Re: Bookrage's choiceofgames reviews
I've got some time on my hands so I'm going to write my first review now.
This time I'm covering the very first choiceofgames title "Choice of the Dragon."
Genre: extremely vanilla high fantasy. What it says you do in the little blurb about it is entirely accurate.
plot: The game is a loosely connected, but still connected set of events that takes you from your start as a lairless wyrmling to your ultimate victory, or lack therof. in a final confrontation and dealing with the legacy of what you have done in one final small challenge. You do typical dragon-like things you see in most fantasy, kidnapping princesses, fighting dragons, fighting in wars, and going about a reign of terror, among other things. Nothing in this game is surprising foranyone particularly familiar with fantasy tropes. There is little originality in how dragons are depicted and the world is not particularly rich.
Mechanics: This is one of the game's strengths, as you make your dragon character, the explanations of the key abilities in the game are well-explained, finesse is not mapped particularly well and if you are going for it, there is some guesswork in making Finesse decisions consitantly. also, there is little strategic payoff from vigilance and quite a few drawbacks. However, with the balance and mutual opposition of 3 pairs of stats definitively explained, a mechanic that occurs frequently in other titles, this is a good primer to learn to play. there are also solid score-like stats that are just a percentage, not tied to another stat like infamy, wealth, and the enigmatic number for Blasphemy, (not going to tell you what it means here,.) for the most part, the mechanical side of this title is pretty solid. and injury, which can pile up a long time, but can make a big difference at one point in the story.
writing: the writing is pretty commonplace and as I said above, not much originality to it. However, it is crisp, clear, and easy to follow, which makes it easy for anyone, including the children it is supposed to be appropriate for to grasp. Also, although the story is somewhat lacking in "Wow!" factor, it is is good for what it is. I see this title as largely a Choice of Games tutorial and if you take that assessment into account, it is very good for what it is.
romance: romance is tacked on in a single chapter, but it is more of a strategic exercise than good characterization. None of the other possible mates even have names. However, there are a few ways you can make decisions that will effect the end of the game and some of your scores in this chapter. If you are into dragon romance for some reason, this won't satisfy.
achievments: not very many, but all of them clear and very obtainable. They also all reward different playstyles. You even get 2 different ones actually for dying in the two possible ways you can die in the game. Since there are achievements for finishing the game with high scores in all of the 6 parts of the balanced stats, and that the balanced stats are mutually exclusive with one increasing while the other decreased, to get those, you would have to play the game a minimum of 3 times. There are also 3 possible endings to the game, each with an achievement so that gives the game a lot of replay value.
railroading: For its simplicity and the part that it is the first title, the game is surprisingly open. You have the same events in relative order hit you in the same order, but in some choice of games titles, they just yank you back on the path if you choose something that doesn't go along with the pre-planned story. All the decisions you make feel like they matter, and there is no "You think about this but you do this instead" which you see in a lot of other games. That might happen if some of your personality stats are too high or too low, but that is still in the long run the result of your actions.
closing remarks: Choice of the Dragon is one of the shortest titles in the Choice Of Games lines, being a tiny 30,000 words, and you can finish the game in under an hour. However, I choose to view it as a sort of introduction or tutorial into how the line of gamebooks works, as it employs many mechanics you see elsewhere in other titles, often not openly explained there. Also considering that, the writing is not bad, and I found the game, despite being relatively bland, enjoyable. With good achievements, a good introduction to the line of games, and easily-understood mechanics that don't tend to throw you for a loop. It's a good first entrance into the Choice of Games line and it is free, which should be an incentive to try it. I actually have played it over half a dozen times and still like it. It is not good fiction, and it is not particularly original, but it does not have may flaws either, hence why it currently is relatively in the center of my list at the time of writing this. Also as a tutorial sort of game, its shortness could be viewed as an asset rather than a flaw.
Christmas week, I'll cover another free title that has more merit on its own and also is good for entering Choiceofgames play. "Choice of Broadsides."
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