The Lost Heir: The Fall of Daria

not my kinda thing

EDIT: Realized what bothers me: the narrative treats people as tools. The people in the story are not written as people. It feels so sociopathic to be placed in the role of a person who sees everyone around them as tools to advance their own life, to be used in any way they choose. And I mean "good" and "bad" paths, the writing is uniform throughout. It seems to reflect the author's view on the world, since the author seems incapable of discerning a difference regardless of which path you choose.

I don't appreciate how women are written about. Too much focus on their looks, for one. One of the first descriptions of any character, if you select female childhood friend, is of the 12-year-old child, "her blue eyes carrying a promise of future beauty." You don't need to be looking at a 12-year-old and pondering whether you'll find her beautiful (read: sexually attractive) as an adult. That reads like a child groomer. It's weird. It's gross. You don't wanna, idk, tell me about this character's... CHARACTER? Their thoughts, their habits, their history with MC? Nothing? You have a stat notification "relationship improved with ____ " when you select flirt/romance choices, but you don't have a separate stat for friendship. If it's a character of your sexual preference, then they only exist to tickle your pickle and that's it. That's it. All "romancing" prompts include "hand her a flower" (that option shows up repeatedly as the only romancing/relationship-improving option. Are we 5 years old? And braindead? ONLY THAT, repeatedly throughout the story, with every character?) "Kiss her" "go to her tent at night" "spend the night with her" as if it's a one-sided decision. Did you consider writing them like they're human and you can talk to them and have a relationship? Have you considered writing the choice options like "ASK if she wants a kiss"? "Lean in and kiss her" was available as an option for one of the FIRST interactions in the story with childhood friend, and there's nothing written to the scene other than "you lean in and kiss their lips." CONSENT??? Not even a "you lean in and bring your face close, and then they lean in and seal the kiss"? Nothing, really? And then of course because this is a male fantasy, "oh heehee I liked it". I don't want to imagine I'm someone who forces my will on other people or someone who views others as sexy mannequins. In case it's relevant, I was playing with MC set to "female" and romance preferences set to "interested in women."

The writing, all paths, reads like someone obsessed with power and status, like a narcissist or a self-important Tory nightmare who resents that other people want rights. It's really really exhausting. You can hate this review, but I'm not writing it for you if you do. If you've lived with people like this and found yourself ground down by their selfishness and dismissiveness toward the humanity of others, be forewarned, this book won't be a vacation from that life.

More points: starting the story by unironically gushing about how one suit of clothes costs "the worth in gold of a month of food for an entire poor family in the village" is just embarrassing. Wow, that's really amazing of you, you're so cool. Now that I'm realizing it, the entire concept of the books being "I'm The Chosen, I'm the lost heir, I'm the most important person on earth, it's all about me, I'm so important" really is in lockstep with the worldview woven into how the narrative is written. 'You're the heir to the throne' is an extremely common story trope, but instead have a sociopath with zero empathy write it. This author seems to genuinely regret that they can't enslave several cities worth of people in order to live as a king above them, wear clothes the cost of a month's labor every day, and throw away the lives of those around them to suit themselves best. There's a scene where it's described in orgasmic detail the arterial blood spewing from a man's neck as he dies to save MC, with some words thrown in there about "oh no it's so sad he like died for me", but the way it's written it's like MC/narrator is edging to this. Far from being sad, the tone and framing is very much so from the perspective of someone thoroughly enjoying this bloodshed. It's jarring and it's bad writing if you're supposed to be having the "choice" to play as a "good" MC, you know, someone who views other people's lives as valuable. The writing of this game is the world through the eyes of a narcissist who genuinely believes they are more important than everyone else, that they are more special and more amazing than everyone else, that they are the only one with feelings and everyone around them is a tool for their use. More than a narcissist, is this person a psychopath? The "good" paths have you use people. The "bad" paths have you use people. The "bad" paths are just more overt. That's it. The "good/bad" meter is extremely reminiscent of how dark triad/narcissists/psychopaths budget what they can get away with in terms of their social reputation. There is zero remorse, empathy, or any expression in the writing that the author, narrator, MC, anyone involved in this has any concept of WHY evil is evil. It's just "will this make me look bad and lose credit in eyes of others? Will I be able to get away with less after this?" This author seemingly CAN'T WRITE from the perspective of an ethical person with morals and who adheres to those morals for a reason. Simply cannot express through their writing the character of someone who cares about others. Anyway! I hate being in the head of a narcissist, so I regret every page turn I spent on this.

Aside from the disappointing storywriting, it feels like it's not clear what choices will enhance what stats/abilities you have. Perhaps I'm not fully versed in the typical stats divisions in choice books, but it felt overly complicated. There are two separate categories of stats, seemingly with no clear distinction between them. It's like "here are your skills" and "here are skills, category two, including some of the same skills but re-labeled with synonyms." You pick an option that boosts the stat of synonym #1 in skill group #1, and it doesn't boost the value of synonym #2 in skill group #2? It's difficult to accurately predict what effects your choices would have, the writing doesn't feel precise and consistent in what behaviors correlate to what stats. If it's going to be that fussy, then just write the stat change values on the choices themselves.

