Arcadie II: Cold Lands

In terms of interface, this game is definitely an improvement over the previous one. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline. The plot structure and writing style are quite easy to understand and follow. If you're following this story for its romantic elements, you probably won't be disappointed. But in terms of the political aspect and the meaning of the choices presented, I feel something is still missing. Perhaps it feels like everything is resolved too easily (which could also be a plus for those who don't want the pressure of these things and just want to enjoy the relationship.) I've only played Will and Stan route so my review will only compare between two of them. Will is my chosen RO in the last one, but I actually prefer Stan route in this game. (Who am I kidding, I F*CKING LOVE STAN ROUTE ALRIGHT.) Maybe because starting with this game, we get to know more about Stan personality. And the push-and-pull conflict between desire and his sins toward our MC family, between love and his continuous lies to us to push his plan make his story interesting. On the other hand, with Will, besides the little story with his uncle (which I feel kinda plain), the only thing I find interesting is that he constantly pushes us to make decisions that lead to war, which maybe a problem for MC who wants peace but doesn't want to displease him (But maybe try to please him isn't always the right choice? I haven't try that route so I can't say anything about that :D) Also the hot scene with F!MC feel slightly better than M!MC. Just my opinion. Still recommend as it's a good continuation for whoever want more smooche time with the ROs. And I'm looking forward to the sequel, if there is one.

Not entirely sure how to rate this one. If neutral was option I think I would pick that. On other hand I got what I wanted from it even if it has it flaws so that's why it gets recommend over not recommend. First I'm gonna say Second-Born might be my favourite IF ever and kinda my comfort IF so I was looking forward for sequel. Positives - Love romances and I fully admit that's my main reason for playing so long as that's good I'm happily keep playing this game Stan is now my new obsession. - Music and art are welcome addition. New UI also better - Save and load system. Yes that's major selling point for IFs for me now. I clicked wrong or choice turned out be something different than I though or just less stress playing in general when I know I don't need to restart entire thing if I mess one thing up. Or sometimes I just want to experiment with choices. Common problems I have in Hosted Game ifs. Also I can just make saves before my favourite scenes and replay them when ever I feel like. Negatives - First person pov. Or I should say pov change between games. I can't really point out why but I feel more disconnected from character I'm playing when it's first person versus second person pov. I also replayed first game right before playing this one so that might have made it worse - Might also be tied to pov change between games but seems like this game dropped different personalities for MC from the first game. It honestly felt like I wasn't even playing same MC from first game anymore. It reduces replay value too since MC feels pretty much same in all routes. This might be the biggest disappointment since I like trying different personalities and my main replay reason. - We never really see how we resolve any of the plot points effect anything unless it has effect on chosen romance. - Cliffhanger ending and this game feeling more like it's set up for next one than it's own full standalone game. How much this will bother me ultimately depends whatever there actually will be next one.

It took me eight hours to complete it, and I managed to get Stanislas's best route. I really want to give this a thumbs up, but I feel I cannot. Negatives: -Linear: The story felt more about the relationship/romance. This is both good and bad. It makes it linear? -Character interaction: Next, I would like to try Wilfred. However, when I went for Stanislas, there was little interaction with the other two. There were only meetings, which were dominated by Wilfred and Stan bickering. -MC personality: My character did not feel the same as she did in Second Born. This is the main reason why I gave it a thumbs down. -Missing of stats and relationship chart: Well, when there is less inteaction with the others, the move to remove these seems right. Positives: -The text, art and music added to the story's atmosphere. -Stanislas is a menace in all the right ways, lol! -intriguing story in Kaltland Thanks for you work dev, looking forward to the third one.

The best game that has enemies to lovers route i played so far! And don't even get me started on the other routes it has, they're all absolutely ADDICTIVE!!! Also the writing style really helps to immerse you into the story. If i had to rate it, i would give it an 11/10

I loved the game. The writing and story is good. I loved the soundtrack it goes well with the story. I now went through all the routes, and they are all very different with different types of conflicts and themes in them. I loved Stan's route the best it was the most angsty one but Cyril one was very dramatic as well. Will's route was not as high stakes as others but I think it was healing and reaviling for his character. I did not play his route in the first game because I did not like his personality much but I glad I played it here and I started warming up to him.

I've only played Stan's route so far and its enough for me to rate this game 10/10, it's that good. I suppose I am someone who is more....radical leaning so I didn't have any real "cognitive dissonance" regarding the whole entire murder thing (especially considering who the family was and what they had done up to that point) and could enjoy the very revolutionary story and intriguing "taboo" romance. I also think the way I played the MC may have hidden flaws I've seen other reviewers make because I honestly just chalked everything up to being the result of a good person who did good things for the people lol (like of course the other RO's never betray me, they just really like me and I literally keep winning alliances for our country, what is there to complain about other than the sleeping with the enemy thing???). I will agree that the codex could be improved and I was missing the traditional stat page. Having that extra bit of "flavor" text based on how you play game is a huge aspect that draws people towards interactive fiction like this. I honestly don't mind waiting and paying this price because I like the story but I can definitely see why others may want to hold off until a sale or maybe future installments.

sat here and blasted through it in 4 hours. this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ WHIPS i'm going nuts actually