Chess of Blades

This game delivers mystery, charm, beautiful art, 4 diverging routes with meaningful choices, and excellent voice acting all the way through. Expect some cliches but it's entertaining enough to be well worth the occasional scoffing.

Is it any wonder this is one of my favourite comfort games? I've enjoyed it many times over the years, and I hope to enjoy it many more times.

P.s. It did take me this long to review it due to the occasional fat phobia, misogyny, ableism, and xenophobia in game.

Hello, the game is amazing but i dont have the 18+ i wished for and i dont know how to install it even if i have looked for the patch folder. Can someone help me plz?

I give this game a recommend with an asterisk. I enjoyed my time with it...eventually. I had to really push through the first time, and I was thankful for the skip button on the other routes--not just because of the repetition, but because I found there was a lot of filler and just downright boring stuff, especially at the beginning. There was also a lot of missed opportunity when it came to the choices. The ones that existed were often silly (whether to eat vegetables or cake at dinner), while there were other places in the story where the MC made a decision without my input, and it could have allowed for some character flavor, at the very least. I understand that adds complexity and length to a game like this, so having (in my opinion) too few choices may simply have been a matter of controlling scope...but I felt the lack.

Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed all the routes (some more than others) and do not regret spending the time on this one. I'd buy it on sale, though. I'd be miffed if I'd paid full price.

would recommend

I think the art is pretty and I like that the mc has a personality, But it was super short..it feels rushed...there was little to no mystery actually going on...it was all obvious and mega predictable too. There is few choice and dialogue options and most of the choices are the same as the other options, and the only real choice I felt is following a char or not following a char or choosing cake over a healthy meal (lol)

It's not BAD it's just kind of boring. I gave it some time and tried another route but idk, it feels a bit bland. The story itself and overall plot wasn't bad, I think it's execution wasn't the best. The side characters that exist also barely feel neccessary and feel random too.

It's easier to immerse in this game for me muting the voice acting and playing the PG-13 version from Steam. That said, the music, the main character, the plot was good, Arden's route was super wholesome, Franz’s was exciting but Linnaeus one...I felt like what happened to the stoic nerd? Lol

First play through ened with mine and franz death. Im a bit disappointed that there was no more information afterwards, such as an epilogue. Did my aunt die in jail? What happened to Allistar? ETC.?
Even after getting the good ended with Franz. What happened to Celeste and Allistar? Was Allistar caught? Its just says we got a home on my father's land and lived happily ever after. Boring. What do we do after being married? I liked books, so he must be an avid reader. But what about Franz?

TDLR: First play was bad. No mention/lacking details on after ending results
p.s. the voices are weird, would prefer more time spent in the story and art instead.

EDIT: Worth only 15 in my opinion

EDIT: Did the other routes. Disappointed the story changed completely. All routes had a different main event that brings the MC towards developing interest in RC. Favorite route is still Franz. Also the only choices that seemed to matter was the beginning to open up a route. Afterwards it's didn't do much until the final choices. Except for one instance in Arden's route.

To say it simple this Visual novel is just amazing, i enjoyed every bit of it. The voice acting is amazing, the story is very good as well and the art style is very pretty. I played through all routes and each one of them gave something compleetly different and new. The music is very enjoyable to.

Overall i would definitly recommend this game im already 10 hours in and stil have 7 achievements to unlock and thus mutiple story parts i havent even heard yet.

100/10 definitly, it made me wreck my brain a bit as well and it definitly made me smile and laugh at the sassy remarks of Rivian and personalities of the others.

My first and favorite gay, story-based game. All love interests are unique and have a different relationship with the main character, and I can see why every pair works. You definitely want to complete all the routes to unlock the final love interest, but also because each story-line takes a different turn. There's a lot more crime-solving than I expected and I love it. Still on the lookout for an lgbt game I enjoy as much as this one.

i loved this style of game and wish they had more like this one. i love the style and story. and would 100% buy more if they where still making them like this. unfortunately the newer games don't hold much appeal for me as they feel either rushed or open ended lack that happy rush of completion. i hope for a return of this style. ( plus i love the point that the character is a gay male making the story more immersive.)

Bro this game is so damn good! I got all the endings and I loved each and every character! The story is amazing and I love how much it changes depending on which one of the characters you go after!

I recommend playing this game if you like visual novels with beautiful art, lovely classical music, in depth characterisation, well written romances and complex storylines, as the routes are very well written and the animation is beautiful.

