Community College Hero: Trial by Fire

Community College Hero: Trial by Fire
N/A
Metacritic
86
Steam
72.377
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$2.99
Release date
4 December 2015
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Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
86 (240 votes)

Outwit your professors at superpower school! Ace your exams, date classmates, and bring down the nation’s most wanted villains to earn your degree.

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Community College Hero: Trial by Fire system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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423120
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Windows PC
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aletheia.knights
aletheia.knights

*I played this in the Hosted Games omnibus app*

Last month, when someone posted on r/choiceofgames asking for games with school settings, I immediately recommended Way Walkers, Witchcraft U, and Grand Academy for Future Villains. Then I mentioned that it was a good time to get into Eric Moser's "Community College Hero" series, since all three games were on sale on Steam at the time, but added that I technically wasn't recommending it, since I hadn't played it yet.

Well, I have played it now. And here I am recommending Community College Hero for real.

In Community College Hero, you spend a semester in the life of the only student without superpowers accepted into the new hero training program in a small Midwestern community college. There are exciting and challenging classes to study for, ranging from offensive and defensive fighting to a course on the legal ramifications of hero work (a subject to which Moser, as an attorney, brings an almost uncanny authenticity). There are classmates to build friendships, rivalries, and romances with. The standard temptations and dilemmas of college life are all there - will you attend wild parties? join a study group with your crush instead of one focused on the subject you need the most help in? flirt with a professor for a better grade? But life at Speck Community College isn't all studies and parties for these aspiring heroes, as a mysterious villain has come to town with a penchant for bad poetry and a determination to shut their training program down for good.

It's an absolute joy - I don't think I've had this much fun playing any Hosted Games title since Way Walkers. There's action and mystery and romance and humor and some moments of genuinely affecting emotional heft.

Special note should be made of this game's list of Achievements. Collecting Achievements isn't my usual play style, but I generally do look them over for some insight into what creative nooks and crannies a game has to offer. Moser puts together the most delightful lists of Achievements I have ever seen. I'm already excited for future playthroughs of this game, in which, I am told, I may have the opportunity to "Make a lame comeback to a football coach," "Use a uniform accessory during a romantic encounter," or "Use a curse word in front of a child."

I recommend Community College Hero, with the greatest enthusiasm, to fans of school stories, fans of superhero stories, and anyone just looking for a few hours of delicious entertainment. I'm so glad I still have the rest of the series to look forward to - I'm excited to see what happens next to my aspiring hero and his motley crew of superpowered friends.

*originally posted on Reddit*

Nibblatious
Nibblatious

I would be hard-pressed to find anything about this game I liked. The story and choices were all completely railroaded, with every decision leading to the same conclusion no matter what you do. If you happen to follow the intended route, then great, but if you don’t, then you won’t have a good time. Basically, the only things you could influence were your grades.

If you decide not to do something the game wants you to do, it will react by having someone else make the choice in your place, resulting in you doing it anyway. There were countless examples of this, and I will give an example below.

Say you don’t want to go visit the children’s hospital for whatever reason. If so, you’re volunteered by another. Now say you don’t want to promise to return because you don’t know if you’ll be able to keep that promise? Then you’re volunteered to come back by another. The end result? Identical to going there and promising to return.

Alternatively, the game’s text will simply reason that you changed your mind or had no choice in the end. A good example of this can be found late in the story if you don’t want to put down your weapon in a hostage situation.If you refuse to put down your equipment, reasoning that the crazy person would just kill everyone anyway, you will simply go against your own choice and do so anyway and have it stated you had no choice.

Another thing that bothered me a lot was how one of the teachers, by the name of Hedonist, was an absolute creep. At one point, to get a good grade, you either needed a skillset I didn’t have or be willing to service him, as in, pleasure him, like my love interest apparently did, and those were your only options. It made me very uncomfortable, and that’s putting it mildly. Consent is vital, and this part of the game alone was enough to make it deserving of a negative review, in my opinion, but there’s more.

The romance options were very limited. You barely spend any time with them, and the few times you do, it’s most often connected to school work or assignments. I felt almost no connection to my love interest, and what she was pressured to do to get a good grade in the previously mentioned class, hinted at by her missing bra, only made me feel sad for her and angry I didn’t get to shoot Hedonist.

