The Sword of Rhivenia

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 218: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆☆ (6/10) [i]The Sword of Rhivenia[/i] has all the ingredients for a really good political fantasy story. Royal family drama? Check. Court intrigue, betrayal, romance, and people fighting over a throne? Absolutely. It has the scope of a whole fantasy TV series, and I was invested in seeing how things would play out. The characters are interesting, the political maneuvering gets pretty juicy, and there's enough content to keep you busy for a good while. Unfortunately, the execution doesn't quite live up to the ambition. The writing needs a serious editing pass, some plotlines seem to wander off and never come back, and the choices and stat checks don't always have the impact you'd expect. And then there's the ending, which basically leaves you hanging in the middle of everything. I can see the potential here, and I enjoyed enough of the story to want more, but it's hard not to feel like this needed another round of polishing before it was ready. A promising fantasy saga, but one that's still pretty rough around the edges. [b]Pros:[/b] [list] [*] The main plot has me hooked. You're thrown into a royal f…

[h1]PLAY THE REMAKE INSTEAD[/h1] Not gonna lie, the current Steam version of The Sword of Rhivenia is simply not very good. It has some great ideas, but that doesn't matter much when the execution falls short. [b]So, why did I give it a thumbs-up? Well, the only reason is that I wanted to show my support for the upcoming remake, which takes the original idea and improves upon it in every way.[/b] As I mentioned earlier, the current version is mediocre at best, so the author decided to completely rewrite it. Honestly, I think that turned out to be a great decision. [b]If you want to give it a try, google "The Sword of Rhivenia (Remake)" and you'll find the free demo.[/b]

One of the worst choice games which I have ever laid my eyes on. It reads if it was written by an 8-year-old. No cohesion, no consistent backstory or story building. “Give a beggar 1, 5 or 10 gold”; how can you know how much one gold piece is worth? Everan is named as a kingdom but ruled by a lord. You have no allies in the end, but throw a big party for your allies??? I strongly discourage you from ever purchasing this game. I only finished it in the hopes that it would get better. I was disappointed.

The Sword of Rhivenia completely hooked me from start to finish! As a newcomer to this story (I've never read the original version before the re-write), I started completely blind. The story is deeply engaging, and the characters are wonderfully fleshed out. Everyone feels like a real person with distinct personalities, believable motives, and genuine depth. What impressed me the most was the weight of the choices. The branching paths are incredibly well-done. Whether you're deciding to spare a life, snitch on someone, or keep a secret, you feel the impact of your decisions. It gives the game immense replay value. That being said, the choice system also brings my main critique. Occasionally, seemingly minor dialogue options carry massive, unexpected consequences. For instance, I suddenly found myself locked into a polyamorous relationship, even though my true intention was to commit to just one person. I spent a solid 7.4 hours on my first playthrough. Despite the occasional unpredictable outcome, it is a fantastic IF that I would recommend.

i enjoyed the premise and story a lot, even if it felt a bit off at times, but having played the revision demo and i gotta say im hyped as heck

This is an enjoyable read, though it certainly shares a flaw with many titles published by Hosted Games insofar as it was intended by the author to be the first in a series. A series is all well and good but the main conflict in the story, or the main plot arc, should at least be resolved in the first book. A war looms over most of this story but never actually comes; that was reserved for the next book. I think the author recognizes some of the shortcomings here, as they are in the midst of a rewrite. I've read the first four chapters of the rewrite and it's been significantly improved, I think. With that being said, I think in its current form it is still an excellent read, and enjoyable. I like all of the siblings here, and there were several characters who I liked quite a lot; [spoiler]I liked Leia from the first moment, and was hoping to get a scene with her and my future wife, Lena. Perhaps in the rewrite...[/spoiler] This is certainly in the top 10% of titles published by Hosted Games.