More and more new players come to the forum asking for advice on which past ES to buy. While everybody has a different answer to that, seeing a general trend would be interesting, I think! To make it more representative, there’s another poll where you can vote for your least favorite story.
"Flint" is not included, as it’s kinda unfair to compare it to the "regular" ES in my opinion.
There are 15 options - I’d recommend only voting if you’ve played through at least 2/3 of them ;)
It was a very close call for me personally - but "The Frequently Deceased" got the upper hand over "Lost in Reflections" by the slightest of margins. edited by phryne on 10/1/2016
Is there a way to see poll results without voting? I’ll probably want to take a look at the results here when I buy my next ES, but I don’t know how to see the results without skewing them :(
I wish there was some way to do preference voting, or some such. Having played all but one, I have three or four that I would consider my absolute favorites, but I suspect my decision here was based more on which I played most recently and so best remember.
Totally agree. A lot of the stories are really good and it’s tragic that I can only recommend one.
As I am writing this, "Where You and I Must Go" has 0 votes although it is a really good story in my opinion. It’s probably just nobody’s favourite.
Edit: Based on dov’s post below, here’s a list of my favourite stories:
Lost in Reflection[/li]li[/li][li]The Waltz That Moved the World[/li][li]Where You And I Must Go[/li][li]The Calendar Code[/li][li]Cut With Moonlight
[quote=rahv7][quote=Optimatum]I wish there was some way to do preference voting, or some such. Having played all but one, I have three or four that I would consider my absolute favorites…[/quote]Totally agree. A lot of the stories are really good and it’s tragic that I can only recommend one.
As I am writing this, "Where You and I Must Go" has 0 votes although it is a really good story in my opinion. It’s probably just nobody’s favourite.[/quote]Well, I could go on opening polls for everyone’s secondmost favorite and thirdmost favorite stories etc… but if we keep doing that the forum will only consist of polls at some point ;)
It’s a limitation of the forum’s poll function. I didn’t mean to imply that you should’ve done something different. I think the poll is an excellent idea.
I’ve brushed up my ranked list of all Exceptional stories, since it was missing the latest few Exceptional Stories.
Here’s my personal ranking:
Excellent:
Lost in Reflections
Cut with Moonlight
The Frequently Deceased
The Waltz that Moved the World / Flint (I can’t decide which of these is better for me)
Where You and I Must Go
Good:
The Pentecost Predicament
The Calendar Code
The Art of Murder
The Chimney Pot Wars
Five Minutes to Midday
Discernment
The Haunting at the Marsh House
Meh:
The Last Dog Society
The Seven-Day Reign
The Court of Cats
I have only played just under half so far, so I will hold off voting as well for now. Looking very much forward to the next ones. My favourites so have easily been The Calendar Code, and perhaps surprisingly the Art of Murder, which I was quite pleasantly surprised by.
I probably should have chosen Lost in Reflections but I so love the zailing aspects of Where You and I Must Go that I simply had to choose that.
(I’m also tremendously fond of the Court of Cats, but let’s just admit – I’m completely biased on the topic and ought not be trusted, I mean I’ve played the thing through multiple times just to see the endings shift and I’m currently hanging a playthrough permanently just so I can keep my status as a current Arbiter.)
I love Waltz, Lost in Reflections and Where You and I Must Go, with an honourable mention to the Calendar Code.
Although I’ve never finished Cut With Moonlight - I’m still halfway through and intend to stay there so I can keep access to the House and feed my growing addictions - the front end of that was a lot of fun too.
I’m thinking of buying one of the exceptional stories. I want the creepiest, weirdest, and most mysterious (I am willing to wait for new exceptional stories to be available). edited by Edward Frye on 9/27/2016
Lost in Reflection and the Waltz that Moved the World are definitely the best of the best, followed closely by Cut with Moonlight and the Frequently Deceased.
[quote=rahv7]
Edit: Based on dov’s post below, here’s a list of my favourite stories:
Lost in Reflection[/li]li[/li][li]The Waltz That Moved the World[/li][li]Where You And I Must Go[/li][li]The Calendar Code[/li][li]Cut With Moonlight
edited by rahv7 on 9/27/2016[/quote]
I absolutely agree with all of your favorites - those are exactly mine as well.
(I would add The Haunting at the Marsh House for the atmosphere, the fact that you can acquire the house, and for the purely personal reason that I grew up on a marsh and am, as such, unusually attached to them :P)
There were very few that I disliked at all, the others were fun and pleasant (except Last Dog and Art of Murder, I’m looking at YOU here…) but these above were the ones that really moved me, were memorable, made me agonize about choices, and lingered with me.
I liked Lost in Reflections, but I think Where You and I Must Go tops it in sheer force of expression and pushing the boundaries of the format. I also really enjoyed (in no special order) The Seven Year Reign, Cut With Moonlight, and Five Minutes to Midday.