Pendragon Rising

"you might be a male hero in a world where most warriors are men and it's women who guard the mysteries of the Veiled Isle. Or you might be a female hero, and it's the women who go to war and men who talk to the old gods"

What kind of crap is this? I want to be a female hero in a world where most warriors are men. This is bullshit.

It's a choose your own adventure book, like many others from this publisher.

I enjoyed this one. I liked the setting, I liked the low magic, grimdark take on the Arthurian legend that felt historical. The choices were all non-obvious and interesting, and the story was satisfying with enough twists and turns that I'll likely play it again some time to see what other paths I could have taken. Recommended if you like this sort of thing.

This game started out well enough, but the stat system was able to remove any and all fun that could be had. What a choice would do to influence your stats, such as removing a large chunk of something in favor of something else, seemed utterly arbitrary. Only rarely did I know beforehand what any choice would end up using or removing, leaving me with a broken character that was good at nothing until I restarted and tried again, only to end up with the same further down the line.

Even stats that I presumed wouldn’t be able to randomly get halved, such as warrior, is not immune to this. Apparently, you can be a fearsome warrior one moment with what must be years of training behind you, then a leader who doesn’t know how to fight right after. Finally, after another apparently ill-advised choice, you can be good at absolutely nothing but incredibly compassionate. (0/10)

Story was mediocre at best and the "romance" options were terrible, either be gay, date your half brother/sister or your aunt/uncle. Constantly being told you're essentially useless and nobody wants you, even though you've gathered lot's of allies and are supposedly adored, isn't great storytelling in my opinion.

Well, this is the one that did it. This is the game that burned me out on COG-type games in general.

I had previously sort of liked them because I liked the choose-your-own-adventure style, and I like shaping the story to my own liking. But the truth is, you don't actually have a choice in these games, except at the very beginning. You can choose to play one of a very limited number of ways, and that's it. All your subsequent choices had better fall in line with that initial choice, or you're sunk.

It's the same problem with, for example, the paragon/renegade system of Mass Effect: you can respond how you want to the situations that arise, but if you don't play as either ALL paragon or ALL renegade, you miss out later because you haven't really gone full out and therefore don't have enough points to win. Only in COG games this is magnified, because in order to win you really, really need maxed stats. Pendragon Rising takes this a step further and makes the stats super ephemeral; I built up my cunning stat for pretty much the entire game, and then I made three choices that weren't deemed "cunning" enough and it was back to 50%, and then I couldn't pass an arbitrary check.

Well, maybe I didn't think being cunning was called for in that situation. Maybe I'm cunning when I think it will help, and straightforward at other times. Don't let the illusion of choice fool you, you either do what the game wants you to do or you fail. This goes for ALL of this type of game. I'm gonna stop buying them.

I really enjoyed the setting. The gameplay is mostly political intrigue with a few battles and puzzles thrown in. You're trying to build a strong alliance to defend Briton from the Saxons, you also have personal goals you can pursue.

It's got a lot of problems though:
-You have companions that could have been interesting, but they stay static throughout the game. One I particularly loathed got drunk at every opportunity and slept with everyone they could. That was all they did, and the game reminds you this is as often as possible. No drama or consequences, just pointless and boring reminders.
-There's quite a few scenes where other characters are talking to each other, but you're not present. It really ruins the flow and immersion of the story. It just wasn't needed or wanted.
-There's multiple endings, but the two I've gotten just end abruptly without explaination or resolution. The first ending I got flashed to an unnamed character getting off a boat. The End. Seriously wtf?
-Your stats fluctuate wildly. Rather than build a stat up, one bar will go up and another will go down after most choices. So unless you're really good at picking out what the author thinks is the right choice, it's just a mess.
-Stats don't seem to influence the game.
-You decide if your character and all warriors are men or women. This seemed like a really weird choice, I did get use to it near the end. But I really wanted to make a female character who was a warrior in a world where mostly men are the warriors. I thought that could have been really fun, but whatever why make your character interesting.

Finale Verdict:
-It's really hard to recommend this. I think it's worth playing, but you really have to like the time period.

