Review done by TheChoujinVirus
Note: There may be some spoilers to this game, so if you want a spoiler-free game, may I suggest you buy the game or watch a YouTube video
Additional Note: I have done some non-related work with the developer of the game, I can reassure you that my opinion of this game is of my own and not influenced.
In all of the media, your boy has seen that involves transformations; usually, it rarely has some impacts (though some do have consequences in some media.) Though when it comes to stuff found in the furry fandom, it can ring a few red flags due to what view as a negative that some folks wouldn’t touch with a 30-foot pole. However, your boy used to be one of those people until he overheard and played a VN novel made by writer T.F.Wright and artist Volkenfox. It was their first game they made, a Visual Novel called “The Pirate’s Fate.” The game was first released on Steam on May 27th, 2018, and its first expansion titled “Prisoner of Destiny” was released on Jun 4th, 2019. The game did gather some impressive reviews and first impressions on the platform and later found itself released other bundles like GoG and Humble Bundle. So what is the game about? Well, let your boy explain a bit about the game.
Story Summary
The story of The Pirate’s Fate has you playing Mila, a female anthropomorphic feline and spice merchant who is rescued by a group calling them the Dread Pirates. This motley crew consists of Darius, the captain of the Pirate’s Fate and a man of honor; his first mate Morgana, a woman who can stand her ground but has a heart of gold. Leeko, the corgi cartographer who tags along and shows some bravery. They are also tagged along by a silvery tongued reptilian female named Tam-Tam as the group of treasure hunters seek out the Wizard’s Treasure: magical coins that can either alter a person’s form and time itself. Along the many paths, the Dread Pirates can meet various characters that will cause problems such as the delusional Circe, who turns anyone who is on her island into mindless animals to the Feuding royal siblings Bilba and Nakhta and even going up against a vengeful spirit and rival pirates who seek the coins as well. Though as the nature of visual novels, your paths are determined by the choices made in the story, so no two paths are similar (though some encounters can have different outcomes on some paths).
What makes the Pirate’s Fate enjoyable
There are plenty of positives in the game that some find impressive, one of my personal ones I like are the characters. Both heroes and villains have their own views and goals that feel like they’re not clichés. One such example is the character Circe, the first character on some paths you run into, she gives a justified reason for turning people into animals (She feels that people suffer and that removing their free will and making them into animals would free them of their pain). Another is the undead Lazenby, who, in the story, explains his need is to remove death as he feels “death is a mockery” and thus wants to cheat death forever. Others, like the dragon admiral Anorah intends to be her own master and not take orders from Nakhta. Some stories that have multiple antagonists usually have an issue that makes some villains motives a tad cliché or overused.
The next positive thing, which fits alongside the villains, are the characters themselves. Each character (protagonist, antagonist, supporting cast and such) have their own personalities that some visual novels end up having characters becoming just typical cookie-cutter clichés, but I don’t see that with the characters in the Pirate’s Fate. They also react to changes not only to themselves but to other characters as well. Which does feel organic when in one scene, Leeko is changed into a female. Throughout the story’s path, Leeko has to come to the fact of learning to live as a woman. Some stories have that transformation happen and then just as fast as it happens like they only had a new pair of socks, and that’s it.
The last thing I liked about the game is the ambiguity of the choices of the game. Most games like Mass Effect or Fable have a black and white like morality system that makes a character either a boy/girl scout or a complete monster. The Pirate’s Fate and their choices do have some form of tough decisions that can actually make someone think. A good example is on one path, you meet a pie shop owner named Trento, who is rumored to have one of the wizard’s coins and is using it to boost sales of his product. His worker you encounter, a female cat named Katie, suggests you break in and steal the coin. Though another choice is given, which requires you to report Katie’s plan to Trento and thus allowing you to get the coin but at the cost of sending Katie to jail. You’re left with the choice of either stabbing a friend in the back or resort to thievery. To make things interesting, the endings in the game do have some form of downside whenever you succeed in your mission’s path. For one end, I’ve managed to create a world where rulers are gone and introduced Democracy. However, the world doesn’t seem too happy about it. It actually gives you tough choices when it comes to options and some weight compared to the games I’ve listed. You can be a boy scout, but the choices can come back and bite you in the butt (or at worse, can cause you to get a game over.)Another thing that is interesting is the transformations are exciting and varied. Some are more than changing body mass, but also changing species, gender, and even personality in some parts. They show some unique outcomes and effects the person transformed. Some of them can be really humorous during some paths and outcomes. In short, the transformations are as unique as the personalities of the characters.
What The Pirate’s Fate requires some work
Though the game has some good parts, the game does have some issues that can inhibit the fun of the game from time to time.
One such example is though the game has multiple paths, the first branching path has only three choices (according to the developer, there was suppose to be a few more paths.) Though Prisoner of Destiny does add a fourth path that gives a new story to the three paths, it feels that one of the transformations (The “pragmatic” route) was cut and left with some ambiguity over one of the transformation’s existence.
A second con I feel could be an issue is the sound effects and music that sometimes can repeat themselves at odd moments or how some of the noises do feel like audio stock footage. Not bashing the game as a whole due to this, but some of it does feel a bit odd when a female character is hit, and you hear a default man being hit sound. It’s not something that’s a game-breaker, but it can feel a bit..well..off-putting in some parts. Again, not considered a game-breaker.
I find that the game is a tad short. When I played the game on the first playthrough, I assumed I might have done something wrong to have the game end so early. Though I found out it was due to the nature of visual novels with branching paths, multiple romances, and various transformations. It can be a bit sad when you play the game and find yourself already at the end, but the game allows some replay value so you can find different parts of the story.
One final secret
Before my conclusion, I’m giving you a little mention. The creator, prior to the release of Prisoner of Destiny, introduced epilogues that extended the ending after your choices on some paths. It’s a way of explaining what happens to the crew and people after the world was changed. I’ll explain to you two epilogue paths, one of them being the first one that leads to one of the secret endings.
First Epilogue: To unlock this epilogue, you must be on the Young Darius route (the Independent/Buff Mila path) once you use the coin to go back in time to bring young Darius and reach the library, choose to “destroy sin” after rescuing Morgana. This leads you to the first epilogue of the game.
Second Epilogue+Secret Ending: This was in the game initially, but to unlock this path, you must be on the “soul path” in the game and have access to Pragmatic Mila’s form. Then choose to romance Morgana (and no one else) before you select the “we were deceived” at the end of the series. This nets you a very… exciting epilogue.
There are a total of 26 endings (and four epilogues). To find the last two, I suggest you either figure them out or go here to find them.
Conclusion
The Pirate’s Fate, for a first-time visual novel created by T.F. Wright, is an impressive piece of work that has some interesting characters, genre, and choices. Though the game is short, it does have some intriguing fun that can perk the interest of those who may or may not have been interested in some of the genres of the series. If you are interested in this series, you can purchase the game on Steam (which is on sale at the moment of this review.)
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