The Golden Rose: Book One

[h1][b]The Golden Rose[/b][/h1] TLDR: The Golden Rose is vibrant, demanding to be seen and experienced on its own terms, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. [h3][b]The Good:[/b][/h3] - [b]The worldbuilding: [/b]This world is [i]cool[/i]. Everything about it, from the classes to the locations feels rich and exciting. I was always excited to discover more. Not to mention that so many aspects of this world feel like a secret. Whenever we find something we’re not it feels like getting a piece of a puzzle that will help us understand why the world is the way it is. - [b]The MC: [/b] **Honestly, this MC should be the blueprint for how to customize reactions, have a base character/backstory, all while making the main character have more depth beyond being an avatar through which we play the game. It’s no shocker that this title exceeds a million words when you see just how much time, energy and care is put into making your MC, YOUR MC. At the same time, your MC still clearly belongs in this world, and feels as carefully crafted as every other character. This is probably the strongest element (of many strong elements) of this story, and clearly shows how skilled the author is at not just writing, but specifically writing for interactive fiction. - [b]The side characters: [/b] The depth that is given to the main character is shared with every character on the page, and boy are there a lot of them. Who would have thought the highlight of my day was going to be a carrot-stealing street urchin? Why was I so excited to race an old woman and her donkey? Why was I so sad to say goodbye to a father and son carrying boxes? Because of the care put in ALL the characterizations of the characters. This world was bursting at the seams with life. This game doesn’t just want you to play it, it wants you to live in it. - [b]The options:[/b] So this is what it feels like to be spoiled for choice. Options on where to go, how you spend your time, what you think, how you experience emotions, what you feel. Hardly a page goes by (not including the interludes), that you don’t have some sort of input over your character. - [b]The relationships:[/b] Since the characters already have depth, getting to form close friendships and romantic relationships is especially engaging. Instead of the MC being the poker and prodder (the greater decider), Alessa and Hadrian are reactive, compelling, well-rounded, frustrating, lovely characters who are just as likely to engage with you on their own terms. Whether as friends or romantically, I couldn’t help chase after both these characters to get to know their secrets (no luck so far, but hopefully in the next book) or enjoy conversations with them. - [b]The comedy: [/b] Surprisingly this book is funny! AND it’s funny without feeling totally anachronistic, so I imagine that’s even harder to craft. -[b]The writing:[/b] Might swing purple for some, but I like when an author puts their stamp on their writing. I think a good author is an author who gets an image across. A great author is one who can guide you through an image, accounting for the touch, the smell, or anything that should be deemed important. This author certainly falls into the latter category, and does so consistently through the text of this fiction. - [b]The length:[/b] A story doesn’t have to be long to be good, but boy, when a GOOD story IS LONG, wow. The author decided to give the reader time to ruminate in this world, to really experience the many sides of the city the narrative takes place in. All the choices, the characterizations, the chance meetings all culminate in an expansive story. AND, even though I imagine writing at that level, for however many scenes, and however many more iterations, the style and quality are consistent. BRAVO! - [b]Animals:[/b] I got to pet a horse, a cat, and a dog. Are you jealous? - [b]Religion:[/b] Lol I forgot this one earlier. Just that regardless of your stance, you can engage with this topic in interesting ways. [h3][b]The Not So Good: [/b][/h3] - [b]The interludes (subjectively):[/b] They were kind of like deep breaths between the action, but (especially for the parts about characters that I didn’t know) I was more eager to read what was happening next to the