Stories that left you disappointed for a reason

[Gone_Dead]

I don’t know why nobody is talking about how Kingdoms and Empires has become so shitty lately. Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion since everyone is too busy d***riding the author like he’s writing the second coming of Tolkien, but let’s be honest it’s just not good anymore.

It used to be a simple, captivating story with actual direction. The rebirth plot, the goddess, the clear mission, it had flow, purpose. But now? We’re stuck in this painfully boring-*** childhood arc, meeting one annoying character after another in scenes that drag on forever. Like bruh, what even was that whole Sukkar or "sugar" scene? That was straight-up garbage. I don’t know what kind of emotional payoff the author thought that was delivering, but it just felt obnoxious and forced.

And now these massive walls of text that aren’t even fun to read. And not the kind that pulls you in, these are the kind that make you start skimming halfway through and wondering why you're even still reading this mess. It’s like he’s trying to pad out word count with zero substance. The adult characters are cartoonish as hell and there’s barely any realism in the world anymore. I get it’s fantasy, the MC’s reborn in another world and all but even fantasy needs internal logic, and this ain’t it. It’s just lore dump after lore dump now. No emotional core, no grounded tension, just endless exposition.

It honestly feels like the author just wants to make it “deep” for the sake of it, but it’s not working. It’s just bloated, directionless, and painfully unfun to read now. The charm is gone. The pacing’s a mess. And worst of all I actually used to love this game. Now I just feel like I’m hate-reading it out of loyalty.

The old demo was fine imo. Idk why he decided to do a rewrite. I enjoyed the old demo although the childhood was kinda getting stretched. I think hes doing a rewrite so that he can better minimize the childhood and compartmentalize the story. The lore he's written is so vast so he should just reveal relevant lore as it comes into coversation and make the rest optional. Even then I think he finds it difficult to figure out when and where to stop the lore exposition.

The new demo is just so off for some reason. The paraphrasing seems weird, the structure too. Too many unnecessary side content. He's stretching this festival arc too much imo. He's a good author but he's bad at putting it on paper is what I can conclude. Characters and dialogue is good but there's just so much clutter which he could do without.

Other than that I don't see any issues. I actually love that he puts so much effort into the lore but sometimes it's what undoes his work in the end. He needs to figure out when and how to say no to himself.

 

[God]

The old demo was fine imo. Idk why he decided to do a rewrite. I enjoyed the old demo although the childhood was kinda getting stretched. I think hes doing a rewrite so that he can better minimize the childhood and compartmentalize the story. The lore he's written is so vast so he should just reveal relevant lore as it comes into coversation and make the rest optional. Even then I think he finds it difficult to figure out when and where to stop the lore exposition.

The new demo is just so off for some reason. The paraphrasing seems weird, the structure too. Too many unnecessary side content. He's stretching this festival arc too much imo. He's a good author but he's bad at putting it on paper is what I can conclude. Characters and dialogue is good but there's just so much clutter which he could do without.

Other than that I don't see any issues. I actually love that he puts so much effort into the lore but sometimes it's what undoes his work in the end. He needs to figure out when and how to say no to himself.

Yup it’s great, top 5 potential imo. I think what happens is he gets asked a lore question and does not know the answer so he goes and create a whole new lore from scratch and gets caught up in it. I think he was one of the Authors that said he found Mac boring though, and one of the reasons he created the side story. I wonder how romance was changed because pretty sure he’s been getting pressured to change it since the beginning. He had a great idea since he wanted to keep it real life accurate, but some hated the idea that they’d have to give up the seat or have fake marriage if they choose same *** relationships. It is a hard place to be in because realistically you need heirs, and that’s why they said just make Aurelian the heir. Hard choices for him. My theory is Rem seems like his favorite character to me tbh and I feel like his death is approaching and he’s dreading writing it.

