So...I was initially going to wait until this game is released on Steam before I buy it there but my anticipation got to me and I got the game myself (I will definately replay this game though in Steam because It's that good so far!).I have to say, this game is really in a league above Rose of Segunda, a game I already deeply love. The amount of work and quality the 2 route's writing alone has is simply amazing! And it really has me anticipating (and worried for my faves, heh) for the remaining routes when they are released.
Bastien's route was just as heavy and depressing as the demo made it. I am one of the people who had Bastien as one of my least favourite routes in TROS, but his route really made me pay more attention and appreciate his character so much more. It was painful to see him struggle throughout the route, depressing to know that his father not only regret's his existence but also blames him for his wife's death and that itself caused Bastien so much grief. But it makes his good end all the better especially when he decided to not let people talk him or his relationship with Iolanthe down.
Frankly I was almost guilty to even follow through with the other romance and even the platonic Frederic direction because of how much it hurt to hurt Basien when he was struggling so much but I did and I also enjoyed Pieto's character and the romance it went with it.
Sofia's route...It was something else, it felt more cutthroat and direr than Bastien's but I seriously deeply enjoyed it. The various plots with the nobles where interesting. Also the new characters like Lucette and more of st Rue. God I loved Lucette for what we saw of her.
The main conflict itself was very realistic, it's sad but Sofia's mother never having accepted her daughter as a lesbian because she wants her daughter to be 'normal' is still very common even at our times. I found it hard to have Iolanthe be 'understanding' since I also can understand why she'd be very upset being the one being sligted so badly but alas, I also could't be too angry with Sofia since it's her mother, cutting off family is never easy, especially if you care for them like Sofia does.
Also the whole issue with if you should keep things from Sofia or not. I intentionally hid everything from her first because I wanted the worst outcome over and done with and Oh boy, It was even more painful than Bastien's route because I knew it would come down crashing and it really did. When she was ranting about her father's past actions, how she hated his lying the most out of everything, I knew things where gonna go to hell later on. I felt so bad fo Iolanthe and Sofia.
Now Frederique, god I loved him. In both routes, he is at the very least your most closest confidant and the possible option of him being in a poly relationship with Iolanthe in Sofia's route was just amazing. The way you built up their relationship (if you choose it) was a nice touch, I simply loved it.
Now for the mother herself. She is quite a character, she is very much a love to hate character to me. She is very interesting and ruthless in a way I can appreciate. But damn, I also heavily dislike her, it's no wonder why Iolanthe and Frederick barely cares for her when she is very blunt in just using them as tools.
I will say, I am going to be so much more in pain when Frederique's, Leopond's and Charllotte's route (my top 3) are out because I know I will always wanna get the other ends first and the Good/Best end last so....the angst and complications will kill me. But I will enjoy it because you're writing is really great.
Overall, I'm anticipating for the rest and you're doing an amazing job so far!
EDIT: Also I want to add, Poor Francesca. She is truly a pitiful character, I did not end up liking her but I certainly felt more sympathy for her than the 1st game. She got duped in a crappy situation with people looking down on her. That must hurt..
Hello and thank you for letting me know your thoughts. I'm very glad to hear you have enjoyed the game so far - especially considering you were planning to wait at first. ^_^
I hope you enjoy Charlotte, Leopold, and Frederique's routes just as much once they are released.
It seems it's often hard for sequels to capture the "spirit" of their originals, but when they do, it really adds to the whole thing. Not a thing was lost from TROS, only built upon. Don't know how you did it, but I can only thank you for figuring out what might as well be magic. I liked all those touches of worldbuilding too, and the MC is probably the best written one I've come across in games of this type.
Don't know if you'll ever go about a third game, making this a trilogy, or maybe some DLC, because that worldbuilding is interesting, and I can certainly imagine a lot of things with it, especially in regards to the endings.
For now, I'm good with imagining, and I'll be sure to check out the other routes when they're done.
Ah, thank you for your kind feedback. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the sequel as much as the first game. I know tonally they are quite different and I had a worry when when I was first writing Bastien's route that players would not like the change.
Hmm, I would never say 'never' on a third game, but I am not sure what setting I could use since the endings to Thorns are a lot more detailed than the ones for TROS.
Such a good game honestly...only two routes out so far, but I'm confident that each route you release will be awesome. I've loved Bastien's and Sofia's routes, even the bad ones...so beautiful. And the whole 'feel' of the game is very mature, honestly, which I like. It's like, a lot of sequels to Otome games shy away from the more mature aspects of a relationship and the struggles that come after you get together, but you didn't and I love that.
However, two things did bug me a little - one, it'd be really nice if in the save/load screen we could see what page we were on. Like maybe the number of the page we are on would be highlighted? Just a little UI thing that kinda bugged me.
And two - there's that one background art scene near the statue of Saint Lucio (in both Sofia and Bastien's routes) where the crowd has a bit of clipping going on in the crowd where the grey overlay's edge shows up:
Again it's a little thing, and obviously, it's not a big deal just thought I'd point it out :)
SPOILERS in the rest of my comment, sorry it's so long I got excited ;)
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So, I finished all the content for Bastien and loved all the endings, even when they were heartbreaking. I was really surprised at the hidden love interest, I was not expecting it! But I loved him, even as I felt for Bastien and it killed me to see their relationship devolve. I thought it was a very mature way to handle romance and marriage, and the struggles of depression, which is rarely seen in VN's. Honestly, a lot about this VN is not seen in other VN's lol, including the spicy awesome MC. I love how much her personality really changes the dialogue too, especially if the 'witty' characteristic is picked. Seriously some of her comebacks made me laugh out loud. That scene with her and Francesca where she's lamenting how sad she is to have lost to her in the bid for the prince in such an obviously over-the-top way had me in stitches lol! On a more serious note though, that talk with Bastien where he confesses how he's been feeling and all his struggles after his father's death...literally made me cry. I just connected so much with what he was saying and how he felt that I couldn't help myself. It was heartwrenching to do the other route's and not support him during that conversation...omg like it really killed me, which is a compliment to your writing skills lol.
As for Sofia's route, I thought all of the endings were interesting in their own way, though of course, my favorite is Home Sweet Home with a side of Frederick. Personally, I feel the route where you win and stay with Sofia and add Frederick into your relationship should be its own ending rather than grouped into Home Sweet Home, but I guess I can see why it's a bit more 'hidden.' Again, the themes of the romance were so mature and well handled, even Sofia's relationship with her family and her mother's sudden denial of her and the MC's relationship. Like people can say you should instantly cut off your family if they don't accept your preferences, but in real life that's not as easy to do as it would sound, and I feel like Sofia's attitude and her reluctance to confront her mother on it all was very realistic in that aspect, even as it made me sad lol.
It was super hard to do the Full Circle route ending though...I had the MC lie to Sofia and they break up in the end because the MC can't give up her brother, and it was super devastating. But I liked how you still remain on good terms with her in the end if you win. I thought that was handled super maturely because yes people break up in real life and it doesn't mean they have to hate each other for the rest of their lives. I'm sure it's slightly less happy if you lose, but I couldn't bring myself to do that, the pain of breaking up with Sofia was already too much lol.
Really love the game, and I'm super looking forward to the next route and the extra reward scenes! Guillaume's route in the last game was actually one of my least favorite one's, but I think, considering the circumstances of this game, that I'll really find his route interesting this time around for the sheer fact that you'll be a princess in the middle of all the political shenanigans. To be honest I found his relationship with Francesca in Sofia/Bastien's route very interesting too, especially how you didn't necessarily make either of them the 'villain.' Francesca being so pitiable was a real surprise to me, but I liked how you humanized her a lot, especially in Sofia's route.
Also, Lt. Rue!! Break out character. Her flirting and character design and just everything...I love her. I was a bit disappointed that she's not a possible love interest, to be honest, but I'm sure I'll love Ambassador Brovik's route when it comes out :3
Hello and thank you for your kind feedback. I'm very glad you've found the game enjoyable so far and I'll look into the two things you mentioned regarding the graphics for the next build.
The quality of the intrigue and wittyness of the main caracter were fantastic, I expected no less !
I was quite impressed by the length and complexity from my first run off Sofia's story. It sure wasn't as romantic as the Rose of Segunda, but the tension and hurdles felt very realistic and at the same time, sweet.
Mother di Parisi was quite the presence. Reminded me of Olenna Tyrell from Game of Throne ^^'
I didn't remember having "super intense" feeling from it (no intense crying), but the whole thing felt so vivid I had trouble to pause even for eating/sleeping !
