Paranormal Preparatory School

A fair warning before we start: I am tired and also got up on the wrong side of the bed today, so expect me to be more brutal than usual with my critique. This small thing aside, I am ready to rumble. And are you ready for yet another lengthy review of a new text adventure by Choice of Games? Let us dive right into the daily life of a normal teen in a very unusual school with very…questionable students! [h1]Plot and Writing[/h1] I enjoyed both the story and the way it was presented. The author was able to make reading easy and the choices very understandable while also keeping a mystery until the very end. There are also some nice references to popular media here and there - my inner nerd approves. Overall, the text is very well-written, the jokes are funny and the story flow is mostly smooth…except for some points that I will describe later. I did notice some typos and repeated words (as well as one coding error) on several occasions, but there were very few. Another thing that I find really nice is attention to the lore. While we do not get a deep insight into the vampire-werewolf-others aspects, we still learn enough to get a clear picture of how everything works. There is also place for mad scientists, metal zombies, ghosts and [spoiler]demons[/spoiler], and each has their own stories. If you wonder, you own character also can do some magic if they have enough eldritch knowledge. Speak the word and some gates might open for you on the spot, as they say. Quite literally, sometimes. Now, while I did like the story, there is also one con. We are once again the potential savior of the world…um, no, just the school this time, but still. Not only this, but we are thrown into the midst of all this right away – and literally out of nowhere, to be honest. In Paranormal Preparatory School you are supposed to a) prevent the war between vampires and werewolves, b) facilitate relationships with humans, c) study, make friends, find love and help with illegal activities, and d) unravel some kind of mystery. [spoiler]There is also a human school brought into the mix a bit later.[/spoiler] And all of this is thrown at you as soon our protagonist steps into the building. Overworking this mule much, no? Oh, and you also have to lead supernaturals all the time while technically almost all of them hate or look down on you. Go to the new school, they said. It would be fun, they said…. [h1]Characters & Relationships[/h1] There are lots of likeable and even unusual characters. You can befriend them, make enemies or find lovers – anything you heart desires. And I should say, many of these people have interesting personalities, even though some are just exactly what you would expect from a vampire or a werewolf. [i](My guess is that it was done on purpose judging by the general setting.)[/i] A sophisticated and haughty vampire? Check. A strong and oftentimes brainless werewolf? Also check. A witty zombie running an illegal delivery business? Wait, that is actually something new. Now we are talking, baby! There is also a ghost boy with some interesting quirks that make him quite unique. He ain’t no local Casper for sure, but neither is he a dramatic and ever-depressed dead guy who haunts the library (even though he does visit this place quite often). No bathroom stalls either, thankfully. The interactions between characters also felt natural for the most part. They behave according to their species, but can also talk like normal teenagers and young adults. This is a very pleasant synergy that makes such personalities believable. Oh, and you can also have witty banter with your fellow students. At the same time, I cannot shake off the feeling that some characters were introduced too fast and with very little detail, even more so if we consider the romantic path in particular, – for example, take Sonia, Max and Renault. We barely see each other, but in the third chapter they are already portrayed as somebody we are quite familiar with, for some reason. Not only this, but we can also ask them out there – people who are almost strangers to us at that point. Is not it a bit too fast? Another issue is that we spend very little time with them in general – again, simply compare it to Michelle and how much we do together from the get-go and you will see the difference immediately. Out of the four, our zombie girl is the most fleshed out through the whole game, I would say. For yet another unknown reason, we are also forced to participate in each and every petty squabble. I swear, I spent more time trying to prevent bloody murders instead of speaking to people normally, geez! [h1]A Bit on Stats and Choices[/h1] My only gripe in this part is that stat-based and romantic choices are mutually exclusive. When you get a chance to have a chat with your boo, be sure to go for flirting – otherwise, you will miss on the significant amount of relationship points. Why I don’t really like it? Because it looks like you cannot be yourself with your potential partner and have to switch to the horny mode to actually get some progress. I prefer more natural romance, to be honest. By the way, there is one important point you should keep in mind while playing. As soon as you complete the trials (to get to school), your main two-three stats are set in stone, which means that you should (and actually have to) use them and them only for the rest of the book. The good thing is that all choices are very obvious – the wording will give you clear understanding of what you are going for in each case. As a veteran in text games of all sorts, I say this is a huge plus. When you cannot save your progress at all, even the smallest mistake can ruin the whole playthrough and force you to restart from the very beginning. [h1]Put Down Your Pitchforks and Torches, Folks[/h1] I would call Paranormal Preparatory School a mixed bag of sorts. It has a lot of good points, and if you are keen on the genre – a normal human in modern paranormal setting, - you will like this story a lot. It is very enjoyable and offers quite a variety of characters. You will definitely find somebody you would want to interact with. And who knows where your shenanigans will bring you. On the other hand, be also prepared for some hasty relationships. And a lot of responsibilities thrown at you in the very first chapters. And very, very little time to try everything and speak to everyone. It feels like a rat race at times, to be honest. In the end, is this story rushed, at least in the beginning and at one point in the end? Yes. Is it still entertaining? Also yes. There is a really good basis for a solid game that just needs more space and words to grow into something more developed. So Paranormal Preparatory School gets a pass from me – I would even give it 7 out of 10. I hope that David Spain continues writing and improving their style to present us even more interesting and elaborate stories in the future. [h1][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32296668-Casual-Game-Reviews/] More reviews on our Curator Page[/url][/h1]