With Pendragon Rising, you can play a Choose Your Own Adventure Game in which you take on the role of a young Arthur or Arta, just having returned to your homeland of Britain after your education in Rome. Against your will, you get caught up in the war with the Saxons, and unwittingly become the Warleader of your people. Will you be able to gather enough allies to help you stand against the Saxons? And what kind of leader will you be -- a fearless warrior or a more peaceful diplomat? But the most important question of all: will you eventually take the crown for yourself?

Pros

Cons

Previous reviews have mentioned the good things about this game, so I will mention the bad.

1. My main gripe - No saves. There is literally no way to go back and see what a different choice would have done without doing ALL the choices over again. Which means in order to do everything, to see what your decisions do, you need to make your own flowchart, because you can make multiple saves to do divergent paths.

2. My second gripe - Achievements. The achievements are listed as not just being something you successfully did, but as having a "point value". This implies that those points could be used for something. They can't. Period.

3. While you *can* fail, it seems like you can only really fail at the end, or very close to it. Even intentionally making the stupidest of decisions will leave you alive for quite some time.

Don't take these things as me saying the game is horrible, it isn't. But these are the main issues I have with it.

Cons:

-no checkpoint system

-does not appear to have a relationship system typical to the Choice of Games franchise, however, the story plays out so that it doesn’t matter

-limited romance options

Pros:

-very strong story and equally well-written

-your decisions have great impact – if you fail to gain allies you will most likely fail

-stats matter – if you try a diplomatic option when you are known for taking the warrior route, there is a chance things will backfire

-interesting characters with many different scenes to increase replayability

-added religious element – if you so choose, you can honor the old gods or embrace the new Roman God

A fantastic title in the Choice of Games franchise, try it out if you enjoy choose-your-own-adventure text-based games and want to role-play as Arthur (or his female equivalent)

I recommend!

Cheers,
DJSF @DJSF's Rogue Reviews

My Website

Do not buy this expecting a game in the common sense of the word. It is interactive fiction. The author obviously knows quite a bit about Arthurian legend and pre-Medieval Europe, and they have used this knowledge to weave a well-written narrative with compelling characters. If you enjoy reading and fantasy fiction, I highly recommend this. People looking for visceral and visual action should look elsewhere.

Incredibly well written, very, very well-edited, and packed with choices that matter deeply. The game expects you to either know the setting, or to learn it very quickly. Making a misstep is always significant, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself.

Took about 2.5 hours to get through a quick pace. I'm looking forward to playing through again as a re-read, to see what else is possible.

8.5/10

Ever wanted to take part in the Arthur saga? Now is your time to change one of britains most famous stories.

While it differs in quite some things from the original (naturally), it catches the dramatic events of Arthurs way from bastard son to Ruler of the Kingdom in it´s war against the evil Saxon invaders.
Offering a special treat, Pendragon Rising includes the option to change the whole main cast from male to female, which also presents a different take on the story itself.

Will you strive to make peace via diplomacy wherever possible or be a revengeful ruler without mercy? An opportunistic coward or a true hero, who inspires your folk with brave speeches?
The writing is also enjoyable enough to fit the theme, while friends of the classic adventure topic, where you rally your allies together with your close group of friends should feel right at home.

Conclusio: This has to be one of my favourite CYoA books up to now, as the atmosphere is really enjoyable, the characters likeable/hateable and it has enough content, to play it more than once, and even get a fully different setting.

Rating: 8/10

More than worth the £2 I paid for it, if your a fan of choose your own adventure books then this is perfect for you, though for better impact I would have added some artwork/background music to help set scenes (this is after all only a few hours per read through). All in all it was a good, fairly original time filler while I waited for real games to download.

This is the first interactive novel I have ever played, and I can do nothing but praise it.

It adheres quite closely to the Celtic interpretation of Arthur, but still manages to incorporate familiar elements from medieval tradition. It conveys the atmosphere of a fractured, post-Roman Britain quite well, and although it has some fantastical elements, these are quite subdued for the most part and maintains a more realistic approach.

I found the writing to be engaging and enjoyable, and quite a few of the choices you make are recognized later on the in story, meaning that my decisions actually had some weight to them.

SPOILERS INCOMING!

