Fallen Hero: Rebirth

I had heard good things about this game but I honestly went into it not expecting much as I was not sure I would enjoy the body hopping mechanic. Oh My God. After playing, I completely understand why this game is recommended so much. If you enjoy superhero/villain stories especially with a more nuanced realistic tone, this will be your jam. If you enjoy stories like Worm by Wildbow (the real ones do), then this will be familiar in the best ways. If you enjoy complicated relationships/romances and not just bland nothing goes wrong ships, you will be very invested in this. My *only* critique, (which tbh is more apparent in the sequel, but shows up in this first) is that its a bit on the short side. I believe this series is meant to eventually be a quartet (?) ie 4 books in total, and while the second game is out and is amazing, the first game espcially leaves you feeling like its incomplete. I loved it so much I disregarded the second games much higher price tag and dived in immediately, but I cannot imagine how devastated I would have felt if I bought this game when it was only Rebirth out or couldnt afford the sequel. Retribution being out certainly softens the blow, but in the grand scheme of the other IF games I've played (some of which are still WIP), even combined with its sequel, Fallen Hero is the shortest. Rebirth I think would benefit from being a bit longer. Ok I lied, my second critique would be while keeping our player characters backstory a secret even to us has its merits (the mystery gets to unfold over time for the player as well which feels better paced), it does mean your motivations feel vague. Without going into sequel spoilers (tho some of which I think most will glean anyway from the game's hints), its hard to know whether you feel justified in your anger or your feelings when you dont have any idea what you actually went through. There are some early decisions in my playthrough that id probably do differently now that I know the backstory, which tbh I felt a little misled by the MC's hints. Again, without going into full spoilers, I dont think the MC's vitriol towards the Rangers and their old teammates is justified. At least in the sequel (in the route I got) its semi explained but I was just like,,,, damn MC, we are kinda in the wrong for that lmao That is all to say, I think they didnt need to make the rangers so squeaky clean. They're more nuanced than at first glance (especially Ortega, my man my man my man <3), but ultimately I think the game would have benefited more with making them way more cupable. Anyway. Let this be your sign if you wanted to give this game a go, you definitely should. Prepare for some rough mornings when you continue the age old curse of reading when you inevitably lie to yourself "just one more chapter/page then ill go to bed", because you won't be able to put this game down. And remember kids, what makes a villain a SUPER villain is PRESENTATIOOONNNN