Unsurprisingly, I wouldn’t recommend the game. I played through it once quite a while back and must’ve picked the intended route, as I remember enjoying some of it. But needless to say, I didn’t have a good time during my second playthrough. (1/10)

nupinoop296
nupinoop296

I blew through this in a short while, and it was definitely worth the money! It was sucha great story, and I had a lot of fun! Can't wait for the next part! :D

HostileHoax
HostileHoax

Interesting characters, interesting plot, variety of in game choices and customization options. Funny moments and heavy ones too. Has a lot of replay value and you can spend hours going through your story.

Overall amazing game with great writing. Can't wait for the sequel to be released!

ronarscorruption
ronarscorruption

Fun game with interesting twists and turns. Really a throwback to the best of choose your own adventure books. Also, it's about superhoeres who act like (believe it or not) real people.

Just stellar.

slabamanaba
slabamanaba

You have a tough role with harsh decisions but its a choose your adventure game and it responds very well to your actions. So keep in mind your limitations. I spotted a few typos but they haven't taken from the experience of the game. To give you a perspective I've had anime's and TV shows choke me up a bit. Putting myself in this game however, stirred emotions I haven't felt for a while. If you like roller coasters then get ready for a feels trip. Can't wait for the sequel.

SOWH
SOWH

This story is fun and exciting to experience. There's something special about creating your own psuedo-super hero and interacting with a group of other heroes in training. There's a lot of interesting and unique characters, fun and tragedy, sad and suspense, and overall good writing a storytelling. I can't wait for the sequel.

The British One.
The British One.

Wow. Just, wow.
Where do I start with his game?
Well, if you're here for a brief summary - here it is.

This game is a mix between the film "Sky High", the book "The Ables" and the game "Surviving High School". If even one of those peaks your interest, you'll love this game.

I guess the only thing hold it back for most people is that it's completely text-based, so if you hate a lot of reading, I understand if you won't like this.
But if you want a smart, funny and even sad rollercoaster of a story, pick this game up! It's cheap, but lengthy for the price.

10/10, would take drugs with girls again.

SwampMan
SwampMan

I have never wrote a comment with such eximent about a game before. I have never really been a fan of interactive novels but when i saw this game i thought "why not" and bought it. Being the person who doesnt read books like at all, at first it lokked pretty boring. well that was untill the grabbed me and emotionally put in the game. i loved all the characters and the writing was so perfect. I can honestly say this was possibly the best game ive played in a very long time. I cannot wait for the next one. P.S. if anyone knows when or if the next game "community college for hereos: Knowledge is power" is out already please contact me. I dont think i can wait much longer for the next instalment is out.

Kaiser
Kaiser

Bought it aprox 24 hours ago. got almost 9 hours into it already and is concidering going through another playthrough, which would be my third.

I don't like leaving my room to much. And if you're like me, i recommend this game!

Psyc0
Psyc0

I like the story and characters. I just don't think it should be distributed by CHOICE of games.
There is a lot of sanctimoniousness, and it feels like it is trying to guilt trip you at times. It is heavily biased and mono-directional. A lot of choices don´t even change the following text, and it practically ignores it. There are many typos and misuse of words, the typos would be pardonable if the other issues weren't present. Frankly the game is frustrating and it feels more like a judgmental parent gave you an unplugged controller while they played through it.

It´s a book pretending you control anything. If it advertised itself as a work of literature instead of a game it may actually be interesting. There are two main example which irritate me the most.

You are on your way to the college and emergency vehicles are rushing to a scene. Keep in mind at this point you are untrained and without powers if you choose to continue to school instead of following the police you are met (And this is an approximate quote) "Wow, just wow."

Another incidence is when you were dragged to a children's hospital by another character there you are asked by a grieving mother to visit her son as much as you can, denoting he doesn't have long to live, to finish what you started, and grasping her cross, I won't attack anyone's belief system but this is the most heavy handed guilt tripping i have ever seen. They give you three options, I'll come as often as I can, I'll only have time to come on the weekends, or I won't. Regardless of what you pick the character which brought you there bursts in and assures her you'll come as often as possible. The game is filled with these non-choices.

you are dragged back to see him twice more, you only have one chance to skip seeing him and that is when the previously mentioned character isn't around and you are in an emergency time crunch.

