Hello, author! Thank you for the reply. I didn't think you would since I assume you would be very busy writing the next book, so thank you :D
I'll be glad to give some examples but I'll have to replay the game so I can give a thorough list of them and accurately specify which sentence/paragraph. Where can I send it?
WARNING SPOILER-FILLED SUPER LONG REVIEW (DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANNA GET SPOILED)
TL;DR: This story is one of those diamonds in a grand crevasse filled with rocks. I give it a 9/10.
First of all, I just wanna say that I've been looking for interactive fictions just to pass the time. I got here off of a recommendation thread on Reddit. So I'm gonna give an utterly honest review for this. I rarely give reviews to anything that allows for a review mostly because they don't impact my life in any way enough for me to give a damn about it. But seeing as I find myself giving this a lengthy review then the author clearly has done something right here.
To the author, thank you for bringing all of your ideas from your mind to the physical world. It's one of those times where people stop to think that they're glad they were born at this specific time frame in the universe that allowed them to read this story. The plot is really damn, sizzling good.
A lot of people have said the story is pretty linear. But you know what, even though I take a liking to complicated plots, I actually like this "linear" plot. It has some flaws to it in some parts of course but the way its written makes up for it. I can probably point out a few but they're actually very tiny you wouldn't even notice if you don't think twice or thrice. The way the story is structured makes me recognize a few similarities it has to other fictions I've read. The part where Bradley asks Roe which anime he preferred, I immediately realized that the author was a person of culture (I hit subbed ofc). And it reminded me of Attack on Titan and how grim the overarching plot was with everything going wrong and with the way you dropped some subtle foreshadowing. It actually felt realistic reading it. If I'm going to describe it, it's like the love-child between the writing method of Wayhaven, almost the world building of AoT, the internet-cultured memery and Hebrew/Greek mythology.
The thing I love about this is that there are moral dilemmas everywhere and they actually impact the story in the long run enough for me to consider "damn this went the wrong way, time to load up a save from ages ago" (I'm playing as a guy btw). That and because you ACTUALLY gave us the entire wheel to steer the story with and it draws readers in because it makes them feel like themselves and that they are included in the story (there are stories that feel like they're on autopilot so I'm pointing this out thank you). Most of the time it stops me to think up a prediction of what the next events might be and when I found out about Raum being a demon chasing Syd, a supposed "witch", I immediately thought something was fishy so I sat down and thought that maybe she was a princess of hell, maybe Lucifer's kid or some high ranking demon, either one of that because why would all hell break loose just to drag this woman back home if hell wasn't her home. And it pleased me to know that I was right. I've predicted numerous future events while reading (including Roe being an offspring of Death) and usually that throws me off because its predictable but lo and behold! - this one doesn't and it exhilarates me when I stop to think and predict. It's exciting! It makes me ask "and then what happens next?" One of the signs that let's me know the story is actually pretty good.
I was wondering by the way. But this prediction is such a long shot, I wouldn't even know if I'll hit or miss because Book 3 isn't even out so ima just put it out here. When Roe had that dream of being in a forest and seeing his corpse self, I think I recall that part where the sky tears apart and he says that it looks like the world is some sort of snow globe and someone is trying to destroy it. Now, I don't know why but this really stuck with me. It's so... very oddly specific. I know that the choice of words in this story aren't something readers shouldn't bat an eye on. Because I have been searching up what the name Roe meant and apparently it means deer. So I searched up what deers were meant for in the Bible and it says that they're "devoted to God". Now I'm not one to drag religion into anything but seeing as there has been a mention of Lucifer and Death and Roe literally asking Syd if there was a God. This is also the reason why I found out that Zillah wouldn't hurt Roe. I literally looked up his name and it meant "protector" and the story confirmed it. So since the story confirmed it, I further went on to read about Shades and the shadow people and there I found a wikipedia page talking about a letter from Alexander Pope to the recently passed Nicholas Rowe. Now, isn't that interesting. I don't know if this is a coincidence but the letter literally contained the words that meant "put your shade to eternal rest" and I took that as a foreshadowing that Roe was indeed dying. Lo and behold again - I was right. The only thing I have been wrong about is Roe being created by the God of the world. Because I was thinking, Azrael was the Angel of Death but he told Roe something along the lines of "The destruction of the world owes itself to you". So why did Azrael say this is what stumps me. Did he fear death? And I just assumed that he was the grim reaper himself but I later learned at the end that there was indeed Death himself and Azrael was just an "Angel" OF death. Another thing that bugs me is Lust and possibly Azrael working together and that the release of Lucifer and Roe being an offspring of death has something to do with the Angel Prophecy. I speculated this but is God trying to destroy the world? If so, then the only way to stop him is Lucifer and Death working together? I understand if Lucifer doesn't want to destroy the universe but I don't understand why Death is meddling. Isn't he supposed to be a mediator? I realized then that since Death has to meddle with mortals then something bigger than Syd being sacrificed to release Lucifer or Roe being a reaper is bound to happen which rounds me back to a theory that God is trying to destroy the world including demons and angels. No one would be spared hence everyone is somehow working together to prevent it. Well let's just see how this prediction goes. As much as I want to be right, I enjoy being wrong a lot more. It just proves that there may be something better than what my mind can think of.
Lastly, I'm ending this by saying that: there is a huge potential in this, author and I know that you'll guide that potential to the right path. Sure, everyone can pick up a pen, type on a keyboard and call it a story but not everyone can create a living, breathing world. The world you built feels real and the people in it feel alive, that's rare nowadays. I hope you know how much that distinguishes your story from the hundreds I have read. And I know Rahim has already said that classic stories were "too slow" and had unnecessary words put into them and I agree, definitely, simply because the modern english in your writing feels easier to read making it more engaging for the readers.
I only ask that you take as much time as you need to write the next 3 seasons. Heck, I wouldn't really even mind if it took you until 2030 to wrap things up if you choose to because I want it to be in its most perfect form.
Congrats, you created an entire universe! I would even go as far as to say that I would wanna see this as a movie/series or a game. Keep up the great work.
