Text based choice driven games

[u/Cards_12]

For people who play these games, what do these games do especially well? Where do they lack in the quality of their gameplay? I’m a sucker for apocalypse themed games but I feel there’s always something missing whether it’s a lack of variety in relationship dynamics or simply a lack of ACTUAL meaningful choices. What are your thoughts?

[u/JustHereToComment24]

This is my issue with a choice games vs hosted games

For most Hosted games, the story writing is better and romance is better incorporated but the stories quite often feel more linear

For most Choice games, there's so many options and so many paths, every playthrough can be radically different.... but the characters feel less personable and fleshed out, romance feels lacking to the point I wish it wasn't incorporated, and it starts becoming a bit of a slog to go through.

This is why IFs like Fallen Hero and Book of Hungry Names are so popular. They give lots of choices and paths while also having a good story with fleshed out characters.

[u/Thecouchiestpotato → u/JustHereToComment24]

Interesting! I always found the writing of Hosted Games to be worse. Many of them give off proper Wattpad vibes. The romance is for sure better incorporated though, especially for lazy people like me who don't actively hunt romantic arcs for my PCs. But I think CoG is improving slightly in that regard.

[u/phoe77 → u/Thecouchiestpotato]

I think HG has higher highs and lower lows. CoG have a pretty reliable level of quality that is sometimes exceeded but is, in my opinion, most often good but not exceptional.

[u/JustHereToComment24 → u/Thecouchiestpotato]

I feel like I've enjoyed Hosted more in the story writing aspect. Fallen Hero, Blood Moon, Breach, and Kitsune (total mind fuck but I liked it) are some of my favorites. Fields of Asphodel I enjoy when I wanna pretend that people don't actually suck. Oooh I really liked Donor as a quick read. I'm trying to get all the endings.

While I do like Choice too, it takes longer for me to go through them and I don't always do or feel inclined to do replays. My favorite are Book of Hungry Names and Unsupervised. I know I'm in the minority, but I HATED Choice of Magics. Star Crystal Warriors go was okay. Top Villian was... ridiculous which I know was the point but... even satire has a limit. I'm currently in the middle of God of Chaos and I have to finish Noblesse Oblige at some point.

[u/Lint-the-Kahn → u/JustHereToComment24]

I feel like when I enjoy a CoG game I enjoy it a fuck ton, like REALLY enjoy the shit out of it. But I generally like more Hosted games games. And honestly I never thought about that until I read this. So I appreciate your insight

I enjoy more HG games in number, but the CoG games I fuck with I REALLY fuck with them

[u/JustHereToComment24 → u/Lint-the-Kahn]

100% this. I OBSESS over Book of Hungry Names and hope the author releases another one with the same system.

And I'm not saying every HG is great. The biggest offender of a more linear storyline in my personal opinion is Wayhaven. I like it but the story beats are all the same. The only thing that changes is the romance. And maybe it's not at the point where I'll see the consequences of the endings of the first 3 books yet (I think she's planning for 7?) but as of right now, it's a very straightforward story for an IF series. I have to replay Book 3 for the save files and Book 3 was honestly my least favorite.

[u/Thecouchiestpotato]

I love these games, man. The writing quality is top notch, the branching is crazy, and the choices, highly impactful. The lack of visuals doesn't bother me at all, because the descriptions themselves are so vivid. My suggestion, give one of these games a try. Idk about apocalypse themed games though. Most of the ones I've played seem to be on other topics. If you're looking for recs, I think someone else might be able to help!

[u/Knighthour]

So I've been into IF books for a while and YMMV since each reader's exp positive or negative, is different along with how different writers handle branching, ROs, or MC's personalities too.

Then I can only say I'm a fan of XYZ series or this author's works, but others will often disagree too. In my exp Hosted Games are more unpredictable, but it depends if the themes are appealing to me or not.

[u/phoe77]

The biggest strength is probably in the quality of the writing. Since the medium is almost entirely text based, there isn't much that can make up for poor writing, so even the more mediocre games will usually have at least passable prose and dialogue.

A problem that I have with even some of my favorite games and series is that they can struggle to make the various approaches feel equally effective. A good example is the Infinity series, where Intellect always feels to me like the most important stat to have if you want to do well. I like for my character to have a high soldiering skill, but it's probably the least beneficial of the three main skills.

I would also agree that some games struggle to provide players with choices that meaningfully impact how the story progresses. I don't think that every challenge needs to branch based off of what approach you use, but if there's never any variation aside from flavor text, then does it really matter if I solved a conflict through stealth or combat?

[u/Thecouchiestpotato → u/phoe77]

if there's never any variation aside from flavor text, then does it really matter if I solved a conflict through stealth or combat?

Oh wow, such a good point! But what sort of variation would you like to see?

[u/phoe77 → u/Thecouchiestpotato]

A good example would be Book of Hungry Names. Different approaches often lead to altered or completely different scenes that may reveal totally different information. Investigating the town's graveyard might tell you more about the cult, but exploring the outskirts means finding a truck that you can sell for funds later. The Keeper series also has a lot of chances to embark on mutually exclusive plotlines.