Noblesse Oblige

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 525: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆☆ (6/10) Hmm. Huh. Interesting. Was my reaction to finishing [i]Noblesse Oblige[/i] in about an hour and a half. I've a huge fan of Harris Powell-Smith's work, and I find[i] Crème de la Crème[/i] to be one of the top five series/titles in the Choice of Games catalog. So, I had high hopes coming in to [i]Noblesse Oblige[/i], though I did my best to temper any expectations I had, considering the game is "only" 137,000 words. For the most part, I am mixed to ambivalent about this title. [i]Noblesse Oblige[/i] is clearly thoughtful, atmospheric, and intentional, but it never quite coalesced into a fully realized game for me. Instead, it reads more like a focused writerly experiment: an exploration of mood, character dynamics, and Gothic romance, rather than a complete interactive narrative with with the depth and breadth I was hoping for. [b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b] ✅ [b] Atmosphere.[/b] I was intrigued by the description of "Gothic romance" because that could mean anything from an obsessive love with someone twenty years older than you to outright cannibalism. Or both! I went in expecting something closer to […

I was rather bored by this, tbh. It's like I just kept waiting for something to happen yet it never did. I enjoyed the previous game, though.

A beautifully written romance. The writing is impeccable - and I do mean Impeccable, without even the handful of errors you normally see in these games - but the characterisation is somehow better still. The three romance options are very well written and very different. Some of the secondary characters could do with a little more detail, and as always it would be nice to have more romance options, but those are minor complaints. It was nice to see small callbacks to the previous game in a game that didn't carry over a protagonist - which is quite the rarity - and I found the polyamorous romance plot especially charming.

game good

Ever wanted to play an interactive russian-pre-revolution novel? Nows your chance! Set in the cremé-de-la-cremé universe version of russia, this game creates a spot on atmosphere of lonliness and mystery. You are not forced to engage the other characters, but as they are well written for this exact scenario and are the driving force for most of the game, its not recommended. The stat-managment is a bit harder, its harder to raise stats and you can lose a choice easyer. Because of this, the game is harder. But overall its a great game that captures the intended atmosphere quite well.

3.5/5