Also, you have to min-max so hard to even be good at one thing that you just feel frustrated. Being evil seems more rewarding on average, which is depressing, uninteresting, and uncreative, and lends more weight to the impression that this is just a narcissist/psychopath's fantasy that we're being dragged through.

I'm annoyed I paid any money for this. @the author, please go to a therapist. I'm scared for the people around you.

Interesting format but, unfortunately , the developers are apparently taken in by by the whole "everything is gay" movement. One of the first decisions the player has to make is whether your character is gay, bisexual, or straight. In their defense, it's looking more and more like everything IS gay.

Good GAMEbook, okay gameBOOK. The DLC gave me huge nostalgia hits as someone who played the author's games years ago.

Absolutely loved this game and encourage it of people that are ok with graphic-less choose-your-own-adventure games. It has depth once you add the next two games. Pros: lots of customization, and it makes a decent effort of trying to make it all feel like it mattered. Good story with cool characters. Sequels. Cons: It checks the numbers, a lot.. which becomes very limiting quickly. In the sense that if you want certain character concepts you pretty much need to grab the walkhthroughs, do up a path through what gives you bonuses, and pick your choices almost explicitly based on that and the concept you want. And you pretty much need the (cheap but mandatory) DLC. Suggestion: For each game in this series play it once through without looking at a walkthrough, just freestyling it. Then go back, figure out what you actually want, and do the number pathing through it. The second and third aren't that bad in this respect but the first one is almost mandatory. Wishlist: This game SO BADLY NEEDED A SAVE SYSTEM. Omg. Especially as you replay it for the ntheenth time because you clicked a radio button wrong, or an option didn't quite do what you thought it would because of some hidden check... and then you have to click.. through everything.. again... and so help you if as you mindlessly reclick everything you missclick and have to start over.. omfg...

This game has a well developed, realistic world, diversified characters with moderate depth and creative, if not a bit cliché locations. It has varied events with a decent amount of options without being overwhelming and those actually give different outcomes. Unfortunately, it "ends" (this is just part 1) too soon, making it short. Also, it gives u little sense of acomplishment.

By far the best text-based game series I have played. I have played a lot of these text-based games, and this one is by far the best. It was enough each game to make me want to buy the next and continue the story. All the different options, classes, etc. make also have great replay value. I have played through many times, a total of 20 hours on the first game alone. If you are really into text-based games, or just starting out and looking for one to try, I definitely recommend this. It is well worth the low price point.

I can't recommend it. CYOA's tend to fall into two sections, either stat-driven and more focused on statistically advancing your way to the top overtime as power-creep sets in, or stats which are easily raised as long as you don't do anything too crazy, and you can probably get through just fine with middle of the road stats.


This one falls extremely into the first camp, and doing anything which isn't your focus, is rewarded with failure, and rending apart your character in later installments. Failure to follow what your character is good at, and attempting to read situations to know what stat is going to be used, is more important then actually reading the book because of the extreme difficulty later on.

However, it is an interesting story, fun to read, and I went into this thinking that maybe people just didn't really prioritize too much, and I decided to fully build my character in a select few skills, only to end up not even having enough at the third installment, which is frustrating to say the least, and resulted in me just putting it down out of not wanting to rush through three other books, get the optimal choices and secrets, just to complete the end.

First, the series as a whole, then this individual story.

The series is great. However, their is a warning, the set of games, especially the last one, are harder than most of these type of games. The writing is great, the stats carry over between games, different events can happen based on the stats you have or what classes you choose. However, for your first run, expect to fail. However, there is a lot of replay value in these games and they are very enjoyable.

This game details the start of the story, you are chased away from your home and made an orphan. You become an adventurer and do a few jobs to build skills, then go after the guy who made you into an outcast. It is a great start. It is fun to learn about your companions and do side quests with them. There is also a variety of classes you can become, with some good paths you can take, specializing in weapons or magic or stealth, or some combination of them.

This is the better, and dare I say only playable, part of the three out. Seriously, stop after this part and then just imagine the rest of this story. You will be 100% less frustrated.

This is a good game, with some real replay ability in it. I've played a few times now trying different things. I'd say my only problem really is not being able to incress paticular stats without seriously pushing in one direction or another. I hope that you will finish part 3 soon. I look forward to playing it.

While this game has a good and solid plot, it falls in the stats section. The required stats are abnormally high and ruined the game for me. Want to make a mage assassins? No can do, only one skill is possible, otherwise you fail every single skill challenge in the game. Put all your egs in one basket and hope for the best. Same goes with in the relationship sector. No point trying to "please" anyone. Just pick your favorites and lick their asses.

