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A (rather long) Review of Imind's Pledge to the Coven.

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:24 pm
by hornbound
I know there is already a FB thread for this tease. I began this as a reply to that thread, but by the end I thought I had something more, something worthy of an OP.

Anyway, I have finally finished with the tease, and all I can really say is...awesome! Seriously, I'm not sure how to offer the kind of accolades I believe this tease deserves!

Of course the greatest factor in judging a tease is how much it turns me on and captivates my attention. In this regard Pledge to the Coven is top notch. I spent at least three hours playing through this tease, and replaying some different decisions, and now I just want more. This tease is as hot as any I have ever read!

But calling it merely a "tease" seems somehow unfair, like a belittling understatement. Pledge to the Coven is easily hundreds of slides long and features scenarios with several different girls. There are many decisions to make, at least one "bonus" encounter, and at least two ways to get the code you need. In terms of amount its content is thus equivalent to several ordinary teases. But the true brilliance of this tease is not the amount of content, but rather its quality and its character.

One thing I loved about Pledge to the Coven is that the various girls have distinct personalities. They don't all talk the same or demand the same things from you, and they reference each other in ways that cleverly and consistently advance the "charming" plot. I believe there have been other teases where you had to pay close attention to what the mistresses said in order to obtain a sort of code to advance. However, I do not recall any other "adventure" style tease that had me paying close attention to every word just because I really wanted to learn more about an engrossing fantasy world.

Along those same lines, I loved how different descriptions of the environment demonstrate what the girls are telling you about and/or hint at greater things to come. For me, hearing the bound man beg an ecstatic Keira for mercy or reading "Auguratrix Callandra, 1885" on the portrait in the hall were just as thrilling as Liz's sadistic stroking session.

I have heard it said that good writers succeed in showing a story through dialogue and description instead of telling a story with simple narration. IMO Pledge to the Coven demonstrates the wisdom of this advice, and I do not think there is another tease on Milovana that can compare in this regard.

I generally avoid using superlatives in discussing any topic, but in this case I am in complete agreement with McCoy's conclusion that "this is easily the best tease I have ever read." At the risk of sounding pretentious, I would like to assert that this tease is POSITIVELY FUCKING PROGRESSIVE. If you can agree that webteases are art, Imind IMO has clearly advanced the form, and he has single-handedly inspired me to finally start playing around with the flash editor.

I hope every user of this site reads this tease, cause we need more like it!

Re: A (rather long) Review of Imind's Pledge to the Coven.

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:23 am
by lmind
Thank you, hornbound, for such a glowing review!

I can tell you thoroughly explored the tease. You are the first person to mention a "bonus" encounter and an alternate way to learn the code. I wanted the tease to have some replay value, such that you could play through it once, responding to choices as you normally would, but then (if you wanted to) you could play through it again (and again!) to explore and craft an alternate fantasy with an alternate persona -- and, hopefully, the second experience would feel unique from the first or bring new color to the setting. I'm thrilled to hear from someone who found the story engrossing enough to explore some of the alternate content, simply for the sake of exploring it.

To me, entirely on a personal level, the most heartwarming and inspirational feedback you've given, however, is when you say that Pledge to the Coven has inspired you to start playing with the Flash editor yourself. It was the great teases of other authors on this site (authors like 1885) that inspired me. To inspire anyone else in the way that they inspired me... well, that is far beyond my boldest expectations. It is the highest praise I can imagine, and it motivates me to deliver better future chapters. Thank you very much!

-lmind

Re: A (rather long) Review of Imind's Pledge to the Coven.

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2014 3:14 pm
by aldorax
I will echo completely the glowing feedback. I ran through it the other day and stopped after about 2 hours ... I won't say where, though. :)

There are few 'epic' teases that have such well-thought-out dialogues, themes, and personalities, but this is DEFINITELY one such venture. For me, it "felt" real in terms of the dialogue and overall experience -- and the multiple pathways present a unique adventure, too. For me, the 'realism' factor (which includes variety of personas/tasks/experiences) is something you don't come across that often ... or at least flow as well and naturally as it does here.

My compliments on a job *very* well-done. If there's ever a "professional-grade" category for Milo teases (beyond 5-stars) this would be one of them!

Re: A (rather long) Review of Imind's Pledge to the Coven.

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:30 pm
by red_pheonix
I have finally finished this truly epic tease. I wish I could write a tease of even half the quality and complexity 10/5 stars