#choices the crown and the flame

[playchoicesconfessions]

Sent by anonymous

‘Despite playing Choices since the literal first day it came out, I've never finished even the first book of Crown and the Flame. It was because I wanted to spend all my diamonds on it without having to pay for them, and back in the early days, getting diamonds was really hard unless you bought them. Because of this, I'm just now getting a chance to play a lot of the book at once due to the new book passes. This playthrough has made me realize kind of how much Choices has changed throughout the years. These chapters are much shorter than the ones for current books, and the choices made seem to have more direct consequences. For example, think of how many options there are for how possible allies can act towards you in the story or if they even stay in the story. Not only that, but the diamond choices are so different. There's only one per chapter, and it almost always affects the plot. This kind of makes me wonder why Choices changed that., and it seems to be mainly a profit based decision. Now, a chapter can have up to 3 diamond scenes, all ranging in price for reasons I still can't fathom, and most of the choices either make little sense (paying for an outfit already in your closet), or is just extra information that you could easily look up a playthrough in order to see. Since I've fallen in and out of playing Choices over the years, this was the first time I've truly thought deeply about what people talk about when they say they miss "the old Choices".  There's just such a different feel to this book than the newer ones, and it's a feeling I want to experience more while playing through these stories.’

POST/CONFESSIONS DO NOT REFLECT THE MOD’S PERSONAL OPINIONS!

#choices the crown and the flame #the crown and the flame #choices tctf #tctf #playchoices #choices #choices stories you play #confessions #mod bruffle

[choices-binglebonkus]

The Crown & The Flame: An Exceptionally Rare Critical

I have made no secret of how much I love The Crown & The Flame. One of the three original series that accompanied the launch of Choices back in 2016, it holds a very dear place in my heart as one of my all-time favorites. However, I value objectivity, and am fully aware (and even appreciative) that all of my favorites, no matter how much I love them and no matter how good they are, have flaws.

The Crown & The Flame is no exception to this, and though I think the books have held up remarkably well, they’re definitely very flawed. Particularly book three. Most of my gripes with the series come from book three, actually, and that is the very subject of this post: the issues that came with the final book in the series.

As always, these are just my personal opinions. So if you love TC&TF, that’s great! I love it too. I just thought that, since the series gets so little criticism, I would take an objective stance and take up that role.

Pacing and filler

The first issue I’d like to discuss about book three is its pacing. Compared to the first two books where everything was go, go, go, this book doesn’t really do that. And I’m not a huge fan of that since the stakes are arguably larger in this book since Empress Azura has literally threatened to kill everyone in the Five Kingdoms should they not submit to her.

A lot of the chapters are positively BLOATED with fluff and filler. The first three chapters take place in Ducitora and the only major plot points that occur are that Kenna meets Azura, Leon is killed, and Azura wages war on the Five Kingdoms as Kenna and co. make their escape. I think that the first three chapters could have been condensed into one and a half chapters bridging onto the next major plot point. At the very least, we should have gotten to see more of Ducitora and Marossi. We got to see very, very, VERY little of it, and with little substance to show for it all.

Dom’s chapters didn’t have a lot of substance to them, either. It’s mostly just Dom fighting Hex’s mind control, making some semblance of progress, immediately failing and succumbing further to her control, and getting frustrated or feeling guilty. And, while I’m thinking about it, what purpose did Dom being captured by Hex serve? In what way does it further the main plot? It honestly just felt like the writers had Hex capture him just so he and Kenna wouldn’t be together 24/7 to keep them separate for their dual-lead chapters. In other words, his capture seemed to serve primarily as filler as well.

My biggest complaint regarding filler comes from chapters 13 and 14, which are E N T I R E L Y filler, no two ways about it. Chapter 13 focuses on Kenna speaking with all the allies she’s amassed, and the chapter time is seriously cut down if you haven’t recruited any diamond allies. Chapter 14 is the exact same thing, but this time, Dom is the one who talks to all the allies. Why they needed two chapters of pure filler, I’ll never know. But I’ll tell you what: back when TC&TF was still releasing on a weekly basis, I was so annoyed that we had two whole weeks of filler. There was no need.