characters I was interested in, rather than these new people or this action taking place elsewhere. - [b]The breaking point/So much was an introduction:[/b] I was quite surprised when the book ended. I expected this story to take us through the next three days at least, since the player had made plans with other characters. With so much to forward momentum, such a brief time period (in the grand scheme of things) having passed, and so little resolved, the place where the book ended felt like a breath between one day and next that was unfairly upgraded to a concluding point. On the one hand, one major plot point was resolved(ish), but because of the sheer amount of what had been introduced, I expected other things to push the narrative forward a bit more. TLDR: it felt abrupt and maybe not the right moment to end on. ** Note that you cannot play as a NB character [h3][b]Suggestions for New Players: [/b][/h3] • Make friends! • Be nice to Beka I love her! [h3][b]You’ll Like This If: [/b][/h3] • You like text-based games. Period. [h1] Visit [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41411199/] A Variable Review [/url] for more reviews [/h1]

As lovely as i found the writing style to be i can't recommend it. The game is 1.2 mil words long but it amounts to nothing. Your character has not accomplished much at all and ....for all that text there’s not much substance, no real answers given and the game cuts off at an unfortunate moment that makes you pause and say ‘hold on, that was it?’. I think it would’ve been better to cut out some of the long winded descriptions in favor of having the ball included in book one. I get that it is meant to be a series, but the breadcrumbs of story progress are simply not enough. The different dialogue responses MC can have are nice (and considering how often these choices occur I commend the author for undertaking this monumental task) but they get somewhat repetitive. The biggest offender are the choices coded as ‘pragmatic’ since most of the time they are a variation of ‘you are as unmoving as a mountain’ or ‘you grunt’. The personality stats as well as the skill stats have no impact on the story. There’s only 2 scenes, as far as I can remember, where a skill check is present and in both cases (which happen to be combat scenes) only the strength stat leads to success. Reason, influence and lore have no place to shine, as a result it feels pointless investing in them. I will however compliment the romance system and the way companions were written. It is definitely the strongest aspect of the game, possibly the best of any IFs I have read.

I do feel that the writing style is good and the characters/romance section of the game is handled nicely. But ultimately, this game is very drawn out. The story only spans three days and there is an insane amount of filler contents plus descriptive. Playing it takes quite long yet when you turned back to summarize what happened, not a lot happened at all. Please don't think this is a slow burn romance just because of how the romance develops, you can kiss two of the love interests near the end of the story and this is on day TWO. Not to mention, the bulk of the writing in this is mainly variations or the same scene but altered for another character (Alessa/Hadrian, Alain/Ysabella) The pretty writing is not enough to lessen how tedious it was to read everything. Sometimes, making MC reacting to /everything/ isn't a good idea, because as you can see, the entire book one finished and not much happened at all. My other problem is with the stat-system, which doesn't do much of anything most of the times. It makes MC feel incompetent if you invested more stats in Reason/Influence since they don't get used much beyond the first few chapters. The personality stat is also another which doesn't have any effect? It just moves around for you to see what kind of stat you leans towards, no visible effect or consequence in the story. One final thing is a personal gripe but I would really prefer if there was content warning for the game in regard to the ***SPOILER*** Facial scarification of MC's face, which was repeatedly mentioned about how badly looked it was after MC received it. If I knew MC would get this in-game, I would have avoided the game altogether.

