Theriocide

I meant to review this storygame quite a while ago, but better late than never, I guess. So if there’s one thing that can be called Typewriter’s trademark, it’s the brutal, gory, ultraviolence. This story felt like a slasher movie where you’re the monster killing monsters. If that appeals to you, give it a read. It’s not too long after all.

Speaking of the length, I do think the fact that it was short did work in its favor. The paragraphs are mainly fight sequences and emotional turmoil. If you like Batman, but wish he was a much more murderous woman, you’ll enjoy this gore fest for sure. I will qualify that while shocking, none of the gore really pushed into the nauseating extreme for me. I was able to eat and read at the same time without vomiting. That’s an extremely important metric for me.

I also do like the driving motivation of a mother bereft of her daughter seeking revenge. Parenthood is generally a compelling motivation, and it was slightly twisted from protective instinct into something darker without becoming totally alien to the average audience. Congratulations.

There’s really only one part of the story that bothered me at all, and that’s where you have the odd conversation with one of the fish men about your daughter. After all, why is he bothering with that when he already knows that you’re a killing machine. I suppose it’s possible that the fish men are just incredibly dumb, but other than this schmuck, they seem aggressive enough to make up for it. It seemed a little out of place, but it’s possible the deadline forced a truncated version of the reveal of the fishmen’s philosophy of death and the hereafter.

All in all, it was definitely entertaining. It may not be that meaty or meaningful from a story perspective, but it was quick, brutal, and fun. Sometimes that’s all you really need. Personally, although I am aware that it was not intended as the main route, my favorite path was the one where you stick to the mission and die clearing the sector. What can I say, I’m a good little sheep like that.

Anyway, congratulations Typewriter on making your contest entry incredibly entertaining.

Wow that was pretty cool. Could have been longer though, but hey what a ride it has been.

I wish she took the time to prepare the sushi properly before eating. 0/10

Ah, a nice revenge story.

This was well written and entertaining and made good use of imagery. I liked the story, and I think vengeance provides a good motivation for all the carnage.

Well, I died. Try as I might I played this game with a degree of straightforwardness.

Maybe I should have been more prudent. The writing’s good, so cheers.

If there is one thing that makes me queasy, it's an image of organs spilling out of your body. I was doing fine for most of the whole story, but the part where you see yourself from an outside POV getting shredded really made me uncomfortable.

But I've always been taught that if a story can make you feel something, then it's a good story.

This is an excellent entry to the Fishin' Contest, and an excellent addition to the horror genre. Nicely done, Typecat. :)

Vivid and potent.
The story is difficult to 'get' unless you read all the paths. This doesn't detract much from the story.
If any improvement were to be made, it would be to make the storygame itself longer (perhaps extend the one surviving path?), but otherwise very good job.
Another descriptive, grisly horror story, as is to be expected from TypeCat.

Some really well done, intense bits of writing. The internal dialogue goes on a bit long and starts to lose focus in some places, and I would have appreciated a few more choices to break up the longer segments, but it's a very cool concept for a story that puts you right in the action and inside the protagonist's mind.

TCat really does seem to like these protagonists dwelling obsessively on someone else's death.

Interesting examination of loss and grief, and very brutal fishing techniques. Well written and poignant.