Chess of Blades

It is bad enough when you are forced to go to a lavish, formal affair against your wishes but when a crime happens at the event and you're in the middle of it…things just get more interesting. [h2][u]The Story[/u][/h2] “I’d pull up a chair for you before I left, but sitting down would surely drive the stick buried deep in your rectum to an uncomfortable depth”. - the humour between elites is golden. You play as Rivian Varrison, the son of the famous nobleman who served as the King’s chief general and strategist. Despite being an introvert you're forced to attend the King’s huge birthday celebration despite not wanting to go. However your parents send you to keep up appearances and probably to parade you around as well since you're now at a marriageable age. There are three potential romances; Franz Chaumont, Linnaeus Glaucia, and Arden Raynsford (plus one secret one you can unlock). Arden cares deeply for his childhood friend. He’s protective, bold and just wanting Riv to know how he sees him matters. This was the first route I pursued. It is a slow burn that eventually turns to romance. Linnaeus is the Grand Inquisitor of the King and comes off as stoic, intelligent and …

Chess of Blades is a narrative-focused visual novel that combines Boys’ Love romance, murder mystery, fantasy, and aristocratic intrigue into an experience built primarily around characters and branching storytelling. Developed and published by Argent Games, it follows a reserved young nobleman who becomes trapped in circumstances considerably more dangerous than the social gathering he reluctantly agreed to attend. Rather than offering tactical chess gameplay as the title might imply, the game concentrates on dialogue, decisions, romantic relationships, and discovering what is really happening behind the elegance of a royal celebration. The protagonist, Rivian Varrison, is an introverted nobleman with little enthusiasm for lavish parties or complicated social obligations. His father nevertheless pressures him into attending a grand five-day celebration honoring the king. The event promises dancing, drinking, festivals, formal gatherings, and a masquerade ball, placing Rivian in exactly the sort of environment he would normally prefer to avoid. This reluctance makes him an effective protagonist because players experience the extravagant gathering through someone who naturally keep…

I have a strong nostalgia factor for this BL (boys love) visual novel since I had watched a playthrough of it back in high school but I'm glad I got the game and played it for myself! Is it the best visual novel for BL out there? No, I definitely would not say so but I got it while on sale (which is what I suggest you do as well) and enjoyed my time playing it! The routes are substantial and aren't carbon copies of each other, you know just doing the same storyline with a different guy which I truly appreciate. Each storyline played out so differently and created such a fun mystery to solve each time on top of the romance happening! I'm very much a person who enjoys completing all of the routes after completing my favorite route first and the different storylines made it so much fun! Linnaeus's route is by far my favorite but I'm very much biased in that opinion. There is also a hidden route with a character in Arden's route that was very fun to find and play through as well! It made the game feel a bit more complete in a way. The only wish I had for the storylines was for a bit more at the end of each route other than the quick wrap up scene given in the future but that's just my…

I only played the steam version without the patch yet, but this game is adorable. And pretty exciting. The MC is easily likeable, as well as all of the other characters. And the music is beautiful, especially the one we hear when the credits roll.

Severely underrated game. Linnaeus best boi - the ballroom scene had me swooning

Chess of Blades is such a treat. But a few warnings: You might hate all the characters at first. I did. Until the story branches they are all a bit insuferable, MC included. But when you are on a route, they get quite charming. All routes are actually good, I was surprise by it. When the story branches you get different stories mostly, which is nice. Some MLs are a bit late to appear. I highly recommend doing them all, I assure you the first part doesn't make justice to the MLs. The fact that is totally voiced is so good, even if most of them at first sound a little too... victorian gay. Sometimes they seem to relax and don't sound so haunty. And you get some surprises along the way. If you are doubtful about doing all of them, you really should.