Sordwin: The Evertree Saga

This was a great game to play, definitely top 10 among Choicescript games I've enjoyed. It's a mystery (one of my favorite genres) and lets you be a mage, which is cool.

This is the second game in the Evertree Saga. The first game was also a fantasy mystery, but felt very short. This game, while each chapter can be completed relatively quickly, feels very substantial and has a ton of branches.

You come to an island which has been quarantined due to some kind of malady. Your employer has tasked you with recovering a package that was due and which is delayed on the island.

The mystery turns out to involve mysterious attacks, and everyone's on edge. You have to investigate not only the missing package and the attacks, but also your mysterious companion and the drama going on in town.

The game does great in at least 3 things that popped into my mind:

1-Lots of options. I maxed out my magic stat and used it for almost everything. The game felt like a breeze since I could read minds, teleport, fly, etc. This worked perfectly until one very crucial moment, but that tradeoff felt worth it. You can equally play as a buff or deceptive character. You can also bring in a completely different companion depending on your first game choices, which is very hard to code.
2-Good dialogue. Dialogue dominates this game, and the author manages to make each character feel distinct and fresh.
3-Real stakes. There are multiple competing goals, and it felt like I could make real progress on some if I invested time, but it meant leaving other parts of the game unexplored. However, the game manages to make you not feel like a loser for missing out on the other stuff, and all failure is accompanied by cool ways of getting out of it, often at the cost of others. This kind of thing is really hard to do, so I was impressed.

Overall, a great game.