Sabres of Infinity

Sabres of Infinity is the first book of the popular Infinity series, written by Paul Wang and published through Hosted Games. As a reader and a player, you will directly follow and experience the protagonists' first stage of military life, the enlistment and quick adjustment to it (maybe even earning yourself a promotion), right in the middle of an upcoming brutal war of conquest.

Storywise (5/5)

The author is a huge history nerd, for that nobody can have any doubt. He has managed to incorporate all of his knowledge of military history in this series and continues to do so even in his most recent release of the series: Lords of Infinity.

You follow the life of an enlisted soldier who chose to go to the military not for the glory of war, but for a more simple reason: to pay the debts of his baron family. It's interesting reading through it, especially if you choose that he was enlisted at the age of 14, since you can clearly see the metamorphosis of their character when thrust in this brutal war. They can be promoted to a higher rank than Coronet either by buying the title (be careful with the money calculations!) or by merit. You'll be rewarded war medals if you are successful in certain battles.

There are real social issues addressed in the books, but in this one, two stand out: blood purity obsession of the aristocratic families (Banebloods) and the discrimination of the Deathborne. The player can choose how they treat Caius, the Deathborne: to act like all the others or to choose to have a friendly relationship with him. They can also choose the route they want their soldier protagonist to go down to: honorable and merciful or brutal and a vile war criminal (for more information on the lore and characters you can take a look at the dedicated wiki page for the infinity series)

Gameplay (5/5)

You can choose the age of the protagonist at the moment of enlistment (from 14 to late 20s) which will change in some ways how the character interacts with the story in the long run. While you start out less skilled at 14, when the character ages, the one at the late 20's in the Lords of Infinity has reached the age of 40-50, and is feeling the hardships that come with age.

You can also choose where your protagonist comes from which will play a role in the skill stats and later in Lords of Infinity, when the character goes back to their lands.

Pay attention to the stats because they, along with the tactic you choose are what decides the tide of battle and survival of your teammates/squadron! The training scenes are there for a reason: to raise your skill stat/s so take them seriously without skipping them.

Even if you don't understand much of the world, there is a codex and glossary to explain them, don't worry. Along with some sort of history archive where you follow how the war is going.

Lastly, since there IS a currency system in the game, you'll have to be careful with how you spend your money because the main reason the protagonist even accepted to be enlisted, was to help their family with the generational debts. Higher rank means higher salary, yes, yet the title costs a bit too much and they will be on half-pay as long as they aren't fighting.

Choices (5/5)

Every choice matters here. Be mindful of the choices you make or you'll suffer the consequences.

2. Which sort of players would you recommend it to?

I'd recommend this game to history nerds, especially to ones who are military history enthusiasts as the firearms/tactics used are based on real life battles/wars.

Overall Rating: 8/10