Uhh, yeah... that's gonna have to be a "No" from me I'm afraid - while there are some genuinely decent ideas on display here; that, & the writing - if not ground breaking - is at least competent, the overall execution just feels... 'lacking', for want of a better word. ( More details - plus possible spoilers(!) - below) On the face of it, the first thing most folks would likely compare this game to is Twilight - THANKFULLY, while the game itself is, shall we say, 'lackluster', PPS is still nowhere NEAR as badly written as that godawful tripe! *ahem* Obligatory digs aside(!), the thing I, personally, found myself most reminded of whilst playing was that old anime; "Rosario+Vampire" (Anyone here actually still remember that..?!) The similarities arise in that, much like the lead character (who was so boring I can't even remember his name!) your MC finds themselves as the only human student at a school exclusively for monsters; *whoops*, sorry, the "Undead" (Except, last I checked, weren't Werewolves still considered 'technically', y'know... alive?) Chief difference in this scenario is that, the other students are VERY much aware of what you truly are... however, if you were hoping for any type of wacky harem highjinks, then, much like myself, BOY you are in for a disappointment..! See, from the very moment you first arrive, one fact is made ABUNDANTLY clear - the other students HATE your guts! Indeed, as the narrative itself likes to joke, about the sole reason your character isn't flayed alive & hung from the school gates is simply 'cos your great aunt just so 'happens' to be the headmistress (Don't even ask me how THAT works..!) Thus, while technically forbidden from, say, eating you alive, your fellow classmates still aren't shy about reminding you of just how... 'unwelcome', your presence is - &, I'm afraid, chiefly, THIS is where much of my problems with this game stemmed from. See, in order to become emotionally invested in a story OR it's characters, the author first of all needs to give me a reason to actually CARE; without this, the whole thing just becomes a grueling slogfest... for starters, the game refused to carry my data over from the demo, a fact which - in my book - was already a HUGE blackmark against it; thus, much of the first 10-15 minutes of gameplay was simply me playing catch-up... despite this, I persevered, hoping against hope the story would begin to pick up after the first few chapters; alas, alack, my disappointment was only to continue. See, despite the initially 'frosty' reception from your fellow students, the game convinces you they can eventually be "won over"; indeed, given that the primary 'purpose' of this school is supposedly to teach these little monsters how to "integrate" peacefully with human society, this is actually meant to be one of your main reasons for being there... but, damned if this doesn't turn out to be one of the most frustrating, thankless tasks EVER..! No joke - put it down to teenage 'hormones' or whatever (although, I seem to distinctly remember at least one of the vampire students claiming to be over 100!); the chief problem with these kids isn't necessarily that they're monsters... No - it's simply 'cos they're apparently all a bunch of freakin' A**HOLES!!! Forget the whole drinking blood or howling at the moon business; my biggest issue was that damned near every one of the other cast members had a personality that I can only describe as akin to sandpaper; hell, about the only one I found even REMOTELY 'tolerable' was the zombie chick; &, that's largely only because she's probably one of the few other characters who doesn't seem to despise you simply for 'existing'... With the other side characters, I found no real incentive to wish to get to know them any better... hell, SCREW integration - one week in this dump & I was about ready to call in Van Helsing & have him go all 'medieval' on these creeps! See, & there in lays the problem - I just didn't CARE about any of these characters... nearly two hours in, I'd yet to make ANY major breakthroughs with mending the centuries old rift between the Vampire & Werewolf clans; most of my classmates still wanted me for dinner (NOT in a romantic way, either!); &, quite frankly, I just wasn't having... y'know - "fun". It's a shame, really... for all it's faults, there was some genuinely good writing here; some of the 'humour' WAS able to raise the occasional dry chuckle outta me... plus, the core idea itself was pretty intriguing; alas, without a reason to actually care about any of the other characters, it was just impossible to truly enjoy myself. Again, zombie lady was pretty interesting (if you can look past the whole "being dead" thing); sadly, even with her, trying to establish any kind of lasting rapport often felt like a case of one step forward, two steps back; simply due to how unforgiving some of the stat checks are... sure, they're better signposted than in most of these games; however, unless you focus on building certain key attributes early on, you're gonna have a rough time of things later, believe me..! So, in closing - no, it's just not my cup of tea... by all means, if you still like the overall premise - & aren't put off by the contents of this review(!) - give it a try for yourself; who knows? You might find something in it to enjoy that I didn't... HOWEVER - just be 'very' aware of what you're potentially letting yourself in for before you decide to pick this up..! ... ..... (STILL a better love story than Twilight, though!)

