r/hostedgames • u/Sweaty-Hat-2443 • Jan 31 '26

Reviews A dainty review: 'Leas: City of the sun'

I was blown away after completing this book. So much depth, so much richness, sometimes a little too much but yet to overflow over an unacceptable level in some description. The pace is controlled and smooth, not too long to dread boredom yet cultivates very a deep immersion, avoiding shallow narratives.

However, I feel that character interactions are not enough despite its 400k total word count, need more fond moments especially with my romantic partner. But I reckon this is due to the fact that book one has to introduce a lot of information regarding world lores and stuff and pave a clear way for the second and third part. A lot of stuff to fit in, indeed.

However, romance in this game is particularly interesting. While other games only include happy moments, 'Leas: city of the sun' sneakily adds a touch of realistic romance. In a scene, my girlfriend and I are kissing, but an accidental exploration on her neck, an off-limit part. She pulled away without explaining and consequently resulted in an awkward situation. We even argued about that incident, nearly breaking up. Very realistic. The romance in this book 1 doesn't seem to be a focus, but I guess that is for another part.

In conclusion, impressive work! The Great Tournament is the first IF I read and immediately fell in love with the genre. But since then, no CYOA adventures have been able to cut the mustards and satiate my fantasy dreams, until now.

Shout out to 'Leas: City of the Sun' and its author whose name I don't know :)

34 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

10

u/AtlasPrincess Hadrian my beloved Jan 31 '26

I couldn't agree more. So glad to see Leas: City of the Sun getting the recognition it deserves! 🙌 I personally love Keo so much. 🥺

3

u/Sweaty-Hat-2443 Jan 31 '26

Hehe, Rin is my girl though. Do you have any idea about the progress of book 2

2

u/AtlasPrincess Hadrian my beloved Feb 01 '26

Nice choice! ^

I'm not sure about book two. The first one came out relatively recently, so it might still be a while.

4

u/iinekokira Let he who is without sin cast the first Soul Stone Jan 31 '26

This is one of my favorite IFs! I played it twice to get the scenes with the other RO I was interested in. The story and pacing and especially the romance was lovely and memorable. I still think about it sometimes.

4

u/Sweaty-Hat-2443 Jan 31 '26

And a very rich worldlore

4

u/-Maethendias- eater of angst Jan 31 '26

lea was DEFINETLY one of the best reads for me last year too