILERS**

Notes:

TW!: Family Death, Murder, Forced Marriage, Child Marriage, Bullying, Isolation, Struggles with Mental Health

Crown of Ashes and Flames is another really strong IF WIP on itch.io with a very active author and so far it’s been receiving regular updates so I’m quite excited to see how the story develops as the game updates further. As it stands, I still want to share my thoughts on what is available to play so far.

So, Crown of ashes follows the MC who is the last surviving royal of Vesphire after King Luceris of a neighbouring kingdom, Rosea, declares war on Vesphire, murders MCs entire family, takes them back with him to Rosea and forces MC to marry him and become the new Royal Consort (at age 9?!?!) all for the sake of avenging the death of his wife, who he believes was killed by MCs older sister. As you can probably tell by that quick summary, this is an IF that is absolutely LOADED with Angst and drama, so, naturally, I was drawn right in!

I have to start off by saying how good of a job the author did in managing to create a cast of characters that are all so uniquely compelling in their own right. It can be the case that sometimes IF authors will focus too intently on just one or two main ROs while the others can feel like a bit of an afterthought, but in CoAaF, I feel as though all the characters are given equal opportunity to shine. That isn’t to say that there aren’t stand out characters, because there absolutely are and the first that comes to mind has to be Luceris. For me he stands out because not only is he an incredibly well-written, complex villain I find it rare that I have as much of visceral hatred of a fiction character as I do for him. I mean, what he does to MC in the name of ‘vengeance’ and the way he justifies himself just solidifies him as one of the most delusional and twisted villains I’ve read in an IF.

Also, the setting and minor characters in the story really serve to highlight how the MC is ostracised in their new ��home’ as punishment for their sisters crimes. And it really is sickening how both adult and young characters justify the way they effectively bully MC because of something MC doesn’t have any control over and really serves to highlight the theme of injustice vs. justice that has been present throughout the game so far.

Furthermore, I enjoyed the amount of choice given to the player over the way MC reacts to what they’ve been through as well as to how the people around them treat them (both good and bad) and provides the player with the opportunity to explore how the traumatic events of the game impacts the MCs attitude and mental state.

It’s also quite interesting to see how the MC develops as they grow as the story starts with the MC as a nine year old and eventually grows up. This however, can be quite tricky from a writting perspective as typically authors can have difficulty with writing young child characters. Unfortunately, this is something that I have noticed was the case with this author as I felt that a lot of the dialogue exchanges between the younger characters (particularly the MC) just didn’t really feel accurate coming from a nine year olds mouth. Aside from that however, I feel as though the rest of the dialogue fits very well and overall I would say the writing is of a good quality.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in picking up a new, angsty WIP and I will certainly be patiently awaiting updates!

[2nd-toughest-in-the-infants]

Uroboros (WIP) on itch.io Review

@uroboros-if

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Choice: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Replayability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 3.8/5

Pros: Angst 😁, well-written, smooth interface, lovely supporting characters

Cons: short demo, not the fastest updating WIP, so far not much romance

**SLIGHT SPOILERS**

Notes:

So, for me this was a great one to revisit for a first review on this blog because it was actually one of the first WIPs I played on Itch.io and boy did it set the standard. It’s also one I’ve revisited a few times and is deefinitely on my list of most anticipated WIPs.

As I understand it, you are born into a kind of mount olympus-esque realm and play as the deity of eternity which, in a rather cruel twist of fate, makes you essentially powerless as of course, nothing lasts forever. This is a rather nice spin on the typical gods/mythology IF MC and also gives us the opportunity to play a super angsty MC (which I love). Also a big fan of the in depth character customisation you can do.

There are also a handful of (gender selectable) ROs which so far have great potential and can have some really interesting interactions with MC BUT unfortunately the demo is still pretty short so romance with the RO’s is still quite limited. I have to say though, that the lack of romance (so far) hasn’t really bothered me as I am in love with MC’s parents and they way they act towards them is just so wholesome and such a refreshing departure from the usual tragic home life trope and also provides a really nice respite from the (at times cruel) way MC’s world treats them because of their situation.

Another thing I’d like to add, is that in general, it’s just a really beautiful game, which I know seems odd to write about a text based game but I think that the attention to detail in the UI along with the high quality writing really makes for an immersive experience and that in and of itself makes the game worth checking out.

[2nd-toughest-in-the-infants]

Crown of Ashes and Flames (WIP) on itch.io Review

Author: @coeluvr

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Choice: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Replayability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 4/5

Pros: ANGST ANGST ANGST‼️, absolute monster of an antagonist, compelling characters, regular updates.

