In the Service of Mrs. Claus

[i][b]In the Service of Mrs. Claus[/b][/i] is a short interactive novel in which you play as a shapeshifting elf that’s second in command and somehow has all the qualifications to take on just about any job from checking the naughty nice list to deactivating magical traps and even being the head of security when push comes to shove! Basically, any RPG in which everyone is completely useless and you feel the undying need to help every single person that breaths! [h1]Positives:[/h1] [b][i]Gender choices:[/i][/b] Fairly soon in to the story you are able to pick both the gender and the pronouns that you would like the main character to take. Once you have made your choice, you are unable to change them again throughout. Although you play as a shapeshifter and become locked in to your decision, the initial choice is welcome as I feel it caters to a larger audience. Another nice touch is that you can pick the preferred gender of two of the love interests while the third will always be a female. Again, this allows more readers to select their personal preferences and opens the market even further for the consumers. [b][i]Real choices:[/i][/b] Throughout the entire novel you are given a variety of choices that will change the main character's personality and skillset. You are free to play as a grumpy elf who dislikes other people, an overly cheerful elf who adores everything Christmassy, or anything in between. As for your skillset, there are several you may pick from such as Christmas magic, shapeshifting, trickery and so on. It’s advised to focus on just one or two of these skills to level through answers as the higher the ability, the more likely it will work as intended; however, it’s never a requirement as if your character fails a certain ability, someone else is usually there to step in and take charge (and be angry that you suck). This does put a slight dampening on the whole thing for me but it’s nicer than getting premature game overs and allows some RP. [b][i]This quote:[/i][/b] "The tooth fairies continue their raids for the disposable bones of mankind." [h1]Neutral:[/h1] [b][i]General errors:[/i][/b] As stated earlier, you are given the choice to pick your gender early on, however, there are a few times in which I was referred to as a [i]he[/i] after playing as a [i]she[/i]. I can’t speak for the reverse order as I didn’t read through the story as a man. At one point Candid is called both [i]her[/i] and [i]he[/i] in a single sentence. Slightly off-putting but easy enough to overlook. There is a minor number of grammatical mistakes that could benefit from another proofread but again it isn't to the extent where it will cause confusion and force a re-read from the player. [h1]Negatives:[/h1] [b][i]Story:[/i][/b] Sadly the plot had some very big ideas that just didn’t quite reach the mark for me. I felt as if there was way too much going on most of the time yet none of it was fully explored. If each sub-plot was given more time and detail it might have resonated differently with me. Because of the forced relationship I was given with Mrs. Claus I did feel a lot of pressure to constantly side with her and try to keep a good bond. This was even the case while playing as a self-serving and grumpy elf but only slightly less so. Everything just clashed together as if it were supposed to be an extended action scene but ultimately, just became exhausting. [b][i]Characters:[/i][/b] It is a huge problem for an interactive novel when none of the characters are relatable or cause any stir of emotion from the reader and this was exactly the case with [b][i]In the Service of Mrs. Claus[/i][/b] for me. Yes, each of the characters has a ‘strong’ personality trait but that was the only thing that helps you tell them apart. As a reader, I knew basically next to nothing about any of them as backstories were very limited, both in detail and scenes. This is an enormous oversight from the author especially since the character you play as has known each and every one of these people for many, many years. As with the plot, I believe this could have been avoided with more time, effort and detail being put into character development and interaction. [b][i]Romance:[/i][/b] The romance was lack-luster and almost childlike. These characters are centuries old yet still blush like a smitten schoolgirl over a tiny compliment, are surprised by a quick hug, or are outright shocked that anyone would kiss them. I know this [i]shy[/i] trope is a popular thing and although it’s not to my taste (I’m just so sick of being put in the shoes of little miss shy girl- like, why is it even so popular?), I was really hoping for something a little more mature. This whole novel is a darker side of Christmas after all; mature themes like politics, war and betrayal yet for some reason, that couldn’t be applied to the romance too. While on the subject, the [i]romance[/i] feels heavily like filler. It’s basically non-existent, not explored and the love confession feels like it comes from someone I generally barely know at all. Interestingly enough, the romance is the only place you’ll really see any different scenes from your previous playthrough so that’s saying a lot really... [b][i]Replayability:[/i][/b] For an interactive novel there just isn’t enough replayability. Yes, there are some minor differences here and there based on your answers but it could quite easily be overlooked at the same time. I struggled and failed to complete a second playthrough but did manage to drag myself through the majority of it: It was just so boring the second time. There have been other interactive novels that I’ve re-read a good six times and still find it exciting with text here and there I hadn’t managed to discover before. This, sadly, isn’t going to be one of those! [b][i]Manual save/load function:[/i][/b] I wanted to point out that this novel doesn't have a manual save system. I believe this is normal for the program used to create these interactive novels but, if like me, you read a lot of visual novels you are likely as spoilt as I am and are used to being able to save/load at any time. The book does, of course, remember where you are when you close the program and will load at the exact same place. Let's be real, my first one of these I had no clue how it worked and had to ask a friend. Thought I'd just add that bit of information in case you are as [strike]dopey[/strike] unsure as I was. [h1]Overall:[/h1] I highly doubt this would be something I’d recommend to anyone I know. The whole thing would need a serious overhaul before I even considered poking at it again to collect the remaining achievements – I'm an avid achievement hunter by the way; take that for what you will. Even for the low price I’d say no and would likely request a refund if I still could. [h1][quote]𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33853800/]𝐎𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐢'𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞[/url] 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐑𝐏𝐆 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬[/quote][/h1]

