itch.io

TO PROSPECTIVE PLAYERS:

This story is very well written: it has a sensible, moving, and thrilling narrative arc, and the meticulously written game bible ensures your LLM stays on track, focuses on what you want to focus on and at your chosen pace, and does so with maturity and nuance. This is a complete and professional work. I highly recommend it.

As a previous commentator wrote: this is a slow-burn game; my gameplay lasted 9 hours exactly, and I got through around half of the total story, coming to a natural and satisfying end there. Despite the slow-burn, know that this is not a game where you're meant to rush to a climax. Although the story does build to a high, it is still a designed story: each scene matters, carries emotional weight, and is there to be enjoyed, not to facilitate a climax.

TO THE CREATOR:

Answering your questions:

Which LLM did I use and how did it fare?

I started with Claude, but after 3 hours my available messages approached their end, so I used the last one to generate a summary of the story. Then I provided the game files and that summary to ChatGPT and told it to pick up the story. The transition was seamless. 2 hours later, either my available messages with ChatGPT approached their end, or my available messages with Claude became available again, so I repeated this process and transitioned, again seamlessly, back to Claude, where I finished the story over several sessions.

Both models carried out the story very well. I've read the game bible and believe both versions ran the story well, faithful to the hard rules, the nuances of texture, and responding well to all of what I conveyed in my messages: actions, emotions, pacing, and even the things left unsaid but hinted at and desired.

I cannot say which I preferred, because in general, i.e. outside of this story, I prefer Claude. Additionally, I transitioned to ChatGPT around 03:00 and then back to Claude around 05:00. I was pretty tired during this time, and so can't comment in detail on how ChatGPT fared. I was however deeply intrigued by this wonderful story and its running by an LLM, and so kept going despite my sleepiness.

Did it hold the two-week structure and keep your customized details straight?

Absolutely. It maintained every scene, beat, and detail flawlessly.

How did the pacing feel — did the changes to your body and your relationship land with weight?

Yes -- excellently. The structured pacing, as designed in the game bible, served perfectly: not too fast, not too slowly, beats to every day, and with a mature recognition that the mundane elements of daily life are not a bad thing that should be skipped, but the necessary canvas on which changes to body and mind may be coloured.

As for the relationship changes, I can't comment much on that because I maintained a loving relationship throughout (albeit mutually stressed because of the story, but not directing that stress at each other), and so the relationship didn't change.

 Which of the four endings did you reach?

Denial of the offer, ending the story on day 6.

General feedback:

• The focus was consistently on what I wanted to focus on. Often this was the emotional gravity of a word or a touch, or an action or omission of something, and it handled this well.
• The pacing was good. There were times when I wanted to speed things up, when I felt that part of a day, a beat, was passing too slowly, but that was easy to fix because I would personally speed up by not focusing on anything, and then the LLM would respond accordingly by moving on to the next beat of the day.
• When "Thinking", Claude gives some text on what it is thinking about, and there was some (spoiling) forbidden language bleed from the game bible as a result, e.g. "spy" story, critical decision, "path", etc. I don't remember exactly. It did not adversely impact my experience of the game and no major spoilers were made, only hinting at the sort of thing -- genre and theme typically -- to expect.
• Prospective players, do not click the spoiler. It details a surprise in the story, and you'll get it in your own time. I just need to provide some feedback to maybe improve it slightly. You don't need to know.
  
  During the visit from Helios, I was told that if I declined then "no support of any kind" would be given. There was no mention of identity documents being provided. However, after declining in the second instance, later on, identity documents were promised and then delivered the following day. This was useful and I was happy about it, and although I still declined in the absence of this knowledge, this one element of support would still have been good to know about during the meeting.
  
• I wanted a rule in the game bible overridden, but I couldn't make that happen within the chat, nor could I edit the game bible text. However, I managed to add a comment in the PDF, and the LLM accepted this and faithfully incorporated the change mid-story.
  
  The change was: vastly increasing the maximum height change possible in the transformation. I gave my height as a man to be 201cm, and the PDF's original text would mean that mean as a woman I would be so tall that I would expect every conversation to be dominated by this. I therefore changed the maximum height adjustment to 40cm. I lost a few centimetres during the first few nights, and then around 30cm on night 4. The rapid change was strange, and differed from the more gradual change of the earlier nights, but I could ignore this since it was a game bible adjustment.
  
  
• I found it strange -- a little amusing and a little annoying -- that when I called in sick for a week at work, owing to my strange bodily changes, I kept getting texts/contact from a buddy at work "begging" me to come in because I was apparently so direly needed.
  