 

[Gone_Dead]

Yup it’s great, top 5 potential imo. I think what happens is he gets asked a lore question and does not know the answer so he goes and create a whole new lore from scratch and gets caught up in it. I think he was one of the Authors that said he found Mac boring though, and one of the reasons he created the side story. I wonder how romance was changed because pretty sure he’s been getting pressured to change it since the beginning. He had a great idea since he wanted to keep it real life accurate, but some hated the idea that they’d have to give up the seat or have fake marriage if they choose same *** relationships. It is a hard place to be in because realistically you need heirs, and that’s why they said just make Aurelian the heir. Hard choices for him. My theory is Rem seems like his favorite character to me tbh and I feel like his death is approaching and he’s dreading writing it.

I remember. The fans kinda bullied him into a rewrite imo. He seems like a great dude and he looks to genuinely love writing, else no one would put in so much work to write lore and past events. He'd do well as an actual novelist. I remember long back when he said that gay MC's would be forced to have heirs anyway and people didn't take it well. So he started to dull the grittiness of the world.

I feel bad for him tho. I once sent him an ask in Tumblr complimenting his lore and world building and he said that he appreciates my words and that unfortunately not all share my sentiments. The way he answers asks in Tumblr tell me has the general outline of the IF figured out long ago but he just struggles to paste it into IF medium. But the fact that he actually listens to the fans is a good thing but I sometimes think he listens too much.

 

[Fuffff]

I don’t know why nobody is talking about how Kingdoms and Empires has become so shitty lately. Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion since everyone is too busy d***riding the author like he’s writing the second coming of Tolkien, but let’s be honest it’s just not good anymore.

It used to be a simple, captivating story with actual direction. The rebirth plot, the goddess, the clear mission, it had flow, purpose. But now? We’re stuck in this painfully boring-*** childhood arc, meeting one annoying character after another in scenes that drag on forever. Like bruh, what even was that whole Sukkar or "sugar" scene? That was straight-up garbage. I don’t know what kind of emotional payoff the author thought that was delivering, but it just felt obnoxious and forced.

And now these massive walls of text that aren’t even fun to read. And not the kind that pulls you in, these are the kind that make you start skimming halfway through and wondering why you're even still reading this mess. It’s like he’s trying to pad out word count with zero substance. The adult characters are cartoonish as hell and there’s barely any realism in the world anymore. I get it’s fantasy, the MC’s reborn in another world and all but even fantasy needs internal logic, and this ain’t it. It’s just lore dump after lore dump now. No emotional core, no grounded tension, just endless exposition.

It honestly feels like the author just wants to make it “deep” for the sake of it, but it’s not working. It’s just bloated, directionless, and painfully unfun to read now. The charm is gone. The pacing’s a mess. And worst of all I actually used to love this game. Now I just feel like I’m hate-reading it out of loyalty.

I've followed Kingdoms and empires since its first release and even joined the exclusive discord for those who had the early access. At the start, the author was visibly excited, writing new content every day. The main problem was that instead of continuing the story, he kept rewriting it and focusing on side stories for characters. After all this time, the main plot has barely progressed by 1%. He's the type of author who focuses way too much in world building.

 

[Vamp-kun]

I agree with you, when I used to follow this author it always seemed like they would constantly defend Luceris’ actions. The child marriage thing is still sick to me and like someone else said, it hasn't been all that relevant in the story. Maybe later down the line it will be, but I don't know. Also, not to downplay anyones trauma but compared to what he did to the MC, him losing ONE person he loved is nowhere near as bad. And he gets to move on and have his happily ever after, while the MC will never get to see their loved ones again. This man isn't redeemable in my eyes, I try to look at things from both sides, but his irrational treatment of the MC makes him a completely unsympathetic character to me. It almost feels like his crappy choices are being rewarded.

Does anyone remember Dragon Age Origins back from 2009? Where Bioware had explicitly stated that they took inspiration from Game of Thrones? You know, with Arl Howe brutally murdering EVERYTHING at castle Cousland and the protagonist being the only one left alive? Remember? Remember ?

Those writers had a similar ideology to the writer of ACoAaF. The payoff in that game was inserted into the protagonist's playthrough nicely.