This is an interesting read with perfect timing for the Holiday Season. While i found the romance really lacking, the story that was preseneted was truely original and engaging. I very much enjoyed the adventure and honestly my only complaint would be that it wasnt long enough, I wanted more = ) and as such Id say that as a writer you cant ask for higher praise! Look forward to anything this author has to write, and if it happened to be along the lines of the original story id be all the more pleased to buy it.

Отличная, затягивающая история с неоднозначным повествованием. Протагонист - не человек. Он воспринимает мир несколько иначе, не говоря уже о жизни длиной в тысячелетия, которая оставляет свой след на выборах и отношении протагониста к открытым возможностям. А возможностей тут хватает. Можно спокойно отыгрывать разных персонажей (и в плане характера, и в плане способностей) и не испытывать проблем с тем, что вам обрезают кусок контента: вы просто пройдёте несколько иным путём. Игра доставила много удовольствия и мне сложно было оторваться от чтения.

This game was quite fun, I don't know if the Egyptian/Greek mythology part was really needed other than one plot point which was the weakest plot point imo [it was like Lex hating Superman because he made him bald :/ and didn't really add to the story because the details were not important or add anything] Fully text based, no images.Pronoun and relationship choices are fairly inclusive, though you do have to marry someone to 100% the game.

Honestly? I did one playthrough and this is already one of my favourite games COG has put out. First off, I love the world. With a christmas game you kind of go in expecting it'll just be cheesy cliche holiday stuff and nothing more, but the fae world presented here is so much broader and so much more interesting. And there is plenty of cheesy christmas stuff but it's all done in a way that doesn't feel cliché or overly silly. It feels like a super deep world that I want to know more about and that's a huge plus for a fantasy game. The story itself is very good too! It is very fun and also drags you in emotionally, and even though I've only done one playthrough it's clear that there's many more paths open to the player, you're very much not railroaded. Also, and with a game like this that's important: the choices were obvious. Sometimes with these games the relation between the choices and the relevant stats can be very misty and unintelligible, but that's not the case here. There's obviously a few where I was not sure, but overall, it was very clear, which definitely helped with the enjoyment of the game. Overall, if you want to buy a game in this genre/from this publisher, this one's definitely reccommended!

Truth be told, this story is actually pretty imaginative and gives you a lot to work with, but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it. No real rhyme or reason why, but the story just didn't connect with me at all. So, I have to give this an 8/10, but I just can't personally recommend it.

The story was an interesting take on Christmas and the fae that I hadn't seen before. I enjoyed that aspect of it and how all the different plot points were handled, but I definitely felt like it was pushing for a Mrs Claus relationship when I just wanted us to be BFFS even after I chose a romance option and got married. It claimed I had some close moments with Mrs. Claus that could cause problems and I was like WHAT, I only hugged her though??? I went with Trickery, Shapeshifting, and Connections my first run. I was also Happy, Rustic, Gluttonous, and Steadfast. There were definitely places where NONE of those things were part of the check and I was forced to fail (needed to be grumpy or open minded or athletic). I did enjoy some of the creative options for gluttony and shapeshifting to solve problems I wouldn't have thought they could solve. I'll probably go back through and try to get more of the achievements and vary the skills to see how different situations play out.

Bueno para temporadas navideñas, en opinion personal falta algo mas de desripcion en los mundos para poder encariñarse con el mismo, no me quejo la tematica de los elfos solo que es algo nueva para mi por lo cual se me complica algo encariñarme con los personajes pero aun asi es una entretenida historia