Ah, fantasy. My favorite genre of all times, no matter whether it is high or low one. There is something charming about both magical worlds where dragons are a norm of life and common ones with a sprinkle of spells. And what is better than reading about an adventure in such a place? Creating your very own story, of course! This is what interactive fiction is for, after all. Today I would like to tell you more about the newest title by Hosted Games, the one with a lot of promise - and future parts two and three that I can barely wait for, so exciting and captivating the first one was. [h1]Story and World Building [/h1] 1.2 million words is a monumental amount of work and the length of even one playthrough proves it pretty well – my first dive lasted for over 22 hours! Some people complained that there is little substance to the events, but I do not quite agree with it. We accomplish a lot of things during our first days in the city – from just mindless walking and talking to necessary investigation to interesting encounters to fighting for your life. I would say that the first book serves as an introduction to not only the world, but also our character. The story takes its time to build up, slowly, gradually; it offers you numerous paths that lie in waiting like coiled up snakes. And you never know what is there, at their end of yet another street – a new shiny trinket? a friend? an enemy? or a piece of truth that is slipping through your fingers like sand? The world building is astounding too. It brings you to the marvelous alternative medieval Europe where daily things – the ones you might have seen in history books – are entwined with witchcraft, mystery and danger. You meet people, you learn about the rules of this world, you search, fail and succeed. And if at one point it seems that nothing is happening, the next one can bring a whole storm. [h1]Writing[/h1] Not only is the story long, but it also has a HUGE selection of choices. And what is even more importantly, opportunities to roleplay. You can create a character with any kind of personality and will not be punished for selecting different approaches to tasks or conversations. I went for a pragmatic and cold character with a vicious sparkle inside who would turn into a sarcastic and teasing jester when around friends. And it was delightful! I love it when I can play as a protagonist with multiple sides to them [i](the lead from Royal Alchemist is also a great example of one)[/i]. Jest, glare, grunt, smile, smirk, flirt, brush off. Be kind or cold, sweet or daring, careful or brutal, or anything in-between. The game allows to explore each dialogue in any way you like. At the same time, the sheer number of choices can be pretty overwhelming too. And some do feel repetitive – constant grunting option being the most obvious offender. However, this is a choose-you-own-adventure game, so it is nice to be able to influence every part of it. Just be ready for lots, lots of text. Some parts of it could have been cut off to get to the point faster, but at the same time, I do like descriptive writing. Even more so if it is used to create special atmosphere. If you are not up for intensive reading, you can always skip some choices and dialogue trees connected with them, but I strongly recommend against it. You will miss on not only relationship points, but also some interesting information. Not vital for your quest, but very useful to understand your companions and other people better. [h1]Relationships[/h1] And now, from practical to sweet: characters. Oh boy do I love them! Alessa and Hadrian, our companions from the very beginning, are the most prominent ones, of course, but many other people also find time to shine and to charm you into possible friendship or romantic paths. Or bitter rivalry, if you so prefer. Thanks to the wide selection of choices I mentioned before, you can build any kind of dynamics with every person you meet. It also means that you can get enemies easily, but what is life without some risk, am I right? And when going for romance in a game, it is very important for me to understand the character I am falling in love with. I do not need shallow images common for young adult novels – no rich buff dudes in fancy suits or their shirts off for me, please. I need substance! I need personality! I need a human, not a poster boy. I crave well-written characters with many sides to them – the ones that can trick me at one point and then envelope in tenderness at the other. OK, khm, I am getting pretty worked up here, so let us come back down to earth. The bottom line is that characters in The Golden Rose are very interesting and developed. You will enjoy talking to them no matter how the story progresses and where it leaves you. I only wish there was a chance for a proper love triangle [spoiler](instead of just hints)[/spoiler], but maybe we will see one in future games? I am a huge fan of some romantic angst and no, I am not ashamed to admit it. On a side note: it was also really nice to see that multiple characters had their own distinctive ways of speaking. This made them even more realistic and unique. [h1]Summary[/h1] [b]The Golden Rose: Book One[/b] is a fine example of how an interactive book could and should be written and turned into a game. It offers you choices and lets you walk your own path even if some major events are scripted and bound to happen – tis the limitations of any writing, sadly. The world is rich and vivid, full of captivating personalities and well-hidden secrets, as well as intrigue and political scheming. When everything is coming apart, you are the one to find the truth no matter the cost. And we can only guess what future installments will bring and how this story actually ends. But one thing I know for sure: it will be epic! [h1][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32296668-Casual-Game-Reviews/] More reviews on our Curator Page[/url][/h1]

Almost always longer is better with these games. But alas that is not the case with this one. The story drags on, slower than the "horse" you get stuck with. In fact just about everything in the story is like said horse. Its un agreeable, stops at random points of little interest for no apparent reason, and doesnt manage to ever get you anywhere you actually want to go. Honestly it felt more like a really long long long extended demo / prologue that takes forever to introduce all the characters and loses its self constantly trying to set up the plot. It does finally get there, but when it does your just left sitting there going really, all that just to get to here?