Then what in the seven gates of hell happened between 2009 and 2025 to have a similar plot get way more creepy and having the murderous villain as a figurehead to be lusted at?¡?

 

[yourstalkeroutside]

romaticized stockholm syndrome simulator

I ****ing wish. I would be singing the game's praises if it really was that type of story, it's not even that. It's (one of the many) IF equivalent to a teenager's edgy wattpad story.

 

[Gone_Dead]

Does anyone remember Dragon Age Origins back from 2009? Where Bioware had explicitly stated that they took inspiration from Game of Thrones? You know, with Arl Howe brutally murdering EVERYTHING at castle Cousland and the protagonist being the only one left alive? Remember? Remember ?

Those writers had a similar ideology to the writer of ACoAaF. The payoff in that game was inserted into the protagonist's playthrough nicely.

Then what in the seven gates of hell happened between 2009 and 2025 to have a similar plot get way more creepy and having the murderous villain as a figured to be lusted at?¡?

Man i loved gutting Howe. Bastard deserved worse. During the meeting with Howe and Loghain in the Denerim estate, we can properly threaten Howe when he hides behind Loghain. And also, we can stare him down during his dying moments not giving a **** about his monologue to the point Howe gets insecure about himself and dies like the ***** he was in life. That is what you call a proper payoff in a choice based narrative driven game.

 

[Vamp-kun]

I remember. The fans kinda bullied him into a rewrite imo. He seems like a great dude and he looks to genuinely love writing, else no one would put in so much work to write lore and past events. He'd do well as an actual novelist. I remember long back when he said that gay MC's would be forced to have heirs anyway and people didn't take it well. So he started to dull the grittiness of the world.

I feel bad for him tho. I once sent him an ask in Tumblr complimenting his lore and world building and he said that he appreciates my words and that unfortunately not all share my sentiments. The way he answers asks in Tumblr tell me has the general outline of the IF figured out long ago but he just struggles to paste it into IF medium. But the fact that he actually listens to the fans is a good thing but I sometimes think he listens too much.

In my opinion, he should just write his very own book series with lots of special spin-offs, have his own Jon Snow style protagonist to do all the Isekai things the author wants him to, and write his own lore encyclopedia with no interruptions.

Forget about the rewrites! That scene, as it was unchanged, in the carriage attack with the brave knights fighting the monsters with their semi-enchanted weapons awoke something joyful and happy inside the writhing darkness of my heart, that I thought to have been lost to the endless night of eternity.....

 

[seneya]

Then what in the seven gates of hell happened between 2009 and 2025 to have a similar plot get way more creepy and having the murderous villain as a figurehead to be lusted at?¡?

Stories, at least IF ones, became less about telling a story and more about self-insertion and wish-fulfillment, and also more, for the lack of a better term, sexualized. Said murderous villain is attractive with a tragic background, and really that was all that was needed.

That is what you call a proper payoff in a choice based narrative driven game.

That involves writing a game where the goal isn't just to bang someone.

 

[Lovecraft]

Stories, at least IF ones, became less about telling a story and more about self-insertion and wish-fulfillment, and also more, for the lack of a better term, sexualized. Said murderous villain is attractive with a tragic background, and really that was all that was needed.

It's just like evolution except its going backwards

 

[Vamp-kun]

That involves writing a game where the goal isn't just to bang someone.

So, I guess now it is? Then it shouldn't have been advertised as a revenge plot in the first place.
The author should have just wrote a harem novel and everybody would be happy doing business.
But, I guess that's the future of most IF's.

We'll bang, ok?
~Commander Shepard

 

[mrstankylegs]

Where are y'all getting these IFs where you bang people as the goal. Apart from C.C. Hill content (which is decent enough), all I find is incomplete games with romance that goes nowhere or Tumblr post with ROs introduction and in order to get any content you gotta send asks or pay for POVs/Side stories forver (while the main storyline never gets finished.) Sorry for being a hater but good lord, if ONLY we have an abundance of IFs with enough content for there to be banging and boinking and not just, like, a moodbord and Tumblr asks for NSFW alphabets.