The worst part about all the filler was the impact it had on the buildup to the final battle. Compared to book one and two where we fought tooth and nail for the entire book to get Stormholt back or to prepare for Luther’s return, the buildup to the battle with Azura felt very underwhelming: the book was mostly just a little bit of plot here, filler there and there, here we are switching POVs to one of the side characters for a couple of chapters, here’s some more filler. In books one and two, there was practically NO filler, and the buildup to the final battles was much better for it.

A lot of books are pretty notorious for filler and fluff, but TC&TF book 3, dare I say it, may have been the worst about it given the high stakes and the generally fillerless precedent set by the previous two books.

POV flipflopping

In books one and two, you got to play as characters other than Kenna and Dom in diamond scenes, plus that one time where Val infiltrated the Nevrakis stronghold masquerading as a handmaiden. Other than that, the writers stuck religiously to the Kenna/Dom POVs, and the story was much less choppy, confusing, and generally less all over the place because of it.

This is not the case in book three. You play as Kenna and Dom, yes, but the POV flip-flops around between other characters as well. Leon, Val, Raydan, even Whitlock. I’m shocked as hell that they didn’t somehow manage to cram in a chapter where we played as Annelyse or Sei.

Of these different POVs, Raydan’s was the most important and by far the least filler-y. It still didn’t really sit well with me, though. The Crown & The Flame is Kenna’s (and Dom’s, but mostly Kenna’s) story. Book 3 is 17 chapters. Kenna—the main freaking character—is either unplayable or mostly unplayable for nine of them. Nine! But she gets off much better than Dom—the deuteragonist, mind you—who only gets three chapters where he’s the main focus. And, of course, you’ll recall my previous complaints about how Dom’s chapters were filler. So.

Having all these different POV switches was not graceful in the slightest. It was unnecessary for the most part, and at times, it really came across as a Wattpad POV fic where the pre-teen author interjects every few paragraphs with <{[CHARACTER A’S POV]}> and ~{[CHARACTER B’S POV]}~ because, like I said, it wasn’t graceful, and it wasn’t necessary. Especially since TC&TF is a dual-lead story.

The allies

I actually made a ranking list from worst to best of every recruitable ally in TC&TF across all three books. It’s currently unpublished on my blog, but it’s been sitting on my computer for a while. At any rate, most of the book three allies were ranked very, very, VERY low. There are 32 recruitable allies in all, and numbers 32-27 on my ranking list are all book three allies.

Aurynn Amanth, though I liked her as a character, doesn’t do shit after you recruit her and is only in a grand total of two extra chapters if you recruit her, and for 25 diamonds, that’s so goddamn steep. Clover Hapley also serves no real purpose for 23 diamonds, but somehow appears more than Aurynn and for two fewer diamonds. Florian Tartassis and Zenobia Nevrakis were recruited just to fill the allies roster, plain and simple. Anton Luno was just kinda…there. And Luther—the Blood King who mercilessly slaughtered the royals and nobles of the Five Kingdoms, who conquered the realm and waged war against any who dared to rise against him—does fuck all unless you give him control of the Nevrakis army, then tries to murder Kenna at the end regardless.

There were only a few book three allies I ranked higher than #27. The Mechawolf Pup, who didn’t do much, and who I also found annoying as hell, but he was kiiiinda cute I guess. Lia really stuck her neck out for Raydan by translating the anti-magic book for him, but she doesn’t do much when you recruit her. And I love Madeline to pieces, but she’s 30 diamonds and only appears in five chapters.

Hex was the second highest ranked book three ally on my ranking list at #6 overall because she was such a complex character, and though she was incredibly morally grey, recruiting her nudged her towards active atonement and the chance to actually do some good in the world. Diavolos was ranked #3, and I think he really could have been an awesome character in the series if we had gotten to know him sooner because the dynamic between him and Kenna is impeccable, and he’s such a vulnerable character when you think he wouldn’t be.

Unfortunately, most of the book three allies are just there to fill the ally roster or do damn near nothing once you recruit them. The only allies we got who were heavy hitters were Hex and Anton (recruited jointly to fill the ally spots) and Diavolos. Since book three is the highest-stakes book of them all since we fight an entire fucking EMPIRE, we should’ve gotten some seriously powerful allies. Instead, most of who we got were characters who couldn’t fight: Aurynn, Clover, Madeline, Lia, the Mechawolf Pup, Zenobia, and Florian.

What kind of sense does that make?

