Arcadie II: Cold Lands

Greatly enjoyed the game - it picks up pretty cleanly where the first game ends, and the stakes are still strong enough to make me stress about choices. It also retains the distinction of feeling like an early choice has a repercussion much much later. I was interested to see that each route with the same MC type, while still hitting the same story beats, felt extremely different depending on who you were romancing (or not). I also enjoyed how the best ends aren't always full sunshine and roses - this game does not shy away from Consequences, and some things feel out of your hands (organically). The characters feel like they have their own agendas, while still fitting into the world and their relationship(s) with the MC. This game might suffer a little bit from 'middle-child syndrome' that some games have, where it sort of works more as a bridge between the intense introduction of the first game, and the eventual culmination of all choices that a third game would be, but I believe it holds up quite well. Will definitely be going back in to see how things further change within each route with different choices. Definitely recommended - but it's in your best interest to play the first one beforehand. Some games you can skip the first and go right to the second - would not advise that for this series. The story is very tightly interwoven, and some of the emotional impact of the previous game's events will be lost if it's skipped, and that would do a disservice to this game.

Ending straight up breaks my heart. Knowing Ill have to wait another few years to find out what happens sucks. But the game was fantastic. I miss him already. However I do think the ending is abrupt. I also miss having character stats- now the MC feels flat. For four years of development I expected longer and more improvements from the last game. It sucks when there's so much time between games like this because its hard to remember what happened/ what is happening. It looses the flow tremendously.

Very well-done and super in depth. I loved the story and how we get to see the romances progress. Stanislas's route was amazing.

Just like the first game: Excellent writing, meaningful choices, interesting romances and story, powerful, mage-like (and female if you want) protagonist. Ability to win as a villain (if you want) just as much as hero. It really ticks all my boxes of a great "choices matter", medieval fantasy game (what is by far my most favorite genre). Practically a text-based version of the best (former) Bioware or (current) Larian games. I can only recommend it, I really cannot think of a single flaw in this game. 10/10 from me! On top of it I truly enjoyed that here - unlike in the first game - I'm "in power" (=mighty sorceress Queen) since the very beginning. I love such roleplaying!

Enjoyable experience! A continuation of the story of the first game was enjoyable, and the polish added was very nice to see. It was short however, took me barely 3 hours to finish the game and get Wills best ending. Not sure if my choices skipped a lot of content or not though? Will definitely play and get the rest of the endings, but I was hoping for a longer experience. This game felt like filler towards -hopefully- a bigger and final installment. 6/10, if it was longer and the ending wasn't so abrupt it would be higher. Enjoyable but mildly disappointing coming off the experience of the first game :(

Overall, I enjoyed this as much as Second Born, however, its not perfect and I have some mixed feelings. If you enjoyed Second Born then you should enjoy this. As before, the relationships are the strongest aspects and are still excellent, though I have only finished Cyril's route so far; I'll update this after Will's roue if needed. The ending is abrupt, like very abrupt. I was shocked there was no epilogue. It soured my experience somewhat as I was hoping for more time with Cyril at the end and a more satisfying wrap up. On Cyril's, there is a story arc throughout the game involving her family which is genuinely interesting, yet also frustrating as I felt like I was being railroaded down a linear even though the destination was predictable. I can't go into specifics without spoilers, but I could see what was coming and despite being the king I could not tell certain characters to get lost, or not do what they wanted. The choices seemed to be mostly for flavor and replaying some sections taking different dialogue options often did not change the outcome.

Stan for Stan. Writting is good but i have a feeling that its much more streamlined than the original.

huzzah

Для меня это особенная игра, я ее ждала, и новая часть будет зависеть от нас, ребята, так что поднажмем) Прошла пока только рут Стэна, горько-сладко. Всю дорогу было жалко Уилфреда, пойду утешать его следующим. На счет того, что мало.. хорошей истории всегда мало. Автор пишет годами, мы прочитали за пол дня, и хотим еще, мне всех жалко и за всех обидно)

In terms of interface, this game is definitely an improvement over the previous one. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline. The plot structure and writing style are quite easy to understand and follow. If you're following this story for its romantic elements, you probably won't be disappointed. But in terms of the political aspect and the meaning of the choices presented, I feel something is still missing. Perhaps it feels like everything is resolved too easily (which could also be a plus for those who don't want the pressure of these things and just want to enjoy the relationship.) I've only played Will and Stan route so my review will only compare between two of them. Will is my chosen RO in the last one, but I actually prefer Stan route in this game. (Who am I kidding, I F*CKING LOVE STAN ROUTE ALRIGHT.) Maybe because starting with this game, we get to know more about Stan personality. And the push-and-pull conflict between desire and his sins toward our MC family, between love and his continuous lies to us to push his plan make his story interesting. On the other hand, with Will, besides the little story with his uncle (which I feel kinda plain), the only thing I find interesting is that he constantly pushes us to make decisions that lead to war, which maybe a problem for MC who wants peace but doesn't want to displease him (But maybe try to please him isn't always the right choice? I haven't try that route so I can't say anything about that :D) Also the hot scene with F!MC feel slightly better than M!MC. Just my opinion. Still recommend as it's a good continuation for whoever want more smooche time with the ROs. And I'm looking forward to the sequel, if there is one.