Info about Werewolves: Haven Rising:

Official game description:
Rise up, werewolves! Throw off the shackles of a tyrannical military police state. Fight for your pack! Fight for your honor! Fight for your freedom!  
_Werewolves: Haven Rising_ is a 285,000-word interactive novel by Jeffrey Dean, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.  
You are one of fifteen pups born in Haven, a government internment camp where werewolves are forced to live and work. Raised in this refuge since birth, you've never known the freedom of the wilds. You soon discover the elders have selected you for a mission that will put you directly into the cross-hairs of both the military and werewolf radicals alike!  
You're a new breed of lupine explorer, your hunting grounds an urban jungle of steel and concrete. When your expedition to a forbidden military base goes wrong, a startling discovery sparks an escalation of violence and tragedy that will lead your pack to the hungry maw of war.  
*   Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, or bisexual.  
*   Rise to power in opposition to a war monger or join him in the fight for werewolf supremacy!  
*   Train in the path of the warrior, the shadow, or the sage.  
*   Fight your enemies with claw and fang, or take a non-lethal approach.  
*   Uncover the true motivations of a powerful anti-werewolf zealot.  
*   Explore several potential romances, finding love in an increasingly chaotic world.
Once hunted and imprisoned, the werewolves rise again!

Release date: Jul 26, 2018

Categories: Interactive Fiction, Choice-based Narrative, Multiple Endings, Werewolf Genre Devotee, Political & Espionage Systems, Romance, Character Progression, Replayability


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 7.0h
  - Story completion: 7.0h
  - Session length: 5.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The first three quotes directly report the time to finish a single playthrough (9, 5, and 7 hours), which supports both gameCompletion and storyCompletion as the typical time to reach the ending. The fourth quote indicates a 5-hour session, supporting sessionLength. No specific endgame hours are provided, so endgame is null.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes:
  - Werewolf Genre Devotee (buy)
    - Motivation: To experience a well-written, nuanced werewolf story that goes beyond stereotypes.
    - Playstyle: Immersive reading, focusing on lore, world-building, and character decisions.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: werewolf lovers; revolutionists; dark urban-fantasy enthusiasts
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Text Adventure Aficionado (buy)
    - Motivation: To enjoy a well-designed interactive story with high replay value and meaningful choices.
    - Playstyle: Multiple playthroughs, stat optimization, exploring all branches and endings.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Story Immersion Seeker (buy)
    - Motivation: To experience a compelling, emotionally engaging story with well-written characters.
    - Playstyle: Immersive reading, focusing on narrative and character relationships, often in a single playthrough.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Discerning Critic (no buy)
    - Motivation: To find a high-quality interactive fiction experience that justifies its price and meets genre standards.
    - Playstyle: Analytical, comparing to other games, focusing on flaws and value.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Night Road; Book of Hungry Names


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Game provides strong immersion (weight 0.15): Players find the game highly immersive, drawing them into the world and narrative effectively.
- Choices and consequences are appreciated (weight 0.15): Reviewers value the meaningful choices and their consequences, noting that decisions can alter the story's direction.

Common complaints:
- Choices lack meaningful impact (weight 0.72): Multiple reviewers note that choices have little to no effect on the story, railroading players through the same events. This is a core criticism, with several clusters highlighting the linearity and fixed plot beats.
- Stat system limits gameplay (weight 0.62): The game is heavily stat-driven, forcing players to commit to a specific build early and punishing those who don't. Many reviewers found the stat checks unbalanced and restrictive, leading to frustration and limited replayability.
- Character development insufficient (weight 0.56): Characters were often described as flat, stereotypical, or underdeveloped, with little evolution or depth. This includes both main and side characters, with some reviewers noting a lack of relationship building and personality.
- Writing quality criticized (weight 0.48): Several reviewers found the prose tiring, the narrative flow poor, and the overall writing lacking from both literary and gameplay perspectives. The author's style and story construction were frequently called into question.
- Story pacing and structure flawed (weight 0.39): The narrative flow was criticized for being chaotic, with excessive flashbacks, awkward starts, and a lack of logical progression. This made the story hard to follow and reduced engagement.
- Combat and action confusing (weight 0.34): Combat encounters were often skipped, confusing, or determined by the plot rather than player skill. Reviewers noted issues with soldier behavior, fight clarity, and the lack of meaningful combat choices.
- Game length and content issues (weight 0.18): The game was considered short by some, while others felt it lacked content or ended abruptly. This contributed to a sense of incompleteness and reduced overall satisfaction.

