Reviews by Ogre
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So I see
"Links to this page and its ratings have been restricted, due to violations of our Code of Conduct."
at the top of this page (only barely because in dark mode it's nearly hidden). I've read through the game, I've read through the comments by the author, I've read through the reviews. I'm not seeing anything that is a violation of the Code of Conduct. Is there somewhere a person can go to see what's going on and why some games are violations? It would be useful to understand what caused this violation so that others do not commit the same violation. As it is, it simply isn't clear, at least to me.
Great Stuff, February 22, 2021Wow. Great stuff here. And I’m not a ballad fan. I love the setup and the layout on the title page (this one where we are now), and I appreciate the credit for the drawing in the background, too. In the story the color and the font are excellent and work very well with the story and the setting. I love the pressure on the first page to do the bidding of the poor townsfolk!
I like the choices and how the affect the rest of the story. Some might say they’re false choices, but the way they direct the action of the story is really, really good. And with a story of this type, I can’t imagine the work that would be involved with making that number of unique paths, anyway.
This is a really great short story. The prose is just excellent and it is not at the expense of the story. This could even be a story without the prose, even if it were a short story. If I should ever feel the need to write a ballad, I will certainly return here for inspiration. In fact, anyone who wants to see a good story in ballad form should read this story!
Good start, February 13, 2021Looks like a good intro and description of the story. I am always at least slightly put off when I read that the author “ran out of time.” I understand that may have been the case for a contest entry, but the author can always take the story down after the contest is over and finish it. I have seen many authors take that route. Either that, or simply live with what’s published, make it a complete story, and leave that line out.
I like the first page and the start of the story. I like the italics showing me that this is the past and setup for the story. I really like that I have a number of options on the first page as well. From a quick glance there, it looks like these options really have huge effects on the story, which is really great! Of course, because of those varied options, there appear to be a number of ways to end the story really quickly. I do appreciate the options and that they don’t lead back to one another with no effect, but some of the endings really do appear almost too soon.
I like the writing and the story. There are lots of good ideas in here, and I really like all the branching. Some of the pages are longer and have good dialogue and descriptions in them. I find it interesting that almost all of the endings allow me to restart, except the Peaceful ending. Nicely done, I do encourage you to write more, whether it is with this story or another!
From the Author
This one really was a lot of fun to write, too. There are aspects of James Bond bits, but also some of The Man With One Red Shoe and some Johnny English as well. There really are a large number of different paths and the paths can diverge quite a bit. If you like replay-ability, this one might be a good one for you because one option can really lock out a large portion of the story.
Dark and darker, January 24, 2021For me, this was a tough read. And no, not just because of the content. The layout was horribly distracting for me. Each page had 1-3 sentences on it. I guess that was for effect, but if I’m going to read a story, I’d like to read it, not spend more time clicking “next.” But also, the font changed on pages. I think this was for speech, but it wasn’t clear, was really distracting, and really would have been so much clearer if there were simple quotation marks. The fact that all the short lines were centered on the page added a little more difficulty for me as well.
While there were options in the story, there were not a lot, and few seemed to have much of an effect on the story. I see that this story won a lot of awards, but maybe this just isn’t my scene, baby. Indeed, it was dark and just kept getting darker. And maybe if I had analyzed a lot more later into the story, I would have seen choices that made a difference, but it honestly wasn’t all that pleasant for me. Maybe for others who really like horror with kids, this is something for you. But if you don’t, you probably want to skip this one.
Fun at First, then Falls short, January 24, 2021I think that's an excellent title. There is some really neat writing here. I really like some of the story lines that build up. But after playing for some time you reach a point where I felt like, "Wait, that's all? It's just more of the same." And it is. Again, great writing! I love the environment, the setting, the building of the setting, and everything else related to the story. But the story itself just sort of IS. Not a great deal happens. And I get that's the way the story and site are setup, but it still leaves me wanting more. Of course, that might be the idea behind the way this is setup and written, in which case it really hits the mark! So head on over and read some, I don't think you'll be disappointed. But you might not make it all the way to the end (is there an end?)
Yes, this is a quiz. But as soon as you add in covid, you're asking for political positions. I'm not trying to take a position here in this review, but you have to take one as it relates to covid, whether you want to or not.
Depending on your political views on the virus, this might be a nice story, or it might be propaganda. I'm not sure there's any middle ground. That said, if you go into it without many expectations, it is quite well written and has a nice story to go with the quiz. It is really just a quiz, but one of the best written quizzes I've seen on the site. It has a little story around the questions, which makes it interesting and fun. If you want a little jaunt and escape, head on over and have a read.