Miss Chevious ︻气デ一
Miss Chevious ︻气デ一

I was a bit wary about this game. I'm not all that in to 'choose your own adventure' type games. I usually like to play through games, not read through them. It's also a bit of a slow go BUT, this is actually a pretty fun game/story. It's nice how the story changes and morphs with each choice that you make. And some of the choices you can make are really funny and, sometimes, downright rediculous.

k°

Lots of playtime, and an easy-to-learn world. With some choice based interactive stories, it can be difficult to learn the settings and the terms. Thankfully, Community College Hero is not overdone in sci-fi or fantasy aspects. There are dozens upon dozens of hidden interactions, and the characters are all very interesting.

VAL
VAL

This game marks the sixth text choice game that I've played.
Compared to the consequence systems of the others, the choices given in this entry are much more intricate and varied, giving way to a more enjoyable experience.

Pros:
- Tons of ways to play out your character regarding academics, image, and relationships.
- Fun twist on the entire super hero genre story wise: You enter the game as a non-zenith (no powers) accepted into a community college super hero school aiming to seek revenge for the death of your father.
- For once, the decisions you make have a varied impact on the story and what you can or can't do.
- A nice little cliffhanger and a few choices that allow you to set up what your character wants to do after the events of the last chapter.

Cons:
- No checkpoint system: This is a hot topic for all of the text choice games on steam. A checkpoint system would be excellent for redoing chapters or single choices instead of replaying the entire game up to the point in question. At the very least, there should be an unlockable checkpoint system otherwise you end up clicking through the game without reading and tend to miss points or other choices.
- The stats in this game are ridiculously confusing. The stats for your character have words like "pow" and "woosh" each signifying strengths and public image. Additionally, there is another stat menu showing four character traits. Because of their confusing nature I never used them and ended up making choices through trial and error.

As for all text choice games on steam, this game is text only. No music or images. If that deters you I would play the demo for free on steam and make the decision from there on. Personally, I don't find the $4 price tag too much considering how well made and enjoyable this game was. If you do find it pricey, you can always wait till a sale.

Excited to see how the rest of the story plays out.
8/10

Genti!☆
Genti!☆

Community College Hero: Trial by Fire is the a text-based novel, the first of a trilogy where you impersonate a superhero without powers who enters a superhero accademy in a very quiet and peaceful city, attacked suddenly by a mysterious villain. In this game, you will have to do your own route, deciding which of your classmate date, what courses to follow, and how to deal with a test. Most of your choices could affect the plot and the relationship with not only your mates but also the professors, even though the game will end with the same way. 8/10

spectre king
spectre king

i give the story a 10/10 great story great way presented hope to see more from this group and to se what happens next in this novel.

Afieryhale
Afieryhale

This is the first text-based game I've played and I am in love with it! The story is exciting and I cannot wait for the next part to be released. There is no back button, so you have to be careful when you choose, as I did misclick several times and ended up either having to restart the story or continue on with the mistake.

Austin
Austin

I love this. I can't believe of all that happened. I'm going to play it again and again to choose the best one but I like mine. I can't wait for part 2 to come out.

SirBirdsworthOfTreechester
SirBirdsworthO…

A well written and entertaining game. My first playthrough took me 3.5 hours and I am definetley planning on doing another.
The ending sets up well for the next chapter but if your looking for a self contained game this might not be for you.
All in all worth a buy if your a fan of the "choice of ..." games.

MadDog
MadDog

I am broken.

The author did a phenomenal job in crafting personalities, in throwing tough situations our way. And, for someone with no powers, I think I did very well.

But things were just too big for me. And when events happened that I couldn't dent... it broke me. It seriously broke me. I felt powerless. Realistic? Yes. Emotionally jarring? Yes.

But I don't know if I want to continue, simply because I feel so helpless.

Take that as you will. I can recommend this, but I don't plan to finish.

