Player Comments on The Laconia Incident

Spoiler-free Review

I’m somewhat glad I didn’t jump into The Laconia Incident with any expectations, and I’m not referring to expectations in regards to quality, but to the theme and tone. If I came in expecting serious historical fiction or a Nazi themed retelling of Prisoner of Ice there’s a good chance I would’ve ended up disappointed in a way that colored the rest of my impression. And I’d hate for a story this good to be brought down due to incorrect assumptions.

The titular incident serves as less of a premise and more as a jumping off point towards the premise, which puts us in the shoes of an officer serving aboard a Nazi U-boat responsible for said incident. Meanwhile the actual plot of the storygame can best be described as a collection of various, often diametrically different plots branching off from the incident. Those branches feature tension, politics, action, romance and even a bit of comedy depending on which way the player leads the protagonist.

This rather wide net the story casts doesn’t mean it struggles in regards to consistency. Both narration and character work are solid. The former in how it adapts to the tone and background of various branches, which enhances immersion regardless of whether the story turns more humorous or grinds down to a grim halt. The latter meanwhile shines in its consistency despite the variety of situations the crew and stowaways of U-156 find themselves in. Each character is established quite efficiently and remains true to their personality throughout. Almost to the story’s detriment as some twists can be easily predicted based on what we already know about the characters involved.

At the same time the protagonist is a bit more fluid in his actions, which is expected in a story as varied as this, but for the most part also remains consistent in his core personality and values as a man pulled into the conflict through a mix of obligation and propaganda, but with enough agency to still form his own opinions when faced with some harsh truths and choices. The few additional bits of his backstory we’re given across some branches add to his background without disrupting the reader’s ability to put themselves in his shoes.

The constantly mentioned branching is indeed the story’s greatest feature, mainly due to the sheer number, size and variety of various paths the reader can take. While I personally had quite a bit of fun discovering all the ways the story could reach an end, the variety can be seen as a bit of a double edged sword with how it tries to cover every possible angle it can twist the original premise towards. There are more grounded stories centered around the human cost of decisions made when there is no right choice, paths filled with intrigue and politics, branches that border on (end even dive straight into) fantasy, love stories and more.

This means that regardless of what the reader’s expectations are, there is a good chance this storygame will end up taking them somewhere completely unexpected. It’s not a bad thing overall, but it does make it hard to recommend the story without first giving out a few spoilers, or at least suggestions on which choices to make. Thankfully the general prose quality is perfectly serviceable. SPAG issues are few and far between, and a few spots where the description of events can leave the reader confused tend to get cleared up further down the page.

There’s a lot going on with The Laconia Incident. Both in a positive and negative sense of the phrase, even if the sum of all positives outweigh the negatives by quite a bit. It is certainly a well done collection of stories, but the individual stories it’s composed of vary so greatly in their plots that guessing whether a potential reader will enjoy the branch they stumble into is quite a gamble. Still each of those stories remains solid on their own and certainly won’t leave you completely disappointed if all you’re looking for is a good story set around World War 2, and remain open to a few surprises.

Final Score: 6/8

I really enjoyed this. Joseph, the protagonist, is shown as a man torn between duty, circumstance, and a buried sense of morality that keeps trying to surface. There’s something about the way he carries himself, like he’s constantly trying to swallow down his values, at least in the routes I went down. He dresses everything up in excuses and half-truths just to keep functioning. The story captures that contradiction well. He isn’t cruel, and he isn’t a full believer, but he’s still there, participating in things he can’t undo.

One line that stuck with me was the idea that a German victory would benefit all of humanity. Joseph wonders whether that justifies killing the "Tommies" who haven’t "understood it yet." It opens up something deeper than politics. It becomes a question of whether your loyalty belongs to a grand idea or to the individual people standing in front of you. It reminded me how ideology can feel noble until it demands life. Joseph comes across like a man doing everything he can not to look too closely at the cost of his own belief. I think that’s something most people can relate to if they’re honest, the way we sometimes compromise our values just to keep the peace.

There’s a moment where you choose whether or not to lie to Elizabeth, and it hit harder than I expected. It’s not just a simple choice between truth and deception. It feels more like a choice between owning your shadow or protecting the image you’ve built. Either way, something inside you gets exposed. That was one of the moments where the emotional stakes felt really raised.

A small nitpick, though. I really liked Elizabeth as a character. She’s sharp, layered, and brings out something good in Joseph. But because the game leans into historical fiction, having a British woman as a soldier in World War II threw me off a bit. It created a bit of cognitive dissonance that pulled me out of the immersion. Part of me wonders if the story might have worked even better if Elizabeth had been written as a man, and if the romance route had been removed entirely. That said, the writing is strong, and the emotional dynamic between them still works.

