User blog:7GSTF/Blades of Light and Shadow Review Book 1 and Book 2

Blades of Light and Shadow Review Book 1 and Book 2

It has taken a long while, but at a long last, we have come to the end of another era of Choices. PB’s announcement that BOLAS 2 would be the final book which wouldn’t be subjected to a VIP phase makes it the final truly free book to be released by the company. A damn good effort too. The greatest news from the ending of the book was that this would not be the ending of the series. The series will continue, at least for a book 3. There was no information given on the timing of book 3 though. Since book 2 came out 3 years after the ending of book 1, I am not too optimistic of it being released anytime soon. Granted, two years of that were due to COVID, but the earliest I would expect a BOLAS 3 book would be 2025, or something akin to that. It could also be late 2024. In any case, I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon. I am fine with that, as it gives the writers time to prepare and iron out all the issues before release, something which hasn’t been the case with their other releases this year. It would also give them enough time to work on a plot that would make sense logically and emotionally and would wind up a great series. Let us discuss the two books.

BOLAS 1 and 2 are books which put the main character in the spotlight and proceed to develop their character subsequently. While the side characters and LIs get backstories of much importance and interest, it isn’t the case for the main character.

The MC’s past life before the adventures bears little importance, considering that they had little power or influence. They couldn’t turn events in their favour, try as hard as they might. The life they led was that of a commoner, with nothing extraordinary about it. Consequently, if the chance meeting with Nia and her teacher hadn’t happened, the story wouldn’t have taken place either. There is a certain theme to the entire book series. The first book is concerned about the characters’ past whereas the second is about their present, while the third might be about their future. Nia learns the truth about her past in the first book, as does Tyril. Nia becomes a new person with a greyer identity in the second book, as does Tyril. In the case of Mal, he lets go of his thievery somewhat to become a hero in the first book, and in the second book, he becomes a full-fledged hero, but also confronts his past demons. Imtura avoids her troubled relationship with her mother and her past in the first book, and in the second book, she finds a very unorthodox solution to deal with it. While Tyril and Nia take on different personas to tackle their problems, Mal and Imtura deal with their problems head on but in unorthodox ways.

The first book had a very self-righteous tone, wherein the main characters were convinced that they were doing the right thing most of the time if not all the time, and therefore there was very little by way of moral conflict to it. The characters rarely faced a tough choice, be it the MC or the LIs. They did what they had to do without a second thought which was remarkable. The characters were put in a great deal of mortal peril, but very little moral peril, if you get my drift. However, much like the most of the other books by Choices, there was little chance of any major character ever dying. They were in danger, but not in any real danger.

In the second book, a number of moral conflicts end up on their doorstep, and the end result is - mixed. The idea of true magic needed to be better explored. A few more chapters with the dwarves would have certainly helped. The epilogue having the two worlds mashed together could have been explained a little further, or even been visually explicated better. A good CG to help us understand perhaps? I took the third option at the end, to combine the two worlds, and it seemed to be the option that made the most sense too. It is important to note that just like the rest of the book, the ending was grey too. A perfect ending was simply out of the question. The third ending was probably the closest thing to it, and yet, many questions remained unresolved. The collision of the worlds brought in many issues of who settled where, since cities collapsed on top of each other with a great loss of life. However, it allowed for true magic to exist, a concept that must be explored in greater detail in the third book that is yet to come. The characterisation of almost everyone acquired a rather dark and foreboding tone. Consider the MC, who changes from an embodiment of righteousness to a symbol of practicality and pragmatism, who has no perfect solution to keep the world which he treasures intact. It shows character development and growth. The three solutions he had were to keep the imperfect world that had its rifts between the Light and Shadow intact, to seal the rifts completely and destroy magic forever, or to combine the two worlds with a considerable loss of life, due to the worlds colliding as they collapsed on top of each other. It is indeed a departure from the ‘perfect’ ending of book 1, wherein it seemed that we had saved Nia with no consequences whatsoever. The one chap who got a pretty rough deal in this book as well was Aerin, who had an arc which was quite unsatisfying to say the least. Aerin left for personal reasons in the middle of the story, and he doesn’t return if he hadn’t promised that he would do so. Also, he only returns for the final battle and he doesn’t give any explanation as to what he was up to during his long absence. It is almost as if he took a vacation to take care of his mental health. His reasons for his absence are flimsy at best, and his presence in the story is rather spotty. I would have had him included in the main quest line. His reactions to the various situations that took place especially during Valax’s coerced association with the main group would have been thought provoking to be sure. His dynamic with the rest of the group could have also been organically influenced to the point where there was little to no animosity between them and him. Sadly, that wasn’t the path that the writers decided to take, and instead decided to write him out of the story after the halfway mark, and only brought him back as an afterthought for the final battle. Disappointing is a mild term for this wasted opportunity with an already grey character who had much potential in what was increasingly becoming a grey book with grey characters.