Gameplay feedback:
- Branching choices and multiple endings (weight 0.97): The game offers branching choices that lead to three major different endings and multiple paths, encouraging multiple playthroughs. Choices can significantly alter the story outcome and provide different experiences on replay.
- Text-based interactive fiction (weight 0.83): The game is consistently described as a text-based, choice-driven interactive novel in the style of Choice of Games. It features no visuals and relies on reading text and making choices.
- Choice-driven with consequences (weight 0.7): The game is centered around player choices that have consequences, affecting future decisions and the story's direction. Choices feel meaningful and can lead to unexpected outcomes, with some choices having permanent effects.
- Political and oppression themes (weight 0.58): The game explores themes of government oppression and political choices, with the werewolves as oppressed underdogs. Players face decisions about dealing with captured enemies and human oppressors, and whether to aid in all-out war or seek peace.
- Werewolf internment camp setting (weight 0.54): The game is set in a werewolf internment camp where humans have closed off a werewolf pack into a reserve. The story follows the struggle to survive, navigate social dynamics, and confront moral dilemmas, drawing from historical parallels like Indian reservations and Japanese American internment.
- Multiple playstyles and paths (weight 0.48): The game offers multiple playstyles including combat, diplomacy, and stealth, with four main paths: Violent, Sneaky, Diplomat, and Alpha. Players can specialize in different approaches, and paths can change characters' outlooks and have different consequences.
- Replayability and save features (weight 0.41): The game allows replaying chapters from checkpoints and has a save function at the end, with saves importable into the second part. Multiple playthroughs are needed to uncover the whole story, and the second part offers a quick recap of key choices.
- Character customization options (weight 0.4): Players can customize their character extensively, including gender, sexual orientation, appearance (hair and fur color), and personality traits. The game allows playing as male, female, or nonbinary, and gay, straight, or bisexual, with options for romance and approach.
- Romance options available (weight 0.34): The game includes romance options, with three main romance options: one male, one female, and one either male or female depending on preference. However, romance is not the focus of the game, and there is one type of romance for each type of wolf.
- Unique werewolf lore (weight 0.29): The game features unique werewolf lore, including werewolves with human and hybrid forms, the ability to become feral, and ancestors who were Native Americans of Yellowstone. Players can even create werewolf versions of Creepypastas.
- Training mechanics affect story (weight 0.14): The game includes training with different characters that affect the story, adding a layer of progression and relationship building. Training choices can influence the narrative and character development.
- Character progression system (weight 0.14): The game includes a character progression system, with stats and skills that are relevant even when not specialized in. Players can develop their character in various ways, affecting gameplay and story outcomes.
- Allied NPCs with agendas (weight 0.08): The game features allied NPCs with their own agendas, adding depth to the story and choices. These NPCs can influence the narrative and the player's decisions.
- Semi-post apocalypse setting (weight 0.08): The game takes place in a semi-post apocalypse setting, adding to the atmosphere and stakes. This setting influences the story and the challenges faced by the characters.
- Choices can prevent character jumping (weight 0.08): The game includes choices that can prevent a character from jumping, indicating sensitive content and the ability to influence critical moments. This adds emotional weight to decisions.

Performance notes:
No performancepoints

Recommendations:
- General positive recommendation (weight 0.43): Several reviewers give a straightforward positive recommendation without specific caveats, indicating overall satisfaction with the game. This is a common but vague endorsement.
- Recommended for werewolf fans (weight 0.41): Multiple reviewers recommend the game specifically to fans of werewolves, citing a solid werewolf story and a good portrayal of the werewolf scene. This is the most common positive recommendation theme.
- Positive for Choice of Games (weight 0.08): A reviewer implies a positive recommendation by stating they will buy more from Choice of Games if everything is this good, indicating overall satisfaction with the developer.

