Joe Steel

Engaged Member
Jan 10, 2018
2,345
3,120
There is definitely more planned for to that character than simply a conqueror.
And you're right that part of the inspiration for their culture was a mix of Mongol/Ottoman.
And, of course, some of the really interesting bits of Ottoman and Mongol history is when these horse armies conquered settled civilizations and decided to settle down themselves. Sarah has a lot of knowledge that could be useful to the khan in this transition.
 

RNDM

Engaged Member
Mar 10, 2018
2,639
3,911
And, of course, some of the really interesting bits of Ottoman and Mongol history is when these horse armies conquered settled civilizations and decided to settle down themselves. Sarah has a lot of knowledge that could be useful to the khan in this transition.
That's something steppe nomads have been doing on and off since Antiquity and quite unrelated to the institution of elite military slavery which was originally invented by the Muslim Arabs during the Conquest era. The lifespan of the resulting hybrid empires tended to be pretty directly proportional to how well they assimilated pre-existing sedentary governing structures and administrative classes and if they were able to effect a transition into reasonably stable bureaucratic states (the Ottomans and the successive Muslim overlords of northern India being the standouts here).
 

aksogu

New Member
May 23, 2021
12
18
I just hope there will be ways to make up with Kate outside of the warrior route. Call me a big softie but lines like "you see something break in her eyes" in the context of an old childhood friend make me want to at least eventually part with her on good terms, at the very least.
 
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Kalrotix

Member
Sep 27, 2017
195
187
Now, If I must have a critic, I think that the part when Kate proposes to Sarah to follow her is strangely place. At this moment it doesn't seem to make sense for Sarah to follow her so soon while they just reconnect and that her brother needs her and let her very free. I think this scene would be better place as an option when the battle against the horde is almost lost. Or when the nobility make a coup against her and her brother. It would also probably make Katr more sympathetic rather than purely manipulative.
 
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Stretta

Member
Nov 21, 2018
237
735
Now, If I must have a critic, I think that the part when Kate proposes to Sarah to follow her is strangely place. At this moment it doesn't seem to make sense for Sarah to follow her so soon while they just reconnect and that her brother needs her and let her very free. I think this scene would be better place as an option when the battle against the horde is almost lost. Or when the nobility make a coup against her and her brother. It would also probably make moire sympathetic rather than purely manipulative.
Yeah the Kate thing bugs me. It's the only moment in the game where Sarah just turns into an idiot to make the plot happen. She's a responsible and smart girl for every other scene in the game. Unless sex is involved because then she just turns into a slut for the rest of the scene. It would make much more sense to just have someone kidnap Sarah, or like you said, have Kate throw out the invitation after the battle.
 
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MisterNephilim

Active Member
Jan 1, 2019
835
1,829
Yeah the Kate thing bugs me. It's the only moment in the game where Sarah just turns into an idiot to make the plot happen. She's a responsible and smart girl for every other scene in the game. Unless sex is involved because then she just turns into a slut for the rest of the scene. It would make much more sense to just have someone kidnap Sarah, or like you said, have Kate throw out the invitation after the battle.
But If I recall correctly, Sarah accepted under the supposedly information that Kate had about a conspiracy that killed the king and that they were going to get Sarah killed if she didn't escape with her. Which of course turned out to be a lie
 

Kalrotix

Member
Sep 27, 2017
195
187
But If I recall correctly, Sarah accepted under the supposedly information that Kate had about a conspiracy that killed the king and that they were going to get Sarah killed if she didn't escape with her. Which of course turned out to be a lie
Yes but it seems strange for me that she would accept to let her little brother alone on the throne when she know that he needs her support to rule and take decisions. Or at least she should ask Kate that he comes with them.
 
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HappyDaedalus

Member
Game Developer
Dec 30, 2021
123
1,028
HappyDaedalus Hey I think noticed a tiny typo here.

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I think you meant "loose" instead of "lose", but yeah, just thought I should let you know. Keep up the good work though!
Thank you! You're right, that's a typo. Just went into the code and fixed it, so that should not show up again when the next update comes out.

Stuff like this is a huge help to me! I don't always have as much time as I want to proofread everything, so this really helps me out in terms of cleaning up the game, so thanks!
 

