The Soul Stone War

It's sad because this game could have been decent - and it then could have lead to an even better 2nd game. However, it was not meant to be. You see, I went into this thinking that the protagonist may just be pathetic as described by many reviewers - incapable of fighting, having to always rely on others, etc. To some extent, that is what I got. However, there were many times where I was able to have my protagonist prove himself and pull off some cool scenes. I wasn't forced into being a crybaby, "submitting" to others, being overly dependent on others, etc. UNTIL THE ENDING. I was essentially forced to either compromise on my protagonist's bravery/independence and "submit" - or just straight up die. No, I was not told that I would die after making such a decision - but that's what happened in the end. WTF? There's obviously no saving in this game so in order to continue the series I'd need to start a whole new character and replay the ENTIRE game, hopefully guessing that I know which answer to pick to avoid getting killed off while somehow acting the least amount of pathetic as possible, even though I'd have to compromise and play a slightly more crybaby/self-loathing/overall more pathetic character than I would have played the first time. I honestly don't mind a character that is a bit weak. I don't mind a character that needs to rely on others. I don't mind a character that needs some emotional development. However, this game took it way too far. It's almost kinda insulting. Not only are you forced to play a damsel in distress, it turns out that you are FORCED to act like one too - or get punished for it by having your own desires rejected and your character killed off over their refusal to "submit" in the end. In fact, there's a very strange predatory vibe being given off by all these characters. It's slightly creepy but I wouldn't mind it so much if the game didn't punish me for actually caring about my bodily and mental autonomy at the end. Taking away a player's agency to act how they want is simultaneously forcing that predator-victim relationship, making this to be an overall bothersome read. Unfortunately, the fact that the ending was so disappointingly bad really took away all the excuses this story had regarding its... other flaws. Certain scenes just seemed very awkwardly done or were straight up creepy as previously mentioned, relationships formed in very strange ways with flimsy justification (unrealistic), lots of superficial character interactions, a highly questionable villain bordering on predator, characters lacking depth / not super interesting, and a plot that is "passable" at best. The romance (and flexibility with the romances) would have made up for it - but there was somewhat limited romantic interaction in the first game and, you know, I died so no chance at game #2 for me! Anyway, I normally don't write negative reviews for these games because I know authors tend to put in a lot of work and I feel bad. However, I had to write a review for this work. Why? This story is of the worst kind; it's one that had all the potential to be decent yet was ruined by some nonsensical creative decisions from the author. 3/10 - do not recommend - bad, ruined potential; but, at least I wasn't bored out of my mind.

As much as I wanted to like this the writing just isn't very good, your character is sort of forced into a passive/submissive role regardless of the kind of character you would want to be, and the choice system is extremely poorly designed. Often you'll have a range of choices that are not obviously different from each other, or you'll have choices which do affect what happens next, but the choices themselves don't give you any indication what those effects will be. Combined with the lack of a save/rollback feature and you have the choice between being stuck with the story going in a direction you didn't want because the choices don't make sense, or restarting completely. Overall, not worth the price, or the time it takes to play.

I didn't enjoy this one. Things go too fast, happen too fast, and end too fast. There so many questions and undevelloped stories. In the end none where answered. This story is fail for me.

古代魔法与剑设定下的弱鸡主角冒险故事，和标题一样，一边收集队友一边收集soul stone。故事有点平平无奇，不是对可攻略对象感兴趣的话会觉得有点无聊，建议买之前玩demo。两个男Li一个是嘴臭类一个是温柔类，都比较平平无奇，女li一个是轻浮役精灵一个是半龙人，虽然也是常见的人设但不得不说Daelynn姐挺会的🤌很难拒绝女性轻浮役。 作者说过本系列预计有五本书，同时还在忙视觉小说的项目，估计完结起码等七八年，而且结合作者在patron单独贩卖nsfw 故事pdf的行为，隐隐感觉作者有捞一笔就跑路的迹象，害怕作者弃坑跑路的话建议慎入。

