Tower Behind the Moon

Man, this one hurt me. It hurt me because so far Kyle Marquis has been my favorite author without question. Silverworld is easily my favorite Choice of Games game, with Empyrean a close second. So when I heard that he had a new Choice of Game coming out, I bought it the very moment it was available. It is...such a mixed bag. First thing I noticed was that it was following a trend of recent Choice of Games(CoG), even by other authors. That is to say, you get to choose what you do or say but your character doesn't have actual dialogue. The story just describes in general terms what you're saying. I think that in theory this is supposed to raise your immersion as you imagine what exactly your character says, in practice it pulls me out of the game. I've played quite a few CoG games before, and even the ones I didn't like but had actual dialogue didn't break immersion by giving some even half decent dialogue. Some go further than others, and you're playing something more along the lines...

I thought the setting was beautifully crafted, the story was sound if a bit too short and especially liked how the world tailored itself to your wizard path. Now then why do you ask would I give a game I just praised a thumbs down? Well in the beginning of the game we are given the chance to choose our companions and future possible romances names & genders. I defined my Castilian as a female named Leah. Now getting into the game, I'm intimately holding hands with Leah, flirting with her and generally building up a romantic repertoire with an achievement for it even. Here is when communications start to break down-- Me and Leah are alone having an intimate moment where she is discussing her childhood past to me when I see she refers to herself as a young boy. Now when I see that, I immediately think that the game must be bugged at that point and not tracking flags right. Oh how wrong I was, for the next thing Leah says is she used to be a man before she had a crisis of identity and ...

I am extremely conflicted about this game. On one side, it's lore is very detailed, original and compelling. There are very interesting ideas about the worldbuilding I found here. The whole story, characters, setting is simply... fabulous. There's a feeling of genuine magic and ancient mystery here that I think goes beyond many of fantasy worlds in books or media. The bad, now. I feel the game was trying to railroad me too much. I felt that some choices didn't really matter (my Ritualistic/Sorcery stat didn't even budge once after Chapter 1), and despite trying to do what felt right, I can now see my bad end was inevitable. Like real life, you could say, but I consider it a mistake from a gameplay perspective. Anyway, despite getting the bad end, I feel I accomplished something, and the story itself was nothing short of amazing and original. This, despite some things that really don't make sense from the setting's perspective [spoiler]Like, for example, how can my damn companions, a...

sad. played for 3 and a half hours, as the good guy as is my want, and get a bad ending. play through in an hour just being an ass and choosing everything mean and evil, and i end up a demon god.... Says something right?

I recommend the game and say it's worth a purchase, though you have to be a hardcore gamer to get the most out of it. From a worldbuilding perspective, the game is excellent, and offers a new perspective on tired medieval fantasy: instead of being a lowly knight or wizard making his way in the world, you're shaping that world, and the stakes are much greater. The book reads well. Sometimes magibabble heavy, but you get it within a few playthroughs. The story's tone is excellent, and it strikes a perfect balance of gravity and levity to keep things engaging. The game introduces some interesting mechanics such as Transcendence, which require planning and forethought to utilize fully, but when used properly can bring you towards new heights, and make you feel very accomplished when you do so. One criticism I had was that the choices in the game were somewhat opaque. For example, after several playthroughs and successful ascensions, I was still at a loss as to how you actually progress...

It's a good book clumsily forced into being an interactive novel. In contrast to the other Choice of games games I've played Tower behind the moon has a stronger, better defined narrative backed up by a fascinating setting but through playing it I found out why other games like this tend towards a weaker but more flexible narrative. In game unless you Immediately pick a lane and rigidly stick to it according to criteria you won't know until at least a couple full playthroughs, at which point you're moreso compensating for the games failings w/ Meta knowledge than organically playing it. Up until that point (or during your first run) you're supposedly an arch mage of your chosen school, possibly the last guy in history with the opportunity, power, and drive to ascend, with all the pomp and circumstance that brings. But in practice you're routinely an unqualified fuck up because you chose the wrong option for the lane you didn't know you were in from the vague options you were presen...

I wanted to like this game but after three playthroughs i can say that none of the choices relate to the stats proposed and you'd need to keep track of it separately which is immersion breaking and stupid. FUCK you Kyle Marquis for wring the absolutely worst worst WORST relevant choices to a story. Don't outsmart your own dumbass, you can't do it.

This has to be Kyle Marquis' weakest story so far. If you haven't read his Empyrean or Silverworld, I would recommend them, because they are so good compared to ---this. After several playthroughs, Tower Behind Moon still left a bad taste in me. The story can be great, but it feels rushed and incomplete. Characters are the worst. Most of them are so one-dimensional that are not unlike those housecarl NPCs in Skyrim. Also as a supposed archmage, you don't feel powerful and in charge at all. You have to especially pay attention to stats building before Chapter 2 in order to achieve any desired effect in the later chapters. Sometimes it's very confusing which stat will be used for certain choices, which can be very immersion-breaking. But I still would recommend this game because of author's decent writing and remarkable world-building ability. The game also has great replayable value because of many different paths and endings. It still stands out among so many mediocre stories nowadays...

I should have listened to the critical reviews... The game starts well, with an interesting world and characters. But roughly in the last third of the game, everything felt disconnected, stats changed randomly and the descriptions of progress and relationships did not reflect what was actually happening in the story. Supposedly important achievements on the way to ascension, such as special items and revealed mysteries etc. neve have any relevance and can´t be used at the critical moments you'd think they should. In essence, the last third felt random and railroaded at the same time, to a point that made me give the game a thumbs down in frustration.

For all its faults, I ultimately recommend this game. As many other reviews point out, the path of choices, and therefore ending, can feel a bit disappointing - for example [spoiler] I don't see how one can get the 'best' ending for your character (aka Ascension) while also preserving all your relationships.[/spoiler] That said, the concept is so unique, and the world so well-built, it's worth experiencing. Many games allow you to play a mage. But an archmage attempting ascension to Godhood? In a world shaped by those in various stages of success and failure? So for all the legitimate reservations, I think it's worth it. Fwiw, my ending was [spoiler] a partially successfully ascension, being offered to become an angel, whilst accepting being a weaker living continent. I could have tried for a full ascension (having been impeded), but suspected it would have failed, and been a step too ruthless and thus out of character. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯[/spoiler] Results may vary.