Posthuman: Guardians vs PSION

I wish I could recommend this game since the premise is so interesting. However, this is not fun to play. The pacing feels awful and none of your choices actually matter. None of the choices you are given change the story and the railroading is painfully obvious. The author had a set story in mind and you cannot choose otherwise. I will not spoil anything but every major choice involving what you do in the plot is already made for you. The only time things really change is just for downtime and filler. Every other choice just covers up that you never really had a choice in the first place. The powers, one of the selling points, are copies of each other. At most there is probably four or five depending on how you count. Most of the time you do not have the option to use them and when you do it rarely matters since its so vague the choice to use them is the same for every power regardless of what you picked. The similarities are so striking the text trips over itself and partially shows which others powers it is meant to be used for. The steam achievements are bugged and there are a variety of spelling and grammar errors that should have been caught in editing. As far as I can tell there is also no way to get to mars. Humor is subjective but for me it felt cringeworthy. You can tell the author wanted to be sassy but saying "that's the tea" other stereotypical drag queen phrases over and over again just becomes painful. One of the bigger issues is that it feels like the author has a very clear bias on the fictional issues and characters presented in the game. I will not spoil anything but it felt like the game pushes you to be a post-human supremacist regardless of who you side with. It wants to do the X-men mutants allegory for bigotry and racism but there is no nuance or even an attempt at exploring other perspectives such as how humans feel about godlike beings forcing them to do whatever they want. Posthumans are just better than regular humanity, the actions of Adam Atom and other posthumans cannot be questioned, and the game will not elaborate on any of it. The player character was already written to hold certain opinions and the story was written with certain ideas simply being correct. This is also felt with the other characters where the narrative has already decided what you feel about them. Your character must like certain characters, you must hate others, any choice otherwise is not allowed. Plus, even though romance is an option you never actually get to spend time with any of these characters outside of a plot mandated introduction and whatever part of the story they are involved in. The story tells you you have a relationship with these characters but in the story you are actually shown you have worked with these people for less than two weeks total and it feels like you have only known just met. This game needs a lot of fixes but it feels like the serious issues would require either a major rewrite or massive expansion of the choices the player is given. It is disappointing since I wanted to like this game. I loved Drag Star! and the premise of this story is fascinating to me. However, right now it feels like incomplete draft that really wants to just be a book. I hope the author sticks with the project and fixes it but I doubt it since Choice of Games titles rarely get much post-release content or support out side of basic bug fixes and grammar. Save your money at least until the bugs are fixed if you want to try it.

Usually, I am often rather critical of these games but then end up recommending them anyway. Unfortunately, in this case, I couldn't really find one aspect of the game that I could put my finger on and say "this was great". There's a mish-mash of heavy themes (war, racism, corruption) mixed with a very light-hearted writing, which is in itself not such a bad thing, but the style feels so unrelentingly irreverent that at some point, it became irritating. This is interspersed with sections of writing that even the game admits are "lore dumps" -- there's so much "tell" and not nearly enough "show". This goes with the characters in the world as well. To some extent this has to be the case, but very few of the relationships ever feel they are established naturally, and there are a *lot* of characters, most of which offer only superficial interactions. I am not particularly bothered about politics and the likes, but I know some people are, so take note if you are averse to modern political opinions venturing into your entertainment media. It is some alt-history setting, and I couldn't figure out if having a villified anti-capitalist character in a game like this was just odd or unnecessary. There's a lot of world building and at the same time, some things like that seem a bit out of place when the game has spent dozens of pages talking of the dangerous time-travel superpowers and the likes. The plot is fine. Nothing earth shattering, but I have played and read so many stories in this genre that I honestly don't mind. It's a little slow to start, but I've played worse in that regard -- the bigger issue was that it felt like there was a lot of choice-illusion going on, as if the story had been written and then choices were put atop of the script afterward and worked in. There's stats, but it's another game that doesn't show you what stats are being tested or necessarily how hard the test is, but the typical failure condition is that someone else succeeds instead of you. It marches on, somewhat unerringly, and if I had enjoyed the characters and writing style more, perhaps I would mind less. There are powers, and in principle, I was quite excited by these. A good mix, some with the prospect of some fairly wild outcomes and options. I thought this might be the core of the game, but it seemed rare and often underwhelming. It's just another route to which I could have rated this game as a "yes, but..." rather than simply a "no". I didn't get far enough to determine if there are multiple pathways later in the game and how extensive they are. At nearly two hours in, I realised I was skimming the text as I went through, frustrated by the writing style and hoping for a character or event to come up that I would connect with, and that the game would really get going, but by then I simply didn't trust it was going to happen. It may simply be that I am not the target audience. That is fine, however, if I have to give my opinion, it is unfortunately, a no.