Corn Bezerker
Corn Bezerker

Okay guys, if you havn't already, buy this game!!! Don't even read my review, just buy it. This game\story is incredible. I have never liked superhero stuff as much as i do now because of this. The first night i downloaded this game i stayed up THE ENTIRE NIGHT playing this game TWICE. Yes, this game is in fact so fun i played it through it twice back to back and was equally intrigued both times. The next night i played a third playthrough. It has been 4 months since i finished my third playthrough and i have checked steam countless times hoping for the next chapter. Go buy this game. Its only 4 bucks, that is an absolutely ridiculously low cost for the ammount of time you will spend loving this game. I couldnt be more happy with my purchase.

booklan
booklan

What can I say? The story rips my heart to shreds. :'(
I've only played it once, and I don't think my poor heart could handle a second round.

The choices are meaningful, and they have a lot to do with your initially picked strengths as well as the situationally implied logic. My one complaint is the lack of improvement in stats - by which I mean that there are rarely any opportunities for the stats to increase... I'm hoping this is on purpose as the story (time-wise) seems to cover only a little portion of what is to come.

All in all, it's definitely worth a play-through.

We'll miss you, Origami. I regret not getting to know you better.

Acecombat05
Acecombat05

I don't leave reviews often, but this story hit a real sweet-spot for me for some reason. It's well written, has great characters, and the premise is fairly unique for the genre. If you're wondering why I'm being vague, it's because it's best to go in knowing as little as possible.

Without being too specific:

-You will laugh

-You will cry

-And people WILL die

Pick it up, it's a fantastic beginning to a promising trilogy! Plus it's rekindled my writing bug, so to speak. So hats off to Eric.

WHOEVERYOUWANTMETOBE
WHOEVERYOUWANTMETOBE

When I first saw this game, I'll admit I was a little hesitant. I remember playing the Heroes Rise Trilogy and was so blown away by that game that I managed to convince myself that no other text-based adventure would be able to string me in the superhero genre like Heroes Rise did.

Boy, was I wrong.

Community College Hero is by no means a masterpiece in terms of plot. It uses the tropes we've all seen and while the story does move forward, much of it is just filler to keep your playtime longer (but the filler is good, so I forgive it). What does sell it is it's very vast and interesting cast of characters. From a drug-addicted rebel to a nerd who is incredibly strong, CCH pulls you in with the desire to learn more about your fellow students....and even the teachers. For Example;

Spoilers Ahead, read at your own risk :

I flirted with Tress, a fellow hero and began to date her because she was my type (I like redheads). All was going good, but I never really connected with her personality wise - she was that popular overachiever type that had all the boys after her. No oddly enough, I found myself fascinated with Stoic, a mysterious girl who outranked everyone else in terms of ability and named after the fact that she almost never reacted emotionally....that is until I made her smile. After that, I was hooked on her, I did my best to get to know her andwin her affection and then boom. Turns out she wasn't a romance option at all. The game had me pining on a girl I had zero chance with. Like in real life.

All in all, if you're a fan of either the superhero genre or text-based adventure games, then you definitely have to get this. It's worth your time, trust me.

Lilac.
Lilac.

It's currently 2:30 AM and oh boy was every second of it worth. Complete and sheer absolute worth.

The choices you make where you know you have consequences are there. It's real and you can feel it deep when you make it. It's a gripping read regardless though and I need to play through this more to see whether I can do anything better, I know I made some poor choices but hell yes I would recommend this to anyone. If I had to say one thing I'd want for future installments, is that I hope every branch of choice you make gets fully recognised later on, every triumph, blunder and even those internal thought choices you made that seemed like they probably wouldn't have an effect as to just merely a thought. This is great justice to the highs and lows of being in a superpower world as I would imagine and I hope to hell I get the telekentic power. I NEED IT.

Love you, Tress~

The reason I voted for this for the "Test of Time" award is that when it comes to text games...there's not much that can really change with them. You can write better stories and have better mechanics but the characters set out of this are pretty solidified.

Dylan
Dylan

Based on first playthrough

- A lot of the choices in it didn't matter at all
- Character is hilariously underpowered to the point where I have no idea how to handle 2 out of the 4 subjects.
- The secrets class is trying to appear intellectual but at the same time doesn't consider that you should never divulge secrets, so when you choose not to give any secrets you fail the class.

