Asteroid Run: No Questions Asked

As far as I know, [b]Asteroid Run: No Questions Asked[/b] is the first entry by Fay Ikin, and I should say that it is a really impressive one. There are a lot of good points that I will praise a bit later, but some small flaws are also present, sadly. Reviews on the CoG forum were very positive, so I could not help myself and asked for a copy of this game. Now I will do my best to give as many details as possible without any spoilers (of course) so that you could decide on your own whether you will like Asteroid Run or not. Let is dive right into the review, boys and girls! [h1]The Story[/h1] You will play as the Captain of space ship on the way to the mining colony on Vesta. If you think that your life will be easy and full of adventures…well, you are at least partially right. There will be a lot of things to experience, both pleasant and not that much ones. Ever wanted to meet space pirates? Or deal with a soulless corporation? Or maybe the general dangers of the vast space make your heart beat faster? And no, your life will never be easy: you have to manage the crew, the cargo, your space ship’s resources and state, etc. Oh, and have I mentioned a member of the abovementioned corporation that decided to seek your services? You have very dangerous boxes onboard now, so, good luck, Captain! [h1]My thoughts about the game[/h1] So, as far as text-based games are concerned, there are always three main parts: the story/setting, the characters, and the quality of writing. [u]As far as the first part is concerned,[/u] the author did a marvelous job in almost every aspect. There are a lot of interesting events, as well as difficult choices that can change the whole universe. What starts out as a simple delivery service in the space turns out to be an adventure full of mysteries, love, danger, and moral dilemmas. Will you support rebels? Or corrupted military? Or devious businesspeople? Or maybe just heck them all and go on another space journey? It is always up to you to decide. To sum up, I really liked the story and it’s sci-fi setting. The whole management part was easy to follow and did not distract me from the events. [u]Speaking about characters,[/u] all of them are quite memoriable, but sometimes I had problems imagining their appearance. I wish there were more proper descriptions; and not only at the very beginning of the game, too. However, the part about personalities is really good. I can easily tell you who is who and what special features they have. Oscar, hardworking and determined, will be your assistant in almost every situation. Roshan is witty and very independent. Shiori is meticulous and dedicated. Eira has a foul mouth (at times) and a big heart. Dylan is just too green for the whole adventure, but at least he is trying – and panicking a lot, of course. And Victor…ah, that guy stole my heart away from the very beginning. Later you will also meet some other charming individuals [i](yes, Katja, I’m looking at you here!)[/i], but I think you should learn about them on your own. I have had only one small issue at times: I am not very good at pronouns used for transgender and agender characters, to be honest. And, as a result, got confused several times when *they* was used - like when meeting Brogan for the first time, for example, as I honestly thought that the author was talking about several people, not one person. This is my personal problem, of course, so take this complaint with a grain of salt, please. [u]And now, the last but not least:[/u] the quality of writing. To start with, there are a lot of descriptions that create just the right atmosphere and help you immerse yourself in the characters’ lives. Which is awesome! The author created his own world with advanced technologies and space travelling and was able to write about it in a very interesting manner. And there was a good plot twist that caught be completely unprepared! The characters also act like normal humans and I was able to sympathize with them. However, at the same time, I found some part too dry. I would be happier if Fay paid a bit more attention to some small yet important parts such as facial expressions, body language, clothes, etc. Maybe I am just being picky, but these features do matter for my story immersion. I should also mention that I noticed some typos during my playthrough, as well as similar words repeating within 2-3 sentences. I would like to finish this part of my review with a [u]suggestion:[/u] there is one feature that I just love about some CoG titles – they have a separate page that describes characters; and not just their names and roles, but also their appearance and personality. This would be of huge help if Asteroid Run had one, too. Not to mention that some people were added to the cast way later into the game, so in the end I had to make small notes about each character to remember what they were supposed to look like. [h1]Would I recommend this game?[/h1] [b]Asteroid Run: No Questions Asked[/b] is not necessarily in the TOP-5 list of my most favorite CoG and HG titles, but it is still a solid work worth your attention and money. I can easily recommend it to all fans of good sci-fi stories and settings, as well as subtle yet fulfilling romance lines. Personally, I enjoyed playing it a lot. I wish there were a bit more descriptions about the parts I have mentioned above, but all in all, I think Asteroid Run will be a great addition to your text-based games collection. [b][i]The Black is out there, and you're all out here together. You can do anything.[i] [h1][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32296668-Casual-Game-Reviews/] More reviews on our Curator Page[/url][/h1]

