Reviews by Shadowcutie

The Wayhaven Chronicles continues to deliver on the supernatural, sweet, and steamy. The writing, romance, characters are all as wonderful as previous books. Book 3 has lots of sweet and steamy scenes and I could not be happier, they're the star of the show, completely outshining the main plot which to me felt a little lackluster.

Personally, there is a certain slow burn romance that is turning out to be a little too angsty for me to love it completely, it's kind of heavyhanded in the "I like you but we can't" department. The main issue I have however is that there is a lot of side characters, and there's seemingly always more introduced (and quickly forgotten). There were also a few times when despite everything going well the characters acted as if my character was on the brink of death, but I'm here for the theatrics so play on!

Upon a few replays, Book 3 is the weakest of the series so far--while the romance is stellar, no surprise there, it is where all the attention has gone it appears. The main plot surrounding the 'antagonist' felt like a whole lot of nothing, a minor annoyance rather than a big threat. The final mission felt very rushed and deserved a lot more.

Stumbled upon the Book 3 review without playing the previous games?

If you're not a fan of plot armor, 'chosen one's, 'perfect at everything (except for when the plot says so)', or dramatic characters then the series might not be for you. TWC leans heavily towards more story than game, and so far there are few (if any) consequences for messing up, which makes it a good stress-free play.

Book 2 is a great follow up to an already fun story. Book 1 felt a lot more straightforward, though admittedly it could just be me being stubbornly unadventurous in the choices I made in the story, but Book 2 has a lot of secrets and alternative paths that I'm enjoying going through.

I mentioned about Book 1 that there was an issue of "too much hopping from one event to another without it feeling as though there's anything important connecting them", or in other words things kinda just happened with little agency. However this issue was fixed or at least isn't as noticeable to the casual player who just wants a fun story they're not trying to analyze too much, aka me. The main character felt a lot more competent given their experience--beyond the obvious spoiler reason for the bump in power/skill.

As for the romance I do enjoy the different paces and paths each romance takes. Even in a mostly linear story each character develops feelings and relationships differently which adds a lot to the characters and the larger story. I'm very much enjoying Manerkol's romance, but I'm still kind of baffled by his motivation. Suspension of disbelief can work miracles, but even I can't help but play my character as suspicious of his feelings (Spoiler - click to show)"Why are you so in love with me? Because some cosmic bond says you are, you don't even know me and it's not really like you're trying to get to know me either".

Everything in the story feels a bit rushed and a bit fast paced. There's a bit too much hopping from one event to another without it feeling as though there's anything important connecting them. The romances in particular, while I haven't gone through every romance yet, feel like they're missing the build up--it goes from "hello it's nice to meet you" to "I'm ready to sacrifice every thing for you" in a few chapters (and a week or so in universe).

The humor probably won't be for everyone either. I played a playful main character and it was a near constant one-liner machine inside their head. Duh! I mean what would you expect from a playful character? <-- Expect lots of lines like that.

With all that being said, I really liked the story and while I pointed out some issues they weren't really a problem for me. The story was high energy and the humor grew on me. I'm excited to see the series continued, and I really fell in love with Morkai and Straasa so I'm even more excited to see the romances progress!

Edit: I've played a few more romance paths and I have to say the "friendmance" (it's basically the slow burn or 'main character is oblivious' path in comparison to the "flirtmance" where you're actively flirting and showing interest whether it's shyly or boldly) were great! They're paced a lot more naturally, and playing an oblivious to romance main character is just super fun!! So yeah I totally recommend the friendmance paths.

A very fun and playful short story.

The erotic scenes are very nice; the fact that you can customize not only the pronouns but the top and bottom body parts of the characters allows for everyone to play exactly how they like.

The inclusion of a scene select is very appreciated, given that there aren't saves.

Superstition season two is wonderful! Everything you like/dislike about season one is bigger and better in season two, with added drama and angst particularly centered around the romance subplots.

I really love Chris' character and romance arc, and I'm super interested in seeing how he grows in later seasons. The new romance options are interesting, there's really someone for everyone in the game.

I appreciate the role-playing options we're given for Roe, they're such an interesting main character. I'm ready to continue making a bunch of saves for different playthroughs just to see each little variation.