Something, January 22, 2021Well, that was something. What, I'm not quite sure. It felt like there was an idea for a story, but it never happened. There was a universe and world setup that never really got used. There were people, but they were only there for sex. So I guess if you want to read some sex story, this might be for you. But if you want to read a story with characters and a beginning, middle, and end; this might not be the one for you.
You're Sick, January 18, 2021That's the entire plot and story here. Really, there's not much more than that. There's a few choices throughout the story, but none seem to really affect the storyline -- no matter what options you choose, you're still sick and you're going to see the doctor. Then, quite suddenly, the story ends. This really could be a lot more, but there's just not really any progression in the story -- it doesn't go anywhere at all.
A Start?, January 18, 2021I'm not sure what the point of this story was. It almost feels like it was a test of an application, but little more. Most pages had just 1-3 sentences and no choices for the reader. If you stay with it, it gets repetitive. Sure, it's about a clean detective, but I'm not sure it works with you repeatedly making a "choice" to take a shower every day.
Nothing, January 18, 2021This is nothing. I don't know why it's listed here. It is a web site that asks a few questions, and then it's over. Literally, that's everything. I guess whoever wrote this had a purpose, but that purpose is well hidden from anyone who "reads" this... thing.
Engaging and complete, January 16, 2021The starting and setup for this story are more than enough to bring the reader into the story and want to read it. It sounds like a simple routine stop that’s clearly going to be more than routine. The reader is immediately grabbed by the story and they will want to read it simply to find out how. After all, it’s just a simple refueling stop, so what could go wrong? It’s an excellent hook and an invitation to the story.
The setting and writing on the first page set the scene nicely. There are good descriptions and details and enough information to feel like the reader is really in the story here. The only part that was slightly confusing (did you really think that wasn’t going to happen?) was the hero’s job. Maybe I missed it, but at one point Hinsman is keeping me away from the public. Then I’m supposed to protect people, but it’s not clear if it is protecting the public or Hinsman’s people. But also the hero destroyed a cruiser in the course of his job recently, too. But Hinsman has a badge and the hero has worked with a pilot before. But he’s headed to the outer rim for work, whatever that might be.
The arrival at The Last Outpost is fun. Well, maybe not for the hero, but reading the words and descriptions around it work very well. It is almost difficult to step out of the story to write this review because at that point the story is engaging and the reader really wants to stay in the story to find out what’s going on and what happened – and we’re not even in the meat of the story yet! The writing here is similar to that book you start to read just before bed and end up reading way past midnight because you just wanted to find out a little more about what was going to happen next.
There was some nicely woven-in backstory throughout the pages as it led through the story. I was hoping for a few more choices, like when the hero was asked whether they should move on or secure the station, but there wasn’t an option to just run away like a little girl and hide, so I didn’t get to choose to do that.
The story does continue with an excellent plot and tension. There were great options and logical choices throughout the story and often not a clear foreknowledge of which choice should be taken – which was a good thing because it really did create the idea that the reader was in control of the story and could really decide where the story would go. The discussions and dialogue were crisp and detailed – once again the reader is really taken into the story and feels like they are there in the room listening to the stories first-hand.
The story also had a number of twists and turns that were not expected. I could see connections from some of the decisions that I had made early in the story affect things much later in the story. And it really did keep me reading and want to read more in anticipation of what was going to happen next. I also really liked the sub-text and story that was happening in the background with the memories. Could that lead to another story? We can only hope and wait…with the hidden vial…
Fairy Tale Fun, January 16, 2021This is a nice and detailed story. While there are not a massive number of choices on every page, each choice is important and take you, and the story, in different directions. The story is well-written and the characters are well developed. It also differs from many on the site, as this one is more involved and actually takes some reading to get through -- not that that's a bad thing! For some nice entertained and an engrossing story, why not take a look at this one?
From the Author
This is a short little story about you, as a toddler, trying to navigate your way through your day. This is a hilarious take on life as a toddler and trying to find your way through life. There are a few different situations and three different endings to this story, one that you just don't want to get (but it's still funny, but maybe not to some). If you need a quick laugh to brighten your day, head on over and read this one.
Light entertaining fun, January 15, 2021This is a nice, lighthearted story that matches the description. It's not super-long and isn't going to take you a day to read it, but there are a lot of choices and options with different outcomes. And if you scan the comments on the site, you will find that "fun" and "entertaining" show up more than a few times. I absolutely agree that this one is some light fun, so if you want a short jaunt into some light story entertainment, head on over and read this one.