I'm eager to see more and actually, I still have a lot of "variant world" to try. Thanks for putting so much work into this <3
EDIT : and a polyamourous ending too. Sweet !
EDIT2 : my replays took more time than my first run. 2 almost full day of playing, my eyes hurts !
EDIT3 : ...So much betrayal options. It's hard. It's so hard every time.
...And they actually have effects. I wonder tho. Is there is of one case in Sofia's route where a letter in the trunk can make her come back ? I found the "violent letter" extra vivid and I really though it'd work (I get the paradox, but guess "showing my wounds" was way more humain than "I'm sorry" or "I understand your grief")
Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad you've enjoyed Sofia's route after you were waiting so patiently for so long.
To answer your question, no, there is no instance once you get to the 'letter in the trunk' stage that she will come back. She has been too hurt by your previous behaviour.
There is a way to have her arrive to speak to you instead of sending a letter (you may have already seen it), but once you are at the letter stage, the letter you send (or not) will only influence your reaction at the embassy and the good ending.
I didn't think it was possible, but I liked Thorns of War even more than The Rose of Segunda (and that one was already one of my all-time fav VNs <3)
The political intrigue and the scheming was great and I really appreciated having so much choice in my character's decisions. I just finished Sophia's route and I was so on edge the whole time, but I managed to get the good ending on my first try ^o^
Looking forward to Charlotte's route someday in the future! Just out of curiosity, will there be other yuri routes besides Sophia and Charlotte? I have no idea how much interest there is for the GxG routes in general but I would be totally down for more :p
Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m very happy to hear you are
enjoying the game (and that you enjoyed TROS, too)
And, yes, there
is one more yuri route in addition to Charlotte’s. I've included a picture of her below since I don't think she appears in any of the screenshots on the game page or in Sofia's route (she had a small part in Bastien's)
Vesela Brovik is
an Alvardian ambassador at the embassy. She appears in many of the
routes and will be a romance option in the ‘Single’ route (the
route where you ended TROS without a romance).
So I hope you can look forward to her route as well as Charlotte's. ^_^
I have to say I'm looking forward whenever Guillaume’s route is released. It's one of the routes that has a lot of diverting paths considering there are 3 ways Iolanthe be with him (arrangement, throne only or romance). So i'm definitely curious to the impressions of his route in the future.
I'm glad to hear that. Due to all the options, I think there is too much content for just one route, so I'm actually going to split Guillaume's route into two separate routes.
One (the one I am working on now) is where you are either in love or pretending to be in love just for the throne. The other will be the 'loveless marriage' route where you both just did as you were told and married. They both start in very difference places and I see them progressing very different ways, so treating them as two separate routes means I can give each more attention. ^_^
Oh, that's interesting! And it makes does sense, the dynamic between both of them would really be vastly different depending on how they got married. It even shows on the demo. I'm anticipating it!
I just finished Sophia's route! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! I did not expect that ADDITION, but I was so glad for it!
SPOILERS AHEAD.
BIG SPOILERS.
SCARY SPOILERS.
DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.
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Frederique!!! When I started the route, I had a feeling something was going on... I didn't know what would happen exactly, if we had to choose between them or what, but I was EXCITED. Dear author, you really spoil us too much! Adding so many variations! Same with Bastien's, we get 2 routes for 1. Thank you so much for that. Your hard work is very appreciated! I love Frederique with a passion, my second favorite RO after Leopold, so this surprise was the best thing I could hope for. Problem is, after I got this PERFECT ending:
I don't want to unlock the others! (I will, eventually) But this ending was PERFECTION. I wasn't sure how I would feel about Frederique and Sophia falling in love too, but they didn't, so it was really everything I hoped for. Kind of a harem route, ohoho~ (Also, what a beautiful CG)
I must say this, however: it makes me sad that MC's ROs don't stand up for her until the end. It happened with Bastien too. I hope some of the others will defend her from the beginning. It was painful watching MC berated and pushed aside and her ROs pretending nothing is going on. She deserves to be protected, too ;_;
Funny thing that happened: my MC is called Yvette.
Also, iconic line:
I know. Rumours are abound. After all, a lady unmarried this long must have so intractable flaw.
Many thanks for your kind feedback. I’m very glad to hear you
enjoyed the route – especially certain elements of it.
With the unique
dynamic presented in this route, I wanted to explore the different
ways it could go for those players who were interested (while also
ensuring it was sufficiently gated, so did not impact on the
experiences of players who did not want to explore that kind of
thing).
Ah, and what a
coincidence that your MC is called Yvette, as well. It is always a
concern of mine when I choose names for NPCs, but I hope, when it
happens, it does not distract from the story too much.
I just bought the game and played Sofia's route (I loved it, btw). How can I unlock this ending? I tried picking up the "romantic" option with Frederique, but nothing came out of it.
Hmm, it shouldn't be too hard to get. Do you mean you managed to get on the romantic path with Fred, but couldn't get this ending? Or upi tried to romance him and nothing came of your attempt?
If it is the former, can I ask how far you got in the romance?
If it is the latter, can I ask if you picked the menu option to open it? The "—fills me with a strange sense of longing..." option, on day 2? From that point on, you need to pick the flirtatious/caring options and if you have enough points there should be a confrontation that sets you firmly on that path by day 7.
If this guidance here does not help any, then please email me at support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can write you a quick walkthrough or we can discuss it further if I have misunderstood the problem. ^_^
It will have romance routes for all characters in the first game plus in the 'single' route (the route you beginning without a love interest) there is the option to romance Vesela Brovik or Mathys Aurele (or, again, no one). There is already a secret romance who appears in Bastien's route, whom I won't name here for fear of ruining any surprise. So, adding all that up, there are nine love interests over the eight routes.
I just got this game and played through it immediately. It's really impressive how much work has clearly been put into it! I'm looking forward to the next routes :)
BELOW THERE BE SPOILERS:
MORE SPOILERS:
Poor Bastien was my least favorite RO from the first game, so unfortunately I neglected him in favor of the new characters. I was so SHOOK when MC ended up with Pieto, but like in a good way! Seriously, I loved how he would stand up for everyone, but I was still hurt when Bastien wanted a divorce lol. Which is perfectly reasonable when the MC is cheating on him(although I'm not sure if he actually knew? It would be easy to tell but Bastien doesn't spend much time with MC if she avoids him.)
Since I went for the Frederique and Pieto scenes first, I was really surprised at how romantic and how much less drama my playthrough had if I prioritized Bastien and I ended up admiring that he decided that he needed to grasp his own happiness and stand up more for himself. There was that one comeback that was just... incredible! Like wow, did that boy just say that? I swear my respect level for Bastien grow ten times larger at that.
I ended up getting all the endings except for the 3rd ending. Any hints at how to get it? Spend more time with someone/side with this person?
Hello and thank you for the feedback. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the route even without much liking Bastien.
Hmm, the only circumstances where Bastien should ask for a divorce are if in the scenes when you two are together, you fight a lot (otherwise he can be quite blindsided by the request if you guys have been getting along).
As for the third ending, you need to be in the Pieto romance but not do as well with the missions. Try failing one and succeeding at one - this should give you the 'not best but not worst' ending for Pieto. If you have ending 2 then I am guessing you already did this for Bastien's romance, so it will be the same kind of thing that is needed.
If you would like more guidance on this or have any problems, please message me at support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can go into more detail there.
The next update is on 14th February with Sofia's route. Then I hope to have Guillaume's route finished for May, but that is much more tentative at this stage.
The backer extra reward scenes were a reward for those people who wanted input into their own scene, that will then be in the game and playable by anyone who purchases a copy. I wanted as many of the kickstarter rewards as possible to enrich/expand the game for all players (extra characters / extra costumes / extra scenes etc)
So if you are wanting your own scene in the game, I probably can't oblige you now the Kickstarter is over, but if you just want to play the scenes that have already been backed, then you are in luck, as they will already be part of the game for everyone to see. ^_^
I hope this explains things and many thanks for your interest.
The first thing I think every morning : "is Sofia's route out yet ?" - then comes the realization : end of january is not there yet ! (but seriously take all your time you beautiful angel, don't dare sacrificing quality on a darn schedule~)
Also I just remembered, no mention of a Charlotte route ? Wasn't my prefered one (by far), but I guess it was my second choice~
EDIT : just read there was 8 route planned, my bad.
Just finished all but 2 endings and found all of the CG's for Bastien's route!