Finishing things off…

The Crown & The Flame, to reiterate, is one of my favorite series in Choices. I’ve replayed it time and time again and never get tired of it because it’s just that kind of story. And I do like book three. I’m not saying it’s a bad book at all: it’s actually quite a good book. I just think it’s much less of a good book than 1 & 2, which were absolute titans to compete with.

Even my faves are imperfect. But that doesn’t mean I love them any less. And TC&TF book 3 is a shining example of that: flawed, but still perfectly lovable.

With all that said, I think I’ll give the series another replay soon.

#sorry if the format is fucky #also I AM SORRY BUT IT HAD TO BE SAID #I am curious if anyone else felt the same #the crown & the flame #choices the crown and the flame #choices the crown & the flame #Tc&tf #tctf #choices stories you play #playchoices #choices stories we play #pixelberry #pixelberry studios #playchoices fandom #choices stories you play fandom #choices stories we play fandom #long post

[sciralta]

I just remembered that I once saw someone say that either the characters in TC&TF or its art style wasn’t great and I just want to grab that person by the shoulders and look deep in their eyes in a fit of mania with my nails unconsciously digging in because to me, that art style was absolutely better and had more character than the current Choices style.

#like I know not everyone can be an aesthete but GIRL! there’s no way you’re implying that the current style is better! #with it’s texturelessnsss! #playchoices #choices #the crown and the flame #choices the crown and the flame #choices tc&tf

[lover-also-fighter-also]

P.S there are some books I didn't cover as the polls have a limit of only 12 options. I know it lives within is not pixelberry made but considering its a fan favourite I put it up in the options too

#choices #pixelberry studios #choices ame #bloodbound choices #choices the crown and the flame #desire and decorum #choices endless summer #choices the freshman #choices high school story #high school story class act #choices the royal romance #the royal heir #rules of engagement #choices it lives in the woods #choices it lives beneath #it lives within

[livelaughlovecassie]

Annelyse Adair come back to me my beloved 🤲

#the crown and the flame #choices the crown and the flame #her arc is under appreciated #playchoices #annelyse adair

[onefernecito]

Did I replay the entire thing for these scarce moments between them? Bet your ass I did. They're precious and Annelyse deserved better.

#choices #coices annelyse #annelyse adair #kenna rys #choices the crown and the flame #the crown and the flame #tc&tf #choices tc&tf #personal #kenna x annelyse #annelyse x kenna

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's Reviews Brief Thoughts- The Crown and The Flame

Originally I was not going to make posts for stories where my last playthrough was 2 or more years ago. Mainly because the stuff I'd be saying about it would either be not very substantial or not as informed.

But now I've decided against that, as I'd like to at least provide my current opinions on the story and context for the ranking I've given it. If I ever get around to playing them again, I can just do a re-review. Any pieces that are too short to constitute a real review will just be titled as "Cadybear's Brief Thoughts".

Welcome to the fifth official Cadybear's Reviews Brief Thoughts post! Today I'll be talking about The Crown and The Flame, which I have ranked on the "Platinum Tier" at 9 stars out of a possible 10. My last and only playthrough of this series was back in April-June 2021.

TCATF is iconic for being the first ever Choices book (well, one of them anyways), and I myself consider it a pretty solid series. The characters are fun, both Kenna and Dom are great characters to play as, and the choices actually matter. One thing I really loved was that you could directly surpass certain premium choices if you had enough prestige/power/legend points– I really wish they utilized this system more often in other stories. 

My only gripes are that although the story was engaging, it did drag at times. And I don’t like that you can’t carry over your Book 1 choices to Book 2; poor Rose just got absolutely shafted because of that. 

Overall, well-made and very nostalgic for me. Fun fact, I actually have a little memory of playing Book 1 while sitting in the waiting area after getting my first Covid shot back in April 2021, a month or two after I got into the app for the first time.

So although this series isn’t quite one of my favorites, it still gets a high ranking for the effort and heart that went into it and for the good memories it’s given me.

#choices stories you play #choices #choices game #choices stories we play fandom #choices stories we play #cadybear's brief thoughts #the crown and the flame #tcatf #choices the crown and the flame #choices tcatf

[reneechoices]

The GOATs of Choices imo:

#what an era that was #playchoices #choices stories you play #endless summer #desire & decorum #the elementalists #the crown and the flame #blades of light and shadow #the freshman series #mother of the year #a courtesan of rome #it lives anthology #most wanted #pixelberry

[2nd-toughest-in-the-infants]

Crown of Ashes and Flames (WIP) on itch.io Review

Author: @coeluvr

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Choice: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Replayability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 4/5

Pros: ANGST ANGST ANGST‼️, absolute monster of an antagonist, compelling characters, regular updates.