Trigger warnings for: violence and deaths of characters in text, assassinations, stabbings, a child being kidnapped, one of the love interests being pulling the main character into his lap and kissing him without warning, another love interest making a one off comment that insults sex workers which made me uncomfortable.

SPOILERS BELOW
Things to be aware about: the game is pro monarchy, and the larger scale issues of monarchy mistreating poor people (which is brought up sensitively in the secret fourth love interest's route but is not quite fully resolved) is mentioned. There is not complete justice as the other working class gladiators aren't set free and gladiatorial combat isn't outlawed in the kingdom.

The bad:
- there isn't much that's bad, but some people find Rivian's voice actor to sound very peevish or annoyed. I thought his voice actor sounded fine, but if you don't like the voice acting, you can turn down the volume.

- As I mentioned, one love interest being grabby/pushy, and another love interest making a sex worker phobic comment. I understand this doesn't reflect the view of the game devs, but it is something to be aware of.

The good:
Working class characters are treated kindly and generally portrayed in a positive manner. My favourites are: the butler Silas, who is kind and has a great sense of humour. Unfortunately he isn't romanceable. I also loved Emily the maid, who was sweet and unassuming, and her adopted daughter Hazel is adorable and the best!

- Women characters are complex and realistic

- top notch voice acting

- gorgeous art animation

- there's the option to listen to the non speech dialogue being spoken. Press v key on your computer for this. This is great for disabled people

- well written and well thought out plot

- love interests are intriguing, and evolve as characters over time

- the love interest routes are all exciting and intriguing in their own way. I recommend playing through all of them to get the full picture about each of the characters.

Got it and I don't regret it! I love that the main character has some personality and the love interests are interesting. Of course I wouldn't say this game focuses heavily on story after you play one route but the personalities of the characters were enough for me to love it. They're all charming in their own way, if you have some money to spend I definitely suggest this game. I can't help but jam to the intro song ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾
I'll definitely be checking out Argent Games future endeavors.


SPOILERS:



Also the addition of a route for Sabre was definitely a nice touch though I'd say my favorite was probably Arden. Was not expecting the direction the smexy scene for Sabre's route went but I'm not complaining d(･∀･○)

Lets just get this out the way real quick: I'm obsessed with this game.

It's short but sweet and I love the OST as well as the CGs. I always got a bit choked up when I saw the ending CG's for all the guys. I like seeing them happy, what can I say.

The voice acting was about 4 out of 5. It was good but not excellent. For me I quite liked the voices but I can understand how some folks wouldn't. Especially some of the more...spicy scenes, which are not available on steam.

As for the characters I very much liked... well all of them! The love interests have very different personalities and are not to complicated (you know; there's the stoic, mysterious type, the stubborn aristocrat type and the dorky best friend) to understand.

I wouldn't say this Visual Novel is on the deep, content heavy side. It's more on the wholesome, one shot side.

I loved every minute of play time and I actually played a few routes twice.

100% recommend.

I absolutely loved everything about this game, the story, art, music and the voice acting! I couldn't choose who's route I wanted to do. I give this game a 10/10!

really good game everything is good but the only thing that was ok for me personally i hated franz everything about is just whatever i finished his route just for the achievements i just wish he was never created

Glad to see that Chess of Blades definitely has its fans, but for myself, I felt that there weren't very many choices within the storyline, and the ones there are may have an internal impact, altering future choices, but the effects on character behavior and dialogue is superficial and fleeting. For example, if I pressed a character for answers he poured out his story. If I chose to be easy on him, he said one thing differently and then... reverted back to the text from the prior version and poured out his story. This left me feeling very passive within the game and not like an active player. I understand this is a visual novel, but this one is less complex than the others I've experienced.

There is some beautiful artwork (though again, the variations on the characters expressions and the variety of settings was pretty limited, especially considering the price point relative to other games), and the music scoring the story was particularly impressive. As far as the suitors, I found two of the three pretty appealing, with Franz being my personal favorite. His artwork and voice-over were swoon worthy and he was wonderfully well-balanced, often wild and unpredictable (possibly problematic to some as the guy gets real handsy without consent) but surprisingly tender in moments. I DID, after awhile though, start counting how many times I saw the words "wolf", or "wolfish" to describe Franz, or any phrase likening him to a wolf).

Side-note: There is a patch on the game's website for adult content (one image per character route) but managing to download and install the patch doesn't seem like the most user friendly process, though there are comments and suggestions from the developers in the community section to assist with the troubles that customers, including myself, had.