The new standard. Makes every other COYA game look amateurish. The writing was fantastic. The roleplaying options were varied and I was virtually always able to pick an option that sounded good to me. The romances were well paced, unlike virtually every other COYA game where you flirt one time and they instantly fall in love with you. The world building was interesting and the story hooked me immediately.

I want to start off here by noting that this author seems to have a truly amazing talent for writing and pacing when they want to do it well. The prologue of this book was masterful, with gripping tension, mystery, and horror that immediately hooks you. After that, introducing the player in a ruin was fun and mysterious with great writing and evocative details. Throughout the text the author's brilliance shines through, but only in patches. She clearly has an immense talent for setting scenes, making you curious, and establishing tension. But all of the quality is completely overshadowed by the worst pacing I've ever seen, an author who lacks a clear vision of what they want to make, and a quantity over quality approach to choice impact that only ends up creating a bloated mess of a game that I couldn't sit through any longer past chapter 3. I'm just going to start with the pacing because it is by far the worst aspect of this book and easily the worst pacing I've seen in any CYOA game. Quite seriously, it approaches anime filler levels of grinding the story to a halt. One second something engaging is happening and then we pause, lazily meander for a while before finally coming across an oasis of story progression and good writing before trudging back for pages at a time of uninteresting filler. This is hard to describe without you just reading it, but there are parts of this game that just don't need to exist like the bandit attack in the second chapter or half of the pages in the third chapter, just unnecessary descriptions and events that serve to bloat the game and slow the pace of the story. I'll be touching on this throughout the review for more depth. Related heavily to the pacing issues is the author's insistence on making the player react to every single thing that they engage with. Do you smile? Frown? Wave hello?... WHY AM I DOING THIS? It serves no purpose except to shift the personality stats that seem to barely do anything anyway. I don't need to give the play-by-play on every event, just engage with me when we're making a decision that actually matters or when there's some reason for me to actually make a choice. This inclusion of constant choice not only devalues the real choice available here, but also slows the game down because of all these extra options, many of which aren't even communicated effectively to the player. One choice just said "smile and wave" and it led to my character joke-threatening an entire crowd of strangers. I understand the author wants to engage the player but all this does is harm the pacing and hollow out the meaning of choices. Regarding the vision of the author, it feels to me like she sort of just thought "Oh this would be cool" or "This would be a great scene" and fine, thats all well and good if you make a proper story with a good plot and good pacing, but it just means we get a smorgasbord of ideas and scenes with little importance or relevance to anything. Why do we have a comical horse companion with an attitude straight out of a Pixar movie in this grim alternate history medieval europe? Why is the majority of the first 3 chapters focused on romance? Why is there a bandit attack in the second chapter? Its all just so indicative of a stream of consciousness with none of it serving any purpose for the story and even less of it feeling organic and natural. Easily 30-40% of this book could've been cut and it would only be an improvement. Speaking of the romance, these companions seem fine, somewhat standard but there's definitely more going on with them which is nice. But why is so much time spent on romance here? It just goes on and on and on, "Oh do you want to get on the same horse as your romantic interest?" "Well now that you're on the horse do you wanna snuggle with them?" "Wait! Wait! Wait! before we continue the story, maybe you'd like to hold their hands since its so chilly and they'd super appreciate that!" Like cmon man, I get it! It feels like the author only had romance ideas for the first few chapters so she just front-loaded it. And again the issue of choice bloat comes up, why ask me 3 different times how far I want to get touchy with the romantic interest? Just have a single