[strike]时长是开头读睡着了，打工后不要学英语[/strike] 先说喜欢的地方，队友们的感情线有两种发展可能，也有很多日常事件让情感升温较为循序渐进，Daelynn，我唯一的姐（偶尔和Mornie并列第一），真的很爱girlboss！一周目本以为隐藏线会写得最好，就没走队友们的恋爱线，结果没想到隐藏线是那样儿的，而姐就算只和MC做朋友也给我迷晕倒，等我二周目就迷途知返，与其当讲话像吃了十本老式霸总小说的男人的玩物，不如躺Daelynn姐的怀里做废物。 然后讲讲我很无语的地方：最好对本作的主线不要有太高的预期！开局读到动不动就征服世界、万王之王的大场面，还以为是正剧向的作品，加上MC初登场时不明原因的逃亡，尚能保留着点沉重的味道；结果没想到后面整一个小儿科式展开，举些例子，[spoiler]把MC吓得快去世的人是个谐星炮灰（我理解他本身设定也只是个村中恶霸，那好歹别让主角怕成这副德行啊），MC的悲惨往事又给我无语了两个多小时没继续，“主角发小莫名其妙爱上垃圾炮灰男，莫名其妙就被同为恶霸的醉汉发现了，莫名其妙这发小就一定要停下来和醉汉吵架，然后醉汉就一拳打死了发小，然后主角‘不——’”，不是说发小死了不够惨，但这个全然没塑造、为了死而死的工具人形象我真没法共情，整部书的开头就像是故意演烂俗桥段的喜剧片，但你偏偏能感觉到作者是认真想把它写得很惨（吧）。[/spoiler] 另一个是MC的问题。按理来说，互动小说应该是包括多种对话选项，可以让玩家选择想RP什么样的MC，但这部对MC多样性的塑造和主线一样，依然是雷声大雨点小，看似能选择外貌身高年龄出身背景，但都只有一句话而已，实际上那些真正重要的、关乎性格和主线抉择的选项几乎没有，MC基本是预设好的，就是个一惊一乍冒冒失失的菜鸟（我必须要提出！作者能不能在写MC心理描写时！少用点感叹号！和感叹号问号的组合！？它们出现的频率！就跟我写测评一样多），当然，如果你最初就想扮演一个这样的MC会好点，快乐游戏的奥秘就是降低心理预期。 最后是某隐藏感情线！从头到尾给我看得嘎嘎笑！且不提为啥他和MC会突然爱得要死要活的问题，我可以姑且认为他们是看脸一见钟情（至少他的脸应该是有被一见钟情的资本），但他的台词实在是，通俗一点讲，[spoiler]“呵，女人，你不过是我的玩物”“什么？你竟然突破了我的咒语，有趣……”还有“如果我的灵魂伴侣受了任何一点伤害，我要让你陪葬”，然后MC也被同化，开始“哦不，我不要离开我的灵魂伴侣”，作者！灵魂伴侣是靠描写的，不是靠喊的！最后一章进线后我光看soulmate这个词就看到视觉疲劳了！[/spoiler] 只不过苦了Mornie，[spoiler]上司是个恋爱脑，勤勤恳恳打了半天工最后被迫陪葬，可明明是我操控MC主动的！！是朕执意要勾引狼女，是朕故意不躲开她强吻，你为什么不恨朕！！！老天啊，希望她能活下来。[/spoiler] 等打折买第二本看看！

It reads more like fanfic than a proper CYOA game. Also, why is the protagonist so whimsical? I'm playing as a 6'11" guy which tries to hack every problem to pieces he encounters, yet I'm depicted as some baby-boy. Why offer all these choices to form your character when the game doesn't adapt to them? For example, why do people constantly refer to me as "kid" or "boy" even though I chose to be in my late 20s / early 30s? Wtf? And why does everyone want to touch, kiss, or molest me? The whole game has a weird, creepy almost predatory vibe to it. Didn't like the ending either. No, I'll pass on book 2–thank you very much!

If I hadn't been past the refund window when I started playing, I definitely would have asked for a refund. The story failed to hook me from the start, and I only stuck with it to get my money's worth. The MC is constantly portrayed as weak and in need of protection, which would be fine if consistent, but they can somehow kill armed bandits in the very first chapter and wield both weapons and magic with no training. It seems the game can't decide if they're helpless or capable—or rather, it insists they're helpless and hammers it in, yet lets them be randomly competent at times. You can choose the MC's age (from 18 to early 30s), which is neat in theory, but meaningless in practice as they act childishly regardless, and other characters treat them like a kid (despite being attracted to them, which is a whole other can of worms). The game forces a default MC personality on you, with long stretches of passive reading that don't even take your personality stats into account. On my second playthrough, I shifted my roleplay to fit the character the game seemed to expect, which helped, and I did notice a few scene variations that were mildly rewarding. Still, having to bend your roleplay to suit the game rather than the other way around is poor design. The pacing is terrible: the whole plot unfolds in about a week, with major events (like acquiring ultra rare artifacts) rushed through with no buildup, tension, or payoff. Character development suffers too, with companions becoming loyal friends immediately, and while the narration sort of lampshades this, it only highlights the lazy writing. Even romance, while the most fleshed-out part of the game, suffers from the same breakneck pacing that jumps to love after barely a week. Worldbuilding is shallow: gods, artifacts, and fantasy races are mentioned but never really explored, and your MC's own magical abilities are never explained. On top of that, the writing is weak and full of awkward, failed humor (I can't overstate how grating the constant, sarcastic "thank you very much!" became after the tenth time it showed up). I managed to pull some enjoyment out of the experience by adjusting expectations and leaning into the romance, but ultimately, this was a disappointment I wouldn't recommend.