Wow, you did an amazing job on this one! Bastien is actually my second least favorite RO (he's too quiet for me) but the story was really interesting and depending on your choices vastly differn't! I ended up with 5 playthroughs!
I actually like that you're releasing one route at a time, it would be a way too overwhelming if you weren't. This way I can spend a weekend, going back to get all the choice options in the route and see the reaction changes (Which for Bastien differed vastly!) And that's with the same MC traits!
Can't wait for the next couple routes!!! :) Seriously I'm hooked.
I absolutely loved the Rose of Segunda and wasn't sure how
the sequel would compare, but somehow it is even better than the original
(if that is possible!). Leopold and Guillaume were my favorite routes in the
first game, and I suspect I’ll love them just as much once their routes come
out, but so far, Bastien's route was wonderful!
(Minor spoilers) Bastien's route wasn't an easy "happily every after"- a noble woman married a servant and realistically, that makes a "happy ending" much more difficult. This route is sometimes sad and often painful, but
it hurts in a good way because it makes the joy at the end even
sweeter.
I wasn't initially
pumped for the civil war plotline, but it was actually really enjoyable. The
intrigue! The drama! The choices felt very high stakes and I was constantly
second-guessing what was right. It was great! I loved seeing characters from
the first game, but I have to say, MC's mother really stole the show for
me- she’s callous, ambitious, and more than a little power hungry, but her dry
sense of humor and exasperation at her "three children who won't listen to
(her)" cracked me up (Frederick, MC and Bastien can be a handful!). This is a wonderful game, created by people who
truly loved/respected the first installment. I cannot wait for the next
routes! Now, please excuse me while I go replay “The Rose of Segunda” for the
hundredth time.
Hello and thank you for your kind feedback - I am glad you enjoyed the game as much as TROS and the civil war plotline did not put you off.
Among my proofreaders there were two camps: those who hated Mother, and those who loved her, and I am very glad to see another join the latter group. ^_^
OKAY I'M BACK! I have unlocked 3 endings, and I need to scream here before I go back for more. The first ending I got was the WORST one. It was so sad, but I aaaalways get the bad endings first because I'm just that unlucky haha. But the other 2 endings were great, so I'm super happy.
NOW, SPOILERS! BEWARE! GO BACK!
Really. I'm spoiling a lot of the route.
Like, a lot. Like, turn back.
Okay?
Okay.
PIETO TRISTE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Look, I know this will sound terribly cruel, but... Bastien who? It's his own route but Pieto STOLE THE SHOW. The moment MC and Pieto met at the Ball... man, I felt something change. It was so subtle, and every little interaction showed just a little more, but you could feel something was happening. Pieto stole my heart, completely. He is perfect for MC, he can be and give her everything she ever wanted or needed. And she can do the same for him. He's also hot, have you seen that scene while confronting the two "lovers" at the inn? He's so freaking commanding. "SIT DOWN!" Hell yeah, that's a future King you're talking to! After having Bastien allowing every insult thrown at him and MC, it was so refreshing to see Pieto threating to cut someone's tongue off for being slightly disrespectful to MC.
I was super scared about him, tbh. Because every time I saw him I liked him more and more and I had suspicions he'd end up being manipulative and with his own agenda. Charlotte and Bastien didn't seem to like him, and I was on edge. But thank god! He's honest, and good, and honorable, and--! I just love this man so much! You gave us two routes in one, and I'm so grateful for that. What a delicious surprise. AND MC GETS TO BE QUEEN WITH A KING THAT ACTUALLY DESERVES HER (yeah, I'm salty with Guillaume after his demo).
Moving on from King Pieto Triste, long may he reign, Bastien's route was so sad. I felt bad for Bastien and MC, they were so unhappy together, even when you're trying to make it work. It was so difficult and painful. And I could understand why, it wasn't unnecessary drama, but... it was hard. MC had to endure so much pain and embarassment, I felt terribly for her. Bastien also broke my heart, especially in his bad ending and in Pieto's ending. Poor boy, I hope he manages to find real happiness without MC in Pieto's ending. He deserves to be happy, and THERAPY. GIVE THAT POOR MAN THERAPY! LOTS OF IT! Also, and excuse my French, but... fuck his father. The character I hate the most. I don't even hate other characters, just him. Fuck him. When MC was like "Good thing he's dead, or I'd strangle him" I was like YEAH GIRL, GO FERAL ON HIM. Have I mentioned MC is amazing? She is.
NEXT! Albertine! Baby girl, you changed for the best! I love her! I liked her more than Charlotte this time, and I found Lottie adorable in TROS, so...
And I must talk about my favorite boys. Leopold and Frederique. My all-time favorites. THEY'RE PERFECT STILL. I talked like... twice with Leo, and man, was I pining for him. I can't wait to go all Queen and King stabbity stab goodbye Auguste see ya later Guillaume. And Frederique is my man to the last, to quote the man himself. He's the one who has the most dangerous relationship with MC and I bet he would NEVER allow anyone to talk shit about them. Someone WHISPERS something about Minette? You're done. Aaaaand, I've seen he appears as a third option if your marriage with Bastien is crumbling, so I'm gonna go back to the game and explore that. I doubt it's a romance route like Pieto, because Frederique has his own route, but... even if it's just a sibling route, he's my man to the last <3
I'll leave with the quote that made me think "I'll marry that man":
A young lady of Yvette's wit will make a King of any man.
I love Bastien's route and the story as a whole so far! He was never my favorite in TROS but there's some real gems in his scenes here. Makes me even more excited to see the characters I loved (and the politicking in two PARTICULAR routes). But PLEASE give me some hints as to the second and third ending on the list. I can't seem to get them or even really figure out what they might be at this point and it's driving me batty!
Glad to hear you are enjoy the route so far and many thanks for your support.
As for the two remaining endings, I would say they are the 'not good, but not terrible' endings. To get them I would probably fail one of the missions and complete the other, but if you want more details on how to get them, please email support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can give you more advice without worrying about spoilers ^_^
Hello and thank you for your interest. The sale page is here and should show you how much time you have left (since whatever day/time I tell you might be inaccurate for your time zone)
LEOPALD! im coming for you! I loveee the game I just received an email that this game was out AND at a discount price! leopalds route is my favourite can't wait to play it! take all my money T-T
I am very happy to hear you're excited, and thank you for your support.
Leo's route is a little ways off yet, but you will be able to get some more Leopold content when the TROS Love Interest Point of View scenes are released in April (ish). Until then, I hope you can enjoy Bastien's (and then Sofia's) routes.
Promised myself to not spend any more money this year, but I just had to when I saw the announcement! So excited to play (and so excited to be reunited with Sofia soon). Great job!
Bastien...I will say he isn't my favorite- I love Leopold the most and I'm very excited for his route, but this was very good. ...and so sad. Pieto was so lovely, and I quite liked his route with Iolanthe, but now I'm wondering whether this narrative will continue in all the routes.
I presume not, given everyone has their own drama, but I can't help but worry it's all going to be a bit of relationship drama in this sort of sense. I hope this isn't the case, I want mayhem and hijinx and plotting as the most epic lovey-dovey murder couple ever with Iolanthe and Leopold, and this was so sad aaaaa
Many
thanks for the feedback and I am glad you thought the route was good.
As
for the relationship drama, there will be a little in every route
(it’s a high stress situation, after all) but it will vary and I
would say Bastien’s route is definitely at the higher end.
Well, it is uploading now, but the files are large, so it's going to be another few hours yet (I would estimate three) before both Windows and Mac versions are ready (and Linux will be another few hours after that, but I will post once the first two are complete).
Hi! The Early Access is approaching and I was wondering if we'd get the love interest PoV scenes with Bastien's route (only Bastien's PoV scenes I mean)
Hello there! No, I will be releasing the POV scenes (TROS and TTOW) as two separate updates, since the TROS ones are having new backgrounds to fit in with the slightly different style of our current background artists.
I imagine these backgrounds will be ready around April 2021, though that might be subject to change.
Hello! When I'm in the itch.io app, it shows a pop up option at the bottom of the game page to buy this game for 24.99. When I try to buy it I get an error saying the page cannot be found. I came here but I can't find the option to buy the full game. Am I missing something? I would love to be able to buy the game if it is at all possible! Was that just an error or something? Either way, I adored the first game and I WISH I had seen the kickstarter for this one. Thank you so much for giving us more of this world!!!
Hi there, sorry, but the game is not yet available for purchase. It will be released (early access) for sale on 18th December. I am not sure why the itch app is allowing you to try and buy it, but again, sorry for the confusion.