So don't buy this game unless you're completely sure that being thing X for the entire journey is what you want

I'm not one for reading text after text after text but i was hooked on every word and felt part like the auther designed the charecter to be me. every choice a cosequnece i wish they made an actual rpg out of this. i cant wait for chapter 2

One of the more mechanically complex offerings from the Hosted Games line, Fall of Daria serves as an excellent opening to what is planned as a triology. The story is well-written with a large degree of customization from the onset. The game attempts to get you invested in both your character's upbringing and the relationship they have with their guardian. The villains remain largely an enigma in this chapter and it is implied that they are simply being human; most of the conspirators appear to be opportunists rather than any sort of dedicated evil mastermind.

If the game has a flaw, its that there is too much customization. As there are a plethora of stats, and thus stat checks, no one character can pass a majority of them. Just like in old pencil and paper tabletop RPGs, your character belongs to a Class and should behave accordingly. Although in theory the game is skill based, due to the fact that large stat gains are generally found in adopting class levels, it is in effect a Class system. Thieves generally do not do well at stand up fights and magicians should not try to pick locks. Splitting your focus will render many of the harder stat checks impossible. So approach this game with this in mind.

As the first chapter, it does well enough to set up the premise and gives you the freedom to guide your character's training for the upcoming challenges. It also features a colourful cast although without the right interactions, most of their characterization is only hinted at rather than stated outright. Overall its strengths lie in the story rather than system although the latter still services its role. Think of it as akin to one of the more mechanically driven gamebooks like Lone Wolf or Blood Sword and if that appeals to you, then this game should be your cup of tea.

While I found the setting of this game intriguing, I can't recommend it.

My largest complaint with this title is that I felt like a spectator, and not a participant of the game. I noticed getting told how I felt and what I thought, and most choices just boiled down to me either interacting with others as a normal person, being a complete jerk to them, or ignoring them completely. I can't think of a single choice I made in the game that actually felt meaningful to me.

Another bad thing about this game is that it seems to have 3 chapters. This is only chapter 1, as far as I can tell, and felt incredibly short to me. I actually restarted about 3 or 4 times, and it still only took me 2 hours to beat it. There were also at least 3 times that I was forced into failure as a way of continuing the story, though I only played as a mage, so it may be possible to avoid some of those.

There are other CYOA's out there that aren't going to leave you on a cliffhanger, are longer, and have more varied choice.

I just finished my first playthrough, excellent story so far. Others have complained that you don't know if you can do something until you fail, but this adds more risk to the game, it's like in dnd trying to do something and not knowing what you'll roll. Unlike other choice of games I have played (A Study in Steampunk, Choice of Robots, Choice of Romance, and Pendragon Rising) stats are everything in this game. There is no "right" option to choose from if all of your stats are mediocre, and there seems to be no way to perfect every skill, adding more tact to the game as well.

In short, fun game, especially if you like dnd and would prefer a more difficult text adventure.

While the story is enjoyable, the advertisement is incredibly misleading. The "game" ends abruptly shortly into the story unless you continue to buy more chapters.

This game suffers from a very simple design flaw. In the game there are challenges, and certain stats need to be a specific level in order to get through it without losing health. For example your strength stat might need to be at 20 in order to push an annoying troll into a fire. Only one problem, your stats need to be extremely high for every one of these challenges.

So unless you devote every single choice you make to advancing a couple of certain skills, you'll fail. It's not an autmatic failure, which is good, but eventually you'll run out of health. And even if you do keep improving certain skills, sometimes it won't even give you an option to use them, and thus, you'll lose even more health. I really wanted to like this game, but I'm afraid it forces you to keep improving the same skill over and over again, which makes for a very limited experience.

Story's good, but that's about it I'm afraid.

The writing is very well done, but the game expects you to make decisions based on stats and depending on whether or not you have stayed on one path and only one path you will fail checks that could lead to your death. But that is the only big flaw.
For the price its at I'd say go for it.

Now I have finished the game I can write a full review I hope. I must say though it looks like I have missed a considerable amount of content by accidently cutting to the main story events but I will review from what I have seen so far;

Overall I'd say the story is very well written, the characters are interesting and you care enough about them. My only real complaint was the length of the story which i feel was somewhat short but perhaps that was my own doing.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes interactive stories though, certainly worth two quid anyway.

Storyline is good but you get many options and no idea in knowing if you can do them or not.
And some options require too much stat so early on in the game.

Other similar games do a better job in informing if you can do something or not or only the options you can successfully do will be available to choose or in bold.

This game needs some more mechanics. At least automatic failure does not mean immediate death so loosing a roll is not the end of the game. But later on you don't know if this choice can be done or not because you don't know how much skill you require and eventually you will end up dying.