Runt of the Litter

I really enjoyed this game, very worth it if you enjoy visual novels that allow you to fully choose your own destiny! Plus, beautiful, beautiful gryphons.

It's a perfectly average Choice of Games game, falls right in the middle of being fine. The story was enjoyable and the characters were interesting enough but it doesn't go farther than that. Read it in about 2 hours which is a respectable time. It just felt like it could have used more description of the world around your character if that makes sense. I wanted to know more about the world as I read, about the war between the gryphon riders and wrym riders, why they were fighting and such but it just doesn't seem to come (It may be in a different route than the one I had to be fair). It's no sin that it doesn't describe every single detail in every scene as COG games tend to be less descriptive and not novel-length but a few more details to the world could have really spiced up the world a bit. To talk about a positive, all the characters have a good amount of personality. They acted as friends and foes when applicable and had their own personalities which was really nice since I've seen some COG games have characters as nothing but boards to bounce exposition off or things for your character to bang but this was certainty not one of those. The dialogue was all well written too. Something that's a unique problem I'd like to talk about just because it's unique, this was the first COG game I've read (to my memory) that uses the gender neutral terms ze, zer, and such. I have no initial problem with that, diversity is fine and all but the problem lies in that I know what a he looks like, a her too so when my character meets a characters and they're mentioned as one of those, I can't conjure a picture of them in my head. Unfortunately, I don't know what a ze/zer looks like and in a game that's really light on the details as mentioned before, I can't picture this ze/zer character in my head. Not describing every detail of a character is usually fine because I feel you're meant to imagine them as you want but there's usually some details to at least give you some feel for them, like hair length or something but there's no details like that in this game for any character, boy, girl, or other. It was just odd to me, I didn't have any idea what these few characters should look like in my head so I pictured them as featureless, bald people. Maybe these is just a problem exclusive to me, I'm not sure but I felt like it was an interesting thing to mention. Overall, the game is fine and if you're a fan of other COG games I'd say give it a try if the setting seems interesting but if this is your first COG game I wouldn't say it's a good jumping in point, probably would want to try some more well regarded ones first. If Kelly Sandoval ends up putting more games out, they'll definitely on my list to buy.

I feel the need to preface this review with the fact that I own most of the COG/HOG games, and have played them multiple times in most cases. So I am well versed in Runt's peers. I must say, that despite this game having an intriguing world and interesting characters, I wasn't able to really feel immersed. Your "Friends" are mostly expounded upon by the short introductions your character gives them and maybe 1-2 conversations you have with them 1 on 1 and only when you choose to sacrifice the conversations with the others. The options for romance are sparse but not wholly unsatisfactory. However I can't say I actually knew any of my friends/love interests/rivals. Where most games would cultivate a sense of character Runt of the Litter goes for a broader story. More like being actually read a fairy tale then actually playing and living one. My friends seemed to be either one note or just there. Same with the Council, you have the ♥♥♥♥♥, the Reasonable one who everyone calls weak, and the unfeeling swing vote. Your rival is that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ everyone knew in highschool. Just mean for no real reason, even when you help him he's an ass. Now with all I've said I know you'd think me to give this game a poor recommendation. However, I will say that this is a solid C+. The world is interesting, I did love my Griffon and did all I could in order to protect them. I was very close to actually caring about my friends. But... none of it felt like it had weight. I never found myself anxious in a fight, never doubted what choice I made, and never really got to breath in this story. I feel there's a great game here, just itching to be written. All in all, I can recomend this game to people who are cool playing it once or twice, and being satisfied that you've seen it all. I hope maybe one day there can be something more to this. I've never seen a COG/HOG game with a DLC story but I think this game could use one.

Runt of the Litter é o primeiro jogo que eu joguei da Choice of Games, e é um incrivel rpg baseado em texto. O mais importante daqui é a história, onde tudo que você faz pode ter um grande impacto mais pra frente, desde as suas interações com o seu grifo quanto as suas interações com outros cuidadores. Na minha primeira gameplay, eu consegui o final Bridge Between Worlds, em que eu consigui juntar os Keepers e os Thralls. Conquistas: Stalwart Ally: Came to Eini's aid. (10 points) Hatchling: Hatched a gryphon. (10 points) Back Roads: Snuck out of Aerie unseen. (20 points) Wyrm Slayer: Killed a wyrm. (20 points) Willing Messenger: Got a guard to help you without resorting to bribery. (20 points) Impressive Beast: Impressed the High Council with your gryphon. (25 points) Gryphon Killer: Killed a gryphon. (10 points) Wild Blood: Stole a wild gryphon egg. (10 points) Welcome Back: Earned the High Council's forgiveness. (25 points) Undeniable: Had Nistarii vote in your favor. (50 points) Rise Up: Convinced the High Council to allow thralls to be fledglings. (25 points) Bridge Between Worlds: Became fully trusted by both gryphon keepers and thralls. (100 points) Nota: 9/10, unica coisa ruim que achei é que poderia ter cenas de batalhas mais complexas, em que voce poderia fazer escolhas que ditariam a luta, mas isso não acontece tanto.

Well written and engaging, but very short. I would have liked more chances to interact with the other characters and learn about the world, and couldn't help wishing that I could have played out the events covered in the epilogue. [b]6/10[/b]

I played it a long time ago and I loved it. Would recommend!

It's an interesting choose your own adventure type of game.