Reviews by ChanceOfFire

Imprisoned was probably one of the better HG titles in the early CoG days, although standards weren't high at that time.

You're thrown into a cell for... something. There is a substantial character creation process as you are put through the early scenes. While you are in your cell, the game is pretty much like a stat management RPG, where you will have to raise certain stats, manage others, and think about how you will escape.

I managed to escape by raising a stat (Spoiler - click to show)(push ups, then bending the bars). Still, navigating the dungeon is tricky and some of the descriptions aren't too well written, which just makes it more confusing at times. My escape attempt eventually met with an inglorious end... but eh, I tried.

The writing is acceptable at a technical level, although I saw some typos. The game's tone is a bit juvenile at times, but I suppose you could treat this as a not-so-serious fantasy story. It's a pretty flawed title today, but might perhaps still be worth a look.

I don't wish to be too harsh on HG titles released during the early days. After all, games were free and expectations were low at that time. Still, it is hard for me to praise this title.

The writing is rough. The game is broken up into rooms with a lot of parser-like puzzles, but it was hard to figure out what to do simply by reading the descriptions. There is a hint menu for folks who are stuck, but the menu isn't very well-designed and will need a lot of clicking. There is a picture of each room in the game, which looks like some diagram I'd scrawl on my engineering notes back in college, but it just looks awful for an actual game release.

I managed to complete the game once and meet the final person, but failed his 'final' test. Still, at that point, I had no further interest in a replay.

Mobile Armored Marine is another title released in the very early CoG days. It was pretty long by the standards of that era. During the early days, there was some feedback over certain storyline and choice decisions the game had, although the author politely listened to feedback and made some changes to the content, which is a plus.

The game has a very lively writing style with plenty of humor. I also found the stat system simple but elegant, with a small set of skills you can build up at the start of the game, depending on choices made. Later, you can test these skills on the battlefield, with a health bar stat for your armor which you will need to keep over zero.

In terms of military tactics or story, the game is probably a bit lacking, but the author did address some issues in the early days. Perhaps it would be better to let the walking tank conduct recon and soak up the damage first before sending the fodder in. Still, I think the entertaining and confident writing style does make up for it.

It's not very long, but it remains free and fun to play.

Zebulon was written for a contest/event a long time ago. I think the theme was 'friends' or something. Anyway, here, we have two bickering friends with wildly different personalities to appease.

Compared to many of the older choicescript games, and even today, I think the writing is pretty good, with a strong dose of humor without overly-lengthy prose. Most of the options will have you choosing to make either one or the other of your companions happy. The game is often explicit about who you'll make happy and who you'll piss off, although there seems to be few, if any options to make both happy with the same choice.

You are given a mission to complete an objective within a certain time frame. Speed is critical, as with balancing your expenses, and managing the two people along for the ride. Still, it is a fun read, even if a short one.

Zebulon was released during stone-age CoG, and was probably one of the stronger HG titles at that time. But even now, I think it's still an interesting read, even if the choicescipt arena has come a long way since.

In addition to playing the game, I had line-edited it in full and therefore have a good sense of the content. Still, I would certainly not have spent so much time on edits if I had the benefit of hindsight. (which I didn't)

Anyway, I did sort of go through the game during the line-editing process, and probably saw more than a player actually would.

Last Dream is very linear in design, like a linear array dotted with fake choices. Branching is minimal at best. That said, a lot of these choices affect a certain variable, and to win the game, you would have to accumulate enough points in this variable to avoid a bad end.

The writing was well... not good in the non-native sense, which was possibly why Hosted Games wanted a native speaker to review the writing before accepting it. I actually liked the story there, and Midori was a character I would have liked to romance, but sadly, she wasn't an RO, although there are romances in the game. I am unable to comment on similarities to FFX as I have never played it, for what it's worth.

Ultimately, this game was pulled from HG after being approved for publication. I don't know the exact reason for this, no official reason was publicly given, and the discussion thread was locked for futher comment. It has since been released for free. On another note, the original submission had AI content, but HG had permitted the author to replace it before approving it for publication. That said, the replacement (which was approved for publication) had AI content as well. The AI status of the current free release is unknown to me.

Full Disclosure: I was a beta reader for this game and provided feedback. I had also informed the author during the beta phase that any AI generated content would not be accepted by HG. That said, this game was apparently submitted with AI content anyway despite this reminder. HG initially approved it for publishing and released it, but later withdrew it from sale after some reports of AI content. Unknown to many, Halls of Sorcery wasn't the first game with AI content which was submitted to HG.

From this point, I will try to review the content of this game without getting further into AI matters unless I feel it is relevant.