The historical detail throughout is solid. I especially appreciated the setting in the Pacific Ocean. At first, I was confused by the shark attacks, but it made sense as the context unfolded. The atmosphere felt grounded and lived in. Renkow is a great antagonist, or at least a brutal counterweight to Joseph. He’s ruthless, but not unrealistic for the time period. His presence raises the stakes without ever turning into a caricature.

If I had one wish, it would be for more insight into Joseph’s backstory. We get strong moments of reflection and tension, but fewer concrete glimpses into what made him the way he is. Maybe that absence is intentional. In high-stress environments, people often suppress their emotions, and maybe Joseph has done the same. Still, I found myself wanting a bit more of that internal world to come through in in monologue.

What stood out to me most is how Joseph represses his internal contradictions for most of the story. He doesn’t resolve them. He just carries them. The cracks only show when something external forces reflection, either through Elizabeth or through the visible consequences of your choices. That’s what makes him feel believable. He isn’t at peace with what he’s doing, but he keeps doing it. That unresolved tension is what i think gives the story its emotional weight.

Overall, I found it to be an oddly bittersweet read, at least in the paths I got. It’s sad and heavy, the way Joseph stays chained and in denial, but there’s something quietly hopeful too. You’re given subtle ways to resist, even in a situation where everything feels fixed. That quiet resistance gives the story a strange kind of sweetness too.

Well worth reading!

This was definitely a storygame that picked up speed the more I read it.

To begin with, I was a little disappointed, as it was reading more like a story than a game, and there were very few choices to begin with. I did find myself getting gradually more and more drawn in as the narration went on, though - and I have to say, the use of the photos did add quite a lot to the entertainment value.

It's obvious that a lot of research went into this storygame. It's perhaps not the sort of genre I would have chosen to read generally, but I think it was definitely well worth the read.

Having the player character be a Nazi was an interesting choice. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have thought I could connect as well with a protagonist on the other side of the war, but although there was no shying away from the atrocities, I found myself engaged with the plot enough to be drawn in. I can't say I really grieved for any of the German characters who died, but I did like Elizabeth and I found her relationship with the player character to be quite intriguing, even if it did feel quite manipulative (on both ends) at times.

There was a lot of violence in this storygame, which is understandable, given the time period it takes place in. The descriptions of the surroundings, and especially under the water, were really well-written, and I was able to picture most of the events happening in my mind.

In total, I managed to find four different endings in this storygame, with two of those being hidden endings. I might have tried to read more, but I always find war stories quite depressing as a whole, and sadly, the added elements didn't really change that for me. I'm sure I'll eventually revisit this storygame and see if I can discover anymore of the endings, though - I particularly want to find the true ending, as well as the other hidden endings.

A beautifully written, gritty and historical story. I loved it!

One of the first endings I got was the true end. I wonder how many people found themselves trying to do the right thing while being on the wrong side of history.

The literary end was also very thought-provoking. The protagonist forcing himself to study the lives of the people he killed felt like the only real way to honor their deaths and atone for it.

I also liked the treacherous end which was a refreshing change of pace. It felt more like an action movie as opposed to the gritty realness of the rest of the branches. It felt like eating dessert after a good meal. XD

There were some very rare instances of SPAG errors. Stuff like "it's" not having the apostrophe or "this" but the "t" is missing. Stuff that might fly under the radar of an automatic spell-checker. The errors were rare and didn't affect my reading experience at all of course, but if you seek perfection, I highly recommend reading your work aloud to spot such errors. It's really effective.

Regardless, this was truly a wonderful experience. I'm glad I took the time to try multiple endings. I highly recommend others to do the same too!

Super fun! I agree with the author that the Himalayan ending is the best, simply because its sweet and easy. It took me a while to get the true ending with trial and error but it was incredibly fun and rewarding and i loved that it tied to real historical event which i think made it a lot more special. Thank you for the effort and time spent on these projects !

Once again we reach a story which is NOT my genre, but it was pretty good.

This was obviously well researched, and there is a shit ton of endings. The dialogue is good and believable. The setting was well fleshed out. Never felt more like a kraut.

I got the climactic ending, of course, and wouldn't want it any other way.

I got the Godslayer ending! I'll leave a longer review, but for now I'm just really happy that I finally found the true ending!

History usually isn't my genre, but I really enjoyed this one. Originally, I got the murderous end, but found myself going to find all the others before eventually reaching the true end. What a depressing story.
I didn't notice any SPAG or script errors, good job to Fabrikant.