I'm so excited for this game, I don't know how many times I've replayed TROS, such an amazing mix of romance and politics- I srly love it! I have a question if I may for creators; in the description it says you either "begin the game with your current lover or remain single to pursue one of the two new love interests: Sir Mathys Aurele or Ambassador Vesela Brovik"- I was wondering, in the case of being in a marriage of convenience with the Prince, does the game offer you the option to recover your "true love" from the previous characters? (I'm looking at you, Bastien). Thanks!!
Many thanks for the kind feedback – I’m very happy to hear you
enjoyed TROS and are looking forward to the sequel.
As for the Guillaume ‘loveless/marriage of convenience’ route.
There are going to be a couple of romance options, (I haven’t
written that route yet, so I don’t know who for certain) and some
of them will be characters from the first game, but not all of the
characters will be available.
The thought process behind
it is that when the MC married Guillaume in this manner, firstly, she
rejected her ‘true love’ (some of them aren’t going to have
taken well).
Also, she became the Princess, so there is going to be a huge risk
associated with ‘romancing’ her (and essentially enabling her to
commit adultery on the Prince) and that isn’t a risk everyone is
going to be willing to take. Not to mention, the MC has been living at
the palace for the last two years – certain characters aren’t
going to be seeing her regularly anymore, if at all.
I hope that gives you some insight into which love interests might be
available in the ‘loveless/marriage of convenience’ route.
Hello there and many thanks for the kind feedback, I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the first game. As for the ages, I believe Sofia and Charlotte are both 18, Frederique is 20, Bastien is 24, and Leopold is 25.
I never defined them anywhere, but there are hints in most of the routes. ^_^
Hey, sorry if you've already answered this, but I was just wondering...Before the DEMO starts, you get to pick how tRoS ended, and I was a little confused when it showed Frederique had a route in the previous one. I've gotten an ending for all the love interests, and I was just wondering about Frederique's route, which I missed, and also wondering how you initiate it in tRoS in the first place.
In TROS, in order to get on Frederique's route you need to complete all the other LI routes and then start a new game. When it comes to the first scene in the game with an options menu (in the carriage as you travel through Florentia) a new option should have opened up beneath the others. Selecting this will get you on his route.
I hid his route pretty well as I didn't want anyone stumbling on to it who did not want to romance him.
Thank you for your interest - the game is coming along.
The current word count is 206,889 and I am working on Sofia's route. I will be posting an update here once I feel I am about 1/3 way through the route, which I hope won't be far away.
That will also give me an idea of whether this route (as well as Bastien's) will overrun the 50,000 word estimate I had in place, and I can then consider how that will affect the time-frames.
I hope that gives you an idea of how things are progressing until the next update.
Oh my god, I can't wait for this ! Thanks you so much for your work, the Rose of Segunda is one of my favourite visual-novels of all times and for it to have a sequel is one of the best surprises I ever had !
I am so excited that you are making a sequel to the original. I am a huge fan of the game and loved your writing as well as your artwork. Thank you so much for making the main character not only smart- but brave. I was so happy that she was willing to put her foot down and not be some idiotic girl chasing around a guy that treats her like garbage. I will be looking forward to the release of your full game. You all are awesome.
Hello and thank you for the positive feedback - I'm happy to hear you liked the writing in the first game (and the art - I'll let the artist know), and found the MC appealing.
I loved the first game, and it seems this game will be even better than the previous one ! (the new UI is gorgeous, and there is sprite for side characters that's very cool, I don't really like shadows)! It's so promising !
I was just wandering, can we start back with the "secret love interest" of the first game in this one too ** ?
Anyway, good luck to you guys, it's a long run, but definitely worth the wait <3
Aaaah wonderful ! I love him too (but I love them all so...), I really look forward to game! Do you have some pre-order possibility ? I unfortunately miss the KS but I would like to support you especially since dev will take longer than expected !
Progress is being made, but I have realised that my estimate (for Bastien's route, at least) is way, way off.
I thought it would be done in 50,000 words, but it is currently (at my last check) 116,000 - that is longer than 'Rose' by 14,000 words, and this is just one route.
I plan to post here and let people know once Bastien's route is finished - which I hope will be soon.
In the meantime, I hope you (and anyone reading this) is keeping safe and healthy.
Hi! I found TROS on Steam and instantly had to buy it. I absolutely adored it and loved seeing the different personality variations for the MC. SO excited for the sequel! Thanks for the all hard work you're putting into this!
i played TROS and it was pretty interesting!, i enjoyed discovering all the endings and honestly i am in love. I am looking forward to The Thorns of war; but i have a question: will it be available on Steam?.
Thank you for your kind feedback - I am happy to heard you enjoyed TROS.
And, yes, TTOW will be on Steam . It will be released first on itch and then be realised on Steam probably a couple of months later, though anyone who bought the game on itch will be given a free Steam key, as well.
For the finished game? Well, on the Kickstarter I put October 2020. I'd like to get it finished sooner, but 400,000 words is going to take me a while to write. ^_^
Anyone with Beta access will be able to access the routes as they completed though, as I recall from the demo, a lot of people don't like to play until all the routes are finished.
Your stories are so interesting that sometimes I wish they were text-based so even more choices could be carried over and explored. For example, I think there is a terribly tragic and interesting dimension to having a dutiful Iolanthe who turned down Leopold's proposal and married the prince, even though she was in love with Leopold. I would love to be able to explore this dynamic in the loveless marriage path.
Many thanks for your kind feedback - I am happy to know you'd like more of the story. As for the particular scenario you mentioned, scenes such as that will be explored during the loveless marriage route, so I hope you will at least get to see a little something of that aspect. ^_^
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So...I was initially going to wait until this game is released on Steam before I buy it there but my anticipation got to me and I got the game myself (I will definately replay this game though in Steam because It's that good so far!).I have to say, this game is really in a league above Rose of Segunda, a game I already deeply love. The amount of work and quality the 2 route's writing alone has is simply amazing! And it really has me anticipating (and worried for my faves, heh) for the remaining routes when they are released.
Bastien's route was just as heavy and depressing as the demo made it. I am one of the people who had Bastien as one of my least favourite routes in TROS, but his route really made me pay more attention and appreciate his character so much more. It was painful to see him struggle throughout the route, depressing to know that his father not only regret's his existence but also blames him for his wife's death and that itself caused Bastien so much grief. But it makes his good end all the better especially when he decided to not let people talk him or his relationship with Iolanthe down.
Frankly I was almost guilty to even follow through with the other romance and even the platonic Frederic direction because of how much it hurt to hurt Basien when he was struggling so much but I did and I also enjoyed Pieto's character and the romance it went with it.
Sofia's route...It was something else, it felt more cutthroat and direr than Bastien's but I seriously deeply enjoyed it. The various plots with the nobles where interesting. Also the new characters like Lucette and more of st Rue. God I loved Lucette for what we saw of her.
The main conflict itself was very realistic, it's sad but Sofia's mother never having accepted her daughter as a lesbian because she wants her daughter to be 'normal' is still very common even at our times. I found it hard to have Iolanthe be 'understanding' since I also can understand why she'd be very upset being the one being sligted so badly but alas, I also could't be too angry with Sofia since it's her mother, cutting off family is never easy, especially if you care for them like Sofia does.
Also the whole issue with if you should keep things from Sofia or not. I intentionally hid everything from her first because I wanted the worst outcome over and done with and Oh boy, It was even more painful than Bastien's route because I knew it would come down crashing and it really did. When she was ranting about her father's past actions, how she hated his lying the most out of everything, I knew things where gonna go to hell later on. I felt so bad fo Iolanthe and Sofia.
Now Frederique, god I loved him. In both routes, he is at the very least your most closest confidant and the possible option of him being in a poly relationship with Iolanthe in Sofia's route was just amazing. The way you built up their relationship (if you choose it) was a nice touch, I simply loved it.
Now for the mother herself. She is quite a character, she is very much a love to hate character to me. She is very interesting and ruthless in a way I can appreciate. But damn, I also heavily dislike her, it's no wonder why Iolanthe and Frederick barely cares for her when she is very blunt in just using them as tools.
I will say, I am going to be so much more in pain when Frederique's, Leopond's and Charllotte's route (my top 3) are out because I know I will always wanna get the other ends first and the Good/Best end last so....the angst and complications will kill me. But I will enjoy it because you're writing is really great.
