dream-does-games

[dream-does-games]

So I finished book three of Blades of Light and Shadow 3 and here are my thoughts (This post got delayed bc it got long and I put it in my Google Docs with the intent to edit and complete it, and here we are like two weeks later).

I know a lot of people assumed the worst from the beginning,  but I generally thought it was pretty good. It was no book 1, but I think I liked it better than book 2. Weirdly enough, I don't think this book did as much for the lore as book 2. It's strange because we definitely got a lot of information in this book. Maybe it's because it didn't feel like it was heavily changing anything as much as book 2. Nevertheless, I always like the expansion of the universe, and I think Blades as a whole does this better than a lot of Choices books.

The next thing is some reactions in the book struck me as kinda weird. And I specifically mean the Nifara scene where she was offering them power. Like I would've thought by then, their bond was pretty strong. I was kinda shocked that any of them doubted Aerin. Similarly, I was reaaally shocked that they doubted Tyril. Or maybe the reason for the doubt was the shocking thing to me. Like I'd get it if they thought the offer was that all of them stay safe and their friend was doing something misguided, but seizing power? Really?

I also want to talk about some of the decisions themselves. I think this part may just be subjective (I know the whole post is, but this particular part might be just me). It's something not only present in Blades but generally present in Choices as a whole. And I get it bc the whole point of an interactive story is to give the player the power to shape the story, but I think that there are some choices that the mc should not make. One of those choices was the decision to stay or go back. Like whyy would they thrust that on the mc. I know people don't like it when found families separate, but in this case I really thought everyone could go their own way. I wouldn’t mind choosing for those who were undecided, but it felt wrong choosing to go back when Mal really wanted to stay. But choosing to stay would also feel unfair because Mal is the only person who strongly wanted to stay. Also, I don’t know if mc’s choice on Mal’s mother or Bakshi affects their decisions, but I really didn’t think it was my place to make that choice. For the Ash Empress, I personally think it should have been Valax’s decision or a group vote.

I was particularly thankful for the scene where they let us choose to say we didn't want to be making choices. I really like that since book 2, they've been feeding crumbs about how their whole situation has been weighing them down.

Also, I did not care for Ittar. I’m so sorry guys, but we hardly even knew them and most of the time, they were being an opp. I didn’t feel bad when they died. I did feel bad after because Bakshi had grown on me and zir reaction actually hit me in the gut. Midys also kinda hit me with her reaction because, at that point in the story, she was already looking pitiful, so to know she lost her best friend sucked.

Finally, I’m glad Nifara got what was coming to her. I did not like her one bit. I didn’t even like the one line that insinuated she was at peace with her death. If it were up to me she would’ve got the Ozai treatment. They should’ve stripped her of her power since she loves it so much and maybe tossed her into hell. I’m sure her prisoners would’ve liked to have a chat with her.

Anyway, from here I don't really know what Choices books I'll cover next. I think I'll reread Immortal Desires and give my thoughts since it's book 3 is being released.

[dream-does-games]

See, this is nice and all, but I don't think I have the emotional capacity to deal with another redemption. At this point, we've forgiven almost all our previous foes. I'm ready to spill some blood now. I think I'll be quite annoyed if this book ends with Nifara's redemption.

[dream-does-games]

Yo wtf? He's kinda grown on me. Not just anyone gets to talk shit about him. Some mother she is😒

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On chapter 9 now. Oof the Vash thing must've been a huge slap in the face for Nia😭

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Ok, I'm ready to binge read the remaining half. Probably after my midsemester exams next week. An era is ending😔

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Fine. I'll admit it. Maybe she's a little funny

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I just finished chapter 1 of Book 3. Wtf💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

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Based on Book 2's end and Book 3's start, I can tell Nifara has beef with mc. Which makes sense since I chose to merge the realms. What I don't get is why she'd have beef with mc if mc chose to seal the rifts. That's what the Watcher told mc to do. Do the scenes change or smth? If so, how?

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Y'all I've been waiting for this moment. I'm finally here after avoiding the tags and my own Home Page😭😭

[dream-does-games]

Finished my book 2 replay, and honestly I don't have a lot of new thoughts I haven't had before. I still think a lot of you were wayyy too harsh on this book on release.

I've mentioned this before, but it's really good in terms of lore. I liked the amount of new info we got. And honestly, I don't even think the plot's pacing is that bad. After rereading book 1, I've realised it was also kinda slow until some point. Book 1's final battle is still my favourite.

Book 2 only really let me down with how it handled some relationships. I still think Valax's "You're my only friends" felt too random, especially since almost the whole time she was stuck with the team, they kept antagonising each other. It's also why, in her 'betrayal' scene, I was a little annoyed that both of MCs (non-romance) options implied that they trusted her. It didn't really feel like they trusted her up until that point.

With Aerin, I've mentioned before that I actually like him better in Book 2 than in Book 1. He feels like he has a bit more character. Since he goes away for part of the book, I don't really have any strong opinions on him. I wasn't attached to him in book 1, so I wasn't really moved by his then betrayal and book 2 redemption arc.

Anyway, Book 2 is pretty good. I think on release, it was disadvantaged by the weekly release scheme and the fact that people had a lot of headcanons and opinions on how it was supposed to play out.

[dream-does-games]

I'm replaying book 2, and I still do not particularly care for Valax's redemption arc. I'm being reminded of why I used to dislike her, especially since I'm still in the earlier chapters. I know towards the end of my first playthrough I stopped disliking her, but I still didn't (and don't) really like her either.

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Finished my book 1 replay of Blades, and it's still such a top-tier book🤩.

I feel like the only real issue I have romance-wise is that when romancing Tyril (and I'll assume the same for Imtura), by the time the first major romance scene happens in the woods, I feel like they haven't really interacted that much. I've always felt like that since my first playthrough. I just like to assume they grew closer in unmentioned scenes.

Blades is honestly really good with how it handles non diamond playthroughs (though I wasn't doing that in this playthrough). I was doing this replay strictly by the walk-through, and honestly, I could still remember some scenes from when I wasn't. Those scenes from messed up choices/ non diamond decisions were still really impressive and added to the tension and stakes of the story.

Finally, by the end of the story, I'm pretty sure I had like 3 healing items that were never used, couldn't they use any on Kade🫠.

Anyway, Blades lives on as one of my favourite (if not favourite) Choices books. I'm moving on to replay book 2 now. I wanna read book three sooo badly.

[dream-does-games]

Replaying Blades book 1 and I'm having Tyril withdrawal symptoms 🫠.

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Idk if anyone noticed but I did change this from a Choices sideblog to a gaming sideblog bc I realised I don't want to have a blog for every game I wanna post about. I'd been thinking about it a while, but I started playing Solo Leveling Arise and that forced me to (even though I haven't made any posts about it yet)

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Immortal Desires 2

I have so many thoughts, but I just feel too lazy to express them. I liked ID 2 but it disappointed me in the ways I expected. I'll probably replay and give a more detailed post.

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United by blades, divided by our subscription statuses 😭

Idea: As VIP players, how about we DON’T post spoilers of Blades for the people who can’t read the book yet. How does that sound? :) Let’s wait for everyone to be finished the chapters BEFORE posting anything about it.

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Torn bc I wanna let Immortal Desires 2 pile up so I can binge read, but I also desperately wanna read it 😭😭