I also greatly appreciated the fact that the game allowed you some flexibility in terms of the outcome. You do not have to stick to the classic Arthurian story. I actually deliberately avoided becoming king and prefered to work behind the scenes. You are not railroaded into taking the throne. You have the option of stepping down and supporting someone else instead, and this enhances the role-playing element.

Choices aren't really choices. There are multiple options which lead to the same ending. After the 1st playthrough this became quite apparent. Of course there are some events that matter, but for others you could pick 3/4 options with the same results... Mystifying... I understand the game is 2.99 but cmon. If you're too lazy to program different results for different choices, just make it 2 choices Aor B. Not ABC with the same result and choice D as something different... Makes the game to appear to have more depth than it actually possesses.

This will be the first review I've written for a game on Steam. So bear with my rough assessment.

Pendragon Rising an old style text-based adventure where nearly, if not every decision you make matters in some way to the story. Unfortunately I missed the age of Text based games, so playing this as my first pure experience was quite fun.

As expected, the roughly 3 hours (per read-through) of gameplay consists solely of making decisions, leading to what kind of King Arthur/Queen Arta you will be. This consists of these main traits. Leadership, Diplomacy, Warrior, Compassion v. Ruthlessness, Bravado v. Cunning, and Old Religion v. Roman Christianity. But regardless of what kind of ruler you are, you are almost positive to get a rich story.

Pros:
+Great and immersive story.
+Fun experimentation with choices. Each one truly feels unique.
+Romances (Or flings) feel pleasantly tasteful.
+Writing is very strong, I don't recall seeing any spelling errors.

Cons:
-Personally wish the read length was longer.
-There was a choice or two I found were hard to understand what was meant in context.

Taking everything I've said I strongly recommend this game, with a solid 9/10. If you've got a few hours to spare, or even more for several read-throughs, it's definitely worth the humble price of $4. I'm looking forward to more stories from this developer!

Very much a big Choice Of Games fan, but I wouldn't recommend this particular one as an example of their output.
The setting is interesting and seldom used, but compared to their better-composed RPG-style games I just couldn't get into this one; your character stats are in perpetual flux, so you cannot seem to make any decisions without undoing your other stats with no particular rhyme or reason.
E.g. You've chosen to be a mighty Warrior thus far, then in the set-up for a battle you choose a solid not-too-crafty strategy option - come the finale for that scene you might be shocked to find suddenly your low Leadership and high Warrior scores have completely switched, meaning "challenge their leader one-on-one" puts you on the receiving end of a almighty whupping.
It is - as ever - a robust game regardless, I just found this one quite flawed in terms of supporting role-playing.

I have just finished my first playthrough and I plan on doing more to see what other endings I could find, though it did not took me very long, just over 3 hours, it was time very well spent and engaging enough to make me want to come back to it for another round which is rare for me. I will say that going into it I didn't expect much as my past experience with text based games was not great, however I am happy that Pendragon Rising was able to reverse that. It had some great reveals and for the most part delivered on the promise of the choices you make being something that matters. It is by no means perfect as sometimes I felt a lack of depth in the alliance building you can engage through diplomacy, but as I've only got 1 playthrough under my belt I bet that there is a lot I missed.
Over all for the price it asks and the replay value I would suggest to pick this game up you won't regret it.

Another great product from COG. An alternate take on Arthur's legend (I think). A great story with political intrigue and battles. Had fun playing as it also worth my money and time.

8/10 Incest. Ah, the good old medieval times of shagging that will make Cersei proud. Although I was not aware of it. Blame my lover-stealing father for that.

Bought it due to my love of the show Merlin, and did not even realise it was a text RPG at first. Tried it out regardless, and I definitely do not regret these past 3 hours.

It's very immersive if you do read it through, and definitely worth a second, or third, or fourth playthrough, to see what would happen if you were a pious madman, or a greedy bastard, or a humble bastard trying to avoid the throne.

All the choices you make will affect the things that happen to you, how people will respond to your actions, and so on. Sometimes, if you think you're making the wrong choice for the wrong reasons, you end up making the right choice for the wrong reasons... And sometimes it's the wrong choice for the right reasons that ends up being the reason your potential ally is now your enemy!

Great, short game, worth the money. Live through Arthur's fight for the Kingdom.