Of dreams and daemons

I would probably have given this storygame six stars, but although it was an easy read and I was able to explore a lot of the endings, there were some issues that did detract from my overall enjoyment of this.

I thought that the start was really strong, with the dream that Hannah has and the idea that she'd had multiple dreams and some of them had come true and others hadn't and she wasn't sure why, but...the problem with the dreams, and with a lot of the rest of the story, was that there was too much information dumping. As an example - the plague that went through the kingdom could have been referenced before it became immediately relevant to the plot. When it's brought up, Hannah immediately reflects that she remembers it, and I was given a whole monologue about how it affected people...when the after-effects of the plague could have been shown through character interactions much earlier on. The same about Hannah's past and the dream she has warning her away from becoming a mistress - I would have liked to see this explored in the story, perhaps with an interaction with Isabella and Vincent.

I did find both Jean and Louis to be interesting characters, which was good, since both of them are so integral to the different paths. I also liked the fact that Hannah had visions relevant to the different paths. However, I would have liked the reason behind that to be deeper than just whichever love interest she ultimately chooses.

I also would have really liked more choice here. There was very little impact Hannah's actions actually had on the story outside of the initial vision. I was disappointed that nothing seemed to really happen with her extra ability in regards to the daemons...and in the alleyway, I feel like having at least one choice. Even if both of them led to bad endings, Hannah doing something instead of just freezing and letting events unfold would have been much better.

I found eight of the nine endings (I'm not sure which one I missed), and I did really like the fact that each of the paths revealed more of what had happened. I also liked that those considered 'bad' all had reasons for what they were doing...well, except for the daemons, of course.

One thing I really struggled with while reading was the fact that you kept switching between past and present tense, and sometimes in the same sentence. It happened so much that it kept throwing me out of the story.

I did enjoy reading this storygame, and I liked the fact that one of the endings tied into one of your other stories. If you're planning to make this part of a wider verse, I think that would be pretty awesome.

Spoiler-free review

Oftentimes for a story to make sense, or even exist, the reader needs to occasionally suspend their disbelief in regards to things they really shouldn’t have to do that for. Meanwhile, Of dreams and daemons scoffs at those stories as it gives them its own signature look of superiority while providing a very tight story built on a very strong internal logic that maintains its integrity throughout the somewhat lacking branching while rewarding multiple playthroughs.

The fairly interesting, if somewhat tropey premise has us assume the role of Hanna – a seemingly mundane girl harboring a power unlike anything her magical world has ever seen before – as she gets pulled into a world of secrets, grudges and betrayals that puts her on a collision course with more than one prince charming in the process. Even though the game uses multiple tropes to build the foundations of its story they’re all executed very well and backed by some of the strongest character work and dialogue possible. The extremely vivid characters quickly create a full, living world around them as they interact with each other and the protagonist. Each person’s base personality is established quickly and diegetically, with plenty of space left for future reveals that will surely surprise on first encounter while at the same time making sense in hindsight.

Only one character stood out from the otherwise greatly realized cast and that’s the protagonist herself. At no point did I hate, or was even indifferent towards Hannah, but amidst the otherwise extremely consistent in their beliefs and decisions characters she stands out as somewhat underdeveloped. This wouldn’t be as much of an issue if she was supposed to be a blank slate character for the reader to assume the role of, but she’s anything but as she shows plenty of personality throughout the story, and even manages to justify the player’s decisions after they make them. Despite that she feels somewhat generic as she sits in this strange middle ground that a lot of protagonists for a story as linear as this tends to end up in.

And despite the notable word count and plenty of endings the story feels quite linear in multiple places, with no other choices but to keep pressing continue as the story unfolds on its own until it decides to offer the reader a single choice before going back to ignoring the fact it’s a CYOA as it barrels down towards an ending. The stories sprawling from those few choices are really good and full of character as well as little nods only noticeable after playing through the other branches that add to the fun, but with the exception of one specific choice all others can be boiled down to choosing your own ending. At least the endings available are varied and very much worth experiencing as they can add new context to other branches while providing twists sure to catch at least some readers off guard.

A few false choices throughout the story could help both with the overly long linear sections, and with establishing Hannah as a more fleshed out person. However, beyond the long, invariable chunks of the story and a slightly uncertain of what she’s supposed to be protagonist there is very little to actually note about this storygame in terms of objective negatives. A few SPAG issues exist, but they’re mostly minor typos, or things that can easily be treated as intentional choices in language for the sake of the setting, and the pacing is well managed, with only a single small lull in the story that can’t truly be hanged over the author’s head as it warrants its own existence by fulfilling its purpose without actually overstaying its welcome.

As I delved deeper and deeper into Of dreams and daemons I really wanted to give it that perfect score, but just as it is consistent about its great aspect, so it is about its flaws. It’s still a great story worth reading, and I’m sure many will fall in love with it and its characters, but it won’t quite be able to reach favorite status unless one comes into it purely to experience a story as a bystander rather than an active participant.

Final score: 6.5/8