I enjoy the general setting and overall story in the beginning of the game and I found it very fun. However, [spoiler] as soon as you get put undercover, I feel like the pacing becomes very jarring and a lot of your choices don't act how you're lead to believe, like the romance choice of "I need time to think" automatically changing your character to aromantic without giving you a choice to ever change or correct that. And then, I'm not sure if it's a glitch but the final chapters were so chaotic and didn't keep track of what was happening. In my playthrough, we put power damper on a unconscious Lockdown, only for her to fly out of the room we left her in like two minutes later and act as if she was never dampened. And then, it skipped around a bunch and suddenly, it's like a year later and my character is giving a speech at the cadet's graduation with no resolution to the main story, and I'm slowly fed what happened through small mentions like oh yeah, the two main bads are dead, no explanation as to how. Also, apparently none of the story/world-building mattered because there just happened to be a character who played such a minor role and he just happened to have his powers revealed to be Time-bending (Which the setting states is illegal multiple times) and he just uses his powers to resurrect everyone. Even people who died basically years before the main story. [/spoiler] I like the premise but ultimately, it needs a lot of work and updates to make this game as good as it can be, I did like a lot of the writing and references when the plot wasn't be blitzed through. I hope this game can have it's full potential realized as I really enjoyed how well-written the characters were. I would still ultimately recommend this game as most of my issues with it only occurred towards the end.

waste of an interesting premise, drowned out by boring characters, little player agency, and heavy railroading

This feels more like a thumbs sideways for me. I liked that there were a lot of power options, and enjoyed the power scenes and powerup combo (I started with telekinesis and then got telepathy. it was fun). The pacing felt quicker than I would have liked, there are so many interesting characters that pop up and so much happening. I don't feel like we got enough information about Saturn (also, they don't show up on the stats page's Who's Who: Know Your Posthumans, which is possible a bug). [spoiler]After going undercover, the relationship aspects felt like they got glossed over/skipped entirely. Was disappointed that after choosing needing time, there is no follow up scene to talk with the former RO about what had happened and make any decisions about getting back/staying together or choosing to start an not-telepathic planted relationship with Saturn or to simply get closure. I also feel like the text to call out Vogue about messing with the PC's sexuality could have applied beyond being aro and/or ace.[/spoiler] The interpersonal relationship aspects felt like they fell through the cracks in general as the plot started running. Overall, the story is fun. I am very fond of x-men, so I do have that bias influence my interest in the narrative, the varied cast, and my disappointment over the atrophy of interpersonal growth/drama/varying flavor text & scenes (e.g. the date scenes/text being very similar and in some cases copy-pasted with a variation here and there).

This has got to be the first of these that I haven't finished and its such a shame. The premise was fun and it began really well getting me interested in the team and the world. Sadly by the midway point it kind of just fell apart and there onwards the story moved at lightspeed brushing over most things and not really taking into consideration any of your previous decisions. [spoiler] The story broke down for me when you go under cover. It was clear that your character had been hypnotised to some effect but the way it was written was still a little jarring. Plus how the story handled it afterwards felt dismissive. For example my character did romance another character under the same influence and when I regained my memories and chose that my character was unsure about the relationship considering I was influenced to begin it the story then treated me as asexual going forward? [/spoiler] Again its all a shame because I did want to like it but it lost the plot.

Got railroaded on the final attack. The end also seems off, rushed. Up to then it was kind of ok. 4.5/10

I've liked other Choice of Game titles, particularly in the superhero and supernatural realms. But this one just didn't do it for me. I felt like I was waiting for something to happen the entire game, but it never did. I mean, there is a superhero battle or two, but I never felt like I had a lot of agency in what transpired. The end mission was pretty good, but then the game ends. I don't feel like I got to develop many relationships, interact with the public, or hone my identity. This is like a C- experience. It's not awful, but it never gets immersive or has much of a pay off either.