This one is pretty good as far as the "chose your own adventure" aspect goes, you truly get to define your character, pursue multiple solutions to the obstacles, befriend your crew and other characters and play though the way you want, even when it makes little sense to do so (yes, I should totally throw my life as capitan away and join Solib after just hearing about them the second time!). Despite that I cannot recommend it as it fails as an engaging story. There is hardly any character development in the cast, the adventure seems more like a series of quick time events then a cohesive story filled with action, mystery and drama. There is A LOT of going on but the narration moves so quickly that none of the events that should be impactful have any time to land. Good story should keep you speculating, agonizing over your choices and exited, instead here you drift through the space waiting for something to go wrong, you pick the solution that fits best with you skill set and get rewarded with few sentences of personal or world development. When they tried to raise the stakes at the end it fell absolutely flat as I found myself not caring much about any of the factions, crew members or my "mysterious cargo".

At first I thought I wouldn’t buy it because I read in the description that the choices seemed to be: you either be ruthless and don’t care about your crew or you have to align yourself with the rebels. I had a problem with that because lately I played some game that were a bit too much railroaded towards the rebel side just because it’s cool to fight against the rules and I found them annoying… expecially when rebels are an abusive bunch obsessed with self righteousness. I decided to give it a try anyway and boy, I did the right thing! The game is really well written and I love the mood so far, so congratulations to Fay Ikin!

Really good entry to the the COG roster. Running the ship and interacting with your crew is very satisfying. I didn't realize that I needed a starship management simulator, but I do. I didn't like every character, but none of them felt cliche and the overall story was well written and branched in some interesting ways. + Interesting story premise + Solid interactions with your crew + Branching plot + Good world building - Not every character is a winner - Depending on your character build, both of the main "villains" can be pretty weak

This is one of my hesitant recommendations. A yes BUT scenario. The story is fine, I see some room for different scenarios and allies over different playthroughs but I'm not especially compelled to try them at the moment. This story is less about managing resources than I personally wanted it to be. I wanted real difficult choices about supplies, fuels, ship condition, schedule and morale, but I made it through with some to spare. I was even generous with use a couple times so that surprised me. This is not a grim survival tale. There's a bit of crew management but It's honestly not enough to be the focus of the game either. Then there's the political factions, which I feel act more like roadside attractions as you kind of progress from dealing with one to the other etc. So I found the game...fine. It's okay, it kept me playing for almost four hours which I think is acceptable especially for one playthrough with replay potential. It just isn't among my top CYOA games. When it came to mechanics, the game puts a heavier focus on your values than your skills, which isn't a preference of mine. Choices are generally clear but enough vague ones came up that I think it could be improved. I had a couple responses to crew members that sounded neutral to me but were more opinionated in the writer's opinion. Also to the review saying there were too many non-binary characters: I ran into three. Just three. One was a crew member, one was a mild side character, and one was a more relevant side character. They are never in the same scene for you to be confused by a they/them pronoun. "SJW nonsense" my ass.