choice for the player that feels natural and end it there. If you really want a scene where we warm their hands just put that somewhere else in the book or even better just cut it so we can actually build character and whatever the stakes of the story are supposed to be. Also I don't know if anyone else noticed this but one weird thing is the romance was like the odd cuck vibes I got from it. Like I played a lesbian, flirting with the rogue lady, but every page we cuddled or shared a look (which of course happened like every couple pages) the himbo guy who had a crush on me would literally be described looking on at us or giving a weird look or whatever. It was so disconcerting and strange, like I get it he has a crush on me, but maybe just don't ruin whatever romantic moment there was with "Oh yeah that guy you're around is really uncomfortable with the PDA around here". Worse yet it just happened over and over again, this wasn't a one and done kinda thing, it happened at least half a dozen times, but likely way more and every time it just felt so jarring. With regard to the companions I really have to say that they don't at first seem bad but by the end of the 3rd chapter I was so tired of them. In most of these games, companions or npcs are around and become active in the writing when they need to be, but here it just felt like I was in a movie theater surrounded by people who wouldn't stop talking through the movie. I literally said "Thank ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ god!" when we got to the tavern and I got to be alone in the room because I could finally focus on something besides the companions. Don't get me wrong they seem cool, I'm sure there's interesting characters there and great backstories but seriously, the author didn't know when to stop so like 80% of the first 3 chapters is just talking with companions, rewording the same things over and over, extolling the same ideals and thoughts that you already know they believe in and vaguely gesturing towards your goal in a story which seems like a complete afterthought. It felt like we got enough time with them to last an entire game in only 3 chapters. Yes I get it himbo man is a himbo and a christian, yes I know the rogue girl is edgy and quiet. We don't need their commentary every time we take a step towards story. Honestly, it's like the author was just afraid to advance the story so instead just slowed down the player's progress with these two. The last thing on my mind here was the horse. Basically just a weird goofy Pixar horse sidekick. It was completely out of place. Literally during the bandit attack, the lead guy was implying he wanted to rape me and then one of the scenes right after that was the horse doing some goofy ♥♥♥♥. It's just jarring, it's like the author is stuck between wanting to write something dark and grim but also feeling the need to shoehorn in goofy stuff right next to it. These 2 things can coexist but they need to be paced out and given time to breathe separately, but of course, the author doesn't do that. There's a lot I was really annoyed at in this book and I'm sure I missed something here but to be completely honest the only reason I'm so annoyed is because I had such high hopes for this book. I've played a bunch of CYOA books (I.e. choice of and hosted games) and to be really honest most of them are meh or just not for me. This author though is clearly very talented. But then she just gets sidetracked and overly focused on scenes, dialogue, and descriptions that serve no purpose for anything. If this author had an editor I honestly believe she would be an impeccable writer, but as it stands, her writing feels too much like reading someone's stream of consciousness and very little like reading a narrative.

As an avid player of IF games, The Golden Rose has quickly become a favourite of mine. I personally sometimes struggle to grasp immense world-building and lore within medieval-esque stories in particular, but the narrative tools and style and structure of writing within the game's demo was compelling to follow and easily immersive, and this continues in the full game. The narrative arcs of the game work to build a comprehensive environment with multiples storylines slowly unveiled to be concurrently occurring and involving a range of characters. A lot of the interactions the MC has or scenes they witness are indicative of larger forces at work/elements of the world at large. Additionally, although the subject matter can delve into heavier topics, I personally found there to be a consistent prevalence of balanced humour which