Honor Bound

I liked “Honor Bound” quite a bit. It’s beautifully written, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters, especially my chosen love interest. Indeed, the romance was probably the highlight of the game, in my opinion, and the optional adult scenes were pretty good, too. The story, meanwhile, while okay, never really seemed to take off. Instead, I felt like I spent most of the game engulfed in the day-to-day of a bodyguard, and the threats I assumed would appear rarely did. Mostly just your run-of-the-mill bandits with motives as deep as a puddle. In short, only late in the game do things get intense. Prior to that, you spend most of the time talking to people, patrolling the area, attending social events, and doing minor tasks rather than anything particularly meaningful. (7/10)

I've enjoyed this whole series, characters are compelling and well written. You don't need to have played the previous entries to enjoy and understand this one, or any of them really. Its the same world but your always in a different country, if not not continent. I wouldn't describe any of them as having alot of action, but good pacing, and legitimate player agency, with logical outcomes based on your skills and attitude. My only warning/criticism is that after playing all the games, the DEI/forced lgbtq just gets to be a little stale and feels like its being used a crutch at times.I get that its not easy to write multiple young adult characters that all have depth, but there were characters i felt like their being trans was included so they could have some kind of arc. I also don't creatively respect presenting the option to players to chose these character's genders as you go, only to find out the character is trans in the next chapter, can be especially jarring if you started to ...

Harris Powell-Smith is amazing at making these kinds of games. Them and Kreg Segall (Jolly Good Cakes and Ale) are the masters of this genre and people should be throwing money at both of them to keep writing. I only wish I could have properly imported my save from Royal Affairs--unfortunately that game appears to have a game breaking bug now right around after you choose to join the drama club.

I never played the previous titles from the series. Doesn't seem like it's needed - all I can say is that there's an overabundance of names that I couldn't really keep up with and that may or may not be related to the setting. Varied cast of characters. 6 love interest - you can pick their gender, two of them are trans. Most existing couples don't seem to be traditional; poly marriages are thing and a bit overfocused on (not sure if harems, it's not explained here how 3 people marry together). It's an easy read - the type that keeps you entertained and glued to your screen until you finish it; however, the start is slower and the ending feels a little abrupt and even anticlimatic. It has a bit of everything - some slices of life, some romance, some action, though none of it is very fleshed out. You get choices almost every single page - some add to your stats, the other test them. I feel they could've done more with your character - the setup is good, there's a bit of discussion he...

This is one of the first CoG games that genuinely felt like a novel as I was playing. Powell-Smith's world feels like a comfortable pair of shoes at this point, and it was a lot of fun to walk down a new and interesting path with them. I definitely recommend starting with Creme de la Creme and carrying your save all the way through to Honor Bound. It was a ton of fun to have brief cameos from my old characters from Creme de la Creme and Royal Affairs. It felt a little bit like being a future regeneration of the Doctor meeting an earlier one.

Playing this game was a genuinely enjoyable experience. One of the standout features is the variety of romance options available, which adds an intriguing layer of choice and personalization. After completing my first playthrough, I find myself eager to dive back in and make different decisions, which speaks volumes about the game's replayability. That said, while I appreciated the romantic encounters in my playthrough, I felt they lacked emotional depth and genuineness at times. Perhaps with more nuanced storytelling or character development, these moments could feel more impactful and meaningful. Don’t get me wrong—I thoroughly enjoyed the experience overall, but I think there’s room for improvement in this area. What I especially liked was the ability to carry over choices from previous games. This feature adds a wonderful sense of continuity and makes the world feel richer and more immersive as familiar elements unfold with a new perspective.

Loved this game. Great central story premise with engaging slow burn romance options. One of my newest favorite romances (the priest of course). Highly recommend. Lots of options that give re-playability (five romance options [with poly options!!!], three different starting ages, lots of different starting professions in the military, etc.) Only issue is the out of left field references to the past games, but did not cause too much trouble. Finally, this game has a lot of great quality of life options (with in-depth glossaries of characters and events, keeps track of player character appearance and history, chapters with a tally of which chapter you are on and how many are in the game in total, etc.

An engaging story in an enjoyable world, Honor Bound offers lots of choices and reactivity to shape your character and their goals the way you want. It even allows you to save at the end of each chapter, should you require a second go. The pace is quite gentle and slice-of-life, but your decisions influence more significant events in the late game. No hesitation recommending this one at all.

another banger from Harris Powell-Smith

Another great game from H Powell Smith! I liked that I could set the PC's age relatively older compared to previous games, given the amount of history they can have with the military. I think this really helped the latter chapters in my case, giving the ending a kind of character development / turning over a new leaf vibe. Also never felt like there was a choice I wanted that wasn't in the game. The atmosphere is quite chill and oftentimes humorous, except of course for the more military-focused chapters. Even the town / random townspeople felt fleshed out. The characters feel well-written and their relationships (with you, with each other) contribute to the plot the most, in my opinion. However, the scenes where you tell people things that are going on can get pretty funny (unintentionally), if you repeat them enough LOL. Probably the fault of my warped sense of humor that a scene towards the end felt a bit Scooby Doo-ish, but the intensity ramped up quickly afterwards. I played wit...