Arcadie II: Cold Lands

Fire story. Bit short, but I liked it,

I loved the game. The writing and story is good. I loved the soundtrack it goes well with the story. I now went through all the routes, and they are all very different with different types of conflicts and themes in them. I loved Stan's route the best it was the most angsty one but Cyril one was very dramatic as well. Will's route was not as high stakes as others but I think it was healing and reaviling for his character. I did not play his route in the first game because I did not like his personality much but I glad I played it here and I started warming up to him.

sat here and blasted through it in 4 hours. this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ WHIPS i'm going nuts actually

Lovely game with gorgeous writing and characters just like the first. I'm hoping for a third!

The best game that has enemies to lovers route i played so far! And don't even get me started on the other routes it has, they're all absolutely ADDICTIVE!!! Also the writing style really helps to immerse you into the story. If i had to rate it, i would give it an 11/10

I've only played Stan's route so far and its enough for me to rate this game 10/10, it's that good. I suppose I am someone who is more....radical leaning so I didn't have any real "cognitive dissonance" regarding the whole entire murder thing (especially considering who the family was and what they had done up to that point) and could enjoy the very revolutionary story and intriguing "taboo" romance. I also think the way I played the MC may have hidden flaws I've seen other reviewers make because I honestly just chalked everything up to being the result of a good person who did good things for the people lol (like of course the other RO's never betray me, they just really like me and I literally keep winning alliances for our country, what is there to complain about other than the sleeping with the enemy thing???). I will agree that the codex could be improved and I was missing the traditional stat page. Having that extra bit of "flavor" text based on how you play game is a huge aspect that draws people towards interactive fiction like this. I honestly don't mind waiting and paying this price because I like the story but I can definitely see why others may want to hold off until a sale or maybe future installments.

Not entirely sure how to rate this one. If neutral was option I think I would pick that. On other hand I got what I wanted from it even if it has it flaws so that's why it gets recommend over not recommend. First I'm gonna say Second-Born might be my favourite IF ever and kinda my comfort IF so I was looking forward for sequel. Positives - Love romances and I fully admit that's my main reason for playing so long as that's good I'm happily keep playing this game Stan is now my new obsession. - Music and art are welcome addition. New UI also better - Save and load system. Yes that's major selling point for IFs for me now. I clicked wrong or choice turned out be something different than I though or just less stress playing in general when I know I don't need to restart entire thing if I mess one thing up. Or sometimes I just want to experiment with choices. Common problems I have in Hosted Game ifs. Also I can just make saves before my favourite scenes and replay them when ever I feel like. Negatives - First person pov. Or I should say pov change between games. I can't really point out why but I feel more disconnected from character I'm playing when it's first person versus second person pov. I also replayed first game right before playing this one so that might have made it worse - Might also be tied to pov change between games but seems like this game dropped different personalities for MC from the first game. It honestly felt like I wasn't even playing same MC from first game anymore. It reduces replay value too since MC feels pretty much same in all routes. This might be the biggest disappointment since I like trying different personalities and my main replay reason. - We never really see how we resolve any of the plot points effect anything unless it has effect on chosen romance. - Cliffhanger ending and this game feeling more like it's set up for next one than it's own full standalone game. How much this will bother me ultimately depends whatever there actually will be next one.

Okay, we all miss the clear stat blocks that are standard for text adventures. I'm going to delve more into characters, they involvement in and outside the main narrative, and m/m support. Minor spoilers are littered throughout, but nothing overt that will ruin the game for you. As a queer man myself I play m/m, that's how my description will run. I have overall highly positive feelings about this game, so I will say: there are two main romance paths that are absolutely twisting and narratively intriguing, and one path that's...not so much. I think a 'true run' is either between Cyril or Stanislas, as they have a lot of deep narrative outside the main plot and their own personal complications, introductions to more characters, etc. Unfortunately, I think this round of writing failed Wilfred lovers. Cyril: Expands the world, uncovers secrets, more characters (i.e. his family that you will come to understand are quite relevant in his plot line), and makes the ending quite dramatic. Cyril is a great option for m/m lovers (I think Cyril reads as a queer man compared to the others.) There is extra dialogue pertaining to being in a same sex partnership that don't exist for the other two runs (related to child rearing and your bloodline, a one off but I think it flushes things out.) His twists and turns in the game, outside of the main plot, are gutting and add extra weight to your decisions. Spicy scenes lend to you being top, bottom, or switch overtly. Only positive things to say about this good man, play his run and I doubt you'll be disappointed (even if you played the other two runs first.) Stanislas: Holy, it's like there's a full second game within the game. Multiple extra scenes, insights into what's happening/happened, and the writing for intimacy lovers (vs. fade to black) is flush-inducing. This was by far my favourite run (and was an excuse to replay the first game again, as I didn't appreciate Stanislas as an option at all.) The extra scenes alone lengthen game play time, the twists and good ending with him are wrenching, and I hope he'll be a big part of the last game. I need more Stanislas. Please. My one critique would be if you had a run in the last game where you hated your family, it is given minimal opportunity to reflect in this branching story - you'll have no option but to feel remorse about dallying with him despite your dead relatives. In my Stanislas run in Second Born, I was quite distant / stoic / agitating, so the soft remorse didn't really fit what I envisioned. Lastly, scenes are a little vague, but your player is the bottom without recourse, but it fits the narrative so I don't mind. There are a few descriptive moment of your POV character that read a little gendered, skewed toward F when you play M, but I'll forgive it. You can play the other two runs first and still be surprised by this one. Wilfred: They did him dirty. His path hardly skews from the main plot line that you get with other romance options, his dialogue/presence often reuses filler dialogue for plot scenes so it doesn't feel like you get anything particularly unique, and they remove overt top/bottom options for him during intimate scenes (counter to the first game, where you selected.) The unique dialogue scenes you do get are scenes that happen for all characters at certain checkpoints in the main narrative. There are two scenes at all that happen outside of the plot and main ones you'd get with anyone else - they're short, give minimal insight, and are unfortunately only one is a stand out that happens right at the start. You can argue he has some ongoing tension with wanting, initially, secrecy for your relationship, and the good ending for him is what you'd expect. As a die-hard Will lover in Second Born, he's my least favourite in Cold Front. He's a lot more brash, outspoken, and angry this game than last, and I think we lose a part of what made him so captivating last game. Play this run first, otherwise it can get a little tedious. Overall: Play this, I recc it as a big text adventure fan. It's good! It is different from Second Born, if you go in expecting it as a 1:1 you'll be disappointed. I did read the ending was a little abrupt, so I was able to go in with the expectation that the ending was where it was which I think helped my easing into it - though, with Stanislas, the ending will NOT feel abrupt, I believe, as there is quite a bit of build up. Dark Romance lovers rejoice.

This was brilliantly written! A deep exploration of the relationships established in the first game and political turmoils of Arcadie.

great game. i love a text-based story especially one with lore as rich as this. i need the next game NOW!!!