"He is an old and fierce warrior. No one has managed to kill him in battle, and all he wants is a glorious death. It's all a matter of perspective: my mission is simply to kill, destroy, save the queen, save the realms." 🔥
Hello, big fan of your work! I’m thinking about writing an IF of my own one of these days…
Recently, I picked up a game in the Steam summer sale called “Loren the Amazon Princess”—and I’ve heard you’re a fan?
I was hoping you could maybe ramble indulgently about your thoughts on the game, your favourite experiences from it, and—most importantly—how it’s influenced you as a writer?
That is all :)
Keep up the good queer work.
OMG, you didn't! This is the best day ever! 14 years I've been waiting for this moment. God bless you.
For those of you interested, this is a high fantasy RPG game with 8 romance options. Most ROs are bi but there are some exclusive straight/gay options, and you can choose to play as a male human (Saren) or a female elf (Elenor).
Everyone! Take a seat on the log and gather round the fire while I tell you the tale of the hero of Aravorn, Loren the Amazon Princess, and her faithful slave companion: Elenor (of course I'm doing the wlw version, I have a brand).
*lute strumming a Greensleeves ripoff*
When Queen Karen, who's hot, vanished into thin air
The whole Amazon kingdom passed down to her heir.
The young mistress herself, if I may be so crass,
Seemed to have a huge stick stuck quite deep up her—
You know what? It's going to take too long if I try to rhyme my way through it.
Recruit a ragtag team of questionable rep on your way to rescue the Amazon Queen and end up taking innumerable detours when you're roped into waging a bloody war against the demons. Fight croc people! Adopt a pet! Bribe vampires with jewels! Bridge the gap between humans and elves! Fall in love with the woman who enslaved you! Or her daughter! Or both! And the rest of your party!
It may be awkward, but we're not judging here. That's Chambara's job:
In my defense, it's a loooong game and even though you unlock cheat mode and can skip fights after you complete it for the first time it's easier to max romances and just save and load to try all routes without playing it all from the beginning.
It's a great game, by far the best this developer has in my opinion. An easy to read, enjoyable plot that remains interesting all the way until the end but that really doesn't take itself too seriously. It made me understand that you can write silly sometimes and that may be what people enjoy the most about the story. Cheesy power of unity and friendship thingy in some parts; I love it. Your character has three possible settings Joking/Friendly/Forceful and it's usually very funny to keep it consistent because it almost feel like a parody.
A good example that you can take a simple story and make it stand out by having characters carry it with their dynamics and personalities. It holds a very special place in my heart since I got into visual novels at 16 because of it, which means I only discovered the IF community thanks to this game. I'm going to be 30 this year and I'm still very much into it so probably my best purchase ever, gaming-wise.
I love the cosy atmosphere of camp break conversations, and also the cut-scenes that trigger automatically when you have high enough romances or the jealousy ones you get when you hoe around. I love jumping from place to place on the map and the fact that you can unlock scenes when you go to a specific place at a specific time. I love that you don't play as the 'chosen one' but you still get to make an impact.
I love the character art, with that rough hand-drawn style that I wish they used for CGs too, and I thank whatever god may be that you can activate a 'censored' version because half-naked men and having women practically flashing their boobs all the time kind of makes me cringe LOL
I encourage trying all ROs, but I will only give a little description of what to expect on wlw ones. You know; brand.
• Loren: like defrosting a whole chicken. "Feelings make us weak" kind of vibe. Actually a softie in need of emotional validation. She's arrogant enough to get herself into trouble, strong enough that she doesn't care because she'll win the fight anyway, and so sheltered that she knows nothing of the world outside her home walls.
• Karen: problematic as fuck if you look at it through the eyes of a sane person. Depressed, 20+ year age gap, enslaved you as a child, not the greatest mother, victim of her own culture and certainly not in a good position to start a relationship. ...She's probably my fav and I hate myself for it LOL. Sadness turns into solemnity and she's smooth as hell when she decides life might be worth living after all.
• Chambara: Miss 'I don't need anyone by my side' will turn into the kind of person that would look for you in the afterlife, Orpheus-like, while still maintaining that Dominatrix-coded attitude her looks reflect so well, as seen above. Surprisingly wholesome interactions when she's taken off guard and stops being a menace. Terrible landscape taste: lives in a swamp.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts about it when you finish it, @jjdove! As for that IF, I would encourage you to give it a try. Bet I could find, at the very least, a thousand people interested in following such a story ;)
Plus one, because I just realized I literally don't follow anyone with my account and I've been relying in the algorithm and, even worse, myself not to miss updates.