The whole time I was playing as a smartass, and had virtually no effect on anything. Pretty sure you have to devote 100% of choices to a romance partner for it to work in this also.

Jesus'sGayCousin
Jesus'sGayCousin

8/10

There are probably going to be plenty of people drawing parallels between this series and the HeroRise series, so I'm going to go ahead and jump on the bandwagon and give you my take on it. Since this is just the first installment, I'm only going to compare it to HR: Prodigy.

So to start off, you'll be happy to know that this is not a complete rehash of HR: P. CCH is its own thing entirely, and while there are similarities (tragic backstory involving parent(s) that was/were shunned by society, mystery involving villain with unknown origins and motives, power-play between different hero factions) I feel like those are general tropes that superhero stories have been using a lot recently.

As a whole I think HR: P has a better all-around story. TbF is spending a more of its time getting you ready for the sequels and I feel like there was less resolved at the end than in HR: P. If you only wanted to play one game and have no intention of playing the whole series, HR is probably the better choice. TbF also had a LOT of characters, which made it harder to get to know them all. You'll have to do several playthroughs if you want to understand all of them, whereas HR kept it more condensed which allowed more development for the characters it had.

That being said, I did thoroughly enjoy this game. While it did feel crowded at times, I do still think that all the characters were developed well and had there own unique personalities. The environment really did feel like a college, which helped CCH differentiate itself from other Choice of Games hero stories. The plot was engaging, the mystery was fun, and it did a great job at getting me excited for the next installment.

So while I do prefer HR: P, I feel like CCH: TbF has done a fantastic job at making its own thing, and I can't wait for Eric Moser to publish the next several chapters.

Plus it was a thousand times better than HeroProject: Redemption Season. So there's that.

DollOfViolets
DollOfViolets

Has an unfortunate and embarassing amount of typos (considering you're paying for a novel, effectively), but has charming characters and a good storyline. I look forward to the next part, but I would like to see more realistic dialogue options in the future as well.

One last thing, I don't know if I can provide much constructive criticism, but I find the "issue art" to be a tad...strange. Perhaps it's just me, but I strongly dislike it (mainly because I already have an idea of what each character looks like in my head, but also just because I dislike the style it's done in). I'm fairly sure I'm alone with my issue with it, however, as I see nobody else mentioning it.

Overall, worth a few dollars, but I'm surprised the author hasn't taken the time to update the typos or ask players to submit reports on where typos are so that they can be fixed. If the author went back and fixed the typos, I would have no qualms recommending it, but at the moment, I would hesitate.

If you have enjoyed movies like Sky High or series' like My Hero Academia, this adopts a similar idea, and it will likely be worth purchasing once all parts are released.

(This is one of the many times I wished there was a neutral option for reviews. Take that how you will.)

Machiavelli
Machiavelli

It's a good game! Definitely worth your while if you're into story-rich games. Despite being text-based, the game manages to engage you. You get to adopt a crazy number of personas and the other characters do respond differently to you based on your varying interactions with them. There's a crazy amount of conflict in this game. You will end up picking sides to unlock various achievements and scenarios, and you should pursue all 46 achievements. You'll have a ton of fun in the process! The guides in the discussion forum are super helpful.

what2jack
what2jack

Unlike other "games" under this publisher, I feel like my decisions make genuine impacts, which is the ultimate reason why I'm here (to choose my own adventure). However, since the series isn't complete, it's yet to be seen if the decisions I make in this game will genuinely alter the content of the other games the way I feel like they should.
I came into this with very low expectations, and I was so surprised. Everything in this game makes an impact. There are some events that happen no matter what, but I still feel like my decisions change the story. I had a lot of fun with it, but it's ultimately not perfect...

Pros:
Good story
Important decision making
Good mechanics
Many ways to play
You can fuck a teacher

Cons:
Not sure if it's finished, there is a sequel but by the time it came out I lost all interest in these relatively corny book games.

Ryth Darkbane
Ryth Darkbane

Community College Hero: Trial by Fire is a great interactive story that allows you to build yourself in the story in any way you want. Makeany allies that you want. Your school life is in your hands.

Do you want to flirt with everyone you see? You can do that.

Do you want to be a dick to everyone you see? You can do that, too.