Overall, I'm anticipating for the rest and you're doing an amazing job so far!
EDIT: Also I want to add, Poor Francesca. She is truly a pitiful character, I did not end up liking her but I certainly felt more sympathy for her than the 1st game. She got duped in a crappy situation with people looking down on her. That must hurt..
Hello and thank you for letting me know your thoughts. I'm very glad to hear you have enjoyed the game so far - especially considering you were planning to wait at first. ^_^
I hope you enjoy Charlotte, Leopold, and Frederique's routes just as much once they are released.
Many thanks for playing
It seems it's often hard for sequels to capture the "spirit" of their originals, but when they do, it really adds to the whole thing. Not a thing was lost from TROS, only built upon. Don't know how you did it, but I can only thank you for figuring out what might as well be magic. I liked all those touches of worldbuilding too, and the MC is probably the best written one I've come across in games of this type.
Don't know if you'll ever go about a third game, making this a trilogy, or maybe some DLC, because that worldbuilding is interesting, and I can certainly imagine a lot of things with it, especially in regards to the endings.
For now, I'm good with imagining, and I'll be sure to check out the other routes when they're done.
Ah, thank you for your kind feedback. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the sequel as much as the first game. I know tonally they are quite different and I had a worry when when I was first writing Bastien's route that players would not like the change.
Hmm, I would never say 'never' on a third game, but I am not sure what setting I could use since the endings to Thorns are a lot more detailed than the ones for TROS.
Many thanks for playing
Such a good game honestly...only two routes out so far, but I'm confident that each route you release will be awesome. I've loved Bastien's and Sofia's routes, even the bad ones...so beautiful. And the whole 'feel' of the game is very mature, honestly, which I like. It's like, a lot of sequels to Otome games shy away from the more mature aspects of a relationship and the struggles that come after you get together, but you didn't and I love that.
However, two things did bug me a little - one, it'd be really nice if in the save/load screen we could see what page we were on. Like maybe the number of the page we are on would be highlighted? Just a little UI thing that kinda bugged me.
And two - there's that one background art scene near the statue of Saint Lucio (in both Sofia and Bastien's routes) where the crowd has a bit of clipping going on in the crowd where the grey overlay's edge shows up:
Again it's a little thing, and obviously, it's not a big deal just thought I'd point it out :)
SPOILERS in the rest of my comment, sorry it's so long I got excited ;)
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So, I finished all the content for Bastien and loved all the endings, even when they were heartbreaking. I was really surprised at the hidden love interest, I was not expecting it! But I loved him, even as I felt for Bastien and it killed me to see their relationship devolve. I thought it was a very mature way to handle romance and marriage, and the struggles of depression, which is rarely seen in VN's. Honestly, a lot about this VN is not seen in other VN's lol, including the spicy awesome MC. I love how much her personality really changes the dialogue too, especially if the 'witty' characteristic is picked. Seriously some of her comebacks made me laugh out loud. That scene with her and Francesca where she's lamenting how sad she is to have lost to her in the bid for the prince in such an obviously over-the-top way had me in stitches lol! On a more serious note though, that talk with Bastien where he confesses how he's been feeling and all his struggles after his father's death...literally made me cry. I just connected so much with what he was saying and how he felt that I couldn't help myself. It was heartwrenching to do the other route's and not support him during that conversation...omg like it really killed me, which is a compliment to your writing skills lol.
As for Sofia's route, I thought all of the endings were interesting in their own way, though of course, my favorite is Home Sweet Home with a side of Frederick. Personally, I feel the route where you win and stay with Sofia and add Frederick into your relationship should be its own ending rather than grouped into Home Sweet Home, but I guess I can see why it's a bit more 'hidden.' Again, the themes of the romance were so mature and well handled, even Sofia's relationship with her family and her mother's sudden denial of her and the MC's relationship. Like people can say you should instantly cut off your family if they don't accept your preferences, but in real life that's not as easy to do as it would sound, and I feel like Sofia's attitude and her reluctance to confront her mother on it all was very realistic in that aspect, even as it made me sad lol.
It was super hard to do the Full Circle route ending though...I had the MC lie to Sofia and they break up in the end because the MC can't give up her brother, and it was super devastating. But I liked how you still remain on good terms with her in the end if you win. I thought that was handled super maturely because yes people break up in real life and it doesn't mean they have to hate each other for the rest of their lives. I'm sure it's slightly less happy if you lose, but I couldn't bring myself to do that, the pain of breaking up with Sofia was already too much lol.
Really love the game, and I'm super looking forward to the next route and the extra reward scenes! Guillaume's route in the last game was actually one of my least favorite one's, but I think, considering the circumstances of this game, that I'll really find his route interesting this time around for the sheer fact that you'll be a princess in the middle of all the political shenanigans. To be honest I found his relationship with Francesca in Sofia/Bastien's route very interesting too, especially how you didn't necessarily make either of them the 'villain.' Francesca being so pitiable was a real surprise to me, but I liked how you humanized her a lot, especially in Sofia's route.
Also, Lt. Rue!! Break out character. Her flirting and character design and just everything...I love her. I was a bit disappointed that she's not a possible love interest, to be honest, but I'm sure I'll love Ambassador Brovik's route when it comes out :3
Great job so far! *claps into infinity*
Hello and thank you for your kind feedback. I'm very glad you've found the game enjoyable so far and I'll look into the two things you mentioned regarding the graphics for the next build.
Many thanks for playing
The quality of the intrigue and wittyness of the main caracter were fantastic, I expected no less !
I was quite impressed by the length and complexity from my first run off Sofia's story. It sure wasn't as romantic as the Rose of Segunda, but the tension and hurdles felt very realistic and at the same time, sweet.
Mother di Parisi was quite the presence. Reminded me of Olenna Tyrell from Game of Throne ^^'
I didn't remember having "super intense" feeling from it (no intense crying), but the whole thing felt so vivid I had trouble to pause even for eating/sleeping !
I'm eager to see more and actually, I still have a lot of "variant world" to try. Thanks for putting so much work into this <3
EDIT : and a polyamourous ending too. Sweet !
EDIT2 : my replays took more time than my first run. 2 almost full day of playing, my eyes hurts !
EDIT3 : ...So much betrayal options. It's hard. It's so hard every time.
...And they actually have effects. I wonder tho. Is there is of one case in Sofia's route where a letter in the trunk can make her come back ? I found the "violent letter" extra vivid and I really though it'd work (I get the paradox, but guess "showing my wounds" was way more humain than "I'm sorry" or "I understand your grief")
Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad you've enjoyed Sofia's route after you were waiting so patiently for so long.
To answer your question, no, there is no instance once you get to the 'letter in the trunk' stage that she will come back. She has been too hurt by your previous behaviour.
There is a way to have her arrive to speak to you instead of sending a letter (you may have already seen it), but once you are at the letter stage, the letter you send (or not) will only influence your reaction at the embassy and the good ending.
Many thanks for playing
I didn't think it was possible, but I liked Thorns of War even more than The Rose of Segunda (and that one was already one of my all-time fav VNs <3)
The political intrigue and the scheming was great and I really appreciated having so much choice in my character's decisions. I just finished Sophia's route and I was so on edge the whole time, but I managed to get the good ending on my first try ^o^
Looking forward to Charlotte's route someday in the future! Just out of curiosity, will there be other yuri routes besides Sophia and Charlotte? I have no idea how much interest there is for the GxG routes in general but I would be totally down for more :p
Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m very happy to hear you are enjoying the game (and that you enjoyed TROS, too)
And, yes, there is one more yuri route in addition to Charlotte’s. I've included a picture of her below since I don't think she appears in any of the screenshots on the game page or in Sofia's route (she had a small part in Bastien's)
Vesela Brovik is an Alvardian ambassador at the embassy. She appears in many of the routes and will be a romance option in the ‘Single’ route (the route where you ended TROS without a romance).
So I hope you can look forward to her route as well as Charlotte's. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
Great new ! I'm looking forward to it too !
Omg that sounds amazing, looking forward to it ^o^
this comment has made my hype return
I have to say I'm looking forward whenever Guillaume’s route is released. It's one of the routes that has a lot of diverting paths considering there are 3 ways Iolanthe be with him (arrangement, throne only or romance). So i'm definitely curious to the impressions of his route in the future.
I'm glad to hear that. Due to all the options, I think there is too much content for just one route, so I'm actually going to split Guillaume's route into two separate routes.
