I am super late with this post, I seriously meant to have it up weeks ago, but better late than never, am I right? Back in March Argent Games launched a Kickstarter campaign for their second BL visual novel Chess of Blades, however they were unable to raise the necessary funding by their April deadline… so, they took a step back to reevaluated the project and I am happy to say that they are giving Kickstarter another go!! So, if you missed out on supporting the first campaign now is the time to show your support!!
In the time between the first campaign and the current one, Argent Games has been hard at work bringing polishing Chess of Blades into something spectacular! New characters, improved artwork and more await in this upcoming BL title!
Story
Chess of Blades is a romance mystery boys love visual novel. Argent Games blends elements of the baroque and Victorian periods for wildly imaginative period piece, full of intrigue, suspense, and a dash of humor and wit!
The king is having a huge birthday celebration! Five days of dancing, festivals, and drinking, culminating in a grand masquerade ball. It just so happens that Rivian Varrison, the introverted son of a famous nobleman, is forced to attend this giant event by his father. By chance, or maybe something more deliberate, he runs into a host of colorful and shady characters, all with their own stories to tell. But when a sudden and mysterious crime happens on the second day of the celebration, Rivian finds himself thrown into the middle of it, and has to discover the truth behind what really happened — and who the people around him really are.
–Synopsis (Argent Games)
Characters
Since this is a fantasy romance game, each of the characters are either members of the royal court or members of the nobility.
Rivian Varrison is the protagonist and son of a famous nobleman, who finds himself at the center of mysterious goings on while attending a Royal engagement. While Rivian isn’t a bad guy, he can be a bit particular about certain things, which is to be expected from someone of his social standing.
- Arden Raynsford is a kind-hearted and loyal member of the King’s Royal Guard. Arden has a soft spot for the portagonist, Rivian and would gladly lay his life on the line for the young noble.
- Linnaeus Glaucia is the cool and intellectual High Inquisitor of the royal court. He is calculating and logical, but, be warned he has no patience for foolish people.
- Franz Chaumont is an enigma! With his rugged good looks and imposing demeanor, Franz is a man’s man! He’s full of raw sex appeal and he can be a bit aggressive.
Features
- An expansive visual novel experience with over SEVEN HOURS of gameplay and features!!
- The game features FULL VOICE ACTING!
- Two gameplay options: a PG-13 version and a R18 version!
- There will be a total of THREE romantic partners, each with their own unique storylines and endings.
- There will be several choices throughout the game that will effect the course of the story and Rivian’s fate!
- There are a total of 8 endings
- The game also features an fantastic soundtrack and original artwork!!
- Over 25 beautiful CGS and various unique backgrounds!
- Beautifully rendered character sprites!
This will be a commercial release, but by pledging at the $15 level, you all can snag a copy of the game. Upon it’s release the game will be available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Steam! The tentative release date is set for Fall 2017! The Campaign Goal is $5,500 and the KS will run until June 18th, 2017!
At this time there is a demo which can be downloaded from the game’s itch.io page. The demo covers roughly 20-30 minutes of gameplay, but you get a good feel for the mechanics and the characters. There is also voice acting in the demo, so it’s definitely worth checking out!
So PLEASE check out the Kickstarter campaign, HERE, and lend your support. There is still time left to support the campaign and every little bit helps! The various price tiers come with some nice goodies so definitely check them out!
You can also contact Argent Games on Social Media through the following channels:
If you can’t help out monetarily, SHARE this post or the Kickstarter page on social media and spread the word! As always THANK YOU for reading!!!
I definitely pledged for this one!!! 😀 I’m exciteddddd <3 <3
-I still like Franz the most- OK so I managed to download COB on my phone yesterday and it was amazing!
My God, Rivian is so like me it’s ridiculous.XD Not to mention he’s so picky and neutral good, and his roasts are damn fabulous, my hear can’t take it. Sure, some people might want to punch him(and this brat sure deserves it), but unlike most BL/yaoi or even otome heroines, he’s strong and independent, which is something I really appreciate at a protagonist. His backstory until now seems fine, but I want to see more of it unfolding in the future, especially in a more emotional-family way.
Arden…is a good guy, I guess. A bit _too_ nice…also, what happened between him and Riv 4 years ago? Can’t wait to find out.;)
Franz is well…something I definitely did not expect. *fans myself* I know it’s not this much of a good move, but he’s the first one I’ll pick. He looks like my ideal dude lol. But yeah, I really want to see a sweeter(and fluffier) side of him in the future, that’s for sure~^W^(But his usual self is good too, I won’t complain)
Linnaeus, oh God this man’s hilarious! His argument with Rivian was so funny, I really, really want to see the KS campaign happen if only to hear more of sassy Rivian and his conflicts with the other characters. Kudos to the creators for making such a good protagonist.
Silas was hot and smart and Hazel deserves the absolute spotlight of the game tbh. This duo is purely adorable and I can sense a bit of a brother-sister(or even father figure like) relationship between them, especially if we think more about Hazel’s age and the age difference without them. My main question about Hazel is: besides her (in the creators’ words) important role in the story, will she be a shipper too???
So all in one, COB is my first yaoi/BL game and it was such a nice demo and experience, I’d actually play it in the future(the PG-13 sounds amazing for me!). Nice to see a protagonist that’s not stupid or submissive for once.
Anyway, I really liked this demo, so my ratings will be:
*Art: 10/10(Mizu’s art is marvelous!)
*Writing:9.4/10(I don’t give a 10 due to how short it is.What can I say? I love reading.XD)
*Plot revelance/Story in general:8.9/10(While the plot is rather original, at times I felt it was a bit too…-how to say it?- rushed? Like I know it’s a demo so it’s not too long and stuff, but…then again, I’m far more used to the long Voltage prologues than game demos in general lmao. The same goes to Nix Hydra’s ‘The Arcana’.)
*Protagonist+Suitors:10/10(Despite how small the cast may be, the characters are not cliched at all, and while most BL/yaoi games tend to have the same tropes for their characters, I have a feeling that there’s more to COB’s characters, be it the suitors or the MC, so yeah.:/)
*Likeability:9.9/10(Finally I found a BL/yaoi game that’s not ‘smut without plot’, thank goodness! Right now this game-well demo- is one of my faves so whenever it’s a guilty pleasure of mine or not, I really like COB.:D)
OVERALL RATING: 9.62/10
Whenever Gamma, Dovah, Mizu or any of the people working on this game see this, this game is really good. The story sounds original(despite being rushed around some edges), the cast is diverse and complex(while still subtly following some tropes, it gives a rather new and un-cliched feel to it which I found to be a blessing), the protagonist is someone I can relate to to a rather high extent(that means I’m punchable too lolXD), the art is fantastic and overall I have a feeling this game may add a bit of exotic and new spice to the BL/yaoi genre that’s definitely.
So yeah, I hope the KS campaign works out in the end, I really like this and kudos to the creators for being so ambitions and creative! CartoonGirl out, folks!
***
So how was my first review/mini-review? Was it good? Mundane? A decent read AT ALL???? I’m so new at this…
Anyway, what do you think about game/demo? Do you like it?
Sorry! The overall rating is 9.64/10, not 9.62! Sorry again!