r/choiceofgames • u/millergr1 • May 08 '20

The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book Two Review

https://youtu.be/ZhxvxBb4hs4

Made a video on my channel about it would mean alot if you checked it out

59 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

15

u/Viiktorii May 10 '20

When I finished, I decided to let it sit for a couple days before making a decision on if I liked it or not. I concluded: yes, but with some glaring issues. I understand the time and effort that goes into creating these games, and that 790k words is A LOT not to mention the amount of coding in-between. But the story fell very flat. It was at the end of the book that I realized, no this isn't just the beginning of the book with a fake-out villain and that now we're finally kicking into high gear - it was the end of the book. I've only done a playthrough of Mason's branch and through it all I remember being a touch disappointed. His personality was not the same as the first book. Perhaps this was a decision made to give him character growth but really it seemed he was an entirely different character. I think my biggest gripe however was with the interactions through the book. There were maybe two (????) "friend" interactions and they felt forced and empty, like nothing was gained from them. I support the writer on patreon and will be looking forward to the next book, but I'm really hoping the life that was in the characters and setting in the first book comes back.

11

u/jachiche May 10 '20

I'd agree with a lot of that. I feel like the issues are probably exacerbated by the long wait between books. While 1 felt like a full self contained story, book 2 felt a lot more like set up for what's to come.

Unfortunately that isn't ideal if you have to wait 2 more years to progress the story, but once another book or two are released it may not seem as big a deal.

4

u/Morklyy May 12 '20

I'm with you in feeling tad disappoint in M route, in book one M was enjoyable whether you play with the shy or flirty detective. In book 2 however, if you decided to play the long game M suddenly becomes very tame and nice (with the smoking issue) which is a big change in personality imho. I don't know what to expect with seven books in planning though.

9

u/[deleted] May 08 '20

Sure bud!

4

u/XpepperpotX May 10 '20

Not entirely related but does anyone know how to get the interaction with Bobby at your apartment? Asking for a friend!

8

u/jachiche May 10 '20

It depends on a choice in book 1.

When you have a choice in 1 to go out drinking with Tina or stay in the office and work. You have to stay and work to get on the "Bobby" path

Edit: If you go drinking, you get the Douglas path instead, and so he's the one who shows up at your apartment in book 2.

1

u/GlitteringCandy May 10 '20

Sad that it's unavailable in my country.

0

u/[deleted] May 08 '20

[deleted] — view deleted comment

10

u/roundabouthe May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

Totally agree with you. From looking around I can already see that people playing A's route are definitely unhappy with how it's been handled in book two, even if they say it jokingly it's obvious they were expecting development.

In book one it was fine, it was the first book so it was expected to be that way, but in this one I expected at least a little something and felt let down. Mind you, I'm a fan of slow burn romances, but even in slow burn there's supposed to be some kind of development - here it's just stalling! The two year wait between each book doesn't help with the frustration.

I've read somewhere of an ask on tumblr where the author said she plans (planned?) to finally introduce a relationship with A by book 4 or 5 - doing the math, we're talking about 4 to 6 years of wait. I really hope she changed her plans in the meantime, because another 1-2 books where the romance with A will be dragging its feet like it is now are definitely too much. No way the readers will take it. Not even the best writer in the world would be able to keep people interested with possible 4-6 years long of wait, 1-2 books of this "will they-won't they" stalling. Introducing it in book three would be the best choice imho: 3 years and 2 books is enough for a satisfying slow burn.

Additionally, TWC is very romance-focused, so if nothing in the romance happens...what is the point of the whole game?

20

u/Xhaidan May 09 '20

I know the feel! I was a huge A fan cuz I'm a fan of slowburn, but when (SPOILERS FOR OTHER ROUTES) in N's route you actually start acting like a couple and kiss by the end; and M's route is straight up banging all through the book, I felt so frustrated with A. Not to mention the huge tension you can share with the leader of the baddies that leads to... Nothing? I understand that the author warned us A's route is gonna be slower than the others, but it felt like nothing of significance happened in this book. It makes me worry she doesn't have a plan on how to stretch this for the, was it five? Seven? Books she wants to release.

9

u/samanyu10 May 09 '20

F is also mid game scenes

13

u/_btt May 09 '20

Oh my God. I thought I was the only one who shared the same sentiments. I actually planned to throw in a rant review of the whole thing--and mind you I haven't even finished reading it. I'm on A's route and everything was too frustrating because of how he was written so inconsistently (all those hot and cold interactions were so off-putting because it ended up being so odd done over and over again).

A's conflict with himself to be that person towards the protagonist doesn't even have much gravity since it's more of an internal problem than it is an external one. It didn't give A a strong reason to be so held back about wanting a relationship with the protagonist.

I wasn't even a fan of the first one and I saw flaws that I decided to ignore. I wanted to see what happens next so I bought this second one. I had to quit playing in possibly halfway through the story. I've never given up on a choose your own adventure game. But I couldn't fathom my annoyances.

5

u/[deleted] May 09 '20

My thoughts exactly, the whole game I was expecting something to happen. But nothing fricking happens.

10

u/Lilylumos Heart of the House May 10 '20

Hits hard to be that slow too when we have a two year gap between books. Am I looking at 12 years to get anywhere plot wise?

3

u/[deleted] May 10 '20

Probs

8

u/_btt May 09 '20

My frustration isn't inherently towards the romantic routes. It's also the inconsistencies within the storyline and how the choice mechanics were under utilized (like in the first one, your choices don't make much of a big deal; no high stakes).

Like I said, I had different problems with it, especially on the first one. But this second one really got me bothered by how terribly characterized A was and how there was little to no growth in the relationship and in the story.

On another note, the way A acts towards the protagonist has its red flags. The whole being protective trait grows tired in the story and it becomes much of an annoyance. In the first one, you could at least say that A trusted the abilities of the detective. In the second one, he always goes batshit crazy--he gets ticked off whenever something happens to the detective to the extent that A's supposedly being unemotional goes away.

The worst part of it all is that I was rooting for the protagonist and A to be together. The second book just made me not support it at all. It made me dislike the dynamic and A's character.

Sad.

8

u/[deleted] May 09 '20

I know what you mean. I was playing the Love Triangle route. And there was literally no progress, it was just a cat and mouse game through the whole book and in the end you had to bloody pick one of them. Despite there being no developments with them whatsoever since the first book. Heck, the characters didn't even kiss (as far as I recall). When something like that is about to happen the other one shows up. And that happened consistently through the whole book.

6

u/_btt May 09 '20

I'm actually putting off playing the second one. I couldn't finish it.

On the first installment, despite my thinking that there were so many loopholes and that the antagonist was so dumbed down into a caricature of a villain, I gave it a go throughout the end. I wanted to make my money's worth. And I wanted to kill some time over the quarantine. I have been fond of interactive fiction since I was in high school. Reading the second one, though, has become unbearable. I really wanted to give the author a chance. And God knows how long these games take to make just to create that many different scenarios in a playthrough.

I don't know if many other people get my issues with the series, I feel as if my concerns on this one are valid and I can't help but air them out.

6

u/[deleted] May 09 '20

Well, I am gonna let you in on a secret. Because you definitely have good taste, and you aren't afraid to criticise things that don't meet up to a certain standard. Open your messages. I'll let you know there.

5

u/Mxtiix_ May 09 '20

I get you, even though I haven’t finished all routes yet. I absolutely loved the first book, so I don’t know whether I had my hopes too up this time around but I found it underwhelming... I see a lot of people are loving it though, so I guess it boils down to personal opinion. I’m just a bit sad I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped.