The Shadow Society

I really wish there was a way for me to give a neutral review, but since there isn't, I'm going to have to go with a thumbs down. While I really loved the characters and there was an interesting set up for the lore, I felt like the game cut off too abruptly for my liking. Maybe it's because of the way I played, but I honestly felt as lost as the main character with very little still in the way of answers towards the end. I still don't quite understand what made my character special besides her family line, maybe that could've been helped if there was a little more about said family. Also for people who don't realize it, this is only the first book. There is supposed to be a second one, so if you don't like cliffhangers, don't bother with this right now.

[h1][i]TL;DR: While I really enjoyed the story and characters, there were two major drawbacks. First, parts of the plot felt rushed. Second, the ending that was too abrupt and many unanswered questions. Several more chapters and a bit more explanation would have saved the day and, possibly, even made the game a perfect example of young adult fiction.[/i][/h1] You know, I did not want to buy the game right away. I decided to wait a bit longer and look at the reviews first. I liked the general description and focus on supernatural and romance, but was not sure that it would be my cup of tea. However, then I saw a magical spell written by some random author, “It reminds me of Wayhaven Chronicles”. And then it went wild, and I just knew I had to get my hands on this title as soon as possible. Did The Shadow Society manage to satisfy my craving for the second installment of Wayhaven (which is coming this May, by the way)? Well, both yes and no, sadly. There is a very good base here, but it needs development. [h1][i]☽ Writing ☾[/i][/h1] The author, Cara Palmer, uses a very similar strategy as Mishka Jenkins. Most of the story comes from the protagonist’s perspective, but from time to time, the view switches to one of the romantic partners. This way we can find out their thoughts about different events or what happened with them while our character was in a different place. The same goes for interactions in the group sometimes. Personally, I find this way of writing extremely appealing and entertaining. It is great to be able to shape your character’s personality and make them see the things your way, but it is even better to know how different people actually react to your words and actions – something that we cannot do in real life in many cases. And this brings additional thrill to the romantic parts, of course. Also, speaking of the writing, the story turns out to be quite engaging all the way through. There is quite a lot of lore, as well as world building, and both of them are flavored with occasional humor, action, and general craziness of main characters (right, Quaiel?!). However, there is also a downside. I cannot quite put my finger on what exactly was so wrong, but if I were to describe it shortly, it would be something like this: it feels rushed. And very vague at times (but we will leave it to the part about the story). The ending in particular felt somewhat out of place or even illogical. I believe that just one or two extra chapters could have saved the situation. It took us so long to get to the specific place, to meet people there, to start unraveling various secrets, and them boom! We are already at the final event - [spoiler]the ball[/spoiler]! But for these issues, I would have enjoyed the game to 100%. [h1][i]☽ Story ☾[/i][/h1] It is definitely a Young Adult novel with a significant focus on romance. Which is executed quite well. So far, I have completed 3 romantic routes – Azuridian, Rheylo, and the love triangle between them; the last one was the best, in my humble opinion [i](oh, I just love interesting and angsty moments like this!)[/i]. So, the love part aside, what else does this story offer? We have a supernatural fantasy set in modern times – this involves the Shadow World, which exists along with ours and is actually quite similar to it. But it was not like this from the very beginning – first shadow people were nothing but dark matters flying around mindlessly. Then a hero – or so they thought – came and brought some light and magic. Sadly, the utopia was never meant to happen, and the hero turned out to be a mercantile monster seeking his own benefit. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you more without revealing major spoilers. Except that your character plays an important role in the whole conflict between our world and the shadow realm, and your family is connected with a very important secret. Through the story, you will find out more about the lore and the people of this strange place. But, again, there is a major downside: some parts are very vague and definitely not explained enough. OK, your family is special – but why specifically? Why were your ancestors able to do what they did? OK, the main villain has a tricky plan – but what the heck is it even about?! I did not understand his real intentions and actions until the very last chapter. And the abrupt ending did not help it at all. OK, the guys/gals want something from you. But again, what? None of them tells you about it directly and only gives hints from time to time. Which is not that bad and brings more suspicion and mystery, but also raises just too many questions with no answers. To sum up, the story left me somewhat dissatisfied – as I have already pointed out, just 1-2 more chapters could have sealed the deal. The author could have given us more information, expanded the world, or at least explained what the Shadow Man really wants. Also, once again, the ending…the pain of my heart. There has been so much build-up that eventually led to nothing. Literally. CAREFUL! Major spoilers ahead! [spoiler]So, we are a hostage, kidnapped, and in danger. But…is it really so? Nothing really bad happens to the main character. Everything is extremely vanilla for a story that is trying hard to be dark and mysterious. Even the whole kidnapping thing is very light and is presented more like a fun trip than something scary. The only unpleasant event was the massacre at the party, but even this one was very fast and did not feel like something really damaging for the protagonist. Let us compare it to the vampire attack and evil experiments from Wayhaven or the shadow dragon from Way Walkers, and you will feel the difference immediately. I absolutely do not understand why the Shadow Man did not try killing anybody or doing just anything with our character – brainwashing them, torturing, threatening their life in any way, or blackmailing them with their loved ones? Is he a devious villain or what?! The whole friendly chit-chatting felt out of place – you do not tell us that somebody is dangerous through the whole story to just make us almost friends in the end. The last chapter was so abrupt and anticlimactic that I could not but feel cheated.[/spoiler] [h1][i]☽ Characters ☾[/i][/h1] I will have to make this part as short as possible due to the word limitation. To sum up, there were a lot of interesting personalities. I loved Azuridian in particular and enjoyed his interactions with the protagonist. Other love interests had their own charm and scenes with them felt unique and different. Side characters did not play such major roles for the most parts, but I remember them for sure, which is a very good sign. [h1]My Verdict[/h1] To be honest, currently The Shadow Society looks like a simplified version of Wayhaven Chronicles, but it also has potential to become something equally good as its counterpart. It just needs some special features, more depth to the story, world and relationship. I will be looking forward to the second book because I believe in the author and that she can actually bring her work to the new level. Oh, and also…I want to see Azuridian and his brother again *wink*. [h1][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32296668-Casual-Game-Reviews/] More reviews on our Curator Page[/url][/h1]

