Arcadie II: Cold Lands

I really wanted to love this game because the first game is one of my favourites. But I don't. First of all, I am not overly bothered by linearity, since I tend to only play one route. And I despise stats that prevent role-play, but love when they are used for creative flair and tailoring to player choices. I don't miss the stats, I miss the customisation they gave. Both these are purely a personal thing, though. I chose Cyril as my love interest, as in the first game, and I still love him as a character. He's a good foil to Will. The romance was nice, Cyril is a good character and I enjoy him very much. But his character seemed rather inconsistent. He's supposed to be a grandmaster in the game of politics but completely forgets what it would mean for him to marry the queen. His parents are right, he cannot have both. So everything else felt underwhelming. The character motivation didn't make sense. And Marc was more of a plot device than a character to me. A huge, political fall out ends up feeling reduced to a little brother being jealous his big brother has a new friend, and putting at risk everything and everyone he cares for and stands to protect. I spared Stan, but I don't think he'd have been missed if I didn't. He does nothing. And I cannot work up the cognitive dissonance required befriend the person who murdered my entire family and tried to murder me. But he isn't even a useful tool. I am also rather disappointed in how things end with the Kaltlanders. Their motivations make no sense. At best they are a group of idiots. They are the Darwinian theory made manifest in Arcadie. Paired with the southern tribes, who I made a deal with, now they are suddenly my enemy again because the Kaltlanders, bless their tiny brains, basically took themselves out for me. I think a lot of this is because it is so short. Nothing had time to shine. I mean it's called Cold Lands and I don't think I was in the Cold Lands long enough to warrant that title. And if the implication of the spreading cold is the reason it's called that, it was way to minimal an issue to be the title. The spreading cold and the connection to the Kaltlanders and dArcadie being another thing that has just confused me. I am befuzzled. I honestly feel like I am going a bit insane. There were so many plot holes and contrivances that I am still ruminating on them. Arcadie has the foundations for a rich and fascinating mythology, yet it never gets to shine. I keep thinking I maybe missed something, like my reading comprehension dipped for a bit and now I just feel confused and frustrated. I mean this even to the point I cannot see myself bothering with the third game, because the foundations in this game are so brittle it will not work for me. Really, if you only care about the romance then you might like it. I was just so confused and frustrated with the overarching plot and lacklustre character motivations completely took me out of the story.

I was excited to support the author, but unfortunately, the game feels like a step down in quality from the first installment. There are no stats, very little meaningful branching, and almost no decisions that seem to have any real impact on the plot. It feels less like an interactive narrative and more like a short, straightforward novel that can be slightly customized through the different romance options (But even that can be frustrating. Characters you are not romancing become largely irrelevant to the story, and you barely interact with them). The pacing is also disappointing. The story moves rapidly from one problem to the next, but each conflict is usually introduced and resolved very quickly. These events rarely receive enough development to feel significant, and once they are over, they are often barely mentioned again. As a result, the plot feels like a sequence of disconnected set pieces. For anyone interested in the game, I would recommend waiting for a substantial discount. At its current price, the experience feels far too short and linear to justify the cost.

3/5。这部的写作氛围闷闷的，主线故事好无聊，有点像那种通马桶，处理完a这边的事情再去处理b那边直到各势力都安分守己。我真的很喜欢前作，不知道作者为什么在这部非要强行扩大世界观，添加一些幼稚的政治博弈。而且结尾还差了一口气，根本没写完，还得等续作。此游跳票延期了好久，花了这么长时间只给出这样一个仍然是未完待续的半成品，我实在不舒服所以给出不推荐。 浪漫线方面，前作我很喜欢cyril但这部的浪漫线非常无聊。前作和cyril的感情线是从初见到相爱，但这部作者显然觉得已相爱之后可发挥的余地就不是很大了，于是就凭空出现了恶毒（？）公婆以及弟弟，主角在他们家处处受气，感觉谁都能来踩主角一脚，但问题是主角是唯一拥有强大超能力的贵族天龙人啊！ 主线结尾我觉得有点逻辑不通的地方：主角如何确保[spoiler]cyril的父母以及其他家人[/spoiler]不是[spoiler]marc[/spoiler]的共谋呢？明明[spoiler]marc的对话里有提到他们制定好了详细的计划，打算在主角死之后让cyril的家族统治整个王国——这么看来背叛主角不只是marc一个人谋划出来的。[/spoiler]何况根据我搞洋人史同和西幻的经验来看，这种叛国罪放在哪里都是需要被严厉惩处+连坐的，结果罪魁祸首死了之后大家哀哀伤伤了一阵，然后这件事就这么翻篇了。 整体的超能力奇幻元素弱化了好多，而且主角的性格也从前作复仇的强势变成了现在平平淡淡的心态，很奇怪。和前作一样，各选择不怎么对主线造成影响。主线故事关于那个冬天的装置会让我想起一些疯狂动物城2。