helped maintain the pacing of the story. I also found it quite interesting that despite almost nothing being known about the MC going into the story, their characterisation is well-rounded and depicted through three main character archetypes (sincere, stoic and sarcastic), and options for all three are available in almost every interaction the MC has. This maybe helpful for players going in hoping to really immerse themselves in the role-playing aspect. The game is also not stat-heavy barring a handful of instances, though narrative consequences exist and for certain choices you make will sometimes carry on into future plots or interactions. Additionally, the gender you play as (either female or male) does sometimes change how NPCs perceive and react to your character, for players seeking this type of immersive role-playing. This game also has one of the best character interaction systems I've come across and really gives you opportunities to make or break relationships with other NPCs - [spoiler] some of them even react to how you respond/treat other NPCs, and you either gain or lose relationship points with them as a result [/spoiler]. The romance with the two main ROs at present is so intricate ([strike] Hadrian give me back my heart please [/strike]), with alternative reaction options available here too. From what I've seen so far, this game is a bit of an outlier in how it presents its romance [spoiler] - even though you can enter what is essentially a relationship with either Hadrian (and I'm assuming Alessa) by the end of the game, they're not "locked in". All the other ROs have only just been introduced by the end of the game and you will still be able to attempt to pursue romantic arcs with them at your own peril [/spoiler]. What is most essential of all is that the characters don't feel like NPCs, but rather actual people with their own motivations, desires, and even secrets and will respond in kind to how the MC treats them. However, [h1] Things to keep in mind before playing/purchasing [/h1] [i] Potential spoilers for game pacing and length [/i] Players may view the one million + word count as indicative of an overarching plot but it should be noted that the majority of that word count is dedicated to the aforementioned world-building and character and relationship building. The variables and branching of choices are large - for example, a number of ROs and main characters alone can be interacted with on distinct romantic, rival, or friendship pathways. This, in congruence to this game being the first installment of a series, means that while many other events are alluded to and posited for the future, the plot of the first book ends after the conclusion of one narrative arc with the anticipation for many more to come. I can understand how this may be where some disappointment I'm seeing stems from after much anticipation. I personally can't attest that the degree of atmospheric, environmental and character development is wasted, and can only anxiously await for what the future of this series entails and for so much of what is hinted to come to fruition. All in all, I'll conclude by saying this game is clearly a labour of love with so much more to come.

I liked it quite a lot. I was completely taken with the story so much that I'd look up and see I spent hours reading. Though it's really underwhelming to spend all story chasing this map thief just to [spoiler] stop the story when you get him [/spoiler] Didn't like that cliffhanger ending. And now we have to wait for several years (just my guess) to continue from the day after this story ends. Hope you guys are good at remembering what choices you made for that long. I say wait for book two to come out before getting this, but if book two also ends in a cliffhanger then wait until the story is finished. It is [b] Really [/b] aggravating just to fall off a cliff when you're enjoying a story. I could tolerate it in weekly episodes of a tv show, but for this we'll have to wait years (again, my guess).

（时长是出门忘关游戏了。） 文笔漂亮，写作功底很扎实的一本。 然而在第七章前剧情推进实在有些缓慢，第八章终于找到关键NPC后剧情节奏明显变好了，可惜这之后又很快迎来了第一本的结束，甚至没有一个属于主线剧情的高潮时刻。我懂作者是想慢慢做铺垫，毕竟这么多条线、这么多个势力全都各怀鬼胎，但……这要写到哪本书的哪辈子去啊！目前我看第二本刚写完第三章，且等着吧。 几个RO也都打了个照面，全部固定性别，个别RO有取向限制（一个直男和一个女同）。目前对大伙儿都还挺有兴趣的，RO的设置不会很乏味（像TWC那种全员平级同事的我就会觉得比较单一），个性也十分鲜明。 本部里唯二两个恋爱剧情有具体进展的就是作为初始队友的Hadrian和Alessa，从刚出场我就开始幻视DAO的三人组，指身为领队的主角+冷酷毒舌独行侠还喜欢用’Tis‘Twas这种说话方式的女队友+大型犬又嘴笨的Ex-Templar男队友，日常就是另外两个在吵架而MC在劝架/拱火，后来得知作者最喜欢的游戏就是DAO，那就不意外了，完全故人之姿！虽然真的走了Hadrian的恋爱线可以发现他和MC的相处模式更像Cullen一些，推荐喜欢DAO的朋友来尝尝。 另外我猜这本还很适合罗马历史爱好者/宗教爱好者的玩家，涉及到不少这方面的内容，只是对我们这种历史文盲来说跟玩纯架空西幻作品的体验差距不大，纯属对牛弹琴，有点浪费作者的知识储备。