Love Undying: A Kiss Before Dawn Reviews

An enjoyable read. I appreciated that I was able to play a gentle vampire and care for the villagers in the town. I liked that there wasn't any forced battles / violence beyond the necessary plot points for story progression. My MC was accepted by the community and is enjoying a peaceful retirement with his lover.

Honestly a very cute and great game. One feature that I like is that based on the decisions you make early one, some later ones might not work out.

“Love Undying: A Kiss Before Dawn” was an excellent read that managed to be sweet, exciting, or even thrilling at times depending on your choices, but the story also felt a bit rushed to me, which sometimes made important interactions seem naive. Trust is placed in you and others before it’s earned, sometimes to almost absurd degrees. This rushed pacing is unfortunate, as the superb writing quickly had me invested in the plot, and I’d have loved to spend some more time immersed in the fictional world before the ending rolled by. I especially wanted to get to know my love interest better but opportunities to do so rarely seemed to appear. The romance came across as a bit tame and shallow as a result, and the adult scenes were anything but explicit. Even so, some readers undoubtedly prefer the latter, so while it’s something I noticed and felt was unfortunate, it doesn't influence the following score: (7/10).

This was a fun little "choose your own adventure" game. I played about half one night and the other half the next because I wanted to see what would happen. I've only played through once, but it definitely seems that the choices you make have a huge bearing on events and outcomes, which is exactly what you want in this type of game. I did find it pretty easy, as in it's easy to make the people and groups (nobles, peasants, coven) like you by the end of the game. I'm seeing a lot of 0.1% on the achievements, so I just assume a lot of people haven't finished the game yet. The "romance" is also pretty much just picking who you want to be in a relationship with, and that's that (it's not porn though, which is a nice surprise). It won't blow your mind, but if you like these types of games, I thought this one was pretty good.

Love Undying is a dynamic narrative that possesses all the merits of an ardent romance and the bestial horror of an Anne Rice novel; both rhetorically sound and perfect in length, Lauren O’Donoghue composes a tale that is satisfactory to read, each decision influencing the story significantly. While some scenes are consistent among every path, your character’s identity greatly affects the flow of conversation and implicates the ease of subterfuge or persuasion. Beyond the stat-based mechanics and decision making, I appreciate the author’s attention to authentic romance and her desire to write purely ethical fiction; additionally, her inclusivity of varying identities was really lovely to see and I commend her efforts. Thank you so much for such an incredible experience!

A good bargain for all those looking for a Vampire Novel/RPG hybrid with some decent replayability. So many vampire stories these days don't take place in the Victorian era, and that this one does makes it strangely fresh. And the decision to set it in the countryside is just a treat! The story is not groundbreaking by any means but you get a good amount of freedom to choose what kind of person/vampire you are. This was definitely entertaining for me and will give it my Seal of Approval.

Love Undying was fab. A gorgeously told vampiric romance against the backdrop of victorian Cornwall. The writing is atmospheric and evocative, and I felt very quckly swept up in the roleplay. The subtle ways in which the game reinforces your choices and draws you into the world made for an imersive experience, and as the romance emerged it felt sweet and earned. The town of Boscawen and its characters are richly realised, and their struggles and conflicts, and the thoughtful choices you have to make about how to relate to them, invite a second look.

Love Undying is a game which - from the moment you start playing - starts to draw you in, much like your vampiric protagonist. The game builds a slow sense of erotic excitement, using sharply written text to construct a world rich in desire and lust. The game really lets you embody a powerful being as they seduce and cavort their way across Victorian England. It is superbly written, and looks to have a lot of replay value. I'd highly recommend the game, based on what I've played so far! Very fun - put on some of your favourite gothic music, and start enjoying yourself.

Enjoyed it. Thing that makes me sad about these kinds of CYOA games mainly under the 'choice' umbrella or whatever, is that it centers around stats. That sucks majorly in my opinion, because you build a character, and the rest of the game just becomes a series of quizzes to pick the answer that aligns with your stat bars, or get fucked because none of the answers align with your stat bars. I hate this structure so much lol. Sucks the joy out of the medium in my opinion, because you aren't really free to choose something in most situations, you just have to pick the 'right' answer, which will vary based on your build, but that sucks. I wish there were CYOA games like this where it was actually just roleplay (Picking the choice you want/the choice that you think fits your character as opposed to the choice the author thinks fits your build) even if there were less meaningful choices throughout the story. I imagine the use of these stats is probably 'forced' on the creators by 'choice' or something along those lines, since I've only seen like one of these ever where it was rp and not stat based (forgot which one it was, but only had stats that tracked your decisions, they didn't change the outcomes of the choices or something.) So yeah, pretty enjoyable vampire story to me, but it's in spite of the typical stat bs. Wish choices were not succeed/fail a check but instead crossroads in the story no matter how minor or major where you see something a little different (even if it's just like a couple sentences that change on the next page) or a lot different. Like I really wouldn't mind something that is 90% linear with just some neat minor little changes occasionally based on a choice here and there. I would 100% prefer that to the typical 'choice' type stats. Because they suck. lol

Perfect if you are looking for a game to finish in one sitting after a stressful week at work on a Friday night. Short, but well worth the price with good writing and decent re-playabililty for different paths. Highly recommend.