Other player notes:
- Game is part of series (weight 0.5): The game is identified as the first in a series with a sequel and a third installment. Reviewers note that saves can be imported into the second part, Pack Mentality, allowing continued play with the same character and stats.
- Sequel anticipation is high (weight 0.43): Multiple reviewers eagerly await a sequel and express hope for a second part. The game ends on a cliffhanger and leaves questions unanswered, reinforcing the need for continuation.
- Comparisons to other Choice games (weight 0.36): Reviewers compare the game to other Choice of Games titles like Choice of Robots, Choice of Magics, and Heart of the Forest, noting differences in quality and ambition. It is also compared to werewolf CYOA games, with this one's writing considered crisper and more subtle.
- Save system requires registration (weight 0.24): Saves require registration on the developer's site and an email address, with no Steam sync. This is seen as a drawback of Choice Games' products.
- Author Jeffrey Dean praised (weight 0.2): The author is Jeffrey Dean, who also wrote Parliament of Knives. Reviewers request that he remain the author for a sequel, indicating satisfaction with his writing.
- Positive overall rating (weight 0.14): The reviewer rates the game 8/10 overall and the story 8.5/10, indicating a strong positive reception.
- Game is text-based (weight 0.14): The game is a text-based game, and one reviewer notes the lack of a built-in browser, requiring an internet browser for looking up words.
- Original universe and complete story (weight 0.14): The game is its own original universe and a complete story in itself, while also forming the first part of a longer tale. It is not a direct adaptation.
- Company quality varies (weight 0.08): One reviewer notes that games from this company are either really great or pretty bad, indicating inconsistent quality across titles.

Emotions:
- Enjoyment (weight 0.15): Players derived pleasure from the interactive storytelling, where they could shape their own narrative and experience meaningful choices that affected the ending. The werewolf theme, well-written story, and engaging romances also contributed to a highly enjoyable experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.12): Disappointment stemmed from underdeveloped characters, a forced plot, and choices that often led to unintended outcomes. The game's ending was also criticized for being abrupt or a cliffhanger without clear indication of a sequel.
- Frustration (weight 0.12): Frustration arose from the lack of meaningful choice, with combat and story outcomes feeling predetermined. The stat-heavy system limited options, and the inability to save before a potential death near the end forced frustrating restarts.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.06): Satisfaction came from a compelling story where choices had visible consequences, including affecting the ending. Engaging characters, satisfying romances, and the ability to progress according to one's choices also contributed to a fulfilling experience.
- Engagement (weight 0.06): The game's engaging and well-written narrative kept players hooked, with many reporting they couldn't stop playing. The long, action-packed story and immersive text adventure format contributed to high engagement.
- Love (weight 0.05): Players loved the game primarily for its werewolf lore and the solid werewolf story it delivered. The text-based format and simple yet engaging design also earned affection.
- Anticipation (weight 0.05): Anticipation was driven by the game's cliffhanger ending and the promise of a sequel. Many players expressed eagerness for the next installment and could not wait to continue the story.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Admiration was earned through the game's tactful handling of mature themes and its rigorous exploration of resistance and autonomy. The writing quality and overall execution were also highly praised.
- Immersion (weight 0.03): Players became deeply immersed in the story, often losing track of time while picturing scenes. The vivid depiction of werewolves and the engaging narrative contributed to this immersive experience.
- Annoyance (weight 0.02): Annoyance was caused by the lack of differentiation between playstyles, such as a diplomatic approach yielding the same results as a violent one. The save system requiring an email address and the inappropriate remorse of pack members also irked players.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Appreciation was expressed for the fantastic writing and the engaging internal dilemma of characters about being monsters. The realistic portrayal of human reactions to werewolves was also valued.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Excitement was fueled by the game's high replayability and the anticipation of a sequel. The story's ability to keep players wanting more also contributed to their excitement.
- Interest (weight 0.02): Interest was sparked by an intriguing storyline with meaningful choices and a plot full of mysteries. The stat system also added variety, breaking the monotony of sticking to one's strengths.
- Confusion (weight 0.02): Confusion arose from a plot that was difficult to understand and an unclear ending, leaving players unsure whether they had completed the game or received a neutral or bad ending.
- Surprise (weight 0.02): Surprise came from the game's unexpected complexity and depth, exceeding low initial expectations. Players who expected little were pleasantly surprised by an above-average story.
- Amusement (weight 0.02): Amusement was derived from the humorous outcomes of player choices, which often led to things going wrong in a hilarious way. Players also joked about replaying the game multiple times.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Anger was triggered by poor lore and writing, as well as the in-game oppression of the player's pack by humans, which motivated a desire for violent revolution.
- Pleasure (weight 0.01): Pleasure was derived from a well-foreshadowed plot twist that was relevant to the game's future, providing a satisfying narrative payoff.
- Put off (weight 0.01): Players were put off by the lack of visuals and the overwhelming amount of text, which made the game less accessible or appealing to some.
- Fun (weight 0.01): The game was described as pretty fun, indicating an overall enjoyable and entertaining experience.}