Let me talk about something positive for a change. This book was easily the best book of 2023. It had a mostly coherent plot, good to great character arcs for most LIs and the MC, a very thought provoking character in Valax who could have been explored to a greater extent, and some very decent new characters. This book rebirthed an old passion in me. For the first time in a long time, COP 2 and BOLAS 2 made me wait for every chapter with great anxiety and excitement. They deserved it too. Both of these books made me appreciate Choices once again, as they harked back to a spirit of old. The books felt complete, with great care being shown with regards to their storylines and characters. They weren’t perfect, but the stories were written by people who wanted the audience to read them.

The stories were also written with a sound idea(s) in mind by people who clearly envisioned the finished version of the project years ahead of time. This is where I take the readers back to a question that was answered by PB some time back - upon being asked by the readers - “How much time does it take for you to write, design and then publish a book?” - PB had answered that it could take anywhere from a year to 2 or even 3 years for a book to get published from the initial stage of conceptualisation. This was seen in their execution of the BOLAS books. The COVID break turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as they had ample time to iron out the issues in their story. Additionally, they spent plenty of time on the mechanics of the skills to ensure that they worked properly. All this resulted in a fine game, and one which worked very well indeed. The skill system worked well in the second game as well, and it was interesting to see the clear change in emphasis. In book 1, survival skills were absolutely necessary in the early game for maximum points, and they were followed by martial and diplomatic skills. In book 2, there was a clear emphasis on diplomatic skills, which were followed by survival skills and then martial skills. I expect this trend to come full circle in book 3, which would mean that the martial skills would be most important in it. This change in emphasis certainly was refreshing, as we were trying to smooth-talk our way out of difficult situations in the early game rather than trying to fight them. It makes for an interesting change of pace.

Let me give my most profound congratulations to PB’s art team for some stellar character designs, deft use of the colour palette, excellent costumes, beautiful use of light and dark shades, superb backgrounds and some wonderful CGs too. They did a fine job, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. The book was aesthetically outstanding and they didn’t miss a beat from the first book. Each of the races looked unique, as did all of the characters. The designs were made well, as was the colour scheme. The execution left nothing to chance. Considering the glut of nonsense that we had been fed of late, this book was akin to an oasis in a desert. The villains were designed particularly well, with the mind controlling monster being an obvious highlight. The design of the Ashen queen was excellent, but they could have done better with the design for Valax. She looked amazing in her two CGs, but pretty ordinary in her dialogue delivery sequences. However, it wasn’t an enormous issue.

Some of the races could have been better explored. The dwarves and goblins definitely deserved a few more chapters, and the older races were mostly ignored this time out. A longer book with more time spent on fewer characters certainly won’t be a bad thing, and I would welcome such a move. The worlds of the goblins and dwarves could certainly be expanded on, and there are still a few locations on the map that weren’t given the attention they deserved. Also, I fully expect another map, or an expansion of the current map in the third book. If so, I just hope some of the older characters also get some screen time. Tyril’s sister, for instance, is completely ignored in this book. I would have liked to have seen her again. These are some minor issues that could have been resolved with more thoughtful execution of the plot, perhaps.