Game where you bang people as the goal still involve writing, and for many different variables to accomodate different MCs (if they care to) and we don't often get that far.

(Who remembers when AtoC made this HUGE deal about *** scenes, created an entire NSFW sideblog, then literally just went 'Yeah actually I thought about it fr and it's a lot of work so I'm not gonna do it no more'? So funny. You didn't think of that before??)

 

[seneya]

Where are y'all getting these IFs where you bang people as the goal.

It was an exaggeration on my part, but basically I was referring to how romance seems to be more important than anything else. The plot can be sh@t, worldbuilding can be sh@t, there can be inconsistencies and plot holes the size of the moon, but who cares, ROs! (and yes, horny tumblr asks when there's basically zero content written yet do prove this point)
And this in turn affects some authors, who then center their stories around ROs with everything else as an afterthought. Such as with the ACoAaF example above, where all the death and trauma are basically just there as a background, and everyone is too busy fawning over characters to ever question it.

Game where you bang people as the goal still involve writing

I like the AVNs that bother with worldbuilding and character development. Come for the s e x, stay for the plot kind of games. That's what I was getting at basically, a lot of things go into making a good story/game, but the increased focus on self-gratification means that anything that doesn't make the player feel good gets discarded as meaningless.
Not sure if this makes sense lol, but it's basically the best I can explain it.

 

[mrstankylegs]

It was an exaggeration on my part, but basically I was referring to how romance seems to be more important than anything else. The plot can be sh@t, worldbuilding can be sh@t, there can be inconsistencies and plot holes the size of the moon, but who cares, ROs! (and yes, horny tumblr asks when there's basically zero content written yet do prove this point)
And this in turn affects some authors, who then center their stories around ROs with everything else as an afterthought. Such as with the ACoAaF example above, where all the death and trauma are basically just there as a background, and everyone is too busy fawning over characters to ever question it.

I like the AVNs that bother with worldbuilding and character development. Come for the s e x, stay for the plot kind of games. That's what I was getting at basically, a lot of things go into making a good story/game, but the increased focus on self-gratification means that anything that doesn't make the player feel good gets discarded as meaningless.
Not sure if this makes sense lol, but it's basically the best I can explain it.

Nah don't worry, it made sense enough. I get what you mean, was just tickled cause like... If only we had that and not just an exaggeration!, you know? Sexualized, gratituiouss, whatever, it'd still be something, but as you said, we usually get less than nothing. (Or like yourstalkeroutside said, if only ACoAaF was a 'romaticized stockholm syndrome simulator.' Not because then it would be good, but because then it'd at least succeed at doing one thing right.)

Ironically, now that you mention it, there are many NSFW games I enjoy [AVNs, or text-based HTMLs] with really good worldbuilding/characters even though they aim to be p0rn first, and a game/
story second. You'd think IFs would be where you get that good, blanaced 'Come for the s e x, stay for the plot kind of games', but from my experience it's kinda the opposite.

Slapping myself rn not to jump back on ACoAaF's ahh again now that you mentioned it LMAO. Maybe the real lesson for me here is to stay clear from IFs with 'crown', and 'throne' in the title ....

 

[Vamp-kun]

Where are y'all getting these IFs where you bang people as the goal. Apart from C.C. Hill content (which is decent enough), all I find is incomplete games with romance that goes nowhere or Tumblr post with ROs introduction and in order to get any content you gotta send asks or pay for POVs/Side stories forver (while the main storyline never gets finished.) Sorry for being a hater but good lord, if ONLY we have an abundance of IFs with enough content for there to be banging and boinking and not just, like, a moodbord and Tumblr asks for NSFW alphabets.

Game where you bang people as the goal still involve writing, and for many different variables to accomodate different MCs (if they care to) and we don't often get that far.