I know, it sucks, January 15, 2021Now wait, before you go blasting me for that title of this review, let me explain: those are the author's words. That's the comment the author put out for this story. I'm not saying I'm arguing with that opinion, either. This is a very, very short story (less than 800 words) and as you might imagine, there's not really any story in content that short. I don't know what it has to do with blackbirds, but on the very first page your only option is to rape someone. I'm really not sure what to do with that, that's not my idea of a story. If, for some reason, a story absolutely has to have that kind of content, I might suggest that a character in the story should be doing that instead of putting the reader in that kind of situation. Seriously, don't bother with this one.
A Logic Puzzle, January 15, 2021Did you get that this is a puzzle? It's not a story, it's not fiction, it's a logic puzzle. That said, it's a fun logic puzzle encapsulated in a nice little story. You have to solve the puzzle for the king and if you lose, well, you have to do Jester Duty. It's not so bad, I've done it a few times myself. Anyway, if you like logic puzzles, head on over and step through this one, the way it is done in the story-like atmosphere and design is entertaining and fun.
From the Author
This has been one of my most popular stories on the CYS web site. However, if you're expecting a nice wholesome story for the kids, please, I beg you, look somewhere else! This started as an entry for a succubus contest and just went downhill from there. I have heard a number of good things about the writing and the story, so that part is nice. But just realize that this takes a trip into some dark places. Oh, not evil, but just nasty. And heck, there's even bits of comedy in there, so if you like comedy and nasty, this is the story for you!
From the Author
So this is for those who like to explore. You don't have to worry about guessing the correct words in a parser, since it is written with the CYS web site and there's links to help you find your way. However, most of the links are simply "Go East" or "Open Door," so it should remind you of the classic IF with a simple parser.
There are a number of objects scattered around the place as well -- some are required to find the end, some are not. It may take you some time to find your way through to the end, this wasn't meant to be a quick and easy run. In fact, there's even a timer so that if you take too long to explore, you get caught and lose. But feel free to map the place because if you get caught, you can always try again!
Short, but not really worth it, January 15, 2021Okay, the entire story is just over 1,000 words. It would take me just a few minutes to actually post all the writing right here in this review. You can thank me later that I did not waste your time. And honestly, I can't suggest you bother taking the time to read this one, even though it will only take you a few minutes.
There's really nothing here. There's no character development, no real story, not even any characters, really. In fact, if you make the "wrong" choice on the first page, the entire story is over! So make sure you do what the author wants you to -- and that is the recipe for a story that I, for one, don't want to read.
Fight!, January 14, 2021Another one that's maybe not really an IF. Okay, it's hardly even a choose your story. In fact, it's just fighting. But it IS fighting crabs!
You pick your battler, then decide how you want to attack the opponent. Some moves and elements are more effective than others and learning the correct combinations is your path to victory! There's no story, no getting involved with characters, but there's fighting crabs, so that kind of makes up for the lack of story if you ask me.
So go fight!
Well-Developed Story, January 10, 2021This is a great story, and you'll see that if you head on over and read it. With over 60,000 words, there are a lot of ways to navigate your way through this one. It's a true CYOA (as opposed to classic IF), but there are good, clear options for you to follow through the story. The story has a good deal of depth, so you won't be disappointed if you're looking for a story that you can get into.
Hard, but Deep, January 10, 2021Yes, indeed, this is a difficult adventure. It will likely take you many tries to get through this one. It also quite well written. There are good details throughout the story, and I felt like I was in the story when I was reading it. There is a lot going on with this story and it can be entertaining, but yes, the subject is terrorists in the Wal-Mart, so if that's a problem for you, you probably shouldn't be reading this one.
Fun Riddles, January 9, 2021This one is another that's not really an IF, but it's still fun. This one has you making choices of possible answers to riddles. Sure, you can click your way through this one to find the end eventually, but it is a lot more fun trying to figure out the correct answers to the riddles. It's also framed in an escape from the tower format, which makes it even more interesting. It won't take you forever, but if you want to read a few riddles and play around, head on over and have a read!
Detailed and Fun, January 9, 2021This is a really fun story, despite it being a horror. The author writes quite well and also lets you know when you're making a critical choice as opposed to one that's not going to have as much as an effect. While some people won't like that breaking of immersion, I find in this case it is quite nice and informative. And there are enough options and choices that you can really feel like you're playing a different story each time, which makes the replayability score high.
Quiz, not really IF, January 9, 2021Ok, there's not a lot here. This probably isn't really interactive fiction, though I don't want to start an argument over what REALLY qualifies as OG interactive fiction. Instead, this is just a quiz, but it is still interesting.
