Sordwin: The Evertree Saga

This game is almost perfect in every aspects: story, character building, skill system, companion interactions, combat, puzzle solving--- they would make you feel you are the true hero of this marvelous fantasy story and your choices TRULY matter. In fact it was so good that I felt that I had to play its prequel Evertree Inn.
The only downside is some skill checks can be pretty challenging, so you'll have to plan ahead and develop some essential skills quickly. But don't worry, it is not as difficult as The Lost Heir 3, in which I still managed to get the good ending. It's a matter of preference, not a flaw of the game. I personally enjoyed the challenge and thought the game was well balanced.
All in all, you don't want to miss this game. I really hope there would be more quality reading like this coming from Hosted Games and Choice of Games.

Definitely better than its predecessor
edit: after several playthroughs, of course i gotta make a more decent review
The choices are diverse, and the mystery is very intriguing. Definitely won't make you bored. I've played it several times and I don't think i have managed to solve all the clues. There are still lots of doors unopened. My first playthrough took me like 2 hours and it was one of the best 2 hours of my life. Honestly, Sordwin should be included in one of the big titles in Hosted Games.
Also if you haven't played Evertree Inn, I really suggest you to play it first to enrich your experience. Romance-wise, the slow-burn in Sordwin feels so good and it really hits the spot. And if you have a saved game from Evertree Inn, you can import your RO from previous game and different ROs can bring more to the story
Anyway I really love this story and can't wait for the continuation. Lots of support for the Evertree Saga <3

After playing the Evertree Inn (part 1 of this Saga) I was eager to dive quickly into Sordwin and boy am i glad I did. The intricacy, detail and paths of this storyline with the great cast of characters with wonderful mystery and great choices is one of the most complex and best written additions to this Choice of Games collection. I've spent 36+ hrs already through this story just very slowly wandering around, restarting, choosing new paths and restarting, that i have yet to even get to the end and i'm enjoying every moment of this. I've played through the Evertree Inn probably about 8 times with 4 different saved endings and i'm sure i'll do the same for Sordwin. I hope i can make this last long enough til the Final piece of the Evertree Saga comes out. Thank you Thom Bayley for the great stories!

I really enjoyed this game. I usually play triple A rpgs like the witcher, skyrim, etc. and I loved the change of pace that this text-based adventure brought. I felt like I was in the story and could make the main character who I wanted them to be. Definitely will be getting the next game and will look into other games in this genre. Can't recommend it enough!

I imported a save from "Evertree Inn" and am quite enjoying reading "Sordwin: The Evertree Saga", I like what the author (Thom Baylay) has done with the companions from "Evertree Inn", I was wondering if the companions show any kind of development and you know, they kind of do. Reading it there are multiple themes. It goes well with Evertree Inn.

Absolutely amazing. The mystery was terrifying and had me on the edge of my seat. I'm pretty dense, but I was able to piece the clues together. I LOVED the carry over romance with Dandy Thorne. I played as a male elf; the story is super reactive to my specific choices. Love all the characters.

I wanted a more challenging / involved CYA story, so I have read through all the books of the Evertree Saga with a few blind playthroughs each (no guides, obviously I used my own memory on the latter ones). It's a contiguous story (think episodes of a mystery show), not as much a continuous one like Lord of the Rings, but the books do significantly influence one another and many characters, relationships, and some ongoing story points carry through, so I believe a joint review is more appropriate than reviewing each in tandem.
Overall thoughts:
These books, at their core, are mystery RPG books. There is an answer to who committed the main events, and from what I have found, that does not change during each playthrough. There are many clues to follow in the books, both real insights on characters and red herrings. However, from what I have found, you always find out in the end. (This may not be true in the second book; I guessed the person correctly the first time)
I love this. There is an answer to the mystery, smaller mysteries along the way to be explored / solved, and you can be dead wrong in your estimations on who did the deeds. However, if you are wrong, there's no "Game over, moron" screen. The story adapts and allows you to continue.
BUT! that doesn't mean getting the answer right has no meaning. You receive more skill points, to be invested in your character's skills, if you discover more clues, succeed at more things, and guess who perpetrated the main / side mysteries. Side and main characters can die, be seriously changed, and come to love/hate you based on your actions. Also, you can't just brute force the mysteries from a guide. If you know the answer, because you cheated, and pick it without having evidence gathered to support your theory, you won't get many skill points to work with. You are also usually put in better positions, story wise, if you successfully puzzle it out.
Speaking of puzzles, there are genuine ciphers, memory tests, math puzzle (very easy if you get the right sub-clues). Most of these are either open text (you have to type the right answers in), or they have a large variety of options to pick from, most of which are wrong. Again, I love this because it rewards careful reading and memory.
The author has also done an excellent job with MC character building. You can pick from many different races, which have different traits and some characters will react to them differently. The game allows you to solve events in many different ways, so there is no single way to build your character stat wise (though I think magic is incredibly strong in these games).
The "companions", both ROs and people who help you solve the mysteries, are memorable and interesting, at least over the course of two games. Evertree Inn was quite short, and it didn't give enough screen time to fully flesh them out, especially since you can't spend significant time with all of them in one playthrough, but I didn't care that much about that because I liked the mystery and RPG elements so much that I was buying the second game anyway.
The second game was significantly better than the first, with more options, characters, skills, and a more satisfying mystery.
The third book was only half a book. It seemed like Act 1 of a 3 part story, so . It also wasn't as good. I only encountered one mystery which was completed, and it was just a deduction puzzle. It also has much harsher pathing. You can only see around 1/2, maybe even 1/3 of the paths on a given playthrough, which is fine but a bit frustrating since I wasn't even able to keep up on the stories of 2 main companions + the main quest, even while ignoring my career entirely.
Final Score:
Evertree Inn: 7/10 - good experience while it lasted, but a tad short for the price
Sordwin: 9/10 - genuinely excellent game, only thing keeping it from 10/10 is that the world isn't as built out & interesting as a series like Infinity.
Overall experience for the first two: 9/10. Very highly recommended
Lux City of Secrets: incomplete / 10. I don't recommend it unless you want to support the author (which I do, personally)