Recommending Story-first games

[TheimmortalP]

Alpha, Omega chapter 3 is

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!

Yaaaaaaay! Thanks for letting me know, this is one of my faves!

 

[jufot]

After playing Bride of a Dead God, I'm in the mood for more CYOA and I'm seeking recommendations.

Does anyone know of a CYOA with similar themes? That is, a hero's journey adventure, without any unpleasantries like rape, slavery, mind control or anything non-consensual whatsoever. Non-sexual is fine, good writing is a must.

 

[Raife]

After playing Bride of a Dead God, I'm in the mood for more CYOA and I'm seeking recommendations.

Does anyone know of a CYOA with similar themes? That is, a hero's journey adventure, without any unpleasantries like rape, slavery, mind control or anything non-consensual whatsoever. Non-sexual is fine, good writing is a must.

Going to check this out, despite my aversion to AI CG. Looks interesting.

 

[Raife]

Strong recommendation for Shards of the Past. I was already intrigued by the first chapter, but chapter 2 was surprising in a way I didn't see coming, and now I'm properly invested.

It's early days, jufot, but I agree that this game looks extremely promising. The plot is derivative, but there are real innovations in storytelling, namely:

• Story-relevant choices made through NPCs. I love the fact that the player can shape, to a degree, the personalities, tendencies and relationship to the MC of NPCs by roleplaying their choices in flashbacks. Very, very clever.
• CYOA-style combat. I've always wondered why this device isn't employed more in RenPy games, in particular. If done well, it rewards logical choices in a way that feels satisfying.
• NPCs all have their own motivations. While the NPCs all feel quite derivative (like the plot) they also feel alive because they have such distinctively different motivations. Better still, many of these motivations are both morally ambiguous and only partially revealed.
• Show, don't tell... The Dev throws the player in the middle of the action, and doesn't waste time on overly long exposition. When they do need exposition or backstory, they deliver it in the form of (possibly unreliable) narration that allows you to shape the an NPC's character (as above). Very clever indeed.

This is exactly the sort of dev that deserves support from this community...

 

[bacienvu88]

After playing Bride of a Dead God, I'm in the mood for more CYOA and I'm seeking recommendations.

Does anyone know of a CYOA with similar themes? That is, a hero's journey adventure, without any unpleasantries like rape, slavery, mind control or anything non-consensual whatsoever. Non-sexual is fine, good writing is a must.

I don't know about modern CYOAs but there's always the classics: Joe Dever's Lone Wolf and Steve Jackson's Sorcery! (both on Steam)

 

[Raife]

This game was mentioned only once and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Chapter 2 is out on Patreon, and I'd like to recommend it here.

Hearts Under the Red Sky is a supernatural urban fantasy that starts out very tropey, but quickly finds its footing. The plot is good and has me hooked, even though the story telling is occasionally clumsy and the dev's English isn't perfect (the game's primary language is Spanish, you can choose it in settings).

You've probably already noted this, jufot, but Mr. Georgie has now abandoned this game -- primarily due to lack of support. I also think that he had some issues with plotting, given the number of LIs.

Never fear, though, he has a new, scaled-back game in the works, which I'm confident he'll see through.

 

[Raife]

In retrospect, that makes sense. It was just too real, enough to put me off Jamie entirely. But that wouldn't bother most players so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

So... on the _Leaving DNA_ update. The funny thing is that I share most of jufot's gripes, particularly regarding Emmeline and her relationship with the case, given Rockford's personality. But... I liked the episode much more than he did, because:

Spoiler

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Overall, this continues to be one of my favourite games in progress....

 

[jufot]

Welcome back Raife! You were missed

Going to check this out, despite my aversion to AI CG. Looks interesting.

I have the same aversion along with ethical concerns, but I'm glad I gave it a shot. It really is written quite well.

[on Shards of the Past]
This is exactly the sort of dev that deserves support from this community...

Agreed, and with your bullet points as well. I hope he'll find more patrons going forward.

You've probably already noted this, jufot, but Mr. Georgie has now abandoned this game -- primarily due to lack of support. I also think that he had some issues with plotting, given the number of LIs.

Never fear, though, he has a new, scaled-back game in the works, which I'm confident he'll see through.

I've talked to Mr. Georgie before he decided to abandon Hearts Under the Red Sky. He was basically dismayed by the overwhelmingly negative reception to the latest chapter, which I didn't share - I thought it was just fine. Still, I'm looking forward to his next game.

The 'MC seeing Jamie as a little kid' thing is clearly a feature, not a bug. That ugh moment for jufot was a success for the dev: it showed why Rockford is resistant to a woman who is otherwise so perfect for him.

That's clear to me in hindsight. I wonder how Rockford will get over that feeling because I certainly don't know how I will.

I don't know about modern CYOAs but there's always the classics: Joe Dever's Lone Wolf and Steve Jackson's Sorcery! (both on Steam)

Thanks, they both look interesting!

 

[Tlaero]

I've talked to Mr. Georgie before he decided to abandon Hearts Under the Red Sky. He was basically dismayed by the overwhelmingly negative reception to the latest chapter, which I didn't share - I thought it was just fine. Still, I'm looking forward to his next game.

This is why my advice to developers is to write the game they want to play. The most important player, by far, is the developer. It sucks that this place caused him to stop work on his game. I'm glad he didn't give up on storytelling entirely, though.

Tlaero

 

[Tlaero]

Strong recommendation for Shards of the Past. I was already intrigued by the first chapter, but chapter 2 was surprising in a way I didn't see coming, and now I'm properly invested.

I just played it and liked what I saw. I'm a sucker for Shanara-style post-apocalypse creates middle earth settings, and this one seems fun. I like the balance between meaningful choices and putting the story on rails so that the developer doesn't have to write n full games. I like that the noble is such a prick. I'm not sure if he'll grow and improve over the course of the game or stay entitled, but it's good to have characters that give you an emotional reaction, and he succeeded there. Double-good that the reaction I had wasn't anger or disgust, but pity.

The graphics are good, though the MC feels somewhat uncanny to me for some reason. Something about his teeth seems ... wrong. I want to call out that Garou did an excellent job of modelling people at various points in their lives (children, teens, and young adults) and making them recognizably look their age while still clearly being the character. That was really well done.

It's definitely story first, and I'm a fan of that. The story is a little bit on the "I've read this book before" side, but that's fine. There are really only 10 stories in existence anyway. I hope Garou has a lot of success.

Tlaero

 

[Raife]

This is why my advice to developers is to write the game they want to play. The most important player, by far, is the developer. It sucks that this place caused him to stop work on his game. I'm glad he didn't give up on storytelling entirely, though.

Tlaero

Totally agree. Jufot and I are pretty much half of Georgie's financial support, so it wasn't his _paying_ supporters who led him to call it off. Yet another good game sabotaged by trolls. And exhibit 10,000 in my case against this terrible hellsite -- apart from jufot's thread and wherever you appear, Tlaero.

That said... I think he's slightly relieved to be working on a less complicated game and plot structure. I'm sure his new game will be worth playing.

 

[Raife]

I like that the noble is such a prick.

Yes, the noble is a total prick... and I liked that, as well. But it's even better that the player (apparently) gets to decide whether he's redeemable or not by (partially and temporarily) role-playing an NPC in the past. That was bracingly clever.

I also liked the fact that I'm not sure whether _any_ character is 100% good or bad, reliable or not. That includes the elvish LI, who _seems_ good... but who has a hinterland that might be much more complicated. It may be that some characters become the MC's reliable friends... but they certainly have a long way to go.

The MC's face felt a bit... pinched to me, perhaps. It's interesting that we both thought he looked slightly odd. Then again, I prefer odd to conventionally handsome.

It's definitely Terry Brooks territory, which is, as you say, well trodden ground. But it's very, very well done.

 

[jufot]

I like that the noble is such a prick. I'm not sure if he'll grow and improve over the course of the game or stay entitled, but it's good to have characters that give you an emotional reaction, and he succeeded there. Double-good that the reaction I had wasn't anger or disgust, but pity.

Indeed. I'm always dismayed when the bad guys are cartoon villains. The story becomes a lot more enjoyable when they have actual, human motives (no matter how contemptible) and it's a big bonus if we get to see what made them that way, like we do with Shards.

the MC feels somewhat uncanny to me for some reason. Something about his teeth seems ... wrong.

I like that he's just some random, average looking dude with physical imperfections, and not the usual twenty-first century underwear model LARPing as a peasant.

But it's even better that the player (apparently) gets to decide whether he's redeemable or not by (partially and temporarily) role-playing an NPC in the past. That was bracingly clever.

Quite. The flashback scene on the battlefield does a lot to humanize him, and allowing you to shape his character afterwards was an excellent idea.

 

[Tlaero]

Yeah. I was seriously impressed by the whole "give players agency in an NPC flashback" mechanic.