Cons: awkward dialogue from younger characters, no return button on UI.

**SLIGHT SPOILERS**

Notes:

TW!: Family Death, Murder, Forced Marriage, Child Marriage, Bullying, Isolation, Struggles with Mental Health

Crown of Ashes and Flames is another really strong IF WIP on itch.io with a very active author and so far it’s been receiving regular updates so I’m quite excited to see how the story develops as the game updates further. As it stands, I still want to share my thoughts on what is available to play so far.

So, Crown of ashes follows the MC who is the last surviving royal of Vesphire after King Luceris of a neighbouring kingdom, Rosea, declares war on Vesphire, murders MCs entire family, takes them back with him to Rosea and forces MC to marry him and become the new Royal Consort (at age 9?!?!) all for the sake of avenging the death of his wife, who he believes was killed by MCs older sister. As you can probably tell by that quick summary, this is an IF that is absolutely LOADED with Angst and drama, so, naturally, I was drawn right in!

I have to start off by saying how good of a job the author did in managing to create a cast of characters that are all so uniquely compelling in their own right. It can be the case that sometimes IF authors will focus too intently on just one or two main ROs while the others can feel like a bit of an afterthought, but in CoAaF, I feel as though all the characters are given equal opportunity to shine. That isn’t to say that there aren’t stand out characters, because there absolutely are and the first that comes to mind has to be Luceris. For me he stands out because not only is he an incredibly well-written, complex villain I find it rare that I have as much of visceral hatred of a fiction character as I do for him. I mean, what he does to MC in the name of ‘vengeance’ and the way he justifies himself just solidifies him as one of the most delusional and twisted villains I’ve read in an IF.

Also, the setting and minor characters in the story really serve to highlight how the MC is ostracised in their new ‘home’ as punishment for their sisters crimes. And it really is sickening how both adult and young characters justify the way they effectively bully MC because of something MC doesn’t have any control over and really serves to highlight the theme of injustice vs. justice that has been present throughout the game so far.

Furthermore, I enjoyed the amount of choice given to the player over the way MC reacts to what they’ve been through as well as to how the people around them treat them (both good and bad) and provides the player with the opportunity to explore how the traumatic events of the game impacts the MCs attitude and mental state.

It’s also quite interesting to see how the MC develops as they grow as the story starts with the MC as a nine year old and eventually grows up. This however, can be quite tricky from a writting perspective as typically authors can have difficulty with writing young child characters. Unfortunately, this is something that I have noticed was the case with this author as I felt that a lot of the dialogue exchanges between the younger characters (particularly the MC) just didn’t really feel accurate coming from a nine year olds mouth. Aside from that however, I feel as though the rest of the dialogue fits very well and overall I would say the writing is of a good quality.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in picking up a new, angsty WIP and I will certainly be patiently awaiting updates!

#crown of ashes and flames #angsty #if recs #interactive fiction #choice of games #hosted games #itch.io #twine interactive fiction #twine wip #twine game #if wip #wip game #royal drama

[itlovesinthewoods]

If we had a nickel for each time we met the crafty LI with a dark, secretive past's sister, then we'd have two nickels which is not a lot of money but it's weird it happened twice

#plsss not serfina/yvonne 😭😭😭 #playchoices #pixelberry #choices #blades of light and shadow #bolas #mal volari #rayden lykos #adder lykos #tcatf #the crown and the flame

[zoeywades-spouse]

Can you imagine making a company that’s based around interactive and engaging books that were full of talking about serious issues (transphobia, trauma, mental health, misogyny, etc.) and that were truly immersive with complex characters and plots. And years later all those wonderful books have been pushed to the side and replaced with superficial, boring, and harmful books with the only goal to make money

The moment PB pushed away books like ILITW, TC&TF, ES and so forth and began writing books like Surrender, TNA, WB, etc., they lost their passion for writing complex and engaging books

#the majority of the newer books have no passion in them #you can tell the writers don’t really care #choices #playchoices #choices stories you play #the crown and the flame #tc&tf #it lives in the woods #ilitw #it lives beneath #ilb #endless summer #es #surrender #surrender 2 #the nanny affair #tna #wolf bride #wb

[playchoicesconfessions]

Sent by anonymous

'TCATF2 still doesn't import my previous choices. LoveHacks keeps calling me Dani. Mark has a floating chunk of pixel next to his head. It's been years PB, fix them.'