NiftyLit

Newbie
Dec 26, 2020
61
76
Wow this was an excellent update!
I love how the story builds upon the world so naturally using the caravan. The overland trade of Pyrrite makes sense and the worldbuilding of Rahayal, Mythran, and the surrounding territories are really well done. It shows the writer having a good grasp of geopolitics which is exciting for a worldbuilding geek like me.

The characters are also really good! I love the interactions Sarah had with Sigmund and Sakar.
The sexual encounters also engaging, building upon characters, have meaningful decisions, and is optional which is really nice.

I can really see the writing has been really improving a lot in the past updates and it's really cool to see. Looking forward to see how the story will develop in the future!

I'm in the process of finishing my re-review of the warrior route so I'll post it as soon as it's done.

P.S. if any of you guys are interested in practical world building and geopolitics I recommend this channel on youtube called Dungeon Masterpiece

The guy uses the science to enhance the understanding of the potential of geography and demographic in how it informs the development of a fantasy world on a cultural, social, and political level, its really cool stuff!
 

Hookonwifi

Newbie
Jan 15, 2020
62
13
OMG!!! this game is the game i always dream for!!! So many path to chose and to go !!! I like game with full of choice that decide what you can be
 
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HappyDaedalus

Member
Game Developer
Dec 30, 2021
123
1,028
Wow this was an excellent update!
I love how the story builds upon the world so naturally using the caravan. The overland trade of Pyrrite makes sense and the worldbuilding of Rahayal, Mythran, and the surrounding territories are really well done. It shows the writer having a good grasp of geopolitics which is exciting for a worldbuilding geek like me.
I've always loved history and geopolitics so a lot of that ends up being inspiration for how I approach building the world. Nice to see you picking up on that.
 

Kalrotix

Member
Sep 27, 2017
195
187
So I finished the mage and Princess story yesterday and wow ! What a rollercoaster of emotions. Here is my opinion on the paths that I tried so far.

Warning spoilers

The mage route has been the more fascinating for me, all the routes are interesting but with this one we are exploring the past of this world while being engaged in a fight for its very destiny.

We also have the point of view of the mages, who want to improve the world for the good of all, but acting on the long term and who for their goals are ready to let atrocities happen like the brutal conquest and looting of Rosanna. In their quest the magi see the big picture but seem to lose the small and individual. One of the issues of this journey being whether Sarah joins this view that the big picture is more important than everything else or whether she refuses to adhere to this way of thinking. It is interesting and heartbreaking to see her continue to suffer the loss of her kingdom and her family. Rosanna's vision where the inhabitants continue to be raped and abused by the invaders, I hope that a path of mages will still allow us to go and free Rosanna's kingdom.

I also really liked the characters that we see appearing, the mage Xan seems at the beginning to be the classic figure of the mentor a little whimsical but benevolent who is a good person. But then he turns out to be an aloof individual who by plan or lack of sociability can't or won't get close to Sara. His obsession with the big pictures makes him cold, unsympathetic and sometimes even a jerk. Besides, the scene where he says that Samarya (if we save her) has to take care of herself, instead of giving her the possibility to take care of the house as Sarah does, makes you feel that he is not as conciliatory and sympathetic as he makes it appear at the beginning. It would seem that the only reason he was so generous with her was simply because she had high magical potential.

Which brings me to the second most important character on this path, Razaphel. An interesting demon, because although it is obvious that he has his own plans and that he is trying to manipulate Sara, his silver tongue allows him to instill a deserved doubt about the mages and Xan in Sara's mind. His willingness to share some of the information that the mage does not want to give to Sara also suggests, perhaps correctly, that he also wants to manipulate her, and rightly so. It even gets to the point where betraying Xan seems like a reasonable option, after all, if he doesn't trust Sara to be honest with his plans, and if he is only using her to get his way, why trust him more than the demon?

A very interesting route in my eyes, my favorite so far along with the slave route.


The slave route, I have already mentioned is one of the most fascinating to me because Sarah is literally at her lowest point. She has lost her family, her friends, her title, her country, and even her freedom. She is completely subject to the will of others, in a culture that does not value her title of princess, but it is understood that with Hassar's interest she will be able to play her own cards. No doubt to become his main concubine and to have a role close to that of Roxelane for the Ottoman Empire, and perhaps to make less cruel subjugation of her people. Also, the character of Hassar and her culture intrigues me a lot and I can't wait to see more.

