Summary

Eser is the only human left alive.

Gods and monsters, blessings and curses, an island ruled by giant insects — and in their midst: a reluctant human priest. Grief-stricken and bound by oath to obey the Queen’s newest divine decree, Eser will seek advice, encounter strange visitors, draw the attention of powers beyond comprehension, and surely make mistakes.

As a baby, they were brought to Achthoven to save their life.

As an adult, they must decide what kind of life is worth living.

Heretic's Hope was awarded 5th place out of of 82 total entries in the 25th annual Interactive Fiction Competition of 2019!

Features:

• Pay What You Want to play and download!

• Branching dialogue with several NPCs

• 550+ passages across all options

• Lush, custom UI

• Hypertext fiction: narrative-heavy, story-driven, and created in TWINE®

• Skin-stealing bugmen

• Benedictions for maggots

• Fistfighting a bee

• Impostor syndrome

WARNINGS: Grief, death of a parent, body horror, insects/arachnids; other warnings available in-game.

In The Post-comp Release:

• Improved audio playback using a volume control slider accessible to the player at all times!

• Some enhanced character portraits!

• Expanded interactions with certain NPCs!

• New scenes and choices: Unravel the trajectory of your nightmares! Recall and play out a conversation with your dead mother! Tell a centipede to mind her business!

• An additional chapter!‡

• Bug fixes! Plus some minor prose updates for clarity, grammar, etc.

‡ The additional chapter is now chapter five; chapters five and six in the competition build are now chapters six and seven.

Seas upon seas:	Special thanks:
A New Weird narrative in an engaging, uncanny setting populated by the strange beings which inhabit a sea bordered above and below by impenetrable waters.	Heartfelt gratitude to O. James (@ghastarium), co-creator of the Oversea setting; also to my excellent testers, many IFComp judges, reviewers, and authors, and all of the 25th IFComp's organizers and enthusiasts. Thank you so much!

Reviews:

Additional ratings and reviews can be found on IFDB. Please consider rating and/or reviewing on the IFDB page if you enjoyed the game or would like to share your thoughts.

Last Pylon 

“In addition to the worldbuilding/lore, it was a very well-written endeavor, and visually pleasing. The music was well-selected [...] I super enjoyed this game, and the technical polish was of a professional quality (as was the prose). It’s one I could see myself playing again in the future, making different decisions, for the hell of it.

Also, I got to give a benediction to some maggots at the behest of a face-stealing bugman. What more could I ask for in a game, I tell you?"

IF Comprehensive

[I]t’s well-paced, consistently interesting, and takes place in an original setting. [...] It’s difficult to anticipate exactly how the conversation branches will affect the development of the plot, but there are definitely branch points in the story and meaningful choices to make. There are also three different mentors from which the player can choose, encouraging replaying the game.

The custom interface for the game is both beautifully designed and easy to use. The polished and professional writing is consistently strong throughout, conveying the utter alienness of the world and its inhabitants.

Quantum Survivor

[I]t employs its weird fiction tropes in service of a story that felt fresh and unusual for the genre. [...]  I found it a well-written story that felt emotionally real despite the fantastical aspects of the situation, and while I can generally take or leave graphics and sound/music in IF, both the visual and sound design were well-done and helped to enhance the foreboding atmosphere.

Comfort Castle

The visual styling is great [...] – I haven’t seen anything else like Baccaris’ games. This game also comes with profile pictures and scene-setting pictures to dress up the text. Music is used throughout, with appropriate music selected to raise tension or fill quieter moments. [...]

Honestly, what I read into this game wasn’t about being a human, but about being made an alien. There’s a strand of imposter syndrome – being forced to fake it and hope you make it, feeling like an outcast, feeling like everyone mistrusts you.

❂