Another CYA that kidnaps the MC, offers alot of meaningless choices that dont affect what happens, forces the MC to make opinion calls on people and situations they have no understanding of at all. At the end of reading this the most you can walk away knowing is that 1. everyone is lying and manipulating you for reasons/goals they refuse to reveal. 2. There's 3 seperate groups in contention with one another, none of whose motives are revealed or explained at all. 3. None of the "LI" are really interested in your character, they are just attempting to seduce you to their side of this unexplained conflict. This would have been an Okay demo / teaser for a "to be released" future story. But it is not a first installment of a multi book story. We end up knowing nothing about who we are, who the people we are thrown together with are, whats going on, or why. Imagine if in The Fellowship of the Ring, a random halfling had been kidnapped by Gandalf, had The Ring forceably put on their finger by a spell that prevented them from removing it, then was dragged out into the wilderness by the Dwarf Ranger Mage and another apparently clueless halfling without any explanation of what the quest was or why they had to do it, other than "it has to be you". Then as the quest goes along, the Wizard tells you, you have to master the ring or it will destroy you, but of course the ring is actually cursed (not to mention you wouldnt even have it or have it on if it wasnt for him) and so all it does is make you weak and constantly get you in trouble. Meanwhile the Dwarf and Ranger are trying to get you to agree to come and help them do something, they will tell you about later when it comes time to do what they need, but they wont tell you what it is they want you to do or why. And finally just as you finally realize the Wizard, Ranger and Dwarf are completely nuts and agree to escape from them all with the other halfling, you find out the halfling is actually a spy and knows everything thats been going on with The Ring, The Wizard, The Ranger and the Dwarf but never told you! This will only leave you dissatisfied, suggest waiting until and if rest of the story is written.

I have mixed feelings about this book, there are some things that I absolutely loved, but there are also bits that were really confusing (unfortunately in a-bad-writing way). The characters are great and intriguing, I enjoyed interacting with (mostly) all of them. The biggest problem I had was with MC, for me there wasn't enough interesting character options, though I loved the fact we have a lot of control on our guy. The game lets us [i]choose[/i] and the choices we make actually matter and mean something, we don't have to agree with everything and it works. Nicely executed. The story was good but only to a certain point, the closer we get to the end, the more confounding and rushed it feels. We basically get no clear answers and although I understand that it's only the first book, for me it should be able to stand alone. I don't mind books ending on a cliffhanger, but in this particular one we essentially don't get any closure of any matter. And I still don't get it why our character is [i]so special[/i], it wasn't explained very well. So, it's good but not [i]that[/i] good, it's okay-ish in the sense of medicore writing.

