The Eagle’s Heir
Defend Napoleon’s heir in this steampunk alternate history game of political maneuvering, airship adventure, and romantic intrigue! Will you bring liberty to France, or plunge Europe into bloody war?
The Eagle’s Heir is a 200,000 word interactive novel by Amy Griswold and Jo Graham. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics, or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Since Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, seventeen years ago, Europe has enjoyed an uneasy peace. While the great empires of Austria, Russia and England have tried to stem the tide of revolution, France has mastered steam power to conquer the air and sea. Now, Napoleon’s health is failing, and France is torn between his legitimate heir, Franz, and his illegitimate son Alexandre.
Luckily, Alexandre has you, his loyal bodyguard and childhood companion, skilled in the arts of the duel and the ballroom, and ready for anything from diplomacy to airship combat!
It’s brother against brother as you choose who will rule France, and how. Will France have a king, an emperor, or become a republic? Can you guide your lifelong friend Alexandre to the throne, and keep not just your prince but his revolutionary ideals alive? Or will you throw your weight behind his half-brother Franz? Will you defeat France’s enemies with the thunder of airship guns or forge a marriage alliance in gaslit ballrooms?
- Play as male, female, genderfluid, or non-binary; gay, straight, or asexual
- Race airships across the English Channel
- Find romance with a journalist or a lady’s maid, or ménage a trois at the Tuileries Palace
- Join a motley crew of actors in the revolutionary cause, or spy on them for your allies
- Duel aristocrats to preserve your and Alexandre’s honor
- Plan a scandalous elopement which sends Europe into an uproar
When swords cross before the throne, who will be the Eagle’s Heir?
Steam User 16
If you can get it on sale it's decent enough for a playthrough. It's by no means one of the best that I've played but I enjoyed myself. Some comments:
- I think the steam punk setting is heavily underutilized. If you're going to make an alternate timeline where this is in the forefront of the marketting, it could have been more than just a side activity to the main plot and a mention here and there. Seems like it ultimately is a game about espionage, politics and discussion.
- On the other note, your traits and 'stats' seem like they are very much what determine what choice you make instead of adding more options. I chose to be a skilled duelist, and I can safely say that based off my choices I only possibly had like one chance at a duel. In the authors' attempt to give sensible options that a non-bloodthirsty individual would make, I was left with a meaningless skill. Choosing to focus on science in my studies, I had some unintended laughs with some of the options that seem like deus ex machina skills. It doesn't seem intended in tone either, so seems like a failure of the stats to explain what you are and what you know.
- It's a surprisingly tame choose your own adventure. I understand that there is a charm for everything going your way, but even when you choose something and it doesn't go your way it's quickly corrected in like the very next page making your decision obsolete in the long run. And when things go your way, they go your way a bit too perfectly which makes it a tad boring. 'Oh hey a bunch of enemies to my friend', 'let's talk to them about their goals', 'oh ok, maybe they aren't so bad'.
- The story ended before I thought it had a chance to start. It ends very abruptly with a very used mechanic that is used when the author doesn't want to write more and instead opts to show you the long term results of your choices. It was a shame as I would have been more than glad to continue with it. And considering the topic of romance came up in the trailer and in the game's description, I couldn't help but think 'that's it' at a moment in the story near the end. Seems like you must either deny the advances of a character from the start, or flirt with them awkwardly with no knowledge of their character beforehand. At the end of the novel the character I wanted to romance felt no interest towards me because apparently I wasn't an amazing dancer, so instead the novel throws me a pity romance from another character I hadn't romanced in the whole novel and who I didn't ever get to know.
Like I said it isn't without its faults, but if you enjoy fiction and can spare 2-3 hours of your time there are worst ways to pass the time. Particularly at the price I paid. I give it a 'Eh, why the heck not'
Steam User 29
Best interactive novel I've played. Highly recommended, even more so if you've any interest in Napoleonic France or Steampunk. Well-written, funny and even romantic.
Steam User 5
The Eagle's Heir
Summary
In an alternate past, play as the bodyguard of Emperor Napoleon's son. Survive attacks from would-be assassins, race airships, find romance, or maybe help determine the political future of France?
Things I liked
- The Story . I really enoyed the way the story unfolded, and because of the actual writing I was pretty much down for wherever the next twist or turn went. Defuse a bomb? Sure! Sabotage the French throne? Why not! Help a British Princess elope? I thought you'd never ask! Eventually I found out that if the story was by Amy Griswold and Jo Graham then I was probably going to love it (at least a little).
- The Characterization of every single person in teh story was so significant and different. I especially liked (well, liked might not be exactly the right word) Alexandre. I feel like we really had the opportunity to get to know him and we had a reason to care whether or not he survived.
- The Player Character was similarly strong. I felt like I had a significant amount of choice, whether that was in terms of race, gender-presentation, political stance or abilities, to define my character.
- The romance : I admit I haven't played through all of the characters, so I'm heavily biased (I'm really struggling to like the character I picked a little less so I can at least TRY the other people), but there are so many GAH moments. Getting upset about Alexandre's safety in front of the Emperor, so that it's obvious to EVERYONE that you're in love with Alexandre BEFORE you actually tell Alexandre. A+++ stuff. The lifelong pining. The class difference. OH! Him giving up the throne for you! That route has one of my favorite parts--
"Next to the future that has opened up for him, the life he could have with you seems so vvery small. You turn away so you don't have to see his face when he tells you no.
You feel his hand on your chin, turning your face back up to his. 'Well, that's a little enough thing,' he says lightly. 'As long is you're with me.'"
Why don't you just punch me in the face!!!!!!!
Things I didn't like
- Genuinely nothing I guess that maybe the subject matter isn't my thing? But I literally stopped caring about that before the demo ended.
Final Thoughts
- 10/10 recommend. This is one of my favorite COG games.
Steam User 6
The story was interesting enough to keep me hooked until the end. Unfortunately, the story ended right when things were starting to pick up! Then the events are summarized which seemed like the author simply got tired of writing.
One of the major complaints I have is the choices you make in game don't have enough impact. In a given scenario, if you make a really poor choice then as a result some unfortunate occurences happen. In the next chapter it continues on without any real consequences which makes the decision making less impactful.
The romance options advertised in the trailer were definitely lacking. The lady I was trying to romance with had one small page of us flirting and that's it! I only saw her once in the entire story! And now that I've tried replaying this game several times and failing to find any more content with my lover is very depressing to say the least. The author needs to at least give us a chapter worth of content to spend with our lover (spread out through the story of course!)
In conclusion, the game is definitely worth the sale price. If I could give the game a score out of 10 I would have to give it 7/10 for some of the complains listed above.
Steam User 13
super fun, customizable. definitely a game you play over and over. so, so glad i got to play it. lots of possibilities and different endings!
Steam User 3
This game is a game of intrigues and wits, where your decision will change the fate of historical fantasy France.
I admit, this game is harder than I thought it'll be. You need to spread your stats accordingly to what you want to get the result of what you want. You will do a lot of trial and error as this game don't really hold your hands that much. But once you get through the frustation you'll be rewarded with the decisions you've made, bad or good.
This game is pretty similar to Choice of Alexandria, albeit a bit weaker in the ending department. But it's good enough to be satisfying.
A good game all in all.
Steam User 2
I love Napoleon and I really enjoyed playing this story and trying to find all of the endings! Highly recommend for people who also love Napoleonic history.