Developer/Publisher: Argent Games
Release Date: December 24, 2017
Platform: PC/Mac/Linux/Android (Itch.io, Steam, Google Play Store)
Language: English (text & voices)
In Chess of Blades you follow the story of Rivian Varrison, offspring of a famous military strategist, as he tries to navigate the complicate plays of the nobles at court. Left to attend the King’s birthday celebrations by himself he soon finds himself in the thick of treachery and intrigue but also romance.
Much like Rivian, the player gets thrown right into it. Attending and surviving the birthday celebration of the King doesn’t seem to be a huge deal at first (unless you’re as unsociable as Rivian), but the latter might not be so easy after all, because surviving is to be taken quite literally in this case. While Rivian learns of a potential intrigue against the crown or even his own family, he meets various individuals potentially involved in the whole affair. Deciding whether to trust them, ignore them or to stay out of their way is up to Rivian (you). And through all the mysteries (and all the socializing that comes with unraveling them) Rivian may even find love waiting for him at the end.
There are three romancable characters with different personalities – each of them quite interesting and likable after you get to know them better.There’s also an additional ‘secret’ romance with a secondary character.
The plot is not so easily described since there are three different scenarios, depending on which character you choose to pursue.
Though the path branches into these three main routes at one point, the rest of the game is pretty straightforward. There are a few choices which lead to slightly different or even additional scenes, but they don’t change the main course of the story (as far as I can tell). Still, if you choose the ‘wrong answers’ you won’t be able to experience the ‘true’ ending for each romance.
The Characters
The three main candidates for romance differ quite a lot in personality, behaviour and outward appearances.
The Grand Inquisitor, Linnaeus Glaucia, is the character who seems to only feel animosity towards Rivian from the start. A feeling that’s quite mutual. It’s kind of hard to imagine these two getting along later. Still, their romance works pretty well and though Linnaeus isn’t my favorite I came to like him in the end.
Franz Chaumont resides in the room beside Rivian’s for the duration of the festivities. He’s the one who warns Rivian about a possible danger lurking in the shadows. He’s a mysterious and kinda shady character. His quite literal ‘hands-on’ approach to situations irritates Rivian (and it irritated me). He’s not quite as ‘bad’ as he appears at first, though.
Arden Raynsford is a good friend of Rivian, apparently, but the first time they meet, Rivian doesn’t seem too thrilled to see him. Quite the opposite. It makes you wonder what in the world could have happened between them, since Arden seems harmless enough and quite nice in general. Some would probably argue he’s shallow (i.e. just a ‘nice guy’), but he has a different side to him, too. Arden was the character I liked from the very beginning and who I liked even more at the end of the game.
I won’t spoil the fourth pursuable character in detail here. Let’s just say his personality and story route weren’t as fleshed out (which is to be expected since he’s an ‘extra’) and his route focuses more on… physical aspects.
Rivian Varrison himself is a pretty introvert and socially awkward person. He doesn’t really know all that much about court etiquette and usually manages to step on somebody’s toes regardless of his intentions. His little quirks and wry comments make him a quite likable protagonist.
Besides the major characters there are also a few secondary characters who make an appearance in one or more routes. They are all quite interesting and make you want to know more about them. Their involvement in court affairs differs from route to route or even depends on other choices you make. You can choose how to treat them and how much you involve them in the puzzle Rivian’s trying to solve.
Artwork, Music & Voices
Each of the characters – even the most minor ones with only a line or two – has a voice. Yes, the game’s fully voiced (in English). This goes for the ‘regular’ scenes as well as the sex scenes. There’s not as much moaning or anything during the latter ones, if you expect that, which isn’t necessarily bad, considering how these parts can actually be a bit annoying if done exessively (in my opinion, anyway).
Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy Rivian’s voice as much. Seeing how he is the main character who talks the most, that’s disappointing. Maybe it wasn’t even as much his voice that grated on me as it was the way how the sentences were said. Sure he’s the son of a nobleman, but he’s simply too posh for my tastes.
Franz is not bad with his deep rather sultry voice, but taking into account intonation and everything I have to say Arden’s my favorite here (but maybe I’m biased, because I like him most).
The character voices can be adjusted in their volume or turned off entirely. There’s a slider for each of the main characters and one slider for all additional voices. And I have to say that adjusting them became kind of necessary: voices are a bit unbalanced in their volume in general, but the main character of the bonus route was definitely way too loud in comparison. His voice therefore sounded distorted occasionally (on the brink of it being very uncomfortable).
The music can be adjusted as well, so you can balance out the background tracks according to personal preference. The game offers some nice pieces of music. The soundtrack could have had a little more variation and/or a few more tracks maybe, but I quite enjoyed it overall.
If you look at the game you’ll find some nice character artwork and quite detailed backgrounds.CGs for important story parts or the romance scenes vary in there quality, however. Some look quite literally a little ‘rough around the edges’, especially in comparison to the ‘cleaner’ character portraits. If that’s due to rushing them or even intentional I cannot tell, but it is apparent. The art style looks a little different from time to time as well and since there are various people responsible for the artwork, it’s not a huge surprise. The impression one gets of the art being not completely rounded holds the game back a little however.
Features & Extras
Chess of Blades features aCG Gallery which can be found in the ‘Extras’ section. CGs are added to the gallery automatically as you play. They’re sorted into the specific character routes and there’s another category for other, more general CGs.
All pieces of music are listed and can be listened to again in the ‘Extras’ as well. Personally I always enjoy similar features as it’s nice to listen to the soundtrack seperately and makes it easier to decide if it’s enjoyable on its own (even more so since I tend to turn the music volume down quite a bit while playing).
The bonus section also contains the intro movie and the credits.
As I mentioned before, the game itself features a ‘secret route’ which can be unlocked after playing through the three main romances.
There are, by the way, two versions of the game: PG-13 and R-18. On Itch.io you’ll get both versions on purchase. If you buy Chess of Blades on Steam you’ll only get the PG-13 version initially, though there is a patch to unlock the R-18 rated one there as well.
Summary
There’s much to like here (for me that is). The game focuses on story and characters which is great, especially since there are many interesting characters to be found (even besides the main ones).I have to say, I dreaded a twist where some (or any) of the characters wouldn’t turn out what they appeared to be. They aren’t to be taken at face value, that’s for sure (and it’s a plus), but they don’t make a complete u-turn either (which, too, is a good thing). Since there is a different plot for each main character it obviously adds a lot of replay value. Adding up to around 8-10 hours of playtime the game still feels a bit short, sadly, especially since there are only a few varied and additional scenes based on your choices, but no actual alternate routes once you’ve ‘commited’ to a guy.
Rating: 7.0/10
A pretty good game. Nothing truly out of the ordinary and the plot could be a bit more intriguing and have a few more twists and turns, but overall it’s a well-rounded experience: the premise and stories are interesing, the characters are enjoyable, the art is pretty nice to look at and the music does its part to let you immerse yourself in the moment.