Tlaero

 

[theblacksheep]

After playing Bride of a Dead God, I'm in the mood for more CYOA and I'm seeking recommendations.

Does anyone know of a CYOA with similar themes? That is, a hero's journey adventure, without any unpleasantries like rape, slavery, mind control or anything non-consensual whatsoever. Non-sexual is fine, good writing is a must.

They're non-sexual and paid games but if you like CYOA, then I highly recommend Choice of Games and Hosted Games title (available on their website, steam, and mobile). They're generally very well-written and has almost something for everyone. If we're talking a hero's journey then I might recommend

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,

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(more whodunnit elements in the first book), and

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(more of a jester's journey but perhaps the one with the best prose from them). There are more titles that might fit your interest better but these are the ones that come to my head at the moment, you can dig into their steam page for more titles if they seem interesting but doesn't quite scratch the itch.

 

[jufot]

noping123's new game No Such Luck is out and it's off to a great start! I shared some thoughts here.

 

[noping123]

noping123's new game No Such Luck is out and it's off to a great start! I shared some thoughts here.

Hah. I won't respond there, because I'm staying out of that thread for a bit. (I'm still perturbed the game was leaked - I was fully prepared for it to leak on thursday or friday, so it happening today TOTALLY threw me off).

That said, the "Talk to chuck" thing - that's intentional. You can't actually talk to him, for now he's JUST the DJ. (Which is why the talk to him optional objective never goes away, because you can always change the music. In future releases I'll probably edit the objective menu to be more clear on that).

Also your comments on the phone..... Let's just say, the phone he has in college, and the phone he has in high school aren't the same. (I didn't bother changing the look/etc because honestly that'd be a ridiculous amount of work so I opted not to. But we'll leave it at that.)

All of that said, I'll elaborate a little on my previous comment. I said that because CH2 (and 3) are in a lot of ways going to have a TON of what you'd sort of expect of "college themed AVN" content. I'm definitely doing my best to keep everything in a way that makes sense, and isn't filled with "porn logic", but also, I don't think college kids fucking is exactly un-natural either.

While that doesn't mean storytelling goes away, I will say the next couple chapters will have *some* (but not a ton) of "main story", and a lot more focus on characters for a while. So I guess that's a massive spoiler - the "main story" will be in the background for a bit as the characters get explored and better introduced.

In fact....
Nah, I won't spoil any more for now.

 

[jufot]

(I'm still perturbed the game was leaked - I was fully prepared for it to leak on thursday or friday, so it happening today TOTALLY threw me off)

Oh, I'm so sorry. Would you prefer if I delete it and post it here or on a Patreon thread?

Also your comments on the phone..... Let's just say, the phone he has in college, and the phone he has in high school aren't the same. (I didn't bother changing the look/etc because honestly that'd be a ridiculous amount of work so I opted not to. But we'll leave it at that.)

Right, but that's mostly a technicality. I'm talking about the emotional impact of having preserved messages.

I said that because CH2 (and 3) are in a lot of ways going to have a TON of what you'd sort of expect of "college themed AVN" content. I'm definitely doing my best to keep everything in a way that makes sense, and isn't filled with "porn logic", but also, I don't think college kids fucking is exactly un-natural either.

My alleged bias against college themed AVNs is a dastardly scheme by Raife to slander my good name! I have nothing against college kids having a good sex life

While that doesn't mean storytelling goes away, I will say the next couple chapters will have *some* (but not a ton) of "main story", and a lot more focus on characters for a while. So I guess that's a massive spoiler - the "main story" will be in the background for a bit as the characters get explored and better introduced.

That makes sense. I'm still looking forward to it!

 

[noping123]

Oh, I'm so sorry. Would you prefer if I delete it and post it here or on a Patreon thread?

Nah. Im not bothered it leaked, I'm bothered it leaked TODAY when I was caught completely with my pants down. Even if it was tomorrow I would have been less annoyed by it.

Right, but that's mostly a technicality. I'm talking about the emotional impact of having preserved messages.

(definitely a spoiler)

What I'm saying is..... the old phone (which may or may not contain such things which may or may not have already been written before ch1 even got written) may or may not still exist somewhere locked away because he can't stand to look at it.

My alleged bias against college themed AVNs is a dastardly scheme by Raife to slander my good name! I have nothing against college kids having a good sex life

I choose to believe the propaganda!

 

[jufot]

(definitely a spoiler)

Ah, OK. I was being thick, then