Twin Arrows

"Twin Arrows" is a fun Western adventure that can go in some pretty wild directions.

There is a lot going on with the structure. At first I thought it was a time cave style story, but it turned out to be more of two gauntlet-styled stories. I was a little disappointed that there only seems to be two official ends, but some of the death ends were pretty entertaining. My persona favorite is the one where I am killed for being gay, with the one where I announce that I am a bounty hunter out after One-Eyed McCaw while in the same room as One-Eyed McCaw coming in as a close second.
In addition, there was a shootout mini-game in one path that I thought was fun. It could be avoided fairly easily for those not into that, and I thought it was kind of cool to see that in an otherwise non-puzzle story.
If you faggots who are reading this review before you read the story make it to a certain author's note, then you will see some other fun little easter egg in one of the paths. I did not get the special achievement, but I still appreciate its existence, Ninja.

It was cool to see those author's notes that gave background to the setting of the story too. I enjoyed that.

The story itself is pulpy in the best way. The cheesy but badass lines throughout were a real highlight for me. It also adds to the surprise when things take a turn to the fantastical or even supernatural partway through the story.

There were a few inconsistencies. In one path, Trix is apparently swooning over One-Eyed McCaw (who I always imagine as a scarlet macaw with an eye-patch, by the way; you're welcome.), but in the others, she apparently is disgusted by him and his gang. I'm not sure what the deal is there.
Additionally, in the path where you go to the General Stor (spelled that way intentionally throughout, yes--another thing I found very humorous), there is a huge fight in the saloon if you come back early. However, if you do something else first before going back there, everything is just fine. Now, unless reality was warped so that I spent way longer in the store than I seemed to, a fight that cause all the bottles to be smashed and One-Eyed McCaw to be pissed enough to be killing people at random would still have left some pretty clear traces behind. Small things, yes, but they stuck out to me.

Overall, "Twin Arrows" was a very entertaining story that blended the familiar and unfamiliar quite nicely, and I would recommend reading it.

So this was one of those stories that manages to amaze me with both its quality and entertainment value. Added to that the fact that you were on a deadline, and I really am floored.

So this story was in many ways, your good old fashioned western. You're a tough as nails bounty hunter who teams up with a pretty girl whose both tough and kind to take down the big bad. There's saloons (well, a saloon), busty barmaids (well, a busty barmaid), Indians (well, an Indian), blackjack, bar brawls, shootouts, and all that western goodness. Oh, and an evil spirit that possesses people and turns them into zombie...things. So let's get into The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Ugh, sorry. Bad joke. And it's more like the good, better, and maybe needs a little touching up.

So first of all the writing. The writing was very good in this story. The locations and people were all described in beautiful detail, the dialogue was fascinating, and the characters all felt unique. I really have no complaints about it. Oh and the pictures were a very nice touch too. It's a little addition that really gives the story some extra flare. So thanks for adding those in.

Now the characters were also rather fascinating. You managed to give characters a good amount of personality as well as some great nicknames. Packin' Johnny is a personal favorite of mine. I kind of felt that Isabelle was a bit, nonchalant, I guess about her sister not being in the hideout after the tunnel collapse. I was thinking that maybe she would keep looking for her but instead she and our character become a bounty hunting duo and fall in love. I mean, I can always just pretend she kept looking I guess but I just feel like her story was never really resolved. The epilogue was also a fun ending that managed to give some closure for our hero. It kind of reminds me of the end of a certain western video game. A last stand as our son rides off to be the hero of his own story. It was good stuff.

Now, I really don't have many complaints with the story. I did feel like there were quite a few options that lead to an immediate game over, but that could just be me. My other minor nitpick was there was some historical inaccuracies throughout. Most were minor issues. Pretty much just nerd stuff that most readers probably wouldn't think twice about. But I just wanted to point them out.

So all in all this was a very good story. And I also think this was a very good "lone hero" story. Yeah, you had Isabella, but in my opinion she was more of someone who tagged along. Our hero did the fighting, and most of the tracking. Isabella was a partner of convenience not necessity. And hey, even The Man With No Name partnered up when it was convenient. We were a bounty hunter who strolled into town with no name, hunting a mark and freeing a western town from an outlaw's tyranny. I'd say that's pretty "lone hero" behavior.

So great work ninjapitka. This was a great story.

All right, I admit this was a fun and engaging storygame--well written and well-conceived. It began as a standard-issue western, with all of the familiar tropes... but then if you stick around long enough, stuff happens.

But I will say I had reservations going into this story before I even clicked the "Play Twin Arrows" button. Just reading the description of the story, I was thrown by (1) the weird formatting of certain commonly-used punctuation marks, and (2) the reference to someone using a ballpoint pen in 1852. Yeah, item #1 is a nerdy thing to get bothered by, but #2? Obvious anachronisms aren't a good sign.

I'm glad I dove into the story anyway. The beginning of this story is as familiar as a John Ford flick: the whiskey, the card playing, the man with a price on his head. All of this was handled well, including the opportunity to chat with the buxom bartender (and the potential to end the story prematurely).

Then, after a key sequence, the story splits. If you were to draw out the structure of this storygame, it would basically be a big Y, with each branch being an advance-or-die type of thing. But a lot of fun happens along the way, and this story is sure to please. I won't even mention the huge genre switches...

As it turns out, my initial hesitations from the story's description turned out to be unfounded. In terms of spelling/grammar, sure there are a few minor mispellings, misused words, and one dialogue scene with two speakers but an odd number of lines (the author must have lost track of who was speaking). Really, nothing major. And in terms of anachronisms... history does get tossed out the window at a certain point, but it's probably worth pointing out there was no Lake Mead until the Hoover Dam was completed in the 1930s.

So in terms of pure readability and enjoyment, "Twin Arrows" scored a 7 from me.

Now is the a "lone hero" story, though? That I'm not so sure about. The protag clearly does arrive alone, and he seems to have the skills to accomplish the job at hand. But in one of the two major branches he's pretty hapless, and in the other he is well-matched with a virtually equal partner--without whom he'd still be wandering the canyons of Arizona. Yes, the protag gets to do all the cool stuff, but Isabella seemed like more than just some handy sidekick. This makes him more like the James Bond of Old West bounty hunters than it does, say, Rooster Cogburn.

Bottom line: great story, very fun, highly recommended.

It was decent. I got an ending where I almost lived happily ever after. Thank you for crushing the dream I had of a happy ending.

6/10 would play again

This is a short game, but it is very well written and the story is great. Very much enjoyed this.

Story kicked ass right up until the end, then suddenly I stop getting choices while being attacked by zombies for unclear reasons. 6/8 though because the writing was just that good.

this was to quick

NICE story, like the twist and the riddles

I couldn’t get the ending that you succeed when you rush Richard, so will someone please tell me it? I tried so hard. So, so hard. Please?

Another excellent story with a wild west setting so authentic you can smell the gunsmoke :D 8/8