The inter-character relationships have indeed developed in different ways by this book. Significantly, we see a bit of rift develop between the MC and his 4 main LIs. The reason - his one year long enforced absence. By the way, that year-long absence is still a mystery that is not explained, as Valax makes it clear that she only imprisoned the MC for 15 days, while the main LIs in the Light realm experienced a full year. That mystery was never explained, which leaves the door open for more time hijinks in book 3, that will surely be a showdown with the rest of the Old Gods (with the exception of the Ashen Empress). Still, the narrative surrounding Valax felt a little all over the place, and could have certainly been polished further in my opinion. There could have been a true moment of betrayal between Valax and her mother to firmly push her, once and for all into the MC’s arms. However, the relationship between her and the MC does progress rather naturally, and hence, I don’t have much trouble believing it. However, the background to her character, especially her being a weapon is still a little out there. Consider this, it basically means that she is developing a personality in real time, which is utterly fascinating. This angle should also be explored quite a bit in the next book. Her development as a person would be a superb side narrative to the main plot and one which would add a lot of heft to the world.

Valax is also interesting since her moral compass is virtually non-existent to begin with. She is a weapon and nothing more. However, she does realise much about the world with time. She feels empathy towards non Ashen people for the first time. She learns about the world outside of her own. She receives unconditional love and empathy from a stranger for the first time. She learns how to love the person loving her. It is a fascinating journey. She finds common ground with the main gang of BOLAS, who treat her with respect, if not love. She learns mercy and kindness. It is a journey which is incomplete. The third book opens many  possibilities for it. Will they continue this gradual slow burn narrative? Or will they take a safer option by simply providing us with a time skip and then a flashback sequence? Who knows, but I have a feeling that it will be the second option. She is an LI that you love not for her sex appeal, but for her remarkable allure. She is a very troubled, unusual character, but one who has plenty of appeal. There is a saying that the troubled characters in real life often have little trouble in picking up partners. It is the same case here with Valax since she is pretty compelling. There is little to complain about. She gives up the party of heroes to her mother once as well, which shows that her loyalties could not be bought cheaply, which is an excellent touch. I eagerly await what the authors want to do with this character, and I see it as a blank slate with plenty of potential.

This book also did not pick up any of the sex crazed nonsense that had been filling the other PB books of late. Consider this - the original LIs only had two love making sequences with the MC, and they appeared only at the halfway mark and right at the very end. Valax only had one such scene and it was a quasi real sequence that took place in a dream. How real it was is something that people can debate for a long time. The love scenes did not focus on the sex as much as they did on the love between the two characters, which was certainly good to see. The LI bias if present was low, as each of the LIs had side quests at various points with the MC. Sometimes two LIs came on the same side quest too. It had plenty of items and collectibles, the extra premium skills were good too. They weren’t as good as the book 1 skills, which makes me believe that the skills in book 3 might make even less sense than the ones in book 2. The EXP system is still pretty good, but the stakes were reduced from the last time, since - in the first book, only a near perfect playthrough would allow you to get all the skills, and that too only in the penultimate or the final chapter. In this book, even an imperfect playthrough got me all the skills about 2 ½ chapters before the end. This book gave two more chapters to further increase EXP after a very imperfect playthrough. The idea was to max out the character, despite the player having played a little inaccurately from time to time. It was a nice gesture to be sure. I wonder what they will give us in the third book. Let’s see, and I hope for a great book to close out this series.

Thoughts on the third book. Well, I didn’t expect them to give one to be honest, given their recent track record, but it clearly seems that the huge financial gamble that they had taken with BOLAS 1 and 2 has paid off. The profit margin must have been impossible to ignore. It is a good thing, as it shows that the readers of PB clearly appreciate good writing and do not like to be taken for granted. They also announced the tentative date for BOLAS 3 - 2024. Most likely, it will be late in the year - November or December. I do not anticipate the book coming out anytime before that. I also don’t want them to release the book any sooner as it would seriously compromise the quality of the product. I want them to take their time and release it when their work is completed. Good graphic novels cannot be rushed, they need time to be written properly. Let PB take some time and create a great product, exploring all of my aforementioned concepts that I had delved into earlier in the review.

My rating for this book is 80/100. It isn’t one of their masterpieces, but it does most of the basics right, and has no major flaw. Some points like its moral ambiguity may be the cause of debate, but in my opinion, these things are still executed well. On the whole, a very good book, but could have been even better. It isn’t better than the first book, but it doesn’t disappoint either. I just hope for a strong follow up in the form of BOLAS 3 in the future. That is one of the few books that still keeps me coming back for more.

Thank you PB for this book.

7GSTF.