Honestly, I have to say that this game is a significant step down from the first game. It is significantly shorter than the first game, an average playthrough lasts about 60-80 minutes, and the differences between the three routes mostly boil down to extra relationship scenes between the major events which are fixed between all playthroughs. The visuals and music are a nice upgrade from the first game, but it now leaves it in this awkward spot where it’s just enough like a visual novel to make you miss the parts where they didn’t go full visual novel, such as character busts or CGs which are completely absent from the game. The absence of character busts strikes me as especially odd, as they are all over the steam page but are completely absent in game, like they were planned at some point before being ultimately scraped. Most damningly, the plot of the game feels very much like a holding pattern that goes nowhere. Unlike the plot of the first game which begins with a single dramatic event and follows through from start to finish, the plot of the second game seems to mostly be wandering around looking for stuff to do, before suddenly ending on a sequel hook. Ultimately I do not recommend it at full price, Might be worth a shot if it ever goes on significant discount.

So first of all, I really liked the first game. Cold Lands unfortunately is a disappointment. I feel like Cold Lands fell into the sequel trap I have encoutered before. There is no real storyline, just going places we have heard about in the previous game. Going by the title I thought we were actually going to see the actual cold lands, but we just drop by for a minute. There are just too many things crammed into one game and none of them are fleshed out properly. Even the codex stopped updating very quickly, though I feel like there were things it still could've contained. It's a real shame, I was really excited for the sequel, I have replayed Second Born before playing this and I still really like it. I don't really mind removing the stats feature, sometimes it's nice to play more of a narrative like game, without the "heavy" gameplay of a CYOA. It's the story that didn't really grip me :(

I really wanted to like this game especially since the first one was so fun, I finished one of the routes for Will annnd I think it was a bad one? Honestly it felt like a half-baked game, the character creator screen didn't add anything relevant to the story. Will's character felt...different, motivation wise and as far as Nathanial goes, he's not even in the game. He's not even a romance option which felt weird since it leads to that in the first book. The main character doesn't add to the story really, beyond just going places and snooping around. All in all, it's an okay game.

Compared to the first game, I expected more from the features and length. Disappointing.

[h3] Little disclaimer before I start. I am not a native English speaker, so bear with me if I make mistakes. Also, I won't be sharing any specific spoilers in this review, so you can safely read it in its entirety, if you wish to do so. [/h3] I just finished the game on Cyril's route and all I can say is wow. I was a big fan of the first book, but this second book made me fall in love with its universe and the characters even more. The additions to this second game are lovely. The backgrounds are beautifully drawn, and the music... Mama, the music is incredible. I truly hope the OST will be released somewhere someday se we can listen to it. I really love some of the soundtracks. Furthermore, if you liked the writing in the first book, you should really love the writing in this second one, dare I say I found it to be even better. I also saw some complaints in the reviews for the game, some of which are valid, I think. The first one being its length. So, it's most likely because English is not my native tongue, because I am a rather slow reader and gamer who likes to take his time and because I took some breaks while keeping the game running, but here I am at 34.1 hours and I just finished the game for the first time. Without the breaks I mentioned, it is probably closer to ~28-30h of real reading, which is about twice as long as it took me to finish a single route in the first book - at least for me. The second biggest complaint is about when the game ends. I understand that one. The story basically ends, not exactly mid-action but not very far from it either, while leaving things very very open for a third book. (Which I really, and I mean [b] REALLY [/b] hope eventually happens. Dear Sofia, please hear my words and just take my money already, I beg you !) The third complaint, I saw some people talking about the lack of tension that was so very present in the first book. I must admit, I do not share this complaint at all. Maybe it is specific to Cyril's route (My beloved by the way. Her romance is so sweet, I'm deeply in love with her character. I need more, I want more !), but damn the tension was stellar. It's not the same type of tension as for the first book, yes, but it was still very much present for me. I think I felt much more tension in this second book, specifically on this route, than I did in the first book. It was a different kind of tension, but it truly made me feel so isolated and cornered. This, plus the music, it was damn perfect. I found myself shouting "WHAT ?!" at my own screen multiple times throughout the story, that was amazing haha. The last popular complaint I saw concerns the lack of stats for the MC, something that was present in the first game. While I understand why it could bother some people, it didn't really bother me. Yes having them could have been a plus, but I personally didn't miss them that much. In the end, I strongly recommend this game (and the first one), the universe is really well-built and the writing is excellent. Sofia has her own very personal style which is both beautiful and highly enjoyable. Plus, French touch. Fingers very much crossed for a third book ! [b] [i] Glory to Arcadie ! [/i] [/b]

The illusion of choice.