I am the type of person who likes to know something of what is going on so I can make an informed decision. This story/game is the exact opposite of that. Despite being out my comfort zone I decided I would play through to the end, see what was going on, and then re-play armed with knowledge to make better decisions. I know it is just setting up for Book 2, but the ending killed any interest I had in continuing. While avoiding spoilers (I think) I can say the character you play finds out there is an entire shadow world like our own but it's like a perpetual night time that is also cloudy. You are basically kidnapped by a resistance group from the shadow world and told your family is a line of "paladins" that keep the peace between our world and the shadow world. The Resistance is fighting against the ruler of the shadow world and his cronies. You are never told anything substantial about either side, and the story goes out of its way to make you distrust what little information you DO get. However, it is a well written and unique world the author has made so if you are the type who sees uncovering a mystery fun, I recommend this.

I have never gotten one of these text games where I felt like my character mattered to the story less. If you've ever had a burning desire to find out what it felt like to be Peach or Zelda in one of their old stories where they're basically an object, by all means buy this but I'm absolutely fed up with my experience. You can't even make friends with the characters, their relationship meter ticks up by one every time one of the mostly meaningless dialogue options you're presented with actually affects them in some way, but whoooo boy does the romance meter skyrocket. Someone has priorities here! Continuing the theme of your character being totally ineffectual and useless, I've yet to figure out how the stats I decided at the beginning of the game make any difference at all. I picked persuasion and intuition and I have yet to be asked to use either in any capacity, or for that matter either of the other two options. (Lying or fighting) There was ONE point where I was asked to physically attack something, and frankly it was so clearly a "no matter what you do you can't do anything" moment that I started getting angry. I haven't finished it yet I'll admit, but I'm pretty deep in the game and frankly I don't want to, it's just not an enjoyable experience. I wanted a text game, I bought a book. You'd have the same experience writing in the margins of one, and affect the storyline just as much.