POSTS/CONFESSIONS DO NOT REFLECT MOD'S PERSONAL OPINIONS!

#pixelberry #pixelberry studios #choices in-game #choices in game #the crown and the flame #tcatf #lovehacks #choices the crown and the flame #choices tcatf #choices lovehacks #choices #playchoices #choices stories you play #confessions #mod kamie

[choices-binglebonkus]

Another thing The Crown & The Flame does really well: world building. The setting and lore are fleshed out but they’re not overly specific. You also learn about the realm and lore pretty gradually and subtly at times as opposed to being info-dumped. I don’t think another book has really reached this balance.

#not even blades #to be honest I was always kind of lost in the sauce when it came to blades lore #the crown and the flame’s lore was easily digestible #the crown & the flame #choices the crown and the flame #choices tctf #choices stories you play #playchoices #choices stories we play #pixelberry #pixelberry studios #playchoices fandom #choices stories you play fandom #choices stories we play fandom

[ratanslily]

Queen Kenna Rys👑

#playchoices #choices edits #kenna rys #the crown and the flame #t edit tag #yeah.. I used the ellaire cg from rc 😅 #oops i need to read tctf completely

[lover-also-fighter-also]

Hey guys!!!

First of all, THANK YOU for the 214 votes on the BEST CHOICES MC poll!!!🎉🎉. As promised, I have decided to make a second poll, featuring many other MC's who probably will be your all-time favourites. Be sure to reblog this poll for a greater sample size.

#choices #playchoices #pixelberry #choices stories we play #choices high school story #og hss #hss #hss mc #high school story mc #choices the crown and the flame #tc & tf #kenna rys #acor #choices a courtesan of rome #acor mc #choices it lives in the woods #ilitw #ititw mc #choices it lives beneath #ilb #ilb mc #choices high school story class act #hss:ca #hss:ca mc

[thelonewolfstar]

Blades of Light and Shadow 2 (3 ending pros and cons and which ending is better in my opinion)

Sealing the Barrier

Advantage: Your LIs will come with you to the Shadow Realm, Nia still practices treatment by using plants.

Disadvantage: With the sealed barrier, magic starts fading out. The elves’ aged start to feel weak, goblins are also disappearing, dwarves are also affected but not as bad as Goblins and Elves. Wren missing Mal, Kade is looking for ways to reopen the portal to bring MC back.

This one is definitely the worst ending among the 3 endings.

Despite of fulfilling Watcher’s mission the Queen which I suspected to be Nifara still disappointed with MC staying in the Shadow Realm with Valax.

Keeping the Realms connected

Advantage: Daywalkers and Ashen can enter freely into both realms. Goblins finally settle in Deadwood and revive the place. Everyone is happy with the new set up.

Disadvantage: Some Daywalkers can be influenced by corruption and some Ashen can feel weak from too much light exposure. Being away from the portal will weaken the magic.

Best ending among the 3 endings.

Combining two realms as one.

Advantage: Magic becomes whole. Shadow’s corruption and using Light magic draining Life force no longer exists.

Disadvantage: 2 realms collide and some of the structure are destroyed. Everyone are upset with MC for making such a decision. Daywalkers and Ashen keep fighting because they don’t trust each other. Valax settle in Port Parnassus but daywalkers are still have a hard time trusting Valax, blaming her people for the destruction of their city.

This ending is the tolerable one.

Theory:

What if Azura from TCTF is the queen’s descendant since both using lightning, and have ability to give life and take life. What if Azura is like the Watcher, a creation of the Queen. After BoLaS MC beats the Queen they decided to get rid of magic for good to balance the world, leading to the extinction of dwarves, elves, goblins, and other creatures that use magic. Except dragons because Sei and Dom could be Valax’s descendants. I wonder if there’s connection between two books.

#choices stories you play #choices #playchoices #blades of light and shadow #princess valax #nia ellarious #mal volari #tyril starfury #aerin valleros #theory #the crown and the flame