Saddly this is a no. You are treated to being mistreated, stuck with characters in situations you'ld honestly rather not be in, and it all together makes you feel disinterested. There is no motivation for your character to want to follow the plot. In a word its just not fun. On the positive side for those who complain a lot about stats not meaning anything and not being able to tell what choices use what stat, this story telegraphs that information from a mile away. To the point where the choices feel robotic and you just choose based on what "stats" you like and have built up. Honestly, as you can see from my play time I havnt even bothered to finish a single play through. The story killed my interest that quickly. As always YMMV.

I want to like this book but it ends up being a lot of supernatural babysitting while you're ♥♥♥♥ on and left wondering why you're even in that position. You can focus on building up a romance/friendship with one of the vampires or werewolves, make ONE wrong skill check, and then that same person who supposedly has feelings for you will turn to you like you're the dumbest ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ they've ever met and make sure you know it too. If this game played out over some more time, or gave some more downtime to connect with NPC's before the main objective crops up over the course of a single night then maybe it'd allow room to actually like these people. Instead you're left with everything moving incredibly quickly right off the bat and navigating this plot while everyone essentially hates you except for maybe Michelle. It's not unrealistic because people don't get along right away, especially not with such a storied history between species, but the game expects you to be able to bring people together in an incredibly short in-game time frame. On a technical standpoint, the skill checks are almost always split into half. If you build an empathetic, sympathetic and kind character then half your choices benefit you and half are stats you probably never even tried to spec into because that's not your character. An easier way of saying it is that 50% of the time you're almost definitely ♥♥♥♥♥♥. You can go back and re-play the game over and over and over and over and over and over to spec into all the stats the game wants you to have in order to be balanced and pass every check but that leaves zero room for creating your own unique character with their own unique personality. No game should have your NPCs treat you like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on their shoes for failing a single skill check and then you feel pressured to go back and restart again. This game is like the embodiment of one step forward two steps back when it comes to the issue of getting these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to like you.

Every single choice is a skill check. Choices do not matter.

I didn't think that it would be possible to make a story about a magical school filled with supernatural creatures with a portal to hell soon to be opening up boring, but the creator of this one pulled it off. I would stay away from this one.

I bought it, played it one time and gave it back. The writing was decent, the characters interesting. This could have been good, if it didnt feel so rushed! We go to the school, choices already locking us into what stats we want too use for the entire game and we are punished if we dare to stray from those choices (talking choices, not like fighting choices)... get the order to somehow make peace between vampires and werewolves, meet a zombie and a ghost. We got to talk to the ROs like three times, friendships are not possible cause you will miss a RO scene instead (not sure if it is needed to go with the RO everytime but with the limited times this is possible? I didnt risk it). So we are a this school like one day, portal to Hell ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ opens! The school is not important in any way, no academic choices, no grades, no school in this supernatural school story.

想了一圈，感觉文风跟这个if最接近的就是Unnatural，俗称交互式大纲··· ···各位朋友千万不要对这个if的描写有任何一丝的期望，这边可以很负责地告诉你就是没有。无论是人物刻画还是剧情里面的旁白啊物品描述啊这些，在这个if里面都是达咩达咩！所谓想象力是最丰富的引擎，这个if属于把读者的引擎功率拉满了··· ··· 除开这点，游戏剧情和人物设计还是中规中矩。[strike]啊TMD本来这个故事idea怪物学院真的好吸引我，结果不知道哪里出了问题变成现在这个平庸的样子... ...[/strike]打大折的时候感兴趣可以考虑入一入。

The story is basically Twilight meets Harry Potter, with a dash of Lovecraft magic. It would have potential for a good story, but things move too fast and some things do not make sense. The school is billed as a school for the undead, only werewolves are not the undead nor immortal. The writing seems to imply that there is a town nearby with a pub, yet it is never really mentioned other than the start or in passing. And for a school for humans to be so close and next door, one would of thought that it would of been mentioned at the start and not just dropped in randomly. There are barely any classes beyond the gym class with the volley ball scene. Everything beyond that is just generic teenage drama. For all the stats offered, I get the sense that none of them can possibly get to 100 percent. A few don't even seem to become affected over time. Some hints in the dialogue and choices are too vague to tell which stat it is referring to, such as one question surrounding strength. Is strength the fighting skill, athletics, perhaps intimidation factor? I honestly can not say for sure. The romances happen too fast. My character in the first play through knew the werewolf for what seemed like not even three days, and already they are kissing. And while there tends to be choices in other Choice of Games stories to choose to go evil, there doesn't seem to be one for this game. It looks to be hard coded that the demon is either defeated in the end, or destroys the world. And I have yet to come across the latter. One would think that there would be a choice to side with the demon and then choose to take out one side or all sides. I spent over nine hours on this game only to be left disappointed. The ending is lackluster at best with everyone casually going on with their lives. At first I was hoping to even start a war between the werewolves and vampires in on play through, only it looks hard coded that everyone either gets along or just bears each other's presence more than usual. In the end the game is just basically Pretty Preppies with Paranormal Problems brought to you by the WB sort of story.

I kissed a zombie...and I liked it.