I’m afraid I can’t recommend this book on account of problems I have with the plot and characters of it. In short, the Shadow Society fails to explain its world and characters properly, despite an abundance of time spent on exposition. I found myself confused through most the story, with more questions than answers, and not in a good way. Overall, I’d rate this story 4/10, or below average. For those who’d like a more in-depth breakdown, continue reading. Beware spoilers for the whole game. [b]Plot[/b] Honestly, there’s not much of one. There’s no overarching conflict that drives the story or some sort of ticking time bomb. The Shadow Society’s more a compilation of loosely connected events. A basic summary of the plot is that the MC visits their childhood home, where they’re abducted and pulled into another world by a group called the Insurgents, after staying with them for a few chapters, you’re abducted by another group called the Society, the book ends with you choosing to join one of the two, or escaping into a third group called the Agency of Lux. Now, to be fair, while simplistic, there’s nothing wrong with this plot. The basic idea seems to be to give the player time to learn about each of the three groups, so they can make an informed decision at the end of the book as to who to join. So, let’s take a look at these three groups. -The Insurgents are a group of rebels. The problem is that I still don’t know what ideals or actions they’re rebelling against. All I know is that they’re enemies of the Society. Why are they rebelling? What do they stand for? What are their tactics? Your guess is as good as mine. -The Shadow Society is the ruling class of whatever their worlds called. I know nothing else about them. -The Agency of Lux is an organization that are supposed to serve as liaisons between their world and Earth. You don’t know much else about them, apart from the fact that one of their members supported the Insurgents, still, they’re who I chose, purely on account of them being the only faction to not abduct me. You see the problem, right? The book doesn’t give you much information on any of these factions, despite having ample time to do so. The story’s perhaps, too focused on having everything be a mystery, to the point it doesn’t give anything beyond the most basic information. This is an interactive novel, one with plenty of exposition, I can’t think of any reason not to include an option to ask members of each group what they stand for and what they hope to accomplish going forward. [b]Characters[/b] Most the cast are members of the Insurgents. The problem I have with that, is that they’re the ones who dragged you into this mess in the first place, by abducting you. Don’t expect them to apologize for doing it either. If anything, they seem to think it’s funny when you express anger about it. The two characters from the Society that you meet also abducted you, so they’re not much better. The whole abduction issue soured my perception of most of the book’s cast. Especially since there wasn’t any dire need of your abilities. Heck, I’m still not sure why they bothered in the first place. Still, let’s examine the cast one by one. -Azuridia’s the leader of the main group, and a member of the Insurgents. She’s never anything but a huge jerk and control freak to you throughout the entire book. She’s complicit in not telling you anything yet is angry when you hide things from her. I genuinely can’t think of any redeeming qualities or any promise of development for her in future installments. Furthermore, maybe I missed it, but despite her being a jerk, there’s never any opportunity to get back at her. -Rheyla is Azuridia’s bratty little sister and another member of the Insurgents. She’s a little more open with information than the rest of the main cast, also she hates her sister almost as much as I do, which is a big plus for me. But she spends most the game in a state of perpetual anger, constantly mad about something. She’s not bad, but I don’t have any strong feelings for her either. -Gwendolyn’s an insurgent who seems okay at first, but that changes when you take a minute to examine her closer. She’s friendlier to you than the rest of her team, but that doesn’t mean she’s all that great either. She’s still a part of the group that kidnapped you, and even jokes about how you’re their captive. She’s also a huge jerk to the only character in the game I actually like, so that’s a big negative. -Quarie’s supposedly a mute who doesn’t interact with you much throughout the story. I really don’t know all that much about her. [spoiler] In the last chapter, it’s revealed that she’s a literal monster of some kind who assaults you if you try to escape, so, I killed her. Good riddance I guess?[/spoiler] -Michaela’s the only character in the game I like. She’s another human who’s pulled along with you when you’re kidnapped. She’s treated like garbage by most the cast, for most the game, but is still friendly toward you and tries to help you when she can. She’s later revealed to be an Agent of Lux, but while she did lie to you about that, her reasons for doing so are more understandable than that the rest of the cast. She's also the only one to express guilt for lying to you. -Vherian’s the leader of the Shadow Society, and clearly the author’s favorite. I think you spend more time interacting with them than you do any other character in this story. He has a jovial, lighthearted personality that can be amusing, but is also a bit irritating. He’s the villain, I think, he kills some Insurgents and an Agent of Lux, while joking about it, but still, I have no idea what he’s planning, why he’s doing whatever it is he’s doing, or what he stands for. I don’t really have much of an opinion on him as a result. [b]Conclusion[/b] As you can tell I didn’t like this story. But don’t take that to mean that I think the author’s bad. The prose is actually quite good, and character interactions, in a vacuum, can be quite fun. The ideas behind the world are also fairly intriguing. I may not have liked this story, but I may check out other books by this author, when they’re released. I may even give the sequel a try in the future. As for the Shadow Society itself? Well, unfortunately, I’d recommend giving this game a pass.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: the game is going through a from-the-ground rewrite atm, and this review is very outdated - the fact it's one of my favorite IFs still holds, but this will also be rewritten once the new version is completed) A very interesting game here! But my first warning will be that it's the first book of a trilogy, so keep that in mind when purchasing! So, before I talk about my PROs and CONs, I would like to adress two important things. First one is that I've seen people compare this to Wayhaven Chronicles, often in a derogatory way, but this couldn't be more untrue. It's actually pretty unfair to both games. I think people have that opinion because both games are structured exactly like a visual novel (first person narrative, distinct "routes" for the love interests, ...), and that's uncommon among HG/CoG games - to me it felt very natural since I'm used to playing otome and BL VNs. The two games are VERY different, with the only actual thing in common being the supernatural theme, which is a fairly common thing anyway. Second are the critiques about the game feeling rushed or unpolished. It actually got adressed. The game had a huge content update some months ago, I believe. I did look for the old version in order to compare, and yes, these things WERE true about the old version. Not the new one. It also adds a lot of info about the world and current situation, so it also adresses the issue some had with being too lost/ignorant about what was happening. Now, with that being said, the actual things I like or not! [b]PROs - Story and setting:[/b] It's a supernatural love story. But an interesting take as far as the setting goes. Kind of reminds me of one of my favorite mangas ever, in all the good ways - Monochrome Factor. I'm so happy to have a great game in a vaguely similar setting. And I'm intrigued in the story and all the mysteries still present by the end of book 1 - I can't wait for the next one! [b]- Characters:[/b] What can I say - all of them are enjoyable! Quaiel and Rheylo truly stole my heart, but I like them all. Including the MC. Sure, a lot of the MC's actions depend on the player and their choices, but the story being written in first person, he's still a full-fleshed character. That suggests a fair deal of customization depending on the choices (I can't confirm because I only change the romance between the playthroughs). [b]- Variables:[/b] Let's talk about that. Sure, the story is pretty linear, with it being the first book, and it has basically one ending. But said ending has a HUGE variable that I won't spoil, and that impacts two of the love interests greatly. Logically, that creates three GIANT versions for the ending point for book 1, which means books 2 and 3 will have to include a lot of variables in order to deal with that. Sure, it doesn't affect much yet, but I can only imagine how great it'll be with the next book. [b]- Non-gender-locked love interests:[/b] What can I say - I like the fact all five main love interests (not the "secret" ones) are not gender-locked. They are awesome characters, and I'm happy anyone can romance them, even if they only want to romance guys or girls. [b]- Shy romance options:[/b] It's sad that this is something I have to point out, but yeah, we don't see nearly enough HG/CoG games with the possibility to make the MC react in a shy or even passive way to the selected LI, and yet still be attracted. Most of the time, the LI's won't try anything on their own if the player doesn't select romance choices. And if you like to play shy MCs, it's frustrating when you don't have any shy romance options and have to go OOC and open or even bold in order to get a romance. None of that here! You still have bold/active romance choices too, though. [b]- RP focused:[/b] This is a very RP focused game - as in, the stats impact VERY little things and most things occur because of player choices, and I couldn't be more happy with that. I don't like stat focused games very much. [b]CONs - Some continuity/coding errors:[/b] Nothing gamebreaking and I've reported these, so yeah. [b]- Not enough 1-1 scenes with the characters:[/b] This is a peculiar one, but basically, since the game follows a VN structure, you often get to select who to talk to, and that means you'll be focusing on your chosen LI. That's great, but I wish the game gave more opportunities to talk one on one with characters, with it being something forced by the story, not a choice. We have the opportunity for Michael at the beginning, Rheylo later on, and Azur by the end. Which means you naturally end with way more friendship points with them, even if not romanced, than with Quaiel and Gwyndal. I wish we had more opportunities to build friendships. That'll probably come in book 2 though. And I think that's it - I don't have a lot of negative things to say, honestly. I really love this game! So yeah, in case it wasn't obvious... I highly recommend it!