the start of the world feels empty to me. sorry not for me

Posthuman: Guardians vs PSION delivers a surprisingly layered superhero experience that feels less like a traditional game and more like an interactive comic-book saga shaped entirely by player decisions. Developed in the familiar Choice of Games format, the title relies purely on text, imagination, and roleplaying choices rather than graphics or action-heavy gameplay. What makes it stand out from many other interactive fiction titles is how seriously it treats its worldbuilding and moral conflicts. Instead of presenting a simple battle between heroes and villains, the game explores political extremism, social fear, enhanced humanity, and the consequences of power in a futuristic society where posthumans are both celebrated and feared. The story places players in the role of a newly emerging posthuman connected to the Guardians, an organization tasked with protecting society from dangerous threats, including the extremist faction known as PSION. From the beginning, the game establishes a tense atmosphere where every group believes it is fighting for justice, even when their methods become questionable. This ideological conflict gives the narrative far more depth than many superhero-themed stories because players constantly encounter situations where there is no obvious correct answer. The game challenges the idea of heroism by forcing players to decide whether institutions deserve trust or whether rebellion against oppression is justified. One of the game’s greatest strengths is the amount of freedom it gives players in shaping their character. Players can define their hero’s personality, moral outlook, relationships, and powers in significant ways. The selection of abilities is impressively varied, ranging from psychic manipulation and teleportation to elemental powers and physical mutations. Choosing different powers changes how certain situations unfold and affects the tone of interactions throughout the story. While not every power receives equal narrative attention, the variety still creates strong replay value because different builds encourage different approaches to missions and relationships. The writing is another major highlight. Dialogue feels natural for the genre, balancing emotional drama, political tension, and superhero spectacle effectively. Team interactions are especially entertaining because the cast has distinct personalities and believable conflicts. Some allies feel genuinely trustworthy while others carry hidden agendas or ideological differences that create friction within the group. The relationships evolve gradually, and the romance options are handled with enough care to make emotional choices feel meaningful rather than superficial. The game also deserves recognition for its inclusivity, allowing players broad freedom regarding gender identity, sexuality, and romantic preferences without making those choices feel forced or tokenized. The scale of the narrative is surprisingly ambitious for a text-based game. The story moves beyond simple city-level superhero missions and expands into larger political conspiracies involving multiple locations across Earth and beyond. Missions become increasingly dangerous, public opinion shifts constantly, and tensions between organizations continue escalating toward potential disaster. Even without visual presentation, the writing successfully creates the feeling of participating in a massive science-fiction conflict where individual choices can alter the direction of society itself. The imagination-driven approach works remarkably well because the game invests heavily in atmosphere and descriptive storytelling. What makes the experience especially engaging is its emphasis on moral ambiguity. The Guardians are not portrayed as flawless protectors, and PSION is not presented as purely evil. Both sides operate with understandable motivations while still committing questionable actions. This creates an ongoing tension where players must decide not only what kind of hero they want to become, but also which systems deserve support. Few superhero games explore ideological conflict with this much nuance, and the result is a story that feels far more mature than standard comic-book adventures focused only on defeating villains. Despite its strengths, the game is not perfect. Because it is entirely text-driven, pacing can occasionally become slow, particularly during sections heavy with exposition or political discussion. The amount of lore introduced early on may feel overwhelming to players unfamiliar with Choice of Games titles or interactive fiction in general. Some chapters spend a long time establishing world details before major action sequences occur, which can make momentum uneven during extended play sessions. Combat is another area where the limitations of the format become noticeable. While some battles are exciting due to strong descriptive writing and impactful decisions, the actual gameplay mechanics behind those fights are fairly simple. Outcomes often rely on hidden stat checks or narrative choices rather than deep tactical systems. Players expecting detailed strategic combat may find the action less interactive than anticipated. Additionally, while the variety of superpowers is impressive on paper, certain abilities feel more integrated into the story than others, which can occasionally reduce the sense of complete roleplaying freedom. Even with those shortcomings, Posthuman: Guardians vs PSION succeeds because of how immersive its world and characters become over time. The combination of political intrigue, superhero drama, and player-driven storytelling creates an experience that remains engaging from beginning to end. The game understands that the appeal of superhero fiction is not only about action, but also about identity, responsibility, and the personal cost of power. By focusing heavily on those themes, it delivers a narrative that feels thoughtful while still embracing the excitement and spectacle associated with comic-book storytelling. For players who enjoy interactive fiction, science-fiction worlds, and morally complex superhero narratives, this game offers an impressive amount of content and replayability. It may not satisfy those searching for visual spectacle or mechanically deep gameplay, but as a roleplaying experience driven by choice and imagination, it stands out as one of the more ambitious entries in the Choice of Games library. The rich worldbuilding, memorable cast, and meaningful decisions make it easy to become invested in the story, even during its slower moments. Rating: 6/10