Hello everyone! And welcome to the first issue of the revived newspaper, 'The CYS Weekly'! This issue was a struggle, as I expected, but despite being incomplete, (Though it probably would have stayed that way..) I went and grabbed what we had, and decided to post it. We totally weren't threatened! 'owo Heheh..
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, and if you actually do want to see more, just say so below and I'll think about trying to salvage this, because, we had a few employees quit. (Which was also expected..)
I'd also like to give credit to Seto as well as all who worked on this, seeing as he really helped me out as manager for as long as he did.
Have a nice day and enjoy the read!
Jaystar~
Interview: Zag interviewed Chris, written by Eshphoye
The CYS weekly is proud to announce that, in its opening week, has managed to interview a remarkable member: a senior of the site, Chris113022! Known for his witty behavior and his involvement in Forum Games, we sent our professional interviewer, @ZagHero, to ask this member of the site what he thinks of the current state of CYS:
ZagHero: How did you come across CYS, and why did you stick around?
Chris113022: I came across CYS almost three years ago (makes me feel old, by the way) after writing a CYOA story, which was a sequel to my favorite CYOA book of all time, The Cave of Time. Anyhow, after unpublishing it I just kind of disappeared for four months and then I came back and made my first post on the forums. Anyhow, I stuck around for the forums mainly, and also because I figured I could eventually write some great stories. That day is yet to come.
ZagHero: And what do you think is the best part of the site currently?
Chris113022: Best part? I... Really don't know. I suppose the best part right now is the stories. I mean, just look at the new stories section: there's four featured stories there!
ZagHero: What dreams do you have for the site, or what would you like to achieve here?
Chris113022: I suppose it'd be to write a story above a 4/8 rating. Currently trying to do that with my stories Hazelmyre and The Chris Parable, if I ever get around to actually working on them. Expect me to take a hiatus from forum games once Heroes Among Us 3 is done, by the way."
ZagHero: What do you have to say to any newcomers who are unsure of becoming full fledged members of the site?
Chris113022: Honestly? Just stick around and see if you like it. I left for six months after my first day, but after sticking around I found that I really love the site. So yeah: see if you like it. If you don't, you don't. If you do, you do.
Charaxes’ article
Female protagonists can be great. They can defy expectations and break down gender roles. Whether it's a seductive femme fatale or a powerful tomboy, it's always fun to see your favorite girl kicking ass.
So today, I will be counting down CYS' top five female protagonists in story-games.
Number 5 - Lydia, The Secret of Daphne
The fifth spot goes to Lydia, who's name I honestly thought was Daphne til I realized that was the town’s. Despite acting like a stereotypical teenage valley girl, Lydia's greatest strength hides in that thick skull of hers. She's intelligent, resourceful, and does her best to stay calm and composed in the face of unbelievable danger... like being chosen for possession by a demon.
Number 4 - Suzy, Suzy's Strange Saga (Epilogue 7)
A devoted lover, fighter, and badass at every aspect imaginable, Suzy from Epilogue 7's route takes the fourth spot on this list. Whether it's disposing of corpses, fighting off zombies, or just plain standing up to the bitchy sister that's controlled her life for far too long, Suzy proves herself a capable fighter and an interesting character altogether.
Number 3 - Sebastian, Mercenary Queen (Series)
Let's be honest, is there any cooler line than ,"Rape steel, bitch", to tell a rapist as you stab him with a sword? This one speaks for itself. Sebastian makes having a male name cool, possesses innate badassery with the sword, and has one fucking cool title.
Number 2 - Mia, Prometheus Academy
Just barely missing the Number 1 spot, Mia is your average teenager... who's entire family was massacred by the incompetence of one superhero. Unlike some characters, Mia lets her quest for revenge define her actions, but not control them. Even after taking revenge on the one she hates, she's ready to keep on doing what she loves: She feels no emptiness or regret left inside her. Makes you wish she had her own comic!
Number 1 - Eve, Homo Perfectus (Series)
Truly one of the most prevalent female protagonists in CYS, Eve actually began as what I can only describe as a side character. Through the series, she proves herself capable of doing things even her late lover Adam could not, such as reforming the Monster Adams and stopping global catastrophes ten times worse than Adam had ever faced. Eve really is, as her name suggests, 'perfect'.
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of good choices. There wasn't even enough for a Top 10 list unless I included the more... awful ones. Here’s to more female badasses, and to the first issue of CYS Weekly! Have a good one!