One (the one I am working on now) is where you are either in love or pretending to be in love just for the throne. The other will be the 'loveless marriage' route where you both just did as you were told and married. They both start in very difference places and I see them progressing very different ways, so treating them as two separate routes means I can give each more attention. ^_^
Oh, that's interesting! And it makes does sense, the dynamic between both of them would really be vastly different depending on how they got married. It even shows on the demo. I'm anticipating it!
I just finished Sophia's route! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! I did not expect that ADDITION, but I was so glad for it!
SPOILERS AHEAD.
BIG SPOILERS.
SCARY SPOILERS.
DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.
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Frederique!!! When I started the route, I had a feeling something was going on... I didn't know what would happen exactly, if we had to choose between them or what, but I was EXCITED. Dear author, you really spoil us too much! Adding so many variations! Same with Bastien's, we get 2 routes for 1. Thank you so much for that. Your hard work is very appreciated! I love Frederique with a passion, my second favorite RO after Leopold, so this surprise was the best thing I could hope for. Problem is, after I got this PERFECT ending:
I don't want to unlock the others! (I will, eventually) But this ending was PERFECTION. I wasn't sure how I would feel about Frederique and Sophia falling in love too, but they didn't, so it was really everything I hoped for. Kind of a harem route, ohoho~ (Also, what a beautiful CG)
I must say this, however: it makes me sad that MC's ROs don't stand up for her until the end. It happened with Bastien too. I hope some of the others will defend her from the beginning. It was painful watching MC berated and pushed aside and her ROs pretending nothing is going on. She deserves to be protected, too ;_;
Funny thing that happened: my MC is called Yvette.
Also, iconic line:
Yes, you do Yvette, yes you do.
Many thanks for your kind feedback. I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed the route – especially certain elements of it.
With the unique dynamic presented in this route, I wanted to explore the different ways it could go for those players who were interested (while also ensuring it was sufficiently gated, so did not impact on the experiences of players who did not want to explore that kind of thing).
Ah, and what a coincidence that your MC is called Yvette, as well. It is always a concern of mine when I choose names for NPCs, but I hope, when it happens, it does not distract from the story too much.
Many thanks for playing
I just bought the game and played Sofia's route (I loved it, btw). How can I unlock this ending? I tried picking up the "romantic" option with Frederique, but nothing came out of it.
Hmm, it shouldn't be too hard to get. Do you mean you managed to get on the romantic path with Fred, but couldn't get this ending? Or upi tried to romance him and nothing came of your attempt?
If it is the former, can I ask how far you got in the romance?
If it is the latter, can I ask if you picked the menu option to open it? The "—fills me with a strange sense of longing..." option, on day 2? From that point on, you need to pick the flirtatious/caring options and if you have enough points there should be a confrontation that sets you firmly on that path by day 7.
If this guidance here does not help any, then please email me at support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can write you a quick walkthrough or we can discuss it further if I have misunderstood the problem. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
Thanks, I sent you an email.
I just replied now ^_^
Question many Love interests will this story will have? Plus will there be any secret romances as well?
It will have romance routes for all characters in the first game plus in the 'single' route (the route you beginning without a love interest) there is the option to romance Vesela Brovik or Mathys Aurele (or, again, no one). There is already a secret romance who appears in Bastien's route, whom I won't name here for fear of ruining any surprise. So, adding all that up, there are nine love interests over the eight routes.
I just got this game and played through it immediately. It's really impressive how much work has clearly been put into it! I'm looking forward to the next routes :)
BELOW THERE BE SPOILERS:
MORE SPOILERS:
Poor Bastien was my least favorite RO from the first game, so unfortunately I neglected him in favor of the new characters. I was so SHOOK when MC ended up with Pieto, but like in a good way! Seriously, I loved how he would stand up for everyone, but I was still hurt when Bastien wanted a divorce lol. Which is perfectly reasonable when the MC is cheating on him(although I'm not sure if he actually knew? It would be easy to tell but Bastien doesn't spend much time with MC if she avoids him.)
Since I went for the Frederique and Pieto scenes first, I was really surprised at how romantic and how much less drama my playthrough had if I prioritized Bastien and I ended up admiring that he decided that he needed to grasp his own happiness and stand up more for himself. There was that one comeback that was just... incredible! Like wow, did that boy just say that? I swear my respect level for Bastien grow ten times larger at that.
I ended up getting all the endings except for the 3rd ending. Any hints at how to get it? Spend more time with someone/side with this person?
Thank you and good luck on the rest of the game!
Hello and thank you for the feedback. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the route even without much liking Bastien.
Hmm, the only circumstances where Bastien should ask for a divorce are if in the scenes when you two are together, you fight a lot (otherwise he can be quite blindsided by the request if you guys have been getting along).
As for the third ending, you need to be in the Pieto romance but not do as well with the missions. Try failing one and succeeding at one - this should give you the 'not best but not worst' ending for Pieto. If you have ending 2 then I am guessing you already did this for Bastien's romance, so it will be the same kind of thing that is needed.
If you would like more guidance on this or have any problems, please message me at support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can go into more detail there.
Many thanks for playing
Heya so the next update is only in may right?
The next update is on 14th February with Sofia's route. Then I hope to have Guillaume's route finished for May, but that is much more tentative at this stage.
so..uh, clearly I missed kickstarter thing, is there a way to get access to "Backer extra rewards scenes" in the future?(´;ω;`)
That depends on what you are after.
The backer extra reward scenes were a reward for those people who wanted input into their own scene, that will then be in the game and playable by anyone who purchases a copy. I wanted as many of the kickstarter rewards as possible to enrich/expand the game for all players (extra characters / extra costumes / extra scenes etc)
So if you are wanting your own scene in the game, I probably can't oblige you now the Kickstarter is over, but if you just want to play the scenes that have already been backed, then you are in luck, as they will already be part of the game for everyone to see. ^_^
I hope this explains things and many thanks for your interest.
Great! I just don't want to miss out on any game content, thanks for the explanation!XD
The first thing I think every morning : "is Sofia's route out yet ?" - then comes the realization : end of january is not there yet ! (but seriously take all your time you beautiful angel, don't dare sacrificing quality on a darn schedule~)
Also I just remembered, no mention of a Charlotte route ? Wasn't my prefered one (by far), but I guess it was my second choice~
EDIT : just read there was 8 route planned, my bad.
Hello and apologies for the delay in replying. I wanted to wait until I had more news.
Sofia now has a release date of mid-February and you can read more here: https://blackcrosstaylor.itch.io/ttow/devlog/210838/the-thorns-of-war-update-17
I am not sure when Charlotte's route will be release, but it is definitely coming ^_^
Many thanks for your support and happy new year
I think I’ll wait to the game is released on steam, but I am super excited to get the chance to play it!
Many thanks for your support - I'm glad to hear you're looking forward to it ^_^
Just finished all but 2 endings and found all of the CG's for Bastien's route!
Wow, you did an amazing job on this one! Bastien is actually my second least favorite RO (he's too quiet for me) but the story was really interesting and depending on your choices vastly differn't! I ended up with 5 playthroughs!
I actually like that you're releasing one route at a time, it would be a way too overwhelming if you weren't. This way I can spend a weekend, going back to get all the choice options in the route and see the reaction changes (Which for Bastien differed vastly!) And that's with the same MC traits!
Can't wait for the next couple routes!!! :) Seriously I'm hooked.
Hello and many thanks for your kind feedback - I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed the route and you managed to get so many playthroughs from it.
It should not be too long to wait for Sofia's route, so I hope you can get just as much entertainment from hers, as well.
Many thanks for your support. ^_^
I absolutely loved the Rose of Segunda and wasn't sure how the sequel would compare, but somehow it is even better than the original (if that is possible!). Leopold and Guillaume were my favorite routes in the first game, and I suspect I’ll love them just as much once their routes come out, but so far, Bastien's route was wonderful!
(Minor spoilers) Bastien's route wasn't an easy "happily every after"- a noble woman married a servant and realistically, that makes a "happy ending" much more difficult. This route is sometimes sad and often painful, but it hurts in a good way because it makes the joy at the end even sweeter.
I wasn't initially pumped for the civil war plotline, but it was actually really enjoyable. The intrigue! The drama! The choices felt very high stakes and I was constantly second-guessing what was right. It was great! I loved seeing characters from the first game, but I have to say, MC's mother really stole the show for me- she’s callous, ambitious, and more than a little power hungry, but her dry sense of humor and exasperation at her "three children who won't listen to (her)" cracked me up (Frederick, MC and Bastien can be a handful!). This is a wonderful game, created by people who truly loved/respected the first installment. I cannot wait for the next routes! Now, please excuse me while I go replay “The Rose of Segunda” for the hundredth time.