As someone who had beta read this game and also purchased/played the full release before it was pulled, I can give some opinions. The writing was slightly rough in some places but still easy to follow. The game is short, but branches quite significantly, and also provides plenty of cool secrets for players willing to venture from the beaten track. Otherwise, in terms of a single playthrough, it is short, being largely a training session, a single mission and then a final confrontation with the big bad.

There was a pretty easy to use stat system, although with the game's length, there were also not too many chances to test stats. Still, to get the best ending with everyone alive, you would have to obtain a certain critical item.

The game had a lot of (AI generated) images during development, which I personally liked (don't kill me please) before I spotted some signs of AI generation and went on to inform the writer of AI matters. There were some character portraits in the final release which I also liked, although I don't know if these were AI generated and to what extent.

Anyway, I am just writing my thoughts as someone who had played the game and noticed the AI content after a bit. I am personally trying to maintain a no AI content policy when it comes to my own games.

Like Interactive Bonbons, Grand Casino of Fortune presents you a bunch of minigames. While Interactive Bonbons had plenty of technical skill on display, this game is a little more low-key in this department, offering a couple of gambling minigames with less razzle dazzle. Still, there are a number of interestingly designed minigames here, along with RPG elements such as characters you can speak to to unlock certain bonuses (if Lady Luck happens to smile on you), as well as multiple levels of progression.

The first floor is easy enough to pass with patience and mindless tapping. Subsequent floors present games which will require some brainpower to complete. Still, I gave up at the fourth (penultimate) floor as the minigame there was just way too hard for me. (You need to win the minigame three times in a row to pass). The ending is interesting, but may or may not be worth the pulled hairs to reach it. (I just opened up the code.)

I liked a couple of things here, such the various floors, the ability to borrow cash and the other folks you could speak to for lore or bonuses in between the gambling games. That said, you’ll need better luck than me if you want to complete this legitimately, and going by the number of omnibus ratings, not many folks made it past the fourth floor. Still, it’s something enjoyable you can play around with.

Another ancient Hosted Games release, long before the choicescript game formula started to take shape. In this short story, you play as a fixed character (i.e. name and gender are set), and take a walk through daily life, while being offered a series of binary options to do the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ thing. It starts out with pretty mundane everyday scenarios, but the action heats up towards the end with a crime scene.

Still, this is largely a linear romp, whether you pick the good or bad things. The writing, told in first person, is technically sound, but also not particularly engaging. At 7k words, well below the current minimum requirement for a Hosted Game, you could probably complete a few playthroughs in ten minutes. It’s good for a short bit of free entertainment, but that’s all I would recommend it for.

Note: This review is based on the Hosted Games release. It may or may not be the same as the IFcomp release.

Sons of the Cherry begins with a few character creation type questions, although it does not appear to have much impact on the game. This is largely a linear tale, requiring you to join forces with the guy who saves you at the last minute and then sends you on a mission.

You’ll mostly see two choice options here. Some give you the opportunity to resist the Call to Adventure and walk off the linear road. But if that happens, you will be taken to a penalty chapter filled with dead ends, some of which bring you to the rating screen abruptly. It’s possible to survive and explore for a bit in this penalty chapter if you avoid certain options, but it’s ultimately an ending in itself. Otherwise, you can dutifully walk along the linear road paved before you, and finish the game.

The writing is strong and atmospheric, but this game could have been a better linear novel than game. It’s nice for a short read, although it’s not quite a choicegame.

This game was the first title to be released on Hosted Games. (well... not really since even the hosted titles were released under the Choice of Games label at the time.) I still remember the author telling Dan and co. on that old Google group forum about the complete and ready-to-submit game. Anyways, well over a decade later, here we are.

Still, it's hard to recommend this game even as a free product. Completing this game requires you to exhaust every lead in the first section, then answer all questions correctly in the next section. If you fail the second section, you get to try again. However, the final section is where the game gets Nintendo Hard. Get one choice wrong, the killer is allowed to go free, and it's game over. Unfortunately, there wasn't a save system at that time, so say hello to another tedious round of play if you want to try again. (Wait, hold on. It's 2025 and we still don't have a save system, besides using third-party tools.)

The writing is technically sound, but could use some more color. The text alternates between prose and script. The whole murder method of (Spoiler - click to show)shoving glass shards down someone's throat with gloves on would require some serious ninja fighting skills to perform. Also, if you accuse the wrong person, the police officer is happy to go along with your decision, but if you accuse the right person, the police officer will defend him and try to set him free unless you can complete a gauntlet of choices with perfect accuracy. (Otherwise, prepare to do the entire thing again.)

That said, the writer completed this game in high-school, and was the first person to submit a game to HG. I think these are still pretty cool achievements, and it definitely takes a lot of courage to be the one to take the first step. For that, I'm giving a higher rating than I normally would.