-Storygame Reviews-
Seto’s Storygame Review:
"A Game of Life and Death" is like its title: long, ominous, a little odd, and seemingly random.
The story revolves around three main characters: You, the nameless and ambiguous protagonist, (who can later be given a face, gender, and a name in the sequel), a boy named Layne L. Gray and a girl named Melissa N. Mors, who get involved in an allegedly haunted house, letting the story begin.
The story is large, nearing 1000 pages in length and is among the biggest games on CYS. Most of the gameplay is through item inventory puzzles and action choices.
The good things this game has to offer are:
1. It's extreme replay value. With more than 15 different positive endings and countless bad ones, it's a great way to kill time if you need something long to read.
2. The clever, and sometimes unusual applications for the items, including joke pages / easter eggs, making the puzzles fairly interesting.
3. There are quite a few puns and a lot of the narration leans on dark humor, intended to make both the main story and the deaths more entertaining.
4. The cast of characters. Layne seems to be a fan favorite, being a courageous, kind, strong, and loyal companion. Vidia and Arabella are both very hammy villains, though they manage to be quite threatening, as do the vampires of the house. The third romanceable character, whose identity is a spoiler, is quite mysterious. The endings with that particular individual are some of the best, if not the best, of the game.
5. The world itself is interesting, combining a lot of elements in a charmingly strange mix.
6. The emotional spectrum it makes you go through; it can be funny, dramatic, sad, creepy, scary, intriguing, romantic, exciting and touching.
It does has its flaws though:
1. It can feel really, really random. You go from things like the mentions of the seven deadly sins to fighting dinosaurs, to mad scientists, mutilated corpses, cannibalism, doppelgängers, getting run over by a truck, Ebola, to the dangers of papercuts and so on. While it could be argued that it's impressive that Kiel was creative enough to tie this all into something coherent, it's probably not for everyone.
2. The humor. It may not be fit for pc people.
3. A particular ending, which requires either unbelievable luck, or help from the author.
4. Trying to get all of the endings will get you through the same pages over and over again. Of course, you'll be rewarded with a lot of new ones, but the game may end up feeling a bit repetitive.
5. This was Kiel's first attempt at writing a story game. It may be much better than a lot of first tries, but there are a couple of bugs here and there. (Nothing game breaking, granted.)
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Overall, I give GOLAD a 7/8. It's not perfect, true, but for a first game, it's amazing. It’s very evident that a lot of heart and time went into this project. Although Kiel might be leaving, you should still try his little (big) gem. It might end up as one of your favorite games on the site, so go try it.
Storygame Review by Will11
Homo Perfectus 8 - A Sci-Fi Adventure by SindriV and Playa988 (Published 2012)
The most popular game on this site and also the final instalment of the site’s most popular series this is one great story. From the perfect use of pictures to the gripping and action-packed plot Homo Perfectus 8 perfectly balances the twin elements of game and story using an incredible amount of coding and detail.
For all those who have ever dreamed of commanding your own team of superheroes and using superpowers in epic battles that feel like they really mean something this is the story-game for you!
One of the key strengths of HP8 is that the writing is thorough, descriptive and error-free throughout. The story is well plotted with a real myriad of choices, each adding something fresh to the story.
The series greatest feature is its excellent use of Items, each defining a particular skill. The countless hours that must have gone into making each of these Items have uses on so many different pages really betrays the hard work SindriV and his co-author Playa put into this story.
Hard work is necessary to make any truly great story and Sindri puts more time and effort into his story than most other writers I’ve had the pleasure to meet on this site.
I know that Sindri is still active on this site and under various alts Playa is as well because I have spoken to both of them in the last year. Sindri’s presence is almost undetectable because he spends so little time on the Forums, presumably immersed as he is in his writing.
This is how I like to imagine this site should be used; the Lounge can be great for socialising but like the Internet generally it can also be a massive distraction from writing. To produce masterpieces like any one of the Homo Perfectus series requires tremendous self-discipline and an ability to ignore these distractions for long periods of time.
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If you want to know what the best example of a fantastic story game looks like then you should read this one, still the only story in the fourteen year history of this site to garner a perfect 8/8 rating.
Sorry there couldn't be a comedy section, but I couldn't get the comic ZagHero made attched. Anyway, here is the belated, maybe never-to-be-again, CYS Weekly issue #1!
if you want to read what he made anyway, Which I reccomend you do, then here's the link; http://imgur.com/a/doB1c
Jaystar~
