Deathless: The City's Thirst

I love books and I love video games and this combination was perfect for me! There's adventure, romance and personality in the choices you make. My character felt like me and I can't wait to get more endings to see what else can unfold. I definitely recommend purchasing this, you wont regret it.

Many different paths provide a lot of replayability, and the whole adventure is written well. Highly recommend this one.

Set in the World of the Craft Sequence, Gladstone builds an imaginative interactive experience for the player.

Yes. That aside, this was an interesting mix of the previous game. A good note that charm isn’t as flexible as it was in the previous game (I pretty much won with a maxed charm stat) so you actually have more importance in everything else.

Absolutely one of the best Choice Of...games I’ve played in a long time. Unique characters in a fascinating world tell a compelling story with numerous choices to make it your own. Highly recommended!

Max Gladstone is one of my favorite print authors. His Craft Sequence, of which this is a part, is a masterful exploration of humanity under capitalism. His writing makes this interactive fiction game an excellent experience. Check it out.

The first game was fantastic as a stand-alone game and a book tie-in. This has more flexible playability, and adds much to the backstory of the book series.

Though it might not be as popular as the other Choice games, it's my personal favorite. The story takes place in an unique and intriguing setting and time. There are multiple endings with various branching paths. I seriously recommend it!

Didn't really enjoy this game. The plot didn't really interest me immensely from reading the description, but I got it anyway because I really liked the first Deathless. Ended up being disappointed. I do recommend the first one though.

Having really enjoyed Choice of the Deathless, it was great to be able to play a different Craftperson, in a different part of the world*, and, since you play as a troubleshooter, with a more active, tough-guy job than the litigator character of the previous game. So it's weird that despite the fist-fights, the backstabbing, the snappy dialogue, and all the other fine Noir touches, the story kind of fell apart, for me at least. This game is great in the small details, but I felt it lacked a through-line. The first game had a really tight construction, and a framing device that held the chapters together and brought everything to a really satisfying conclusion. Playing it a few times through, it was clear there were more-effective and less-direct paths, and some cool options depending on big choices. There were a few different ways to move the story forward. Here, it feels a lot more separated into chapters, and it's less clear how choices shape the world, or which direction "forward" even is. Certain things just plain didn't happen from one playthrough to the next. That's not a bad thing at all, but I shouldn't be able to _accidentally_ solve a locked-room mystery, for example. And decisions about specifically how the Wars affected your character appear to be only for show. Only after finishing the game did I realize that the climax of the drama had been a conversation. My character spent some time wrapping up details, preparing for a big fight, and then it wasn't needed. The fight never came. There was even a line of story saying just that. Sorry, but... whaaaa? And while I'm not familiar with the books these games are based on, I'm starting to recognize some tropes for the games: plucky women allies named Chen. Big scary sharp-clawed monsters who may not be all bad (or are they?). Imposing and formidable male authority figures who kill with a thought. Imposing and formidable female authority figures who have plans within plans, which involve you (or do they?). It's not that I don't enjoy consistency, but the things that were put together differently in this one were maybe not the things that needed to be. It's also completely confusing, even after 2 or 3 playthroughs, how some of the game mechanics work. How do my choices affect these stats? What do I use them for? What should my strategy be? I'd strongly recommend some kind of manual or more detailed guide, perhaps unlocked after one complete run. Look, that's a lot of critical words, about