Sabrina

DISCLAIMER: I only have vague knowledge of the original story of Sabrina - The Teenage Witch. I think I might have seen maybe one or two episodes while lazily flicking through TV channels during my adolescent days. If you are looking for a review of this story that addresses nods to the original work, then this one probably isn't it.

MHD's Sabrina is a roller coaster of a story game that delves into how a witch handles heartbreak. While the pain is relatable, the circumstances ensure a fun and unique experience no matter which branch you take.

<<SPOILERS AHEAD>>

WRITING & CHARACTERS:

Yes, we are clubbing these sections together. This story is very character driven and a lot of the techniques that were being used mostly served to strengthen the impression I had of our two main characters, namely Sabrina and Kane. Therefore, I'm going to talk about it all at once to avoid repeating myself.

Using foil characters to highlight a certain aspect of both characters personalities is a technique I'm quite partial to, but this story takes it a step further by foiling character perspectives against each other. The story rapidly switches perspective between Sabrina and Kane, sometimes mid-page, hell even mid-conversation, to show the impact they are having on each other's thoughts and feelings. By being shown both characters inner workings, they end up acting as brilliant foils of each other.

The french was a nice touch. It definitely made my mind imagine Kane's voice in a certain way. I could practically hear his dialogues in my head as I read them. Very cool.

There was exactly one typo I noticed and it was in the first page. "Kane had since downed..." - I'm assuming this is "donned" since it goes on to list clothing. On the first read, I just thought demons from hell were predisposed to eating clothes but then I had to do a double take as the sentence went on. It was a happy little accidental typo that made me laugh.

I kinda wish there was more instances of magic I suppose but maybe that would have distracted from the core romance. Ah, well.

STRUCTURE:

The branching in this one is pretty impressive. I was trying to come up with a blurb to put before the spoiler tag that accurately captures what this story and all its endings are about when I realized just how much divergence there is between them (Having a fling after ending your ex, learning demonic magic, getting back with your ex, finding pleasure on your own terms). My favorite branch was obviously the longest one where Kane begs the Gods to become human only to return and find Sabrina back in Jean-Luc's grasp. It was a really tragic ending and I kind of wish that they could've have gotten together.

I also really like how false choices were used in this game too. There was such a healthy mix of choices that produce divergent paths and false ones that I honestly could never guess which choices were which. More importantly, even though the false choices bottlenecked back to the same path, in most cases, they served to help with characterization in their own ways. I think my favorite instance of this was when Kane plans a date with Sabrina. The first choice shows how inept Sabrina is in classier environs but it also shows how Kane finds her charming all the same even shooting a little bit of venom at the waiter's way to counter his silent judgement. It shows Kane's indulgence of Sabrina. The other path, however, involves Kane taking Sabrina on an ice cream date. Just this path existing helps characterize Kane's consideration to Sabrina's happiness. Though both paths lead to the same bottleneck, they characterize different aspects of Kane's infatuation with his amour. I'm not even sure if I could even consider such choices as "false" considering their value.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a fun, lighthearted interactive romance, you'd be hard pressed to find something better than this storygame.

This sounds like a fun story 😊 As someone old enough to remember the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch show airing (Nickelodeon for the win!) but never bothering to watch it, it’ll be nice to find out after all these years what that show was actually about. Not really sure why I’m going around summoning demons but hey, everyone needs a hobby and it keeps me off the streets. Sabrina Heartcraft? Is that my real name? My parents must have been hippies.

Summoning a demon to kill my ex-boyfriend in exchange for my first-born child seems a tad extreme (and a bit unfair on the kid) but hey ho, I see this as having no possible negative ramifications later in life. And now I’m checking out Kane’s junk and he’s going through my undies (though, tbf, he is a demon), that took an odd turn. And that French bugger of an ex dumped me by phone! Well, that clinches it then. Drag him to hell ASAP please! Great, and the demon is a misandrist (a hater of men, had to google the term).

Why would I hire a demon to kill Jean-Luc and then still be physically present at the crime scene? This is the most fun Kane’s had in a millenia? He should get out more. Also, why does he speak French? Are all French people evil or are demons just fans of French culture? The shifting viewpoint is fun. Tears mixed with snot and spit? Classy. Oh great, now Jean-Luc is interested in me, now he’s all zombified. Oh, it was just a dream. Why do I sleep with my boobs hanging out? Though just the one apparently.

Obviously, who can say no to romantic relations with a demon? I thought that would lead to the whole having-a-child / demon-takes my child route but it didn’t. If I play hard to get though the story just ends quickly. Hm, well that was an interesting one. I’m not 100% sure but I’m pretty sure the original tv show was not this dark. This was a very fun, creative and well-written story with good branching, excellent SPAG and just the right length to be an interesting read without overstaying its welcome. I like that I focused on one specific crime with the demon, though this could have been easily expanded into a whole series of infernal crimes in which hopefully I’d stay out of it and let Kane perpetrate chaos in the world.

Actually, thinking about it, if Sabrina was a bit more ambitious, I could sell my soul to the devil for a chance to be, say President of the United States (which, if doable, could explain a lot). This premise could be taken to a whole new level of global chaos for a would-be Napoleon type character. One minor criticism I would make is that bringing in Salem (who I think was a cat?) and Hilda and Zilda was probably a bit unnecessary as they didn’t really do much in the branch I was on and just seemed slipped in to reference the show.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It’s a fun and enjoyable 15-minute read and I’ll rate it a 6/8. I should read more of MHD’s stuff because I think she has a fun writing style, I’ll definitely read more soon. This story was very enjoyable :D

Great!

I love this so much this is one of my favorites now

I liked that Kane could be at least somewhat redeemed, I wish that pat dealing with the gods had been more interactive actually. You get such major differences depending on where you take her for dinner though, it took me a minute to realize the ending where she takes Jean Luc back wasn't the only possible outcome there.

Gets unexpectedly horny in places. I admit I wasn't sure what to expect from this at all, I know nothing about Sabrina except for just now realizing I was confusing it with the old old show Bewitched. That doesn't seem necessary to read this though.

Romance stories might not be my cup of tea but I haven't seen anything else like it on the site, and I like the character POV switching. The only real criticism I have is that the most sensible path is quite short, most of the story content you don't see unless you take the non obvious wishy washy route.