Curse of the Assassin

Far more versatile than the predacessor with so many different routes and choices to choose. While I personally didn't click all too well with the narrative this time around, at least with the routes I took, I had an absolutely lovely time with the adventures of myself and my cute thief companion I couldn't find a way to romance. There are tons of charming twists and turns to be had with the story, with areas, items, and experiences you could easily miss; something I wish more modern games took advantage of, but that is for another time. Since this is mainly a story with choices and some cute old school dice-based fights, is the story any good compared to its predacessor? Yes and no. An Assassin in Orlandes benefits from a much tighter narrative experience, being a shorter story over all but had plenty of optional things and outcomes to make it a charming affair, even though a single playthrough you'd see just about everything. The prose, like story, is much longer winded, and that can be a bit off putting, especially with the amount of purple prose found in this one. It's all well written mind you, but there are instances of ten page sections where you have little control at all. Like the romance I mentioned earlier, I found it often the case in the writing that in moments of actual important choice, I was but a reader with no control, as "you" makes all the big choices for you. This does not occur all the time, but there are plenty of moments in which options weren't pursued. It could've been a tighter budget or something of the nature, but outside of choosing your next location or how to go about a fight, I found the story a bit less engaging than the first. This isn't bad at all mind you, and there is still tons of choices and options, but it was a bit off putting. The guys who do these charming little novels clearly put a lot of heart into the writing and development, and the improvements on all their games are clearly their. Even for my critical deconstruction, I still had a blast with this one and will do with many more to come. It may not be my favorite CYOA, but it's hard to not love the variety and creativity they've put into the series. Absolutely worth the purchase if you have the chance.

Eine packende Geschichte mit einer Masse an Text, sehr viel Entscheidungsfreiheit, vielen Enden und auch vielen Gegnern. Das Kampfsystem und die Entscheidungen, wo es um den Fitnessfaktor geht, sind gut umgesetzt. Ebenso ist sehr gut, dass man mit Bookmarks später wieder zu einem früheren Punkt zurückkehren kann, beispielsweise wenn man gestorben ist und noch andere Entscheidungsmöglichkeiten austesten möchte. Der Casual-Modus ist ebenfalls super, da man so auf jeden Fall alles an Text und Storymöglichkeiten ohne Komplikationen entdecken kann. Das einzig schade ist, dass es nicht in Deutsch verfügbar ist.

Double the length of its predecessor (assassin in ordlandes), yet an ideal pair (the two stories connect perefectly) this is by far the stronger offering with 3 unique paths and outcomes depending on which companion you choose. Highly recommended playing the first one first as some of the details will now make sense :)

Longer and more involved than An Assassin in Orlandes, and better for it. There's still the classic Choose Your Own Adventure format with dice-based combat, but the sections are longer, and combined with the minor changes in the text from, e.g,, having a companion or not, you feel like you're interacting with and advancing a narrative, not just going through a dungeon crawl a few pages at a time. Polished interface with fun dice-rolling physics and -- most importantly -- the option to change the font and text size. The main negative is that the frequent combat is largely luck-based, and since there's few opportunities to regain health, a few unlucky dice rolls can make the game basically unwinnable without resorting to cheats. Even just doubling the amount of health restored by resting and using potions would make the game more balanced. EDIT: The developers seem to have fixed the issue with Steam achievements.

This is a fun game if you do not mind reading. My only real complaint is that near the beginning of the game you must gain some knowledge that it is very difficult to finish the game without.

Curse of the Assassin ist ein digitales Spielbuch, also ein interaktiver Roman in dem man Entscheidungen trifft und an der unserer Entscheidung folgenden Handlung entsprechenden Seite des Buches das Abenteuer fortsetzt. Also Beispiel, auf Seite 1 steht: " Du siehst 2 Türen. Nimmst du die linke Tür, lese weiter auf Seite 2 oder nimmst du die rechte Tür, dann lese weiter auf Seite 3. Dementsprechend oft verzweigt sich die Handlung und alternative Enden entstehen. Als "echtes" Buch liebe ich die Teile. Diese Games-Umsetzung finde ich wirklich schön und gut gemacht. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7bU_1JqYk0

If you're one of those weird people who complain Pillars of Eternity or Divinity: Original Sin had too much reading and you needed everything VO-spoonfed to you... this game is not for you. Me, I love it. You're a RPG-fan and like stories, and are not silly that you want full VO, then you shall too. Get the first too though and play it, since the story heavily references upon it. Basically this game looks and plays like a choose your own adventure. There are 3 difficulty levels, casual (unlimited health, back button), adventure (unlimited saves) and classic (what RPG-vets like me run of course). One suggestion during character creation, make sure your fitness is high. Way more important than hitpoints. Gameplaywise you read sections of text and then make choices. Choices that matter. Choices that may reference "if you have item X" where you think 'were could that possibly have dropped?' There are branching paths and several ways to lead to the same destination and if you replay you may even skip certain sections you were sure were plotimportant and unskippable. Pretty much all choices have resolution, and yes, that can mean DEATH. In classic, prepare to replay sections, though that goes much faster not reading sections you repeat. Aside from these choices, there are events where you need to roll dice based on your fitness (hopefully you have it high), where failing can have dire consequences (including, yes, DEATH). And then there's combat. Have you played Risk? Since about the same principle goes here. Including screaming when your rolls go bad (often). The highest roll is compared to the defender, the higher wins. Equal? Look at the next etc. If you run out dice that way before the opponent they win. So obviously you want armor and weaponry that adds more dice giving you a higher chance at those 6'es. Also all dice for weapons decide damage. Double so good to improve. Aside from better gear you can get a temp boost with fitness (you did roll a high number for it right?) It can give you +1 to a roll (yes, above 6 meaning autmatic win if that happens). Catch? It gets harder the more you do it in a battle, and if you fail the roll you get -1 to your roll. And if you used it defensively, and the opponent rolls a 6, you're screwed yeah. And that hurts, since HP's are low. Restoring HP is rare and low (unless casual) and enemies can do a lot of damage. All the perfect ingredients for the hardcore RPG-lover to have hours of fun. So what are you waiting for?

A superb entry in the Gamebook Adventure series. The story is interesting and varied and the world of Orlandes makes for a colourful setting. This game simply knocks the spots off the other entries in this series, with a longer and far more detailed narrative and also a much more emotional plot. You investigate the death of an old friend and uncover an evil plot. You search out your other old friends and you can take any one of them along as a travelling companion to help defeat the evil plot. [SPOILER](and save your parents)[/SPOILER] The dice-roll combat system can seem a bit harsh at times, but overall the game is really well designed and nicely set-out on the screen. The game has three difficulty settings and it is long enough and challenging enough to provide a good amount of replay value. Also, each travelling companion gives the game a noticeably different slant. There are some excellent colour artworks to collect, as well as a set of 32 achievements to complete. Steam trading cards are also available from this game, if you like that sort of thing. Overall, the game is superb vfm. [b][i]One small plot gripe: I was seriously shipping the hero with Gatito (the lovely thief-with-a-kind-heart) but instead you end up stuck with the irritatingly smug daughter of the Archduke, and no option to dump her! Bah![/i][/b]