Do you want to be a straight A student? Better study to receive your hero upgrades otherwise you will fall behind the rest.

Overall, I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a game where only your imagination is the limit! If you're looking for a game with good graphics, or not a lot of reading you might want to pass on this one.

Ionpath
Ionpath

Less of a video game and more than a run of the mill choose-your-own-adventure type of game,

Community College Hero: Trial by Fire

is a delightful experience which goes to show that neither graphics, neither pre-order bonuses will make a game good. It is as bare bones as it gets, plain old text but the storytelling, the characters, the atmospheric immersion of reading and the fact that your choices matter (up to a certain point) will make up for a surpisingly dark yet at times funny story which unravels as you click on the choices appearing of the screen. I can honestly say that I've spent significantly more time trying to decide for an otherwise simple choice in this game than any of AAA games of a similiar fashion.

I have to admit that the entire premise of the game is reminiscent of the 1999 cult classic movie Mystery Men, in addition from getting vibes from the now defunct MMO City of Heroes and the same time feel like this could actually be a lost Community episode. There's a near perfect mixture of seriousness, humour and meta humour, dark and mysterious twists and reveals, romance, resource management, entertainment, social issues, you name it. It is up to you to choose your own path and explore this fascinating world the author has created.

There's a cliffhanger ending however there are supposed to be episodic sequels (like comic book issues) upcoming for the game as the author has mentioned, but even at its current state and current price, this is a brilliant take on the choose-your-own-adventure genre in a video game format. Definitely recommended.

SpitefulFox
SpitefulFox

Like most Choice Of games, you have a set of stats and some are higher than others thanks to your choices.

... and then the game punishes you repeatedly for not somehow being good at everything. You have four classes you're expected to get decent grades in, but the game only allows you to "study" for two classes and just completely bomb the other two, and then punishes you by withholding upgrades, hurting your chances of passing further classes.

On top of all that, the game's only part 1 of what I'm assuming is meant to be an entire series, so it just ends abruptly without resolving anything. As far as I can tell, the rest of the series isn't out yet.

notyourkiwi
notyourkiwi

an amazing game if you enjoy reading and forming your own character. i thought it was amazing and probably my favourite game that ive played from steam

tigersmoondiva
tigersmoondiva

Not really a game - kind of a .... choose your own adventure thing? I bought it because of the wonderful reviews but I didn't find that all that impressive.

123
123

Got no choice but to downvote this rather good text adventure.

Why?
Because when I bought it, nowhere does it say it is the first episode (ending rather abruptly), and not a complete experience. And of course, it is from the end of 2015. It is soon 2017 and no continuation has been made.

If at the very least it said in the title it's episode 1, I'd have upvoted, but this is a nono.

Baal98
Baal98

I understand where the negative reviews stem from. The fact is I have been waiting on a sequel for this game for over a year now. It's a little disapointing to not see a follow up for this game. However were not here to talk about seqeuls, Lets focus in on the game at hand. This is a very imaginitive game almost like a well crafted novel with important choices to make involved. If you are not up for a lot of reading and no graphical representation of whats going on then this is NOT for you. For those that have an imagination and are willing to do some reading this game i would highly recommend. I found myself staying up till 3 AM on a weekday playing this damn game.

POSITIVES: Creative writing, Story, Characters, Choices of good/evil/neutral.

NEGATIVES: No sequel in sight (meaning no continution of story so enjoy the ending :)

OVERALL: 9/10

SpartanWarrior
SpartanWarrior

As sad as it was to have it end so suddenly, the story itself pulled on my emotional strings more than anything. I found it easy to put myself into the hero that I made and it only made it that much more emotional. Every decision leaves you wondering if your doing the right decision. The other games I've played by Hosted Games has most of the time had a decision that was the best or worst, but this one never has that. Every choice has both positive and negative effects, even the neutral choices. If you want a complete game, this may not be the one for ou YET. But if you want the best experience, this is the game. My hat's off to you Host Games.

Aria Theo
Aria Theo

The pacing is all over the place, the writing is on the immature side, and your decisions are usually between being a jerk or being a door mat.