  I think this was an attempt by the LLM to show that, despite my personal changes, my employer is none the wiser, and to reflect that life continues and people's expectations remain.
  
  However, why is my buddy, who is not a supervisor of any kind, but just a regular grunt like me, contacting me to come save the day? Why does he even care about work that much? Why does anyone at work even think this is acceptable? I'm sick -- you shouldn't even want me working.
  
  That said, I could brush this off as a silly and naive colleague, and was fortunately able to 1. Ignore the texts and thus let the LLM focus on more important things. 2. Once I got fed up, sent a clear text telling him to leave me the hell alone, which was done.

I loved playing. Your effort in writing the game bible is visible both in the LLM's execution of it and in my reading of it. You handled this whole work professionally and commendably, and I hope you make more.

That new illustration is incredible. Greatly done.

This game is incredible. At every turn I'm stunned by the amount of love and skill that has clearly gone into this game at every turn.

I cannot remember the last time I played a game and kept repeating to myself "This game is so good."

Realistic and loveable characters, drama, comedy, heartbreak, and with happy endings (and happy endings ;)) to some stories and tragedy in others.

And the game's visual design! Each town and even each building(!) created not only with realism in mind but with touches of taste from the individuals who live there! 

Why do people love the Lord of the Rings universe? Why is Tolkien's work so popular? One of the key reasons - and I put it to you this is one of the keys to any great work - is the verisimilitude. Reading it, you get a feeling that you are seeing merely a glimpse of the world and a glimpse of the tales therein.

This game has that key. The characters have motivations, personalities, agendas, flaws, and tastes. They are believably real, and even in their relatively brief dialogue options they can be seen to carry on their lives impacted by you.

And what is done with this key? It unlocks the heart all stories: conflict. You, dear reader considering whether or not to play this game, might not care about the technicalities of story writing and design, and that's fine, but, as an amateur writer, I do, so I have to point it out: the characters have conflicting motivations and beliefs, and not only that, they change! Character growth! And is it done ham-fistedly with a moral agenda? No! Their decisions are ambiguous! Verisimilitude! Or, in game-design terms: immersion! When I play this game I forget I'm playing a game and feel like I'm exploring a world.

The lore is fabulously paced  (and consistent, naturally, I've come to expect no less while playing): exposition dumps? Pffft, that's for amateurs. Pointless main story scenes? The work of a novice. And what of predictable outcomes? Yes, who among us has not guessed how a film ends, but does that detract from the experience? No, because there is still joy in seeing the characters themselves unravel the story. And that is conflict between the reader/player and the characters. That is the work of a pro.

But, aside from the visual design, these are all arguably comments on the game as a story. Is it a good game based on what makes it a game, as opposed to what makes it a story? Well, this is not a review, this is merely an expression of awe and praise to its creator, so I won't analyse it. That said however (and noting potential gamers might read this as well as the creator), I'll say this: although I won't call it ground-breaking, that's not what the game tries to be, and I argue that art is well-appreciated with a consideration for what it wants to be. Its strengths lie in its story, its characters, and its art.

But does that mean the game-elements are bad? Of course not. The UI is simple and easy to navigate. There are 50 save slots: plenty to explore the multiple routes of what is arguably a game-based choose your own adventure story (CYOA) with some branching paths from a main story. The battle-mechanics are varied enough to support multiple tactical choices, and the difficulty balancing is enough to support a thrilling risk without the need to grind levels (although, admittedly, I've only completed an estimated 60% of the game).

But as a game/CYOA, what really brings it home are the alternate vampire routes. The game description calls it a singular alternate route, but I'd argue there are two, although I have the impression (I haven't completed either) that one has significantly more to explore than the other. Such are the joys of CYOAs.

As for the advertised 20+ hours of gameplay, although I know myself to be a slow player of games, how glad I am to find that is for me a conservative estimate.

And lastly, there is of course the art. Some lewd games will be good but then unfortunately provide only a few works of art. This game has 146.

As mentioned, this is not a review, it is mainly praise, of which I give as much as I can. Top marks - 7/7. (Yes, I know that's a strange scale, but I think it's better than the common 1-10 scale)

But of course, I also praise while conscientious of everyone else - you who read this while considering whether or not to play the game. To you I say this: yes, I know I'm enthusiastic and passionate about this game. I love this game, and I am biased, and you, potential gamer, might not share my tastes and feel the same.

Does the game have weaknesses? Absolutely. All art does, and no art, no matter how great, can please everyone. Tolkien's work - blasphemous as this may sound - does not appeal to everyone.

However, consider what the art wants to be, and then consider how it delivers that. Read the game's description. If you like what it offers, then I want you to know that it delivers, and it delivers it exceptionally well.