Suzerain

While I can't say I'm an avid reader, I do enjoy both fiction and non-fiction books.  Even so, I've never had much interest in visual novels outside the indie gem Subsurface Circular.  Like those old choose-your-own-adventure paperbacks I read in my childhood, being able make meaningful decisions is vital to me.  In the case of Yes, Your Grace or...well...pretty much every Telltale game ever made, the illusion of choice is a bit too transparent and the plot too linear for me to fully enjoy the overall experience.  Sadly, this is also the case with many visual novels.  However, when listening to a fairly recent episode of the "Three Moves Ahead" podcast, I was surprised to hear how much playthroughs differed between the host and guest for a little political simulator called Suzerain.   

Actually, calling it a "simulation" might be a bit misleading.  On the other hand, I've seen people on forums claim it's really a text adventure which also feels a bit disingenuous.  For one thing you aren't typing in commands into a text parser, and for another there are portraits of nearly every character in the game.  Going into more detail about the art, some characters feel like tongue-in-cheek nods to real world counterparts.  For example, the player's minister of foreign affairs looks an awful lot like Jimmy Carter while the President of the not-USA is almost identical to Richard Nixon.  His Minister of Economics, William E. Simon, also shares a certain likeness to the personal holding the same position in the player's cabinet.  In a bit of inversion the ruler of the not-USSR basically looks like Ronald Regan with a tan.  Other characters seem to have their appearance inspired by Hollywood actors.  The leader of the liberal reform party is the spitting image of Jason Clark, while his direct opposite looks a lot like Robert Goulet to me.    

Most of the game takes place in the form of branching dialogue trees with short paragraphs of description or internal monologue sprinkled in.  That said, the game also features a beautifully rendered map from which the player can trigger events, as well as read reports and news articles.  The setting itself is in Merkopa, a fictionalized version of Europe circa the 1950s.  Some countries have fairly obvious real-world parallels: Wehlen is pretty much Iraq, whereas Arcasia and Contanan are stand-ins for the USA and USSR respectively.  Other nations are a mixture of several real-life counterparts: The Republic of Lespia feels like it is somewhere between Portugal and Italy while the player's country, Sordland, is an amalgamation of Spain and Turkey.  Others still are a bit hard to pin down: The Kingdom of Rumburg is a bit like the United Kingdom while The Democratic Republic of Valgsland seems vaguely German.  

Much of the input the player provides is in the form of relations with these various nations, as well as dealing with intrigue and turmoil within the boarders of Sordland.  While the game is mostly driven by static images and text, superb use of music and sound cues help set the mood.  The prose are also very concise which excels at drive the story forward at a steady pace.  A few handy charts and hotlinks to a mini-encyclopedia are provided to help the player grasp all the details.  There's even a in-game place to take notes if the player can't keep track of everything in their head.  That said, Suzerain is intricate but not complex.  The majority of events in the game involve meetings or negotiations, but peppered throughout are some personal moments as well, adding some much needed variety to the overall experience.  In general, the writing is great although I did stumble over a few oddly worded sentences that may have been the result of typos.  If I have one big criticism of Suzerain it comes across as a bit too cynical.  Some might respond with "that's politics for you..."  I agree, but this is a video game and as such could benefit from being a bit more lenient in certain respects.  It took me 64 hours split up between six complete playthroughs just to get an ending that didn't windup with my character, President Anton Rayne, being killed or imprisoned.  Bittersweet conclusions are fine, but I think one thing that could have been done to soften the blow of a "bad ending" would be to include an segment showing 21st century Sordland and what, if any, lasting impact the player's presidency had on the country.  As is, the epilogue feels a bit rushed with a quick summery (stylistically bookending the prologue), followed by a statistics page and then the credits.

Criticisms aside, Suzerain does an excellent job of getting the player into the mindset of a politician.  You are constantly weighing options, considering pros and cons, as well as being very carful about what you say.  The shear breadth of narrative directions is also quite impressive.  Anton Rayne, President of Sordland, can be a liberal-minded reformer, a conservatize reactionary or a simple autocrat.  He can lead the country toward capitalisms or socialisms, war or peace, glory or ruin.  It all depends on the choices the player makes throughout the game.  Pretty much every character and nation can be turned in to an ally or enemy.  Some characters even live or die depending directly or indirectly on what the player decides.  There are certain unavoidable nexus points that come up every playthrough, but the context and outcome of these story beats can change substantially based on prior decisions.  To give an example - Franc, President Anton Rayne's son - can study abroad and become a staunch capitalist or communist.  He can join the army and die in battle, survive and suffer PTSD or become an officer rising through the ranks.  He can even fall in love with a girl from a persecuted ethnic minority group.  Seemingly minor choices matter or, at the very least, have noticeable effects.  Player responses, both big and small, can sometimes have unforeseen consequences too.  This can be frustrating, in that the game is basically always in ironman mode, though it occasionally results in a pleasant surprise.  Lowering the age of retirement from 65 to 60 years of age, unexpectedly caused my unemployment rates to drop significantly due to older members of the workforce stepping down and being replaced by previously jobless young people.

In terms of breadth, Suzerain is an impressive accomplishment that raises the bar when it comes to interactive storytelling.  It would be very interesting to see another game like this set in Eastern Merkopa.  Alternatively, applying a similar design template to a spin-off set in an ancient feudal kingdom or some kind of interstellar empire in the far future could be really exciting too.  Regardless, I look forward to Torpor Games' upcoming projects whatever they may turn out to be.