okay, first off: i really liked this game. second off: i would never, ever recommend anyone buy this, ever. not for the full price, not on sale, not at all. the first thing you see in the game is "The Shadow Society is a standalone story with no sequels planned." - as stated in the official steam store description as well. this is, in my opinion, an incredibly shady statement to make, as this is in truth an ABANDONED story. a rewrite and sequels were planned but never realised. the author has confirmed on their blog that the project is abandoned entirely. you will not get a satisfying ending or answers to anything in this. it is not a standalone story. PROS - what little you see of the world-building in this seems really intriguing - pretty varied and compelling characters, especially for the supernatural romance genre - i really like splitting the friendship and romance values in relationships. a lot of these types of games make you feel like you're either leading a character on or have to be an outright ass to them to avoid triggering a romance path on accident - the writing is maybe not stellar, but it's an easy read and has some charm to it CONS - no questions answered, nothing really expanded upon, just stops cold-turkey in the middle of it - quite a few typos, including stuff like to/two and off/of, aka things an editor usually should've helped with - a lot of continuity errors. though most of them are minor, it really makes it feel like your actions and questions don't really matter much. you'll ask about a topic, learn something about it, and then later on your character will still react to the same information like it's been newly revealed and such all in all - the story had a lot of potential and i was eager to follow where it was leading. it's just a shame that happened to be "straight into a wall". and let me be clear here: it's fine for stories to be unfinished. stories get abandoned all the time and it would be an absolute shame to just make all unfinished media inaccessible simply because it is unfinished. but to then turn around and call it a "standalone story with no planned sequels" feels, in my opinion, wilfully deceitful and misleading. especially when you're also charging a comparatively high price for it.

Yet another story that ends in a cliffhanger only to be abandoned by the creator. It should be free to play considering it's an incomplete story, and information on it's status explained at the store page. Not the first time i've run into this, think I'll just give up on text-based games.