In a way this game is like a comedy, with everyone trying to be with or give things to the main character like they were simping over him. Even the werewolf minion wanted a kiss at one point. No matter how much I push away and be rude, the four companions keep around the main character and never leave. A bit too many caves and too few settlements. The main character is like a damsel in distress at a lot of times, and it is something how he is so tired or weakened all the time. The funniest part near the end is, upon doing the secret ending, the donkey is still with the character. The donkey gets her own place and is coddled like royalty. Everyone likes that donkey, even to the point of feeding him a lot to the point of gaining some weight.

tl:dr I cannot recommend this game for straight mans. Maybe its good for womans but definitly not my cup of tea. [spoiler] So lets begin. There are 2 womans who you can possibly romance. To do so tho you have to pass check and actually filtr with them on all occassions... No all of those ocassions are appropriate imo. So instead of being friendly person when i actually would like to I have to filtr otherwise no romance development. Sounds kinda good right? From those two womans one of them is kidnapped at end of game 1 and in game 2 you have to play without her for most of the game... Yet again great development.. Besides of that it was like only one scene where there was actual bonding and thats all. Maybe males routes are better but I am not going to play them so I will never know. Going to the second option she is like fawning over MC from the start without any good reason. She seem pretty shallow from my pov. There is also some secret related to her and if I read true she seem even more not likeable for me. So thats all for romance. Now going to narrative. I feel like our MC is some old good humoured granny. Everyone are going to defend him and didn't really acknowledge his actions. I killed bounty hunters, kobold, sirens, and fking two trolls. Does it seem like person who cannot take care of himself? Also considering that my MC main characteristic was pragmatism why the hell did he fight getting the soul stone? He was going to die and his love interest was in danger. Isn't it obvious that he has to accept it asap and join the fray? I was considering buying second book but I think I will pass it. As for games I can recommend for people like me that would be Wayhaven and The Golden Rose.[/spoiler]

The mixed reviews on this one made me hesitant to try. Everyone seemed to complain how inexperienced the PC was and how often they'd get rescued. But the fervent positive reviews made me give in and give it a try. I am glad I did so, and I would encourage the same. I went into this with the mindset that the PC will be inexperienced and needing help. So I mentally constructed a young, naive, PC who had only ever known a safe and sheltered life. With that in mind, I went through the story RP-ing as that PC and had an absolute delight. I did not intend to romance any of the four team buddies, but rather aimed for setting up a family dynamic or mentor/mentor-ee given how young/inexperienced my PC was. And wow am I happy I did that. It's so rare to find a game where the PC has a genuine platonic/familiar bond with multiple characters that have depth. Each of them came to life as the story progressed and it was so touching to see them take care of the PC similar to a family unit. Each chapter had me smiling from their interactions. It was sweet, wholesome, and just genuinely nice. On a sidenote, you get to choose a "swear word" to use pretty regularly and I chose "Biscuits." So every so often I got to read my young village swear, "Oh biscuits!" and it just made the whole situation 10 times better. And while my PC certainly wasn't a god-killing hero like certain choice games, they still had their impressive moments. [spoiler] I maxed out persuasion and had a touching moment with a dragon that I don't want to spoil, but definitely recommend a persuasion walkthrough just for that scene. ;; [/spoiler] They felt genuine and endearing. I certainly could understand why the other members looked after the PC--I wanted to do the same! I would encourage anyone looking for a fun read to give it a try. Especially if you're open to playing without a focus on romance, but more on platonic / family bonds because this fit in swell. Final note regarding an ending I got: [spoiler] Because I wasn't romancing any of the party members I accidentally stumbled into the Secret Character romance and oh my GOD that was amazing. I laughed so hard when I realized what was happening. Literally the best Uno-Reverse I have ever read from these types games. Reminds me of a Tricker!MC from Wrath of the Rigtheous with how delightfully silly it is. Literally bought the second game JUST to see what would happen for that twist. 10/10 [/spoiler]