Enshrined: Sword of Fates

I would really like a "mixed feelings" option for this one, honestly. This game has strengths! But it also does very little with them. [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Good points[/th] [th]Not-so-good-points[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]The voice acting is pretty excellent, some of the best I've heard in an English VN dub in a while.[/td] [td]If you have a controller connected to your PC, the game will default to that controller being the main input with seemingly no way to tell it "hey, I'm using my mouse, please let me access the menu without reaching over for the controller I'm not using!" This is [i]deeply[/i] annoying.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]The art direction is really nice. There's something very nostalgic about the UI design, it feels kinda 90s-RPG. It's fun and charming, I'm fond of stuff like that.[/td] [td]There literally is just not very much game. You name the player character and select their pronouns, you ask the guys some questions to dictate which one you're gonna bone or be boned by. The boning occurs. [i]Fwop fwop fwop.[/i] Roll credits. Kind of like a Tinder date.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]The characters are well-designed and the art is really pleasant to look at. It made me, as a player, want to get to know the characters and what drives them.[/td] [td]You don't get to know the characters or what drives them. There literally isn't enough time. A single route takes maybe an hour of realtime to play through, and the entire game is over in 24 in-world hours.[/td] [/tr] [/table] All in all, I'd say [b]buy it on sale[/b] or bundled with another game, if you catch it in one. It's a fine way to kill a couple of hours, control-scheme gripe aside, but it feels like a prologue. It feels like a book that ends right as you turn the first page. This is my biggest complaint; it left me wanting more, and not in the good, exciting way. Credits song is kind of a banger.

i think this is a fun, well-made visual novel. it's short, but it's not a big deal considering the price point and the quality of the routes. i play lot of visual novel. i will give pro and con of this game. PROS: - great voice acting - art is lovely, and expressions are well-done - music is really good too. - the player's dialogue isn't overly..... gendered. I don't know how else to explain this besides stating my perspective plainly: most visual novels that are not labeled as gay-specific WITH male-only romance routes typically have overmuch feminine responses, mainly catering to the "damsel in distress" stereotype. even in games where you can choose your pronouns / gender, the player dialogue always feels like its supposed to be a woman conveying it. not a problem, really--just something i notice often and is a con in my book. THIS VISUAL NOVEL DOES NOT DO THAT!!! the player choices are fun and actually give a broad range from "sure!" to "♥♥♥♥ you". - unique and intriguing setting and story plot - though the characters are a little straightforward and stereotypical, it doesn't bother me too much, and honestly that kind of thing is just a facet of the visual novel genre in general. - the characters actually swear. i like that it feels like i'm talking to adults and not having my hand held through the story. - i liked the bad endings. - player origin is brought up a lot, and doesn't feel forcefully put into the dialogue or awkward. CONS: - overall narrative progression has very little deviance between routes. not a big deal to me (esp. considering the game is 8 bucks)--but i know that matters to some. - difficulty knowing what dialogue options are actually correct. i wanted to initally romance dyma but ended up with jun? then jun tried to kill me bc i wasn't his cup of tea. thats on me - other review mentioned this, but you definitely just have to milk the hell out of the "yes sir, whatever you say sir" options to get the good endings. ONCE AGAIN ... THIS IS PRETTY NORMAL FOR VISUAL NOVELS SO IT'S NBD, but i think this dev can def improve upon this in their next projects if they make any OVERALL: i highly recommend this visual novel for its price point. it's short and to the point, but it's incredibly polished and well-made. i'm still finishing up all the routes, but i've enjoyed what i've played up until now. if the dev said they were going to build off this game and do a fully fleshed-out story with more routes and story arcs, i'd absolutely buy it.

3.5/5。mc一醒来发现三个帅哥围着自己并要求和mc做爱从而获得宝剑的力量。 这个制作组写东西一向很土但又很诡异地有意思且好笑，设定看似超级社情但实际上游戏内容也不是很社情，前作akash path of the five就是这种调调。 打了jun线和niko线。jun有一种礼貌但很疏离冷漠的底色，他视自己为工具并为了达到目的不择手段，然而common route里他在另外两个乐子人的衬托下优点实在很多。jun真的长得太像黑暗精灵的崔斯特了，性格又有点像拥王者的崔斯提安黑化版。 而niko的playboy感非常强，比较一下的话，jun看似坦诚但一堆秘密，niko看似满嘴跑火车但其实意外的真诚。niko线angry sex还蛮好吃的。说白了他俩都是烂人且没真心，不过整个游戏打起来很休闲很轻松。 内容是有分线的，但每条线内容都不长。有全配音，声音都蛮好听的。我很喜欢这个画风。可自定义名字、人称、种族。

I've only finished Jun's route so far, but I enjoyed it a lot. The voice acting is incredible and I always get excited when I can play otome esque games with an English voice over. The routes are quite short but for the price tag it seems plenty fair to me. I would love to see this universe expanded upon in a longer game or some DLC if the developers ever choose to continue with it. For now I'm excited to play through the other routes >:)

dyma/10

What's there is really good, I just wish there was more. Niko's route was really interesting but it feels like it ends right as you're starting to peel back his facade. This feels like a really good first hour to a great, longer dating sim.

honestly amazing! from the art, to the voice acting to the realness of the story, it's all a 10/10! played most of the routes and can see myself revisiting this, even if the hot fallen guy choked me out multiple times. and not in the fun way either. :(

Это компактная визуальная новелла с простым сюжетом. Чтобы раскрыть потенциал меча, два человека должны слиться духовно и физически. С физической составляющей всё понятно, а вот с эмоциональной сложнее. Удивительно, но авторам удалось раскрыть персонажей за то короткое время, что у нас тут есть. И не нужно, оказывается, для этого тонны текста. Но главное достоинство этой новеллы — озвучка. Эти красивые мужские голоса.

真是酣畅淋漓啊（擦汗）设定好土好喜欢，异色皮好美艳眼睛给好评。 jun和niko不太对我的胃口，jun有点纯冷脸来的不够萌，niko品品还有点好味，尤其是逗一逗就急了很好玩。 dyma真是非常好的一款糙汉反差啊，共通线看着很高傲自大还有点蠢，进个人线发现表里如一，真的很纯粹。共通里面看着很可笑的很多话他是发自内心的。也是本作唯一正常人，非常好吃的一款糙汉柔情。 隐藏也过于帅了…虽然很短但是震撼美味。 不过人物故事感觉有点单薄了，jun和niko很多东西说的似是而非，最后也没告诉他俩到底身上是什么故事，有点遗憾啊我很想知道。jun和niko的人设来说还是挺好吃的，但是也受限于篇幅吧，感觉不够立体，没太吃明白不够爽。 根据价格和质量来说非常值得推荐。

The voice acting and artstyle is great but the story is reeeeally short, I was kinda left wanting more :( (for now I'm gonna give it thumbs down but maybe once I'm done with all the routes it will change into thumbs up, we will see)