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Review
I enjoyed the setting of this game, as I've recently been rewatching Zhen Huan Zhuan/Empresses in the Palace and some of the elements of here are reminiscent of it for me (as the only palace c-drama I've watched): the political maneuvering, having parents in court who have lost favor, upstart generals, etc.
You play as, well, an ancient chinese poet. You are visited at home by the Emperor's most trusted servant, his head eunuch (who I picture as Su Peisheng from the show). Your poems have accidentally spread from your home to the court, and the emperor would like you to come and deliver a poem at a banquet.
Once there, you are encouraged to view the palace around you, with several options on where to look and what to do. Each option can inspire your poetry later on.
You then have the opportunity to deliver your poem, drawing on your sources but still having freedom to alter lines as you will. What you say will lead to multiple endings.
I liked my poem I could make. I focused on nature-based meditative thoughts, although the fourth line I couldn't get to fit into my self-imposed aesthetic. Either it or my fifth line were interpreted in a way that I couldn't quite follow. I thought I had opposed someone earlier, yet my poem was interpreted otherwise due to a subtle nuance. I think on replaying I could likely figure out a pattern to the responses, but I feel happy with my own journey. I think I got ending 18/23, which shows this is highly replayable.
I finished it faster than the listed hour, but that's because I was drawn into and fully engaged with the game.