I've spent nearly 18 hours on this game and I'm done with it. For me, that's not a good sign. I usually spend hours going back and replaying parts that I like or viewing the CG over and over again to look at the *Ahem* pretty art.

This game was not the case.

The story was mostly uninteresting, I never 'cared' about what was going on in any particular route. I appreciated that each one was different in their own way but none of them really carried anything that had any particular weight or stuck in my head for longer than was required to explain what was happening at that moment. The writing was decent and the voice acting adequate; though some characters could be a bit monotone it never distracted me too much at any given time. Well maybe Kieran, his voice I remember being tonally odd.

I personally never warmed up to the protagonist, which made this game a major slog. Rivian starts off as arrogant irritating and never really changes until it's a bit too late for me. Perhaps that's why I'm giving this a negative review? I see that there are a lot of people that actually like him as the protagonist and that's fine but for me he was this droll little irritating thing whose character had no positive change until another character I had no inclination towards was put in danger.

The romance options were fine but a bit lacking or all around uninteresting. The path that I was most 'excited' about was ruined half way through when I found out the character was nothing like he was portrayed at first. I was a bit salty at this betrayal. The threesome placed a band-aid on the wound but it was still bleeding.

Another queer-o-rific game I played during Pride Month. This game was from the same people who did Red Embrace, which I also enjoyed: Argent Games.

This is a royal court setting, with mysteries to be solved and yaoi romance to be had!

Romance Options
Franz -- The most forward and flirtatious of protagonist's suitors. He doesn't conceal his attraction to Rivian (the protagonist) in any way and often talks of him as though he's prey to be caught. While he uses predatory language, it is obvious from the scenes that ensue that Rivian is attracted to Franz as well and all that happens is consensual. This route is quite lustful rather than romantic.

Linnaeus -- The cool, calculated type, with glasses and who often puts on airs. He has difficulty putting trust in anyone due to past betrayals, so when he comes to have feelings for Rivian, he's slow to admit it. While it seems like he isn't capable of caring about anything other than his work, this is proven false, as his romance with Rivian blossoms. He also likes cats.

Arden -- The childhood friend who longs for Rivian's love and attention. He obediently follows the protagonist throughout the story, wanting to get closer to him and protect him from harm. While he appears to be pushover at times, it is revealed that he has a darker side than how he initially seems. When Rivian eventually admits his feelings to him, he is overjoyed that he finally won his affections.

Sabre -- (This route is considered "hidden" as Sabre is not an obvious romance option at first and his route is unlocked after playing Arden's route.) A big, burly fighter that is seen in Arden's route first. He is heavily involved in the mystery that takes place during Arden's and his own route. Despite his wrongdoings, he has a kind heart and almost immediately falls for Rivian when he realizes how honorable he is during the investigation. He seems to have a fondness for Rivian's feminine features, which makes the contrast between their physiques even more obvious.
Spoiler details: He's the villain in Arden's route, but with specific choices, it goes from Arden's path to Sabre's. It is also heavily implied that a sexual threesome between Rivian, Sabre, and Kiaran (Sabre's friend) happens toward the end of the route.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game. I would've liked to see more diversity, as all the characters are white. I don't really consider Franz's one shade darker skin to be enough. I don't like tokenism anyway. It would've been nice to see different body types too. All the men are either fit/lean or muscular. However, I was pleased with the artwork (mostly), the writing, and romantic/lustful narratives.

I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Red Embrace or who likes yaoi/BL stories in general.

I'm not really into Visual Novels, so it's quite hard to find one I really love.
But Chess of Blades is such a great one! The story and the writing is fantastic. The voices are great (specially Franz's~ <3). I highly recommend this Visual Novel to everyone who wants a good story, nice interaction, great voices and ofc a R18+ Patch for more fun after all :D
I already finished the routes of Franz and Arden. At the moment I'm in the middle of Sabre's route and I still love it. Even if you wanna replay it and choose another route, the story won't get boring 'cause it'll change and get a new story line.
I guess there's nothing more to say than this game is worth every cent I paid!
So, buy it, play it, love it! Franz awaits you there, my little kitten~ <3

WARNING this review contains spoilers and lots and I mean LOTS of criticism.

I’ve been waiting for this game for so long and was elated when it finally was released on stem, but, after playing it, I must admit, I was a bit disappointed. The game is not bad; it is just…super mediocre.

