Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 620:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆☆☆ (5/10)
Yeah, I gotta be the only person not to enjoy [i]Choice of Magics[/i], the incredible Kevin Gold's third work. It came as a surprise to me, too! [i]Choice of Alexandria[/i] and [i]Choice of Robots[/i] are two crowning jewels of ChoiceScript, and I thought [i]Choice of Magics[/i], with its longer word count, would knock it out of the park. But nope. What struck me was both the pros and cons of [i]Choice of Magics[/i] were ones I pointed out in his past work. Which is actually kind of a sweet thought, now that I think about it. Gold's writing is still so uniquely him. His strengths are the same: player choice, worldbuilding, and mechanics. However, his flaws are even more pronounced: stilted characters, flat writing, and abrupt pacing. Super abrupt pacing that took me out of the narrative so strongly that I could not return. That I got a bit [i]annoyed[/i]. Sigh. Still, thank you to the staff, as usual, for a free copy!
[b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b]
✅[b] Magic system.[/b] The aforementioned magic system is honestly fresh and got me interested quickly. Put simply, every choice you make has consequences—as it should be! I used Glamor, Divination, and Vivomancy the most. Glamor can charm (or mind control) people, but it will make your body rot from the inside. Divination reveals visions or secrets, but will expose your own location or secrets to others. And Vivomancy can heal or change living things but not quite the way you intend. I thought this decision was brilliant. I usually min-max my way into the best ending, but I find myself settling for worse decisions because I didn't want to use my magic. You’re constantly weighing whether solving a problem now is worth the long-term consequences. I [i]can[/i] do pretty much everything, but should I? Listen, I LOVE a story about the price and burden of power.
✅[b] Mechanics.[/b] For all my criticisms, Gold has consistently honed the gameplay part of Interactive Fiction. In this game, there's: *deep breath* an Apperance section, where your clothes affect your stats; five Magic aspects you dabble in, using a unique bar graph image instead of numbers; four Skills; three personality bars; a Relationships section; a Kingdom Power and Adoration/Villification section; a whole ass Inventory section; a Pets section; and even a section on The Dead. Umm, am I playing an RPG or something? There's so much [i]stuff.[/i] Sometimes to the game's detriment, yes (more on this later), but if you want [i]choice[/i], you'll get it. My favorite part, however, was the Plot Points section, where the game keeps a sentence of the little or big choices you make throughout each chapter. My Chapter 1, for instance, had fifteen choices counted! The work that must have gone into this game is crazy.
✅[b] Exploration of faith.[/b] There are some really cool ideas Gold is touching on here without falling into the simple clichè of "religion bad." Without getting too into the weeds, you have the opportunity to become a saint. A real saint! I, of course, jumped at the chance. However, it's revealed that the [spoiler]miracles the saints do are less miracles and more magic. Interestingly enough, the Church is aware of this and wants to restrict magic to a select few—not out of greed, but because you can't trust the unwashed masses with magic. Or so it says.[/spoiler] However, you can shape your own beliefs. Do you agree with the Church for practical reasons? Do you refuse to engage with them? Or are you a devout follower? My favorite part was when I got to act as a saint. You are called upon to perform healing miracles, resolve disputes by magic (or not!), and advise the queen. I need a Saint Simulator, basically.
[b][h2]Cons:[/h2][/b]
🟥[b] The pacing is off. Really, really off.[/b] I genuinely don't know how else to describe it except "narration happens, you react to a vignette, and that's it." The first five (out of eight) chapters are my best examples. A very short summary, but: the world is hostile to magic users like yourselves. However, in the span of five chapters, you learn magic. Okay, I can get behind that. Although magic users are persecuted, you are elected to be the town wizard. Hmm, okayyy. A bit odd, considering the state of the world, but the plot has to move forward. And then two dudes come to arrest you and take you to the city. Uh? Each of these could have been a full arc on its own, but instead they’re compressed into quick transitions with minimal buildup or fallout. My breaking point came when I was offered to become a saint. No real rhyme or reason why; it seems quite obvious to me that Gold wished for the reader to roleplay as a saint, so he made some vague excuse. But a saint. I’m a freaking SAINT in five chapters??? Girl. That should be a life-changing, world-shattering moment. But it's [i]over[/i] within a couple of scenes, and virtually everyone is quite chill with this unknown peasant becoming a saint.
➡️ [b]I really have to double down on this stilted feeling.[/b] It truly feels like Gold went for wide rather than deep—fine, but not fun to me. My own personal Chapters 4 and 5 were quite short, both lasting literally five minutes. I feel like it's anti-climactic, or too dry, because there's too much summary exposition. I don't feel connected to the characters when the story fast-forwards and just vaguely explains what happened. This style was present in Gold's past works, but it's most egregious here, with months or years passing by in the blink of an eye. The story takes giant swings but never actually follows up with any actual development. You meet a romance option, the village mayor, and live there for a while, but after I left for the city, I had no interaction with him at all. Same for the other love interest. They show up once or twice, but once they're done serving their purpose, they're literally just gone.
🟥 [b]Poor romance.[/b] I did not feel emotionally connected to any of the characters, but I decided to romance the queen anyway—#girlboss, #milf, etc. But I was ... less than pleased. No joke, in quick succession, I had: an intro scene, a scene to give her advice, then flirt, a dinner date, then a kiss. In like, five scenes bro. I don't even KNOW this lady! To be fair, Gold does [i]try.[/i] He gives the queen (whose name I had to look up, RIP) some backstory and an attempt at character development, but it falls flat. At the first chance at friction, Queen Thecla caves, possibly to appear more palatable as an RO. For example, there's a scene with Tal, your childhood best friend, and the queen. Tal forcefully advocates for shapeshifters' laws, and Queen Thecla replies [spoiler]"I knew you were a shapeshifter from the moment you asked about it. Just say what you're going to say" and "The queen's eyes widen as she contemplates the implication. 'I suppose they are my subjects. . . .'"[/spoiler] This might sound ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and/or nitpicky, but this scene encapsulates a lot of my irritations. The exchange is supposed to show conflict and growth, but it comes off as blunt and rushed. I found it hard to believe a queen who supposedly follows society's ideas about royalty and shapeshifters would allow a relatively unknown [spoiler]shapeshifter[/spoiler] to speak to her in that way. That makes the interaction feel less like a believable exchange between two people with different stakes, and more like the narrative fast-forwarding to the “right” outcome.
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