Royal Affairs

友情提醒这个系列的阅读顺序为creme de la creme（学生主角，校园设定）——noblesse oblige（非校园设定，家教主角。这部可以在choice of game app上看广告免费玩）——royal affair（学生主角，校园设定）——honor bound（保镖主角，校园设定）。每一部都是独立的故事，不需要玩每一部作品才能看懂剧情，但共享一个世界观，前作角色会在续作出场。 喜欢creme那部的话大概率也会喜欢这部，换汤不换药，creme主角风评被害后忙着挽救社交地位，这部主角皇族出身纯人上人，继承皇位的大任也又老姐顶着，完全有随心所欲的资本。日常就是上上课，比比赛，后期还有是否推进投票权分配到每一个公民身上的政治立场事件。可攻略对象的配置也和creme差不多，Asher基本上是升级版Karson，Javi比Blaise正常一些但也是治疗低血压良药，Beaumont和Hartman生态位差不多，这部里姐妹学校的几个LI比creme里出场机会更多一些。个人感觉技能检测方面creme比这部宽松一些，但这部里的LI比creme更有活人感，可以感受到作者是在进步的（但不知为何还是creme更读者受欢迎一些）。就算对剧情不感冒，光是为了Asher也是值得一玩的。

[h1]ROYAL AVERAGE[/h1] Royal Affairs is an interactive text-based novel (or interactive fiction, if you prefer) written by Harris Powell-Smith. Having read the author’s previous works, I can clearly recognize the recurring writing patterns - and I’m not particularly a fan of them. The game handles its slice-of-life elements very well, and they’re the main reason it might be worth checking out. The romance, however, is just okay - nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, the frequent need to insert big, dramatic "moments" just to make the player feel important ends up detracting from the overall plot. Overall, it wasn’t the worst seven hours I’ve spent, but I’ll probably forget about Royal Affairs within a week. [b]It’s a very average game[/b] - some aspects work well, while others fall short. I’d recommend waiting for a significant discount if you’re considering playing it. [b]World[/b] Royal Affairs takes place in the same universe as Creme de la Creme and Noblesse Oblige. The story unfolds just a few years after the events of those games, so you’ll occasionally hear about or even encounter some familiar characters. The game also gives you the option to import your saves from the previous titles. The world itself has been slightly expanded. We learn about new locations, key figures, political tensions, and bits of history. What surprised me, though, is that phones, planes, and cars all exist. I didn’t expect the setting to be so close to modern times, especially based on my impressions from Creme de la Creme (or maybe I just missed something). Unfortunately, the worldbuilding once again feels quite limited. The story takes place almost entirely within Archambault Academy or your home in Fenburg Palace, and only these locations receive any meaningful depth or background. [b]Characters[/b] At the start, besides choosing your own gender, you can also change the gender of every romanceable character - or leave it random. The main character is a prince or princess, and the game usually gives you plenty of opportunities to show others that you’re better than them, which I really enjoyed. There are a few moments where we lack sensible dialogue options, but fortunately they’re not very common. had the problem of having too many characters, but here there are only six, so each one gets more time to develop their relationship with the main character. They’re also better integrated into the plot. Are they especially memorable? Not really, but they’re strong enough to carry the slice-of-life parts of the game. And there are two different poly routes, which is always nice to have! We also meet the royal family (our family), but I didn’t find them particularly interesting. They mostly serve to add extra depth, and I rarely felt their importance (aside from maybe two or three scenes with the queen). [b]Story[/b] I have very similar issues with the story as I did in Creme de la Creme. The first half of the game is a decent slice-of-life, but the second half tries to tackle much grander themes than necessary - and, in my opinion, it doesn’t succeed. The sub-plot about suffrage was an interesting addition at first, but then the game goes all-in on it. [spoiler]Granting everyone the right to vote is a huge change, so why am I the one designated to help resolve it? The main character isn’t even next in line for the throne. Why me? Fine, I can ignore that. But I can’t ignore the sub-plot suggesting that this change is likely being pushed by another country for their own interests. Why give us that information if we can’t do anything meaningful with it? At the very least, there should be an option to inform parliament about it.[/spoiler] There’s also an issue with many repeated scenes while trying to romance someone. At first, I thought it was a bug, but then I noticed small variations in the text. So it seems intentional? I’m not even sure at this point. Either way, it made me care less about the romance. If even the author didn’t put in the effort to make each scene feel unique, what’s the point? [b]Audio & Visuals[/b] This game is purely text-based, so there’s not much to comment on in terms of audio or visuals. Still, I’ll leave my usual note for interactive fiction: even basic visuals and audio could make these games more accessible and appealing to a wider audience, similar to what Roadwarden or Wayfarer have done. [b]Technicalities[/b] The lack of a save system - or at least a "back to the previous page" button - is just incredibly frustrating. I can’t stress enough how much I dislike it when interactive fiction games do this. It’s all too easy to misclick on a choice you didn’t intend, especially in longer games, so give players a way to fix it. I only noticed one significant issue. There’s a moment where I can talk with Trevelyan after they get mad at me... but they seem to forget about it immediately, allowing me to share my thoughts about their university choice. Maybe a stat check was supposed to be there? Other than that, I only found one or two minor typos.

This game will have something for those who love to write their own story. the choices make for a compelling move on the ratio of the mind. I found a single word where a "they" was used and oh my, leave it to a grammar-nazi to almost puke but then again, for those that seem to prefer those terms, knock yourself out and enjoy. Interestingly this game is more intriguing than I originally anticipated. all in all an interesting game for the mind that looks to a fresh new flavor when playing for the first time. Though I strongly feel that this game should carry a caution mark. The gender movement is in the lowest levels of its basement based upon a movement to reduce humanity in number. Leaving them neutered. Having an introductory to trans-humanism in the process. Though I personally don't care about what humans do with their lives, this should be stated overtly. Feeling hurt is fine. sacrificing the future over feelings and importance of covert parties is not. Freedom of life is freedom of expression and I believe this game is a statement of that. though it should be stated that this should not lock out intelligent discourse. Pulling the social empathy card is reasonable at times for the sake of respectful social discourse. exclude from that term a means to manipulate based on feelings.

One of my favorite interactive fictions of all time. Asher is so adorable and every moment with them is magical. I can't tell you how much I've thought about this game after playing it and how much it has stuck with me.

Kinda lacking in cohesion and there's a lot of railroading, unfortunately. Refund requested.

I think this may be my favourite of all the CYOA's in the 'Creme de la Creme' shared universe! This story is a real pleasure to spend time in, with plenty of engaging characters and good choices. Choices always feel like they have a meaningful impact, especially with how over time your actions might change things in the wider world beyond the academys walls. Multiple playthroughs are especially rewarding, with lots of different threads and pieces of intrigue to discover trying other approaches

感觉没有旧作好玩呢，不过也还不错了~