Champion of the Gods

A child's guide to free will vs. fate or destiny as some would call it. It reminded me of the old Saturday morning cartoons. Spoiler alert---Five minutes after meeting the beautiful princess he is kissing her in front of his long time girl friend. Fate? or is he just a jerk? If this type of question keeps you up at night this is the cartoon for you.

Too many of the choices are just picking the same thing over and over again.

I played this along time ago and it was one of my first COG game. I have since played multiples and it sits comfortably at my second favorite of all the games. The most important part of any of these games is the choices, and in this game the choices seem to matter, which is ironic considering the overall story being about choice or fate, freedom vs. force of will. For a game about fate, it never pushes you one way or another but allows you to make a choice, and in my playthrough came to a very climatic end that felt appropriate for the content. I also like how the game allowed me to add drama into the romance without completely sacrificing the romance. I really liked the romance I ended up going with.

“Champion of the Gods” was a passable read with many interesting concepts. However, too little time was spent on each part of the story before introducing new concepts, places, and characters. As such, I couldn’t help but feel rushed along as I was reading, and as a result, I never felt particularly close to any of the characters nor did I feel like my love interest and I ever grew close. In short, I don’t regret reading through the game a few times, but had more time been spent fleshing out the characters, the story would have been much improved in my opinion. Especially the love interests would’ve benefited from some more literary affection. (5/10)

Good

The plot was a very interesting action adventure. The stat mechanics were relatively simple. Once you realize you have to make sure to pick a choice that reflects your highest personality traits and stats, it's not too hard to be victorious. Before I got that down I had some stress from failing a battle and wondering what would happen if I lost again, but that was a good thing to keep me invested. The checks for each encounter were minimal. They would have been more satisfying if they were designed to have more stages with outcomes that didn't seem so black and white. Still, I didn't feel railroaded though it's hard to say for sure on one play through (which only took about 3 hours). Maybe because of the fast pace or the short story length, it felt lacking some in immersion. The relationships didn't feel very deep, including the romance. But the setting was described fairly well with appropriate garb, materials, and customs. There were also some thought provoking choices that made me focus more on what I thought about the people around me. What I enjoyed most was the lore. Mythology was my first love and the way the author interpreted the interplay between mortals, the gods, and…