Cons: awkward dialogue from younger characters, no return button on UI.

**SLIGHT SPOILERS**

Notes:

TW!: Family Death, Murder, Forced Marriage, Child Marriage, Bullying, Isolation, Struggles with Mental Health

Crown of Ashes and Flames is another really strong IF WIP on itch.io with a very active author and so far it’s been receiving regular updates so I’m quite excited to see how the story develops as the game updates further. As it stands, I still want to share my thoughts on what is available to play so far.

So, Crown of ashes follows the MC who is the last surviving royal of Vesphire after King Luceris of a neighbouring kingdom, Rosea, declares war on Vesphire, murders MCs entire family, takes them back with him to Rosea and forces MC to marry him and become the new Royal Consort (at age 9?!?!) all for the sake of avenging the death of his wife, who he believes was killed by MCs older sister. As you can probably tell by that quick summary, this is an IF that is absolutely LOADED with Angst and drama, so, naturally, I was drawn right in!

I have to start off by saying how good of a job the author did in managing to create a cast of characters that are all so uniquely compelling in their own right. It can be the case that sometimes IF authors will focus too intently on just one or two main ROs while the others can feel like a bit of an afterthought, but in CoAaF, I feel as though all the characters are given equal opportunity to shine. That isn’t to say that there aren’t stand out characters, because there absolutely are and the first that comes to mind has to be Luceris. For me he stands out because not only is he an incredibly well-written, complex villain I find it rare that I have as much of visceral hatred of a fiction character as I do for him. I mean, what he does to MC in the name of ‘vengeance’ and the way he justifies himself just solidifies him as one of the most delusional and twisted villains I’ve read in an IF.

Also, the setting and minor characters in the story really serve to highlight how the MC is ostracised in their new ‘home’ as punishment for their sisters crimes. And it really is sickening how both adult and young characters justify the way they effectively bully MC because of something MC doesn’t have any control over and really serves to highlight the theme of injustice vs. justice that has been present throughout the game so far.

Furthermore, I enjoyed the amount of choice given to the player over the way MC reacts to what they’ve been through as well as to how the people around them treat them (both good and bad) and provides the player with the opportunity to explore how the traumatic events of the game impacts the MCs attitude and mental state.

It’s also quite interesting to see how the MC develops as they grow as the story starts with the MC as a nine year old and eventually grows up. This however, can be quite tricky from a writting perspective as typically authors can have difficulty with writing young child characters. Unfortunately, this is something that I have noticed was the case with this author as I felt that a lot of the dialogue exchanges between the younger characters (particularly the MC) just didn’t really feel accurate coming from a nine year olds mouth. Aside from that however, I feel as though the rest of the dialogue fits very well and overall I would say the writing is of a good quality.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in picking up a new, angsty WIP and I will certainly be patiently awaiting updates!

[2nd-toughest-in-the-infants]

Uroboros (WIP) on itch.io Review

@uroboros-if

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Choice: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Replayability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 3.8/5

Pros: Angst 😁, well-written, smooth interface, lovely supporting characters

Cons: short demo, not the fastest updating WIP, so far not much romance

**SLIGHT SPOILERS**

Notes:

So, for me this was a great one to revisit for a first review on this blog because it was actually one of the first WIPs I played on Itch.io and boy did it set the standard. It’s also one I’ve revisited a few times and is deefinitely on my list of most anticipated WIPs.

As I understand it, you are born into a kind of mount olympus-esque realm and play as the deity of eternity which, in a rather cruel twist of fate, makes you essentially powerless as of course, nothing lasts forever. This is a rather nice spin on the typical gods/mythology IF MC and also gives us the opportunity to play a super angsty MC (which I love). Also a big fan of the in depth character customisation you can do.

There are also a handful of (gender selectable) ROs which so far have great potential and can have some really interesting interactions with MC BUT unfortunately the demo is still pretty short so romance with the RO’s is still quite limited. I have to say though, that the lack of romance (so far) hasn’t really bothered me as I am in love with MC’s parents and they way they act towards them is just so wholesome and such a refreshing departure from the usual tragic home life trope and also provides a really nice respite from the (at times cruel) way MC’s world treats them because of their situation.

Another thing I’d like to add, is that in general, it’s just a really beautiful game, which I know seems odd to write about a text based game but I think that the attention to detail in the UI along with the high quality writing really makes for an immersive experience and that in and of itself makes the game worth checking out.