Basically, this quiz asks you 12 questions. What makes it interesting is that each question has a large variety of answers, not just two or three to pick from. After you answer all the questions, you get a quite comprehensive interpretation of your answers. So it only takes a few minutes, so head on over, answer some questions, and get your fortune read!
Repetitive Fun, January 8, 2021Yes, this is a choose your own story... but it's also a dungeon explorer. The options you choose from are just related to defeating the monsters and making process towards the bigger prizes and even bigger monsters. If you're looking for an involved story with character development, this isn't the story for you (unless your mind wanders a lot while killing things). But if you want to hack and slash your way through hundreds of monsters on your way to glory, this is where you want to be!
From the Author
Sure, this isn't a massive, 100,000-word story that will suck you in and keep you interested for days. But it is a little world where you can spend some time, solve a puzzle or two, and be entertained (I hope). Try not to get too sidetracked at the start, the story will let you lose sight of the goal completely if you're not focused at all. The puzzles aren't too hard, but one takes some good reading comprehension to get through. I do hope you enjoy this one, I had fun writing it.
The First and Still the Best, January 6, 2021I know some people who play and read these types of game today aren't a fan of this type of game. But really, this one did start it all. I played, learned, and liked the original two-word parser.
Really, even if you've read and played a lot of other types of IF, you really should find a way to play this one. Sure, it's a simple parser, but the adventure is fantastic. No, there's no huge storyline. But finding your way around and learning your way through this massive cave just can't be beat. Try it. Really.
From the Author
Sure, I'm the author. But I really liked this one. It is still fun for me to go back and read, even years later. There's not a ton of different endings, but you can play it more than once to try and find the different endings. And while you're there, you can just try and imagine the scenes playing out in the TV studio and laugh away!
Fun little Story, January 6, 2021Good setup and good idea for a story. I like the first page and the tense setup to get me fully immersed in the story. I liked that I had options from the start, but one was confusing – if I talked to both guards, I could no longer go to the admissions office, I had only one option and that was to go to the train station. Of course, that directed me back to the admissions office, anyway, but still.
It was interesting that I could go back to the train station and talk with the old guy a second time. I thought it would be a loop, but it was not, so that was quite nice. There were a couple tense issues with verbs here and there that were jarring as the tense jumped from past to present, but not often enough to really put too much of a dent in the story.
It was a neat and fun story. I liked the pace and the options that kept me entertained for a bit. I did like the different options and was pleased to find that there was more than one way to escape. Sure, it could have been longer, but it was certainly nice for what was there, and it did feel like a complete story. Thank you for sharing this story with the site.
Another great start, January 6, 2021This story really starts out great! It sounds like a classic fantasy tale of adventure and heroism – then it gets to the farm life of the every day kid who escapes to start a new life. Good stuff! I also like that as soon as the story starts out that you have choices that affect the story. I had a lot of fun working my way through the story and enjoyed all the different places that I could visit and see. There were not a ton of details for each location and each person, but there were enough to make the story interesting and to keep my interest.
I also really liked how the different options and choices led to different situations, yet they all seemed to tie together at the end (unless you died). I made it to the epilogue – and while the story was good and complete, I’m ready for the story to continue. At the same time, I think just about every page could be expanded with more detail and more description. There could be more descriptions of each person that you encounter. There could be more about the travel, the areas where you travel, and even individual buildings and places that you see on your travels. Overall though, a very good story, thank you for sharing it with the site.
Nice start, but..., January 6, 2021I liked the setup, though it seemed quite fantastic. It was enough to get me interesting in reading the story. However, the first page left me feeling quite lacking. There was some vague reference to earth. Then I went and saved a kitten. Then there was just one option. I’m not sure I understand why many authors put very little information on a page and then only provide one option. If there’s not a significant change in scene or point of view, or something similar, just slap all those pages without options onto one page that actually ends with the options – that would make much more sense to me, anyway.
The first options I have are a pick-the-right-choice-or-die options. I hope that doesn’t continue. A “superhuman-looking human?” Nice. Wait, it’s over?
That was a nice story with good spelling, grammar, and the like. I really appreciated that there were options and many of the options actually affected the story. The story was very short, though. I think this story has a lot of potential and really could be expanded to have more options, more development, and a more complete story. Or, since this is clearly an older story, another author might take the ideas started in this story, expand on them, and write an additional story based in this world.