Also, I think there would be the possibility of meeting other characters who would be enslaved by the horde. I assume that Lady Carolyn was also enslaved with the fall of the castle and if Hassar continues to expand and fight, it is possible that Kate's mercenary group will be defeated and she captured. This could make for an interesting dynamic if Sarah is then the concubine and has to make them accept their new fate or escape.


I also like the princess route with Varga a lot, because it is the most heartwarming. Sarah becomes the regent, saves her kingdom, marries a good man, makes her kingdom a great economic and cultural power, has children from a happy marriage, and reforms the kingdom to be more fair and centralized. Some might complain that this is a path that is too perfect, but personally, I really like the idea that there is a way for Sarah to just be happy.
 
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NiftyLit

Newbie
Dec 26, 2020
61
76
Whew, this took a while but I'm finally done with it. This review is going to be more critical than the other ones, mostly because I wound up falling out of love with the Warrior route after it's latest update due to the writing which made me unmotivated to write this review in the first place. I think I'll be changing the format of my future reviews into something I have more fun with. I'd love to hear feedback on this review so don't be afraid to reply and provide some critiques of it!

This review will discuss my thoughts on the narrative, story decisions, as well as character writing and their contributions to the narrative. It is divided into chronological parts:

Journey to the Warrior route
The story leading to the warrior route before Sarah makes the choice to join the mercenaries

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Training Arc
Sarah's training arc and the respective trainers after she agrees to join the mercenaries. They are of varying quality but they are all equally mired by multiple time skips and a lack of character development.


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Bagrad Arc -Warrior-
The Bagrad section of the story is a culmination of the previous parts, the story overall is good especially if you’ve played the mage route’s Bagrad section first. It has drama, tragedy, and everything. I do have personal gripes though.

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Phew, sorry this took way too long to make. Continuing my re-review of the game, here is my attempt and a critical analysis of the mage route, focusing on the earlier parts of the story before the Bagrad section. This discussion of the overall story will discuss the elements of the Mage Route that sets it apart from other routes, guided by the discussion of the route execution of the story's general virtues when compared to the other branches.

To summarize, I consider those virtues to be:
1. An evocative and immersive writing that grounds us in the interesting characters, setting, and narrative.
2. Compelling characters, with interactions that allow the characters to build on each other, the setting, and ground the narrative while moving it forward.
3. Choices that allow for possibilities to affect and engage with the characters, setting, and narrative in interesting ways.

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Man, I am not proud with how long writing this took for me. I planned on posting this before the dev posted a new update but I got writer's block and took more than a month to finish this partly because of real life and partly because I felt like I needed to expand my knowledge on writing to make this review. I learned a lot about writing and I am definitely more sympathetic to writers now after this experience. Writer's block fucking suuucks lol. I've rewrote this 7th times so sorry if it feels incoherent in some way and if it doesn't communicate very well.

A lot of things had to be cut down for the sake of making the text of this review coherent, but if you think that its too long or incoherent you can read the articles below this instead, they helped me write this review and they are probably more coherent than the things I'm writing.

Hope you'll look forward to my honest thoughts on the Warrior Route next time. Hopefully it doesnt take too long for me to write them lol.
Btw love the Princess route update. It's amazing! :giggle:

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Whew, this took a while but I'm finally done with it. This review is going to be more critical than the other ones, mostly because I wound up falling out of love with the Warrior route after it's latest update due to the writing which made me unmotivated to write this review in the first place. I think I'll be changing the format of my future reviews into something I have more fun with.

This review will discuss my thoughts on the narrative, story decisions, as well as character writing and their contributions to the narrative. It is divided into chronological parts:

Journey to the Warrior route
The story leading to the warrior route before Sarah makes the choice to join the mercenaries

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Training Arc
Sarah's training arc and the respective trainers after she agrees to join the mercenaries. They are of varying quality but they are all equally mired by multiple time skips and a lack of character development.


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Bagrad Arc -Warrior-
The Bagrad section of the story is a culmination of the previous parts, the story overall is good especially if you’ve played the mage route’s Bagrad section first. It has drama, tragedy, and everything. I do have personal gripes though.

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4.50 star(s) 60 Votes