Skystrike: Wings of Justice

Felt like the character we were playing was very predetermined in that I didn't get the sense I had much influence over the MC's personality. Given that choice is the purpose of this genre, this flaw definitely sours the experience.

This story really doesn't give much in the way of choices. In many of the situations, which I tired different approaches, leads to the same conclusion. The city hall scene leads to the bomb whether going on the roof or tunnels. You get caught whichever way when escaping the museum. So on and so forth. Furthermore there is no option to turn evil. No matter the patch, it ends with the Rat King being defeated. Besides that, there is an annoying number of references to green energy and green initiatives that it sounds almost preachy and condescending. Every chapter has multiple references to things like solar panels, green certificate areas, nature preserve areas, etc. And the way the writer talks about classical architecture just drips with snobbish disdain when comparing the older museum to the brutalist modernist style new wing which was praised as superior and more perfect. Even the classical buildings had to be written to have some variation of being gutted out and have modernist styles added. Beyond the obvious favortism and stifling narcissim with pushing socialist architecture and idealisms, the story as a whole is just plain boring. So very boring.

Disappointing. I had just played Fallen Hero: Rebirth so maybe my expectations were too high. This hero is not someone I can respect much. Even though he (which is the pronoun I chose) is a business owner and has his own place, he is more like a super kid. He picks up a small animal and is so skittish he gets bit. He is dancing at a gala and somehow falls into an elderly couple. He is being pursued down a dank tunnel and slips on a patch of algae. Why would someone who can fly, glide and hover ever fall? I didn't feel very super playing him. It doesn't seem like there are enough opportunities to increase stats as the story moves forward. When I choose a certain means to try to handle a turning point in the story I'd like to get a stat boost for it, even if it fails. We should learn from experience. But that doesn't happen. Also, his mood is pretty much one note. Maybe it's because all the descriptions (even romance options) feel too simple. If you want raw enthusiasm to fuel your hero then this may be for you. Gotham and X-men fans may not find enough depth.

With interactive fiction, authors have to maintain a careful balance between giving the reader the illusion of choice within the framework of the narrative, and moving things along the story's tracks. Skystrike fails in this. At no point do you have any sense of ownership or control of the main character. Your backstory is paper-thin, the plot is shallow, the ROs are one note, and you're never given any compelling reason to care about the villain or to feel any sense of interest in your character's motivations. One of a handful that I'm just not going to finish. I just hit a point in the story where the MC made yet another decision that perplexed me, and I realized I don't care what the next scene is going to be. I expect that in a week I'll forget ever having played this, and this review will serve as a reminder to myself not to waste my time when I see it in my Steam library.

So so.... Relationships leads to nowhere and the story ends abruptuly. But I read worse so... thumbs up I guess?

A solid B. The plot is a little abrupt, and the character has more definition than a lot of these games, but choices materially effect the outcomes, relationship bars and stats actually mean something, and the stats which choices depend upon are clearly defined. The technical aspects are excellent, even if, perhaps, a few more nods to choose-your-own-adventure conventions may have been preferable. Overall, not the absolute best of the games published by Choice, but a decent first entry by an author new to the publisher.