I will start with the things I liked:
-Fully voice acted. It is the first time I see bl game made by western developers with English voice acting and it was one of the main reasons I bought it.
-Art is super colorful ad pretty.
-Good writing.
-Characters voices are all likable (except for one. Will talk about him in the “things I didn’t like”)
- Side romance aka Sabre was in my opinion the best route

And now to the things that I didn’t like:
-The 3 main love interests fit the most overused yaoi clichés: playboy, childhood friend, sadistic megane.
- Rivian’s voice. It is too sassy/annoying for my taste. And super awkward and unenthusiastic during sex scenes.
- Anatomy in the nsfw cgs is reaaaly weird.
- Can’t refuse threesome
-No Silas route.
- The plot is not bad, but it has a couple of plot holes and the mystery aspect of the game is weak. That was super disappointing because the mystery aspect was the second main reason I bought the game.

All the clues and evidence the main character finds appear out of thin air and seem obvious. Because of that all the criminals, the grant inquisitor and our beloved main character seem incompetent and clueless.

A bunch of questions were left unanswered. Why the prince’s daughter lives with a maid and works as one? Who the hell is Ignatious? Why does the king take away little kids from their homes and force them to be gladiators? Is he a bad guy? If the king is the bad guy does that mean that Ignatious is right? With what did they blackmail Silas?
I really hope that the devs will release a bunch of dlc’s that will expand the plot and add Silas route. My personal rating for this game is 6,5/10.

You are searching for a good Boys Love visual novel? Definitely try this one out!
"Chess of Blades" is one of my favorites in this genre.

Positive:
+ the art is extremely beautiful and the unlockable pictures are stunning as well
+ the backgrounds look good too
+ every character has a lot of different faces for all possible situations
+ the whole game has English voice acting (even the side characters)
+ the music is nice and fits for every situation
+ the choices that you have to make while playing aren't too obious
+ I adore Rivian! The protagonist is the cutest Tsundere I have ever seen <3 and he is manly as well and I like the way he is thinking
+ every love interest is different: we have a childhood bf character (very cute and overprotective, I adore him xD), than we have the cold and intellectual type of guy and last but not least a mysterious guy who loves flirting... AND there is a fourth route which you can unlock by playing the other three routes... let me say you that every guy is totally worth your time
+ the side characters are loveable as well
+ the background storys are realistic and they fit into the storyline
+ the accident during the celebration (the one that our protagonist has to explore) is in every route something different so the game never gets boring
+ you can choose if you want to play the 13+ version or the 18+ version
+ the R-18 scenes (additional content) are veeery good and I was surprised about the one with Sabre (in a positive way).. that's all that I'm going to say xD

Negative:
- it felt kinda rushed when Sabre fell in love with Rivian but well.. that's a side route anyways
- it was a pain in the @ss to install the R-18 patch but maybe I'm just not good with stuff like that (the official description how to install the patch was good nevertheless.. it also has pictures)
- some voice actors sounded kinda strange in R-18 scenes xD
- if you don't remember to hide the menu than it's still visible when the scene changes (I'm talking about moments when there should only be a background painting and nothing else)
- it was a long enough game but ....I need more! Please!! I loved it so much D:

That's it. Play it if you want to check out a lovely BL game with beautiful art and cool characters.
(And just for the record: English is not my mother language so if there is something wrong with my text.. so be it)
Have a good day! <3
Tsubasa

Slight spoilers below, though not heavy!

I very much enjoyed this game, in each and every aspect. I easily fell in love with all the characters, and was enticed with each story line and how different they were depending on who you chose to romance -- I was always kept on my toes. I am a sucker for the dark and mysterious type, so I of course started with Franz's route, and was not dissapointed with what I was given. Arden is such a sweetheart, and it hurt so much whenever I had to "kick the puppy" when delving into Franz's route, so I made a promise to myself (and Arden) that I would romance him second. I hate sad endings, therefore I was inclined to keep everyone alive and happy, to the best of my abilties. Getting to Arden's route proved to be a slight challenge, as there was a few twists and turns, but I managed to do so after a bit of searching through different options and save files. Linnaeus was swell, if a bit of a jerk at first, though I fully understand that what he deals with on a day to day basis can drive any man to be bitter and low on patience. The side romance was lovely, and I adored the males big exterior, but being a soft hearted "tiger" on the inside. Though, the good R18+ ending scene threw me for a loop, though not an unwelcome one!

All in all, I highly reccomend this game to everyone. I loved it and I got loads of fun time out of it!