(Who remembers when AtoC made this HUGE deal about *** scenes, created an entire NSFW sideblog, then literally just went 'Yeah actually I thought about it fr and it's a lot of work so I'm not gonna do it no more'? So funny. You didn't think of that before??)

Of... we've thought about it! But the Patreon Scam Initiative has to scam!

 

[Gone_Dead]

In my opinion, he should just write his very own book series with lots of special spin-offs, have his own Jon Snow style protagonist to do all the Isekai things the author wants him to, and write his own lore encyclopedia with no interruptions.

Forget about the rewrites! That scene, as it was unchanged, in the carriage attack with the brave knights fighting the monsters with their semi-enchanted weapons awoke something joyful and happy inside the writhing darkness of my heart, that I thought to have been lost to the endless night of eternity.....

He's a good writer. Unlike other author's stories, the MC here time and again is implied to be massively relevent to the story right from the start both in game and by FF as any MC should be, instead of being a side character and watching other characters be more of a MC or RO's flirting with each other while the MC stands aside like a cuck. (Im OBVIOUSLY not talking about certain IF's out there). As much as it would do him good to write KaE as a novel, i really want to read it as an IF. It has the potential to take the 'IF throne' if he locks in for the coming years.

 

[Morgoth]

I don’t know why nobody is talking about how Kingdoms and Empires has become so shitty lately. Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion since everyone is too busy d***riding the author like he’s writing the second coming of Tolkien, but let’s be honest it’s just not good anymore.

It used to be a simple, captivating story with actual direction. The rebirth plot, the goddess, the clear mission, it had flow, purpose. But now? We’re stuck in this painfully boring-*** childhood arc, meeting one annoying character after another in scenes that drag on forever. Like bruh, what even was that whole Sukkar or "sugar" scene? That was straight-up garbage. I don’t know what kind of emotional payoff the author thought that was delivering, but it just felt obnoxious and forced.

And now these massive walls of text that aren’t even fun to read. And not the kind that pulls you in, these are the kind that make you start skimming halfway through and wondering why you're even still reading this mess. It’s like he’s trying to pad out word count with zero substance. The adult characters are cartoonish as hell and there’s barely any realism in the world anymore. I get it’s fantasy, the MC’s reborn in another world and all but even fantasy needs internal logic, and this ain’t it. It’s just lore dump after lore dump now. No emotional core, no grounded tension, just endless exposition.

It honestly feels like the author just wants to make it “deep” for the sake of it, but it’s not working. It’s just bloated, directionless, and painfully unfun to read now. The charm is gone. The pacing’s a mess. And worst of all I actually used to love this game. Now I just feel like I’m hate-reading it out of loyalty.

In his essay On Fairy-stories, J.R.R Tolkien emphasized that fantasy is a rational activity and does not insult or destroy reason. He wrote:
“Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make”.

Tolkien also argued that creative fantasy is grounded in a recognition of reality, though not enslaved by it:
“For creative Fantasy is founded upon the hard recognition that things are so in the world as it appears under the sun; on a recognition of fact, but not a slavery to it”.

He further explained that successful fantasy requires an "inner consistency of reality," meaning that even in fantastical worlds, logic and coherence must prevail. This aligns closely with the idea that fantasy cannot disregard logic entirely—it must adhere to its own internal rules and truths to maintain credibility and engagement.

 

[zareichie]

I noticed IF authors these days are more focused on side-stories locked for patreon-only, rather than their main story. And also, some of them have more than one project so their focus kinda divided, depending on their moods or inspiration (the only one I see who is still consistent while having lot of projects is CCHill but I'm more dissapointed because I'm waiting for a second book of some her old projects for who knows long because she always makes a new project). These actually only makes their previous project more prolonged and if they lost the moods, they kinda abandoned them (in hiatus mode) or rewrite them again from beginning.
Comparing to VN games, they also have patreon while in development but they still finish the game at least.

Edit: I'm realizing, is this because IF authors works alone? So they can do whatever they want with their project? Unlike VN, where you work with lots of people (arts, music, writer, editor, etc), so you have to be serious with the project and have to meet the deadline...

