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(+1)

I'm a little disappointment that all the LI's seem to be do-gooders. (Not so much as an amoral rogue amongst them, never mind a villain. *sigh*)

But the game itself is well-written, and the artwork is good.

The story is intriguing and captivating as well.

Granted, I'd never help the idiot trying to run to begin with, and my first thought was to just kill him and see if it helped.... but that was sadly not at choice when you first got cursed.

However, the end of the demo, evil cliffhanger that it was, made me want to buy it.

And happily I found it on Steam, so I just might. ^_^

....still wish there was a more wicked love interest tho.... >_>

Also kinda envy the task of the Minstrel. I don't why he was chosen for something I'd be better suited for, but I'm sure there was a reason..........

I have a feeling that all the LI's will just run away screaming in this story. Which is sad, cuz I'm kinda a romantic.

But only if there's someone actually worth my time.

And as far as I can tell, there is non in this game.

....unless you meet someone else after the demo's end.

Hello! Thank you for the kind words, I'm happy you liked Shadow Bonds ✨

It doesn't sound like you would enjoy the full game, unfortunately. All five love interests are arguably good people, and while the main character can do some very questionable stuff, it's all framed through the pragmatic lens of 'for the greater good'.

(And three LIs do run away in the bloodier ending 😅)

In retrospect perhaps I should have considered that before buying it. lol

That said.... The game IS really well-written, and the story itself exceptionally good.
(In the main game as well.)

My ONE problem with it is that I had the foolish hope that a certain bard would change personality depending on your choices, and not reject you based on them.

He DOES have a dual hair-color, and a torn loyalty.
I suppose it was foolish of me to expect he had two different paths to walk because of it.
And that you could push him towards light or darkness.

I honestly think the biggest flaw most game have is that they refuse to offer DIFFERENT type people as LI's.
Now, your game DO have a bit more variation than a number of other games, but they are all fundamentally good people.
And THAT is a flaw.
Because many people like bad boys. And not all want that bad boy (or girl) to have a heart of gold.

And because of that, the ending comes off as moralizing.

Because you can't, fundamentally, choose the Abyss.
Not if you want love --something the Abyss encourages.

Or at least that's what it seems like.

I have not found a Walktrough to the game yet.

But I can't help but hope that there will one day be a future update in which you CAN influence your love-interest, so that instead of rejecting you if you take a darker path, they grow darker with you.

THAT would be a truly happy ending.

(Of course, making people work for it is fine. Some people need more manipulation than others. And I think my sweet bard needs to break.... while the thief girl is halfway there already, and the mage woman could be swayed by power and corruption....
Only the prodigal one would require you to follow the godess I think, logically... but he should have a warning for that.)
And this would make choices matter more than they do as well, which is a good thing.)

So if you want the game to appeal to even more people, THIS is a good way to do so.

Everyone loves freedom, after all.
And freedom comes from choices, with real impact.
And the ability to still be with someone they love, AND make the choice they want to make.

And most importantly: WARN people!

It is VERY disappointing to choose a path, and have to play to the very end before you realize it means you CANNOT be with your LI.

Perhaps it should be obvious, but I have played many games where your choices DO change how you LI ends up, and even more where he loves you too much to care.

So some people will assume the same as me, and be disappointed because of it.
Doubly so because of all the time and effort they put into it, only to loose what matters most at the end.

And because your save-files are not endless like Ren'Py has, you can't actually locate the point everything went wrong and retry from there either --presuming you can figure out where exactly you went wrong to begin with, which is not easy with such a big game.

Some LIs can be convinced to switch sides, but Alpheon is not one of them--he is the most restrictive of the LIs, and that is by design.

If you want to have a successful romance with Alpheon, going back to the conversation with the Prodigal One and initiating the LoD ending is the only way to do so (Alpheon locks you out of the M ending and will effectively mind-control you into not romancing him in the DH ending). As I said, this is by design, as Alpheon truly loathes what he has to do in the DH ending, and MC ignores his wishes and forces him to act. That's what prompts his 'rebellion' in the caves--he gets a taste of his future.
(The short story 'The day I decided to cry' deals with his feelings on the matter, although the protagonist there is implied to have romanced Malec instead. In a successful DH ending, Alpheon spirals into suicide ideation.)

There is a paid guidebook DLC available on itchio and Steam with a guide to choices, branches, achievements and romances!

Ugh. I hate the godess shit. Truly.
...and I don't really like the other male LI's.
...and I still prefer the males. *sigh* Not to mention all other options, save the worst idiot of the all, is mortal.

I had honestly hoped there was a way you could choose the Abyss' end goal, but go about it in a way that didn't go against his morals so badly.

But there wasn't a third choice, only the godess and the abyss. No "choosing the Abyss but maybe we don't have to kill people" kinda thing. >_>

But thanks for the info.

just wanted to say that I adore your comments and play games based on them, you should definitely consider creating your own collection on itch.io



... well, that's it, thank you for being you <3

(1 edit)

I'm flattered. /blush

I have several clearly marked game collections with my favorite games on my itch page tho. lol

Can't my page be seen by other people?
I thought it was public. o_O

...or was this even for me? lol

oh wait, you're right, just had to click your "view creator page" :D


(and yes, was meant for you xD)

The Dark Romance games have a higher risk of getting you killed than the Sweet Romance games.
The games in the Div Games pile is more focused on story than romance (tho most have romance), and some of them are ready-to-publish (or published on steam already) games.

And my favorite games are, like, 90% yandere I think. lol

Oh, and Our Wonderland have more game after the credits, so remember to keep playing, cuz it has like, 5 stages or something hidden behind those credit rollings.

Enjoy your games~ ^_^