Some how this one got past me for a few days, and I only got lucky it popped up in my que that i usually run through once or twice after checking the new releases everyday (yeah i know i need a life!) Glad it popped up though (thank you Steam) as it is a real gem. Plenty of interesting characters, alot of sub plots and politics going on just below the surface of everyones everyday actions. Player choice really seems to matter, and there are consequences (fair ones at that) to all your choices. Who the people are that you interact with depends Alot on how you choose to interact with them. And no one is what they seem to be. If you enjoy CYAs and you like SciFi this is pretty much a must have.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 600: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆☆ (6/10) Man, I always hate writing a negative review for some of these games, especially considering the fact that I'm a critical reader who yaps a lot. [i]Asteroid Run: No Questions Asked[/i] has more positive reviews (30 in total) than most ChoiceScript games, so I'm going to chalk this one up to my pickiness. Because [i]Asteroid Run[/i] isn't, like, a [i]bad[/i] game by any means. It's a fine enough IF with a cool sci-fi setting, where you act as a captain transporting mysterious cargo across the galaxy. Along the way, you'll deal with a diverse crew and engage peacefully or violently with a couple of various factions. There's also some light resource management, as well. The writing is technically sound, too, with a flair for descriptions of space and setting. However, the story overall fell flat for me. Another review described it best as "the adventure seems more like a series of quick time events ... There is A LOT of going on but the narration moves so quickly that none of the events that should be impactful have any time to land." The author is ambitious, trying to juggle warring factions and morality, along with mini character arcs and romance. It's hard to explain, but I felt in the back seat, that I was just reacting to events instead of participating in an engaging narrative. As always, a warm thank you to the staff for giving me a free copy. [b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b] ✅[b] Ideas.[/b] To give Fay Ikin credit, [i] Asteroid Run[/i] is full of ambition—and good ideas. I can see what she was planning. The core premise of captaining a ship carrying mysterious cargo across politically volatile space is strong. The faction tensions feel like they could anchor a much larger narrative, and the moral ambiguity surrounding your mission is intriguing. There’s clear worldbuilding here: corporate interests, advanced technology, rebel movements, strained alliances. I respect the swing, at least. ✅[b] Prose.[/b] The writing is solid. Ikin has a knack for descriptions, which creates a sci-fi atmosphere. Her prose reads as very crisp and clear. No critiques here. [b][h2]Cons:[/h2][/b] 🟥[b] Flat/dry feeling.[/b] A super subjective con, yes, but I couldn't get the phrase "the adventure seems more like a series of quick time events" out of my head when playing. Things happen, and you react, but there's no time to breathe, is how I would put it, I guess. Or no one seems to care. For example, each chapter has a major and/or minor crisis. [spoiler]One early event is coming across a sick, hungry crew from another ship. I allowed them on board and fed them, which resulted in their captain taking one of my crew hostage. This should be a Big Moment™️ but after talking down the captain, my captured crew member was just ... fine? He expressed shock in one scene, but in the next, it was business as usual.[/spoiler] This truly baffled me. I could excuse one scene, but it happened again and again. [spoiler]I had a stowaway on board. I genuinely can't remember if any of the cast reacted to them. We encounter a ship with radiation poisoning. Though one of them touches me, again, there are no consequences. My crew argues over what to do but we ultimately move on. The next chapter involves Dylan, a crew member, having a panic attack over space. I tell him to get his sh*t together; he does; he manages to work fine for the rest of the game.[/spoiler] I think ... my problem is that there's no build-up OR fall out. Out of nowhere, these problems just [i]happen[/i], and nothing really matters? Ah, that's the feeling I have. There are low stakes, despite the narrative urging you to care. This is not a grim survival tale. I wanted real difficult choices about supplies, fuels, ship condition, schedule, and morale, but the game was quite generous with all these resources. As a result, the end-game conflicts fell absolutely flat, as I did not care about any of the factions. 🟥[b] Characters/relationships.[/b] This con is a continuation of the first, but I did not relate to any of the characters either, sadly. I found it hard to remember any traits they have. It would have helped to have a separate page that describes characters, appearance, and personality. I also was a bit irked by how the romance was handled. I romanced Eira, who said she wanted to take things slow because she didn't know what was going to happen in the future. Sure, no probs. But I also had the chance to have an intimate moment with Shiori. Of course I would take that! Sadly, Eira broke up with me via letter or note, and I was locked into a relationship with Shiori. I feel like flirting around is pretty common in IF, so I should have had the option to choose who I wanted to be locked in with ngl. [hr] If you enjoyed this review, please check out my curator page to find more: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45814768-Verdict-Play-or-Pass/]Verdict: Play or Pass. [/url] Also, please leave a like and visit [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Indie_Gems]IndieGems[/url] and our [url=https://www.youtube.com/@IndieGems2]YouTube channel[/url] for more reviews like this one. [/hr]

Solid 7/10, though that shouldn't be too surprising since it's a straight ripoff of season 1 of [i]The Expanse[/i]. The style is great, author's voice is good, but it promises way more than it delivers. Too many factions, too many locations, too many characters, and far too little time spent on all of them to flesh them out at all. I also have some issues with the way the political issues are portrayed, but that's less of a problem than the author not fleshing them out (which, IMO, that extra development would have solved my other problems with the politics since they'd have to think it through.) Basically, lots of great ideas borrowed from a lot of places (The Expanse, Firefly, Alien) but not enough time invested to make them interesting. The skills system could also use some work for clarity, but was probably above average for COG style games.

By far my favorite out of all the "Choices" games I've played. So many different choices and the story is always changing after every game play. I really felt like I was "building" the main character rather than putting in my input from time to time. Very well made and definitely recommend.

It is relatively linear but an all together great story. I really enjoyed the characters the world - in both factors I felt like there was a breath of fresh air breathed into the regular space opera setting. The amount of choices within the events and wiggle room to be as saintly or greedy as you could want to be was refreshing. I liked not being forced into certain decisions or moral choices, though I usually am always good anyway. Overall I recommend this game for literally anyone that enjoys good characters, a nuanced plot, and the space opera genre. A firm 8 out of 10 as far as 'choice of' games go.