Hello and thank you for your kind feedback - I am glad you enjoyed the game as much as TROS and the civil war plotline did not put you off.
Among my proofreaders there were two camps: those who hated Mother, and those who loved her, and I am very glad to see another join the latter group. ^_^
Many thanks for playing
OKAY I'M BACK! I have unlocked 3 endings, and I need to scream here before I go back for more. The first ending I got was the WORST one. It was so sad, but I aaaalways get the bad endings first because I'm just that unlucky haha. But the other 2 endings were great, so I'm super happy.
NOW, SPOILERS! BEWARE! GO BACK!
Really. I'm spoiling a lot of the route.
Like, a lot. Like, turn back.
Okay?
Okay.
PIETO TRISTE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Look, I know this will sound terribly cruel, but... Bastien who? It's his own route but Pieto STOLE THE SHOW. The moment MC and Pieto met at the Ball... man, I felt something change. It was so subtle, and every little interaction showed just a little more, but you could feel something was happening. Pieto stole my heart, completely. He is perfect for MC, he can be and give her everything she ever wanted or needed. And she can do the same for him. He's also hot, have you seen that scene while confronting the two "lovers" at the inn? He's so freaking commanding. "SIT DOWN!" Hell yeah, that's a future King you're talking to! After having Bastien allowing every insult thrown at him and MC, it was so refreshing to see Pieto threating to cut someone's tongue off for being slightly disrespectful to MC.
I was super scared about him, tbh. Because every time I saw him I liked him more and more and I had suspicions he'd end up being manipulative and with his own agenda. Charlotte and Bastien didn't seem to like him, and I was on edge. But thank god! He's honest, and good, and honorable, and--! I just love this man so much! You gave us two routes in one, and I'm so grateful for that. What a delicious surprise. AND MC GETS TO BE QUEEN WITH A KING THAT ACTUALLY DESERVES HER
(yeah, I'm salty with Guillaume after his demo).Moving on from King Pieto Triste, long may he reign, Bastien's route was so sad. I felt bad for Bastien and MC, they were so unhappy together, even when you're trying to make it work. It was so difficult and painful. And I could understand why, it wasn't unnecessary drama, but... it was hard. MC had to endure so much pain and embarassment, I felt terribly for her. Bastien also broke my heart, especially in his bad ending and in Pieto's ending. Poor boy, I hope he manages to find real happiness without MC in Pieto's ending. He deserves to be happy, and THERAPY. GIVE THAT POOR MAN THERAPY! LOTS OF IT! Also, and excuse my French, but... fuck his father. The character I hate the most. I don't even hate other characters, just him. Fuck him. When MC was like "Good thing he's dead, or I'd strangle him" I was like YEAH GIRL, GO FERAL ON HIM. Have I mentioned MC is amazing? She is.
NEXT! Albertine! Baby girl, you changed for the best! I love her! I liked her more than Charlotte this time, and I found Lottie adorable in TROS, so...
And I must talk about my favorite boys. Leopold and Frederique. My all-time favorites. THEY'RE PERFECT STILL. I talked like... twice with Leo, and man, was I pining for him. I can't wait to go all Queen and King stabbity stab goodbye Auguste see ya later Guillaume. And Frederique is my man to the last, to quote the man himself. He's the one who has the most dangerous relationship with MC and I bet he would NEVER allow anyone to talk shit about them. Someone WHISPERS something about Minette? You're done. Aaaaand, I've seen he appears as a third option if your marriage with Bastien is crumbling, so I'm gonna go back to the game and explore that. I doubt it's a romance route like Pieto, because Frederique has his own route, but... even if it's just a sibling route, he's my man to the last <3
I'll leave with the quote that made me think "I'll marry that man":
A young lady of Yvette's wit will make a King of any man.
Hello and many thanks for your feedback and support - I am very happy to hear you enjoyed the route - including the new romance option. ^_^
I hope you like the coming routes just as much.
Thank you for playing
I love Bastien's route and the story as a whole so far! He was never my favorite in TROS but there's some real gems in his scenes here. Makes me even more excited to see the characters I loved (and the politicking in two PARTICULAR routes). But PLEASE give me some hints as to the second and third ending on the list. I can't seem to get them or even really figure out what they might be at this point and it's driving me batty!
Glad to hear you are enjoy the route so far and many thanks for your support.
As for the two remaining endings, I would say they are the 'not good, but not terrible' endings. To get them I would probably fail one of the missions and complete the other, but if you want more details on how to get them, please email support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can give you more advice without worrying about spoilers ^_^
Many thanks for playing
Hello, I was wandering how much time will the game stays in sales ? (To know if I have time to wait for my salary or not >.>)
Hello and thank you for your interest. The sale page is here and should show you how much time you have left (since whatever day/time I tell you might be inaccurate for your time zone)
https://itch.io/s/42798/the-thorns-of-war-launch-sale
Ah nice, this will do ! I look forward to test, even if Bastien was the my least favorite LI XD
LEOPALD! im coming for you! I loveee the game I just received an email that this game was out AND at a discount price! leopalds route is my favourite can't wait to play it! take all my money T-T
I am very happy to hear you're excited, and thank you for your support.
Leo's route is a little ways off yet, but you will be able to get some more Leopold content when the TROS Love Interest Point of View scenes are released in April (ish). Until then, I hope you can enjoy Bastien's (and then Sofia's) routes.
Many thanks for playing ^_^
I’d be more than happy too 🥺
Promised myself to not spend any more money this year, but I just had to when I saw the announcement! So excited to play (and so excited to be reunited with Sofia soon). Great job!
Ah, thank you so much for the support - I really hope you enjoy the route.
Many thanks for your purchase ^_^
I finished two run throughs.
OH THE DRAMA.
Bastien...I will say he isn't my favorite- I love Leopold the most and I'm very excited for his route, but this was very good. ...and so sad. Pieto was so lovely, and I quite liked his route with Iolanthe, but now I'm wondering whether this narrative will continue in all the routes.
I presume not, given everyone has their own drama, but I can't help but worry it's all going to be a bit of relationship drama in this sort of sense. I hope this isn't the case, I want mayhem and hijinx and plotting as the most epic lovey-dovey murder couple ever with Iolanthe and Leopold, and this was so sad aaaaa
But so so good.
THANK YOU!
Many thanks for the feedback and I am glad you thought the route was good.
As for the relationship drama, there will be a little in every route (it’s a high stress situation, after all) but it will vary and I would say Bastien’s route is definitely at the higher end.
Many thanks for playing
LET'S GO THORNS OF WAR FANDOM VERY SOON VERY SOON (ﾉ≧ڡ≦)
Eyyyyyyyy!!!
Many thanks for your support!
Ah, I hope you both like it, after all this ^_^'
Aaaaa I've been refreshing every ten minutes or so. XD
Well, it is uploading now, but the files are large, so it's going to be another few hours yet (I would estimate three) before both Windows and Mac versions are ready (and Linux will be another few hours after that, but I will post once the first two are complete).
Sorry for the wait. ^_^
Aaaa still exciting yay yay! :D
*laughs* You took the news well ^_^
one day!! *bounces excitedly*
Yep. I've been testing since 8am - lots of variables to double check. ^_^
Hi! The Early Access is approaching and I was wondering if we'd get the love interest PoV scenes with Bastien's route (only Bastien's PoV scenes I mean)
Hello there! No, I will be releasing the POV scenes (TROS and TTOW) as two separate updates, since the TROS ones are having new backgrounds to fit in with the slightly different style of our current background artists.
I imagine these backgrounds will be ready around April 2021, though that might be subject to change.
Hello! When I'm in the itch.io app, it shows a pop up option at the bottom of the game page to buy this game for 24.99. When I try to buy it I get an error saying the page cannot be found. I came here but I can't find the option to buy the full game. Am I missing something? I would love to be able to buy the game if it is at all possible! Was that just an error or something? Either way, I adored the first game and I WISH I had seen the kickstarter for this one. Thank you so much for giving us more of this world!!!
Hi there, sorry, but the game is not yet available for purchase. It will be released (early access) for sale on 18th December. I am not sure why the itch app is allowing you to try and buy it, but again, sorry for the confusion.
Many thanks for your interest ^_^
I am so excited!! Thanks so much for the update, TROS is one of my favorite VNs ever and I expect to love TTOW even more!
