#choice based

After a long winter, the first of many updates is live. This one brings the total count to 17 772 (Excl. commands), it brings a large number of changes since the last update, too many to list to be frank. You now have a full dialogue between the team to properly get to know everyone and get a sense of what they are like. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, we have laid out some plans for RO's but nothing is set in stone yet, so if you have any strong opinions now is the time to voice them. Who would you be interested in pursuing as an RO?

As is tradition today's update comes with a competition, first one to Message me with the correct answer gets their name in the next chapter! (No cheating, ok? 😇) What Rifle does Ren use?

🏆 The last winner was Vance who found out where Legion was from last time.

... where me, Manon, will sometime play some games and review them (mostly IF stuff, but not just) in a long form post. There are obviously my take on the game reviewed, which you can obviously 100% disagree with.

These reviews will probably include:

general information about the game(s) reviewed

playthrough characteristics

the rating (if applicable)

an overall summary and my thoughts about the game(s)

The formatting of the reviews will look different with game jam entries, or very short games.

=============Links

Find me @manonamora-if, where I talk about the games I've made and other IF stuff.

Read the IF Reviews on the IFDB.

Read VN Review on the VNDB.

Submit a Game for Review!

Go through the tags.

=============Metrics

You may notice different ratings between the review here/IFDB and the one left on itch.io. That's because I use different scales.

Itch: Enjoyment of the work

Here: same was the recommended scale on the IFDB.

I will not be rating (here/on the IFDB) incomplete pieces, or if I don't feel like it. You can find further details on the scaling on this post.

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I recently got around to play 'Vampyr', needless to say I rather love Dr. Reid as a character so I decided to sketch him up for craps. He's got a great design and after going through the game twice doing both a pacifist run and a genocide run I can faithfully say I enjoy more goodie two shoes Reid. I think it suits his personality even if I did get a kick out of scaring Dr. Swansea or some of the other characters with the more evil slanted dialogue options.

I don't get to play a whole lot of games very often these days but I'd definitely recommend folks to chomp into Vampyr - it was one hell of a ride. Definitely right up my alley - I do have a big soft spot for some classic vampires or turn of the 20th century settings.

GENERAL IDEA

A choice-based romantic drama along the lines of “Detroit: Become Human” and “Life is Strange”.

You play as Demetrius Davids (voiced and mo-capped by Michael B. Jordan), a successful lawyer living in Seattle, Washington. At the start of the game, Demetrius ends his 5-year relationship with his girlfriend, Tanisha Wallace, over irreconcilable differences. The two then have a falling out which leads to Demetrius cutting Tanisha out of his life.

Six years later, depending on the player’s choice, Demetrius’ life can be in either one of four places:

1) Married to Dominique Wells, a fellow lawyer who is dealing with her deeply problematic brother, Lamar.

2) Married to Amy Potter, a florist and single mother who won full custody over her children from her abusive ex-lover Dylan.

3) Married to Joy Chang, a news reporter whose first husband, Jason, had supposedly died in a plane crash while serving as a Marine stationed in Afghanistan.

4) Married to Eduardo Cruz, a rising actor in Hollywood who is dealing with behind-the-scenes drama with his agent, Carlos.

Demetrius is happy in either of these relationships and things seem to be going well for him…until Tanisha returns to the fold. As the two exes grapple with their complicated past, Demetrius also learns that not all is right with his current marriage. There are secrets all over and it’ll be up to the player to figure out what those secrets are and how Demetrius will react.

Basically, you’re in charge of this dark, sexy romance movie that could end in either happiness or despair for our main hero and everyone else involved.

WAYS THAT THE STORY CAN BRANCH OUT

* Players can start a toxic love affair with Tanisha. Obviously, this won’t end well, but for players looking for a juicy, drama-filled story, this is one path to take. Players who don’t get involved with Tanisha will still have to deal with her as she plots your downfall with Demetrius’ other enemies (see below). Either way, Tanisha can either be an ally or a villain as you deal with the other major problems in Demetrius’ life (see below).

* Players who married Dominique will have to choose whether or not they will get on Lamar’s good side or bad side. Befriending Lamar will lead to him dragging Demetrius into his destructive schemes. Antagonizing Lamar will put Demetrius in danger as Lamar will be gunning for him.

* Players who married Amy will be harassed by Dylan, who wants full custody over their children. Dylan can be dealt with in many ways, such as directly getting him killed, framing him for a crime, or talking with him to reach an understanding.

* Players who married Joy will eventually learn that her supposedly-dead husband Jason is actually alive. Jason will want his wife back, so it’s up to the player to either fight him or be reasonable. Also, your choices will determine whether Joy stays with Demetrius or leaves him for Jason.

* Players who married Eduardo will eventually learn that Eduardo’s agent Carlos is blackmailing them for profit. The player will have multiple ways to deal with Carlos, such as outsmarting him or just straight up killing him. The worst ending would be Carlos leaking the dirt he has on Demetrius and Eduardo, thus ruining them for life.

FANCAST (voice acting and motion capture)

1) Michael B. Jordan as the protagonist, Demetrius Davids

2) Ruth Negga as the deuteragonist/major antagonist, Tanisha Wallace

3) Lashana Lynch as Dominique Wells

4) Elizabeth Henstridge as Amy Potter

5) Ali Wong as Joy Chang

6) Johnny Sibilly as Eduardo Cruz

/

7) Damson Idris as Lamar

8) Ewan Mitchell as Dylan

9) Harry Shum Jr. as Jason

Some of you may have read and (hopefully) enjoyed my suspenseful little snippet about the young woman whose father was apparently suffering from paranoia. A few of you asked me if I would continue the story, and I replied that I was definitely thinking about it! 

Well, I’m doing it - but I want the story to be fun and special for readers!

I’ve decided to make this an interactive story where readers can actually have a hand in how the story goes! 

As you may have read in my newest update to the story (snippet #2), I’m making this story a reader-fueled experience, and it’s going to take on the form of a choose-your-own-adventure story. What this means is that the story will be told in the form of snippets. At the end of each snippet, readers will be provided with two or three options, and they can vote for where they want the story to go next by leaving a comment! 

This way, the story becomes a collaborative effort on the part of the readers and myself! ^^ I’ve been wanting to do something very much like this with an episodic murder mystery that I’m writing specifically with Tumblr in mind, and I was going to get this kind of interactive game started with that story, but I think this will also be a great chance to experience it and see if the idea will work in terms of reader engagement and retention!

I don’t have a title for the story yet, but I’m working on it! Maybe that, too, will be something readers can vote on after the next few snippets or so? ^^

Now, when it comes to the snippets themselves, I’m thinking of creating a bi-weekly (twice per week, not once every two weeks!) update schedule, and that should be manageable within my schedule as well as hopefully being satisfactory for readers! I’ll also try to figure out a better schedule in terms of voting deadlines and such, but for now I’m going to be flexible and see how it goes. ^^

So far, you can read:

#1 - in which a young woman visits her estranged father

#2 - in which a mysterious character takes refuge in a bunker

If you’re interested in being tagged in this interactive story as it is updated, please let me know via comments/reblogs/asks/DMs! That way, you’ll never miss a chance to vote and take part in this choice-based story!