 

[Glitch]

What are you all playing / reading lately? Whether it’s a VN or an IF.

It feels like most new IFs are either written by people who just discovered interactive fiction, would be better off writing a male gender-locked IF or a kinetic novel, or were inspired by a recent movie/anime and decided to make an IF based on it (I enjoy fanfiction, but they often come across as if they were written by teenagers, or maybe because they are written by teenagers). Meanwhile, older IFs either haven’t updated in a while, announce an upcoming update that keeps getting delayed, go through rewrites, don't back up and loose their writing or focus more on side content instead of progressing the main story.

As for VNs, the only ones getting consistent updates seem to be 14 DWY and Our Life: N & F, but even these aren’t free from drama. 14DWY has somehow been labeled a "gooner game" (I have no idea where that even came from). God forbid that anyone who isn’t a straight man enjoys some fan service—especially when there’s nothing even visual. Though, to be fair, some of the comments on its Itch page do scream "underage." The Kid at The Back dev decided to release it after development is finished, largely because, once again, people left comments about being unsettled by the yandere’s behavior—in a game that’s explicitly yandere. Even Our Life isn’t safe from controversy after the devs decided to stop episodic updates (tbh, I haven’t played in a while—just waiting until the characters grow up—so I still like checking for updates). Some VNs don’t hit the same because the interactive aspects feel so limited, and even then, they’re not safe from Patreon issues. Finished VNs also tend to be too short.

I went to play the new Lightweaver update, but having to restart again—especially after already replaying it due to DashingDon shutting down—feels exhausting. I don’t think I can go through it for the umpteenth time just to read a small update, especially when the author has already warned that saves might break in the next one. I don’t get why this hasn’t been fixed sooner or why no one is complaining about it. But no, instead of solving that, they’re prioritizing making a NEW separate (from cogdemos) hosting site for Patreon content, as if this is the whole point of hosted games.

 

[ADB446]

What are you all playing or reading lately? Whether it’s a VN or an IF.

It feels like most new IFs are either written by people who just discovered interactive fiction, would be better off writing a male gender-locked IF or a kinetic novel, or were inspired by a recent movie/anime and decided to make an IF based on it (I enjoy fanfiction, but they often come across as if they were written by teenagers, or maybe because they are written by teenagers). Meanwhile, older IFs either haven’t updated in a while, announce an upcoming update that keeps getting delayed, go through rewrites, or focus more on side content instead of progressing the main story.

As for VNs, the only ones getting consistent updates seem to be 14 DWY and Our Life: N & F, but even these aren’t free from drama. 14DWY has somehow been labeled a "gooner game" (I have no idea where that even came from). God forbid that anyone who isn’t a straight man enjoys some fan service—especially when there’s nothing even visual. Though, to be fair, some of the comments on its Itch page do scream "underage." The Kid at The Back is supposed to release after development is finished, largely because, once again, people are unsettled by the yandere’s behavior—in a game that’s explicitly yandere. Even Our Life isn’t safe from controversy after the devs decided to stop episodic updates (tbh, I haven’t played in a while—just waiting until the characters grow up—so I still like checking for updates). Some VNs don’t hit the same because the interactive aspects feel so limited, and even then, they’re not safe from Patreon issues. Finished VNs also tend to be too short.

I went to play the new Lightweaver update, but having to restart again—especially after already replaying it due to DashingDon shutting down—feels exhausting. I don’t think I can go through it for the umpteenth time just to read a small update, especially when the author has already warned that saves might break in the next one. I don’t get why this hasn’t been fixed sooner or why no one is complaining about it. But no, instead of solving that, they’re prioritizing setting up a separate hosting site for Patreon, as if this is the whole point of hosted games.

I'm curious, which newer IF’s made you feel like that? I agree with you on the save thing, its annoying to have to constantly click through the whole game, especially if you click the wrong choice and then have to restart again, which I do all the damn time. Saves definitely need fixing.