Ah, thank you! I'm very glad to hear you liked TROS and I hope you find just as much to enjoy in TTOW as well.
Many thanks for your support. ^_^
I'm so excited for this game, I don't know how many times I've replayed TROS, such an amazing mix of romance and politics- I srly love it!
I have a question if I may for creators; in the description it says you either "begin the game with your current lover or remain single to pursue one of the two new love interests: Sir Mathys Aurele or Ambassador Vesela Brovik"- I was wondering, in the case of being in a marriage of convenience with the Prince, does the game offer you the option to recover your "true love" from the previous characters? (I'm looking at you, Bastien). Thanks!!
Many thanks for the kind feedback – I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed TROS and are looking forward to the sequel.
As for the Guillaume ‘loveless/marriage of convenience’ route. There are going to be a couple of romance options, (I haven’t written that route yet, so I don’t know who for certain) and some of them will be characters from the first game, but not all of the characters will be available.
The thought process behind it is that when the MC married Guillaume in this manner, firstly, she rejected her ‘true love’ (some of them aren’t going to have taken well).
Also, she became the Princess, so there is going to be a huge risk associated with ‘romancing’ her (and essentially enabling her to commit adultery on the Prince) and that isn’t a risk everyone is going to be willing to take. Not to mention, the MC has been living at the palace for the last two years – certain characters aren’t going to be seeing her regularly anymore, if at all.
I hope that gives you some insight into which love interests might be available in the ‘loveless/marriage of convenience’ route.
Many thanks for playing
absolutely! that answer gives the insight and answers my question, thank you so much for replying <3
This got me thinking - will it be possible for Iolanthe and Guillame to actually fall in love in this ‘loveless/marriage of convenience’ route?
Btw, loved the first game. It's one of my favourites and it merits a replay, like, every half a year for me<3
Oh, yes, that will definitely be an option. ^_^
Ah, thank you, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the first game - with any luck, you will have fun with the sequel, as well.
Hi,
I played tRoS and loved it! I know that Iolanthe is 18 and Guillaume is turning 20 in the first game. How old is everyone else?
Thank you, I'm really looking forward to this game :)
Hello there and many thanks for the kind feedback, I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the first game. As for the ages, I believe Sofia and Charlotte are both 18, Frederique is 20, Bastien is 24, and Leopold is 25.
I never defined them anywhere, but there are hints in most of the routes. ^_^
I hope this answers your question.
Many thanks for playing.
Hey, sorry if you've already answered this, but I was just wondering...Before the DEMO starts, you get to pick how tRoS ended, and I was a little confused when it showed Frederique had a route in the previous one. I've gotten an ending for all the love interests, and I was just wondering about Frederique's route, which I missed, and also wondering how you initiate it in tRoS in the first place.
By the way, I love the game so far!
Hello, Moonyasnow
In TROS, in order to get on Frederique's route you need to complete all the other LI routes and then start a new game. When it comes to the first scene in the game with an options menu (in the carriage as you travel through Florentia) a new option should have opened up beneath the others. Selecting this will get you on his route.
I hid his route pretty well as I didn't want anyone stumbling on to it who did not want to romance him.
You can find more information on the route in our guide here: http://blackcross-taylor.com/index.php/guides/2-uncategorised/14-the-rose-of-segunda-walkthrough
Or if you are having any trouble, please do drop me an email here: support@blackcross-taylor.com
Many thanks for playing
hello, how goes progress?
Hello, Sandpixie
Thank you for your interest - the game is coming along.
The current word count is 206,889 and I am working on Sofia's route. I will be posting an update here once I feel I am about 1/3 way through the route, which I hope won't be far away.
That will also give me an idea of whether this route (as well as Bastien's) will overrun the 50,000 word estimate I had in place, and I can then consider how that will affect the time-frames.
I hope that gives you an idea of how things are progressing until the next update.
Oh my god, I can't wait for this ! Thanks you so much for your work, the Rose of Segunda is one of my favourite visual-novels of all times and for it to have a sequel is one of the best surprises I ever had !
Hello and thank you for the kind feedback.
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed TROS and I hope you enjoy the sequel just as much.
Many thanks for playing
I am so excited that you are making a sequel to the original. I am a huge fan of the game and loved your writing as well as your artwork. Thank you so much for making the main character not only smart- but brave. I was so happy that she was willing to put her foot down and not be some idiotic girl chasing around a guy that treats her like garbage. I will be looking forward to the release of your full game. You all are awesome.
Hello and thank you for the positive feedback - I'm happy to hear you liked the writing in the first game (and the art - I'll let the artist know), and found the MC appealing.
I hope you enjoy the sequel similarly.
Many thanks for playing
I loved the first game, and it seems this game will be even better than the previous one ! (the new UI is gorgeous, and there is sprite for side characters that's very cool, I don't really like shadows)! It's so promising !
I was just wandering, can we start back with the "secret love interest" of the first game in this one too ** ?
Anyway, good luck to you guys, it's a long run, but definitely worth the wait <3
Hello, Ayael, thank you for your interest - I am glad to hear you enjoyed the first game and thing this sequel looks promising.
And to answer your question, yes, there is a route for the 'secret romance'. He is a very popular character, so I would feel bad leaving him out.
Many thanks for playing.
Aaaah wonderful ! I love him too (but I love them all so...), I really look forward to game! Do you have some pre-order possibility ? I unfortunately miss the KS but I would like to support you especially since dev will take longer than expected !
No, there is no pre-order as yet, but we are very far away from release right now. Perhaps when we are a bit closer.
Thank you for your support though. ^_^
Yay! I am so happy he's getting a route, he's been my favourite since I started playing the game!
Hi there, sorry, but I am unsure which page you are seeing as the game is not yet available for purchase.
It is still in development and only the demo is currently available for download.
Many thanks for your interest
How odd. I'll see if I can look into that.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention. ^_^
hello there! I hope you are doing well. how is progress? haven't heard anything in ages
Hello Sandpixie, thanks for checking in.
Progress is being made, but I have realised that my estimate (for Bastien's route, at least) is way, way off.
I thought it would be done in 50,000 words, but it is currently (at my last check) 116,000 - that is longer than 'Rose' by 14,000 words, and this is just one route.
I plan to post here and let people know once Bastien's route is finished - which I hope will be soon.
In the meantime, I hope you (and anyone reading this) is keeping safe and healthy.
All the best ^_^
Oh WOW
Dang, I understand the underestimation of word counts when writing. I'm sure it will be amazing.
Keep up the good work and take care at this trying times!
"I'm sure it will be amazing. "
Well, considering the amount of time I have spent on it, let us hope so! ^_^
Thank you, stay safe.
Hi! I found TROS on Steam and instantly had to buy it. I absolutely adored it and loved seeing the different personality variations for the MC. SO excited for the sequel! Thanks for the all hard work you're putting into this!
Many thanks for your kind feedback - I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the first game and are looking forward to the sequel.
Thank you for your support ^_^
i played TROS and it was pretty interesting!, i enjoyed discovering all the endings and honestly i am in love.
I am looking forward to The Thorns of war; but i have a question: will it be available on Steam?.
Thank you for your kind feedback - I am happy to heard you enjoyed TROS.
And, yes, TTOW will be on Steam . It will be released first on itch and then be realised on Steam probably a couple of months later, though anyone who bought the game on itch will be given a free Steam key, as well.
Many thanks for playing
Do we have an ETA for Thorns of War? :D Thank you so much for making this amazing game!
For the finished game? Well, on the Kickstarter I put October 2020. I'd like to get it finished sooner, but 400,000 words is going to take me a while to write. ^_^
Anyone with Beta access will be able to access the routes as they completed though, as I recall from the demo, a lot of people don't like to play until all the routes are finished.
Many thanks for your support.
Are there any plans for a Frederique romance during the loveless marriage path?
Not at the moment, but I'll see what happens when I write the route - he is certainly one of a few people who I can see risking it. ^_^
Your stories are so interesting that sometimes I wish they were text-based so even more choices could be carried over and explored. For example, I think there is a terribly tragic and interesting dimension to having a dutiful Iolanthe who turned down Leopold's proposal and married the prince, even though she was in love with Leopold. I would love to be able to explore this dynamic in the loveless marriage path.
Many thanks for your kind feedback - I am happy to know you'd like more of the story. As for the particular scenario you mentioned, scenes such as that will be explored during the loveless marriage route, so I hope you will at least get to see a little something of that aspect. ^_^
Many thanks for playing