Tr4veler
Tr4veler

so this is my first review ever so ill keep it sort and shimple
i believe this is one of the best novels it competes with hero rise (i actually like it more) and u really ont regret it
the author i curently working on part 2

oesterhegn
oesterhegn

I am a long time fan of choice of games and have to say this was one of the more interesting and entertaining ones i've played, i don't think i have ever seen, read or heard of a story like this, you are basically becoming the batman of this universe and i love it.
The only problem i have with this one and most of the game by choice of is that it doesn't say how much specialization you need to succed certain scenarious which means i have to do a lot of trial and error which is kinda annoying but i can get by fine.

The Safe and Sterile Bread-Tan
The Safe and S…

A fun superhero book.
While your character doesn't have powers you do get a choice of several different "archtypes" for your hero to practice such as being a bruiser, the investigative Batman-esque hero, or a sharpshooter.
A lot of dialogue comes off as incredibly cheesey which is in all likelihood, intentional to push the whole choosing a heroic identity thing.
In general I favor this over the other hero series put out by Choice of Games, (Hero's Rise) as the characters are much more fun and diverse, the storylines are much less forced, and it doesn't seem to be turning into a soapbox for social acceptance like the Hero's Rise series is.
Also Hi-Jinx is bae

3w3
3w3

Great job! Interesting storyline, lively characters and connections, good choice of words, well put together.

the only thing that bothers me is the Zenith Grading ( based on x number of people one can handle? Sounds vague)

apart from that, fantastic! would love to see the next one coming

jessbrooke
jessbrooke

What it lacks in you having superpowers it makes up for in immersion. Worth buying even not on sale.

Grim Light
Grim Light

This game is a master peace, I nearly cried when the game was harsh, but in his globality, it is really good, choices you make influence the story.
Hope the sequel to be as fun !

MacPhal
MacPhal

At first I was really liking it, but some of the choices seen odd. And something happens turing the midterms the just pulled me right out of the story and I could not get back in.

Noraye
Noraye

First thing's first! Anyone looking to buy this game, just know that it is the first part of a series.

With that said, this is a great texted based RPG! It's a good story, fun and interesting characters, multiple paths to take depending on how you play and who you choose to hang out with, which gives it goood replayabliaty. The ending is the same, obviously, because of story, but that doesn't take away from everything you did or didn't do leading up to it.

A top tear text RPG, so pick it up if you're interested. And like I said, it's a first part, with the second part already in beta testing as of July, 2017. So look forward to part two hopefully sometime late in the year, at least.

Dr. Ubershadow M.D.
Dr. Ubershadow M.D.

Community College Hero: Trial by Fire is a text based rpg choose your own adventure game. You read from the perspective of a non-super human getting admitted to a Community College for super heroes. There is no sound or graphic in this game, just text. You also control the story to a point, it gives you choices to effect reactions not the story itself. The stroy is fantastic and I loved it. The only problem I have is that this is a part 1 which part 2 not where to be seen. The characters are fun and interresting. There is also a stat system. And I give this a 7/10.

alakuriel
alakuriel

Definitely enjoyable! If you don't need fancy graphics to enjoy a game, this one deserves a chance, and I'm very much looking forward to the sequel.

An option to manually save throughout the game would be nice, though.

Napalm
Napalm

I really like this CYOA. I liked it even more than Heros Rise: Prodigy.

You get: custom power sets, choice of costumes, more responses to the set the tone of your hero (you can be a wise-cracker like Spider Man and or play the silent, brooding type). Yeah, you get family baggage just like in HR, but it's not all-encompassing like in HR.

Can't wait for part 2!

Confuze16
Confuze16

I named my superhero Shimmer.

To sum it up, you don't really have powers. You'll read about that in the demo, but you're in a Superhero Community College, so in the story you are not at a regular community college trying to be a hero.

I liked how we could interact with the different people in this game, and get to know people. It felt very realistic.

Another good thing is this game was very long. There are twelve issues in three volumes, so that means this game is the first four issues in Volume 1, so you'll only be able to play four issues with this game, as there will be two more games coming out (hopefully they finish it soon). That being said, don't expect four regular chapters. These are very long chapters so it's about 10-15 chapter's worth of content, longer than any other Choice of Games game I've played.