Difficult, January 6, 2021Adding to mizal's review, yes, this has a lot of inside jokes. But at the same time, it is still kind of enjoyable, even if you don't know the jokes. Many of the jokes can just be written off as silly things that go on, so the story still works. That said, to actually solve this and get to the end is quite difficult. You're not going to just click your way through and find the ending for this story. You've got to work at it and I'd guess that most people have needed help from the author to find the final solution to this one - but you're welcome to try!
Not Awful, but short, January 6, 2021The premise of this game sounds good. There is certainly a great deal of potential based on the description. In fact, you could likely write a novel-length choose your own story with that idea. Sadly, I can see before I read this that the story has only a length of 3/8, so I’m not expecting a great deal from this one…
Ouch. The very first page has a misspelling on it. But then it gets worse because the first page appears to ask a question of me, the reader, but then doesn’t give me a choice, I have to click on the single option I’m presented with. Now I do think there’s times when you can end a page with a single choice. There are some instances when that makes perfect sense. But in this case, with one and a half lines via two sentences and a sentence fragment, that’s not the place to give me one option to move on. Instead, why not just include whatever is on the next page on this page until you reach the point where the reader actually has something to choose from?
I do like that the next page actually has a couple options and those options do appear to have an effect on the story – that’s what a CYOA is all about! Interesting enough, though, the very next page in both cases give me exactly one more selection again. Throughout the story, most page are just one line and sometimes there’s a choice, but more often there’s not. This would be much stronger if all those pages without choices were combined to the point where choices were available on every page.
I do like that some of the options clearly do have an effect on the story. There’s more than one path and different results, and that’s nice to see, especially in such a short story.
A Bit Short, January 2, 2021This story was apparently written in a very short period of time, but I’m not impressed with the uses of the English language on the first page with all the swears. Sure, I guess that’s the way someone might talk and all, but usually that’s just not needed in the written word.
Beyond that, well, at least there are choices in this story. There are indeed options that lead the reader off in different directions and the choices do appear to have a clear effect on the story. Beyond that, well, there’s just not all that much to this story. Most of the story seems to be focused on trying to kill police rather than actually trying to get some bacon (though perhaps that was the point of the story). So sure, this was written in 76 minutes, but perhaps it would have been quite a bit better if some more time was spent on it.
Fun Real-Life Adventure, January 2, 2021This is a short story, and it's a real story about a boy and his girl. It is a lot of fun and entertaining, despite it's length. While the choices generally push you in one direction, it is a fun bit reading about the challenges he faced leading up to that fateful day! Take a few minutes if you just want a quick smile!
Awesome, January 1, 2021This game is just first-class awesomeness. Sure, the author could have written all the tons of scripting and manipulation to make a poker-playing card game and that would have been enough. But instead, this author went way beyond that and included hilarious pictures on the cards and even a story about aliens who somehow know how to play poker in the first place!
I loved the way that it kept going for a long time, forcing you try and beat more and more aliens as the game progressed. I’m not sure how I was able to beat so many so easily, and I wonder if the game might be slightly tipped in my favor (or if the AI behind the aliens is as dumb as the aliens or even non-existent). But it was still absolutely tons of fun. I don’t know why this isn’t rated eight by everyone who plays it – I’m guessing those are alienphobes or something.
This is a really great example of some of the extremes that are possible with this site and the scripting languages and variables that are available to authors. Yes, you can write some great stories here, but if you learn more about how these things works, you, too, can create masterful games like this. Thanks so much for taking all the time it took to write this thing and for sharing it with the site!
I liked it, January 1, 2021I liked it a lot
Brief Fun, January 1, 2021This story is a blast if you need a laugh. As others mentioned, it's a bit short, and yes, it is quite silly as well. But if you need a quick laugh, I strongly suggest this one!
Socially Important Messages, December 31, 2020This story is really 2019, even though it appears to have been written long before that time. So it was really ahead of it's time when it was written. But it really is spot on.
In the story, you make selections that put you in the place of a modern teen (of either gender) and then forces you to make some serious life choices. The story then guides you through very realistic consequences of those life choices. I highly recommend this story, especially for anyone currently considering serious life choices.
Fun Nostalgia , December 30, 2020This is a cute short story that will really bring back memories for you if you've ever been to a carnival. And I'm not talking about the fancy indoor carnivals, I mean those carnivals that pop up overnight in the old abandoned parking lots that have grass growing up through the cracks.
The story will take you through a number of different aspects of that fun-time carnival, depending on the choices you make. Clearly, the author has experience at these carnivals, because the details included feel quite accurate to me. And if you don't have experience with those carnivals, you should go ahead and read this one to get a good feeling of how things really work behind the scenes at a typical carnival.
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