Superstition is such a good supernatural series. It's dark and tense though it has lots of moments of levity--playing a sarcastic/jokester Roe can either be a breath of fresh air for some, or a bunch of jarring "this doesn't fit the moment at all" and *eyerolling* moments for others.

The characters, the companions in particular, are well written and are the kinds of characters you either absolutely love or hate with every fiber of your being; so expect a lot of "how can anyone stand this character" type of thoughts. There is some choice to the makeup of your team, while some characters are required there are a couple you can choose to take with you or refuse.

Keep in mind that season 1 only has two, with a minor cameo of another one, of the five (& poly route) romance options. Relationships started in season 1 aren't locked-in for the rest of the series, (Spoiler - click to show)so if you want to break up and switch to another romance for extra angst in later seasons...feel free!

I really appreciate the little PoV moments, it's always a treat to have them in games.

I wrote about the series as a whole on my Book One review so I won't bore you by repeating it all again. Just know I love TWC, it's a great supernatural romance series, one of the best.

For those who haven't checked out the series at all, but are still reading reviews about Book TWO for some reason...if you like the romance genre at all...go back and look into Book One. Play the Book One free demo chapters. I know writing style can sometimes get in the way of liking a story even if the plot or genre is one you love, so playing the free demo chapters will be the best indication as to whether this is a series for you as the style is very consistent throughout the books.

About Book Two specifically...

Book Two is where you can start a relationship with a couple of the romance options, the other two are still being tough nuts to crack. TWC is extra cool because even though there are two characters ready to start relationships with your character...you don't have to (yet)! It doesn't end the possibility of romance, you aren't breaking up with them, as I mentioned in my other review there isn't any way to fail the romance. It just adds to the replayability! See how the dynamics and interactions change when you work side by side with someone you told "Can I have some more time to think about it". Ooh the pining!

I tend to be the type of player who finds the one path and one type of character I like and then I play the game that same way every time. However I'm having a lot of fun trying out all the different paths, especially seeing how decisions made in Book One affect the story now. I can just tell I'm going to have sooo many save files from trying out everything.

Book Two is still funny and lighthearted, it does get a little steamy (for one romance), and a little sad--I even teared up a little! Definitely a roller coaster of emotion. Very fitting given the carnival subplot.

The Wayhaven Chronicles series has wonderful episodic plots as well as an overarching plot that is still evolving, a main character that is highly customizable and is given lots of opportunities to grow and develop throughout the books, an amazing main cast of four romanceable characters (that all can be either male or female depending on the main character's sexuality) to make you swoon, and interesting minor and side characters to love.

Romance and character interaction is the focus. TWC is a detective mystery/thriller type series, but if you go into it wanting to flex your brain and solve cases you will be sorely disappointed. There is some minor opportunities to direct the detectives in solving the mysteries, but the solving really does happen by itself. If you like romance novels, visual novel dating sims, or romantic comedy movies this will definitely be worth a look for you.

There aren't really any wrong choices. Some choices might lead to failures, so there are bad consequences, but that's not a game over. In regards to romance there are no wrong choices that lead to you failing to romance your chosen character, which I absolutely love. It's been increasingly my pet peeve that games make you be the correct personality and make the correct dialogue choices to romance a character. In TWC you can romance a character with whatever kind of main character you want and see how the dynamics change. You want to romance the sweet character with a character that is stoic? Cool! You want to romance that same character with one that is flirtatious and bold? Awesome! It's all correct, meaning you get to play how you want without clinging to a walkthrough.

About Book One specifically...

Even if you go in without knowing anything, the secret is fairly obvious and hinted at early on and fairly often. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing as I went in knowing the secret but still had a lot of fun seeing the hints and characters slip up...in fact I think I had more fun knowing before hand than I would have, since the reveal is kind of lackluster anyway in my opinion. It's just not that intense of a moment given the setting and how it was done.

This is Book One and you've only just met the crew, but you do pick the character (or the love triangle) you want to romance throughout the series. I like that this choice is made so early in the series, though I understand this may not be to everyone's tastes. However just because you pick your romance doesn't mean that's the moment the main character and the romanceable character fall in love and start a relationship. Each character is different. Some are quick to show their growing affection while others are a slow burn or have major denial. None of them start a relationship with the main character in Book One, and all the romances are progressing naturally.

Outside of the slightly lackluster reveal I really don't have any complaints with Book One. Or maybe I'm just swooning so hard from the crew that I'm blinded.