10/10

The Old Man
The Old Man

I very much enjoyed the story and am looking forward to the next part of the series but I cannot recommend this.

Nowhere is it mentioned that this is an unfinished story and part of a series that will probably take years to come to a conclusion. I will change this review as soon as they start being honest about their game.

EDIT: My original review was written over a year ago and it is still nowhere mentioned that this game is part of an unfinished series.
Furthermore it should be noticed that this game was released almost 3 years ago and the sequel isn't out yet. For a game like this the waiting time is simply too long.

Creepy Old Man
Creepy Old Man

I've played or read many, many of these CYOA titles at this point and there is a very distinct difference between those I like and those I don't and it comes down to how the 'choices' are implemented. In the ones I like, there are rarely any 'correct' decisions, instead there are just different ways to do things and the story adapts to whatever choice you make to feel like YOU are guiding the story. In the ones I do not like, they are basically text adventures with intermittent multiple choice quizzes spinkled in (although there are LITERAL quizzes in this as well.). Unfortunately, CCH falls in to the latter category.

What this design decision does is essentially undercut the entire point of a CYOA game where instead of choosing what you would do, or want to do, you just try to choose the answer you believe the author wants you to choose. It is antithetical to the design of a 'choice based' game. Additionally, this CYOA is very light on choice in comparison to most of these titles. The majority of your 'choices' are just questions about how you feel about what is going on that has no discernable impact on the direction of the story. It's a kind of 'smoke and mirrors' tactic that I felt was pointless.

So in conclusion, this is a fairly poor example of what the CYOA genre can offer and I regret both buying and playing it. I do not recommend it to others and will not purchase any further titles from this author.

mike.bourgeois1969
mike.bourgeois1969

Excellent Chose your own Adventure game. I admit I'd picked it up as a filler for a bit of spare time here and there... and like a few others I've read I ended up 2am playing away and knowning that all I had to do was just click out but... well there were choices to be made and the writing is really quite good. I'll happily invest in the next episode when it comes around... having a full story to play would be a lot of fun. I'll head back to this again in a little while when the choices aren't stuck in my mind.

Good game for a reasonable price.

Laiziras
Laiziras

You play as literally the most boring person in a superhero story, as normal human. What a missed opportunity this story was

Admiral Woofington
Admiral Woofington

Apparently I can't just pass with a 3.0 by being a good student, I also gotta be a piece of poo.

too real/10

Trebuidoi
Trebuidoi

This is my second time purchasing CCH, I first had it on my phone when it came out so many years ago. So I already knew I liked it going in. But, I still wanted to play it one more time before the second game finally came out. Which should be soon(tm). I truly enjoyed the story of CCH and the characters you meet. There's this weird sense of realism to the characters that I didn't really expect. And I do like the premise of an unpowered human trying to keep up with lower level supers. However, the game does have some major flaws. While there is some variation in playthroughs by who you date, your archetyoe class, and which group you side with in the middle of the story. It suffers the same way a lot of choice games do. It all comes down to the story largely following a linear path with the same destination. I think the largest issue in these choice of games, is that if you make a mistake and want to redo a single choice you have to completely restart the game. And *cough* you can't date Stoic.. :( Nonetheless, I am still a fan of the writing of the game. I'm excited for Knowledge is Power, but I really hope there will be more plot divergence in the sequel that make subsequent playthroughs more enjoyable.

LuchaOr
LuchaOr

My opinion is very divided about this game. For now, considering I have no idea how things will change in the sequel(s?), I can't recommend this one for people with my taste in games.

On the one hand, an in depth, text-based adventure based on Heroes(super and otherwise) is pretty attractive,
But on the other hand, I feel like I would absolutely enjoy creating and designing my own SUPER hero. I feel like this huge disadvantage your character is handed in the story dampers the 'power fantasy' aspect of a super hero-based world and story, and to be honest there is not much else that I feel spoke to me in the story(yet) to compensate for that. There was some decent writing, and some powerful moments, but gameplay-wise I feel this part of the game was lacking. There isn't enough character building, not enough events to make your character feel more worthy and significant with its position in the story. Perhaps 'knowledge is power' will change my mind, but I really think this game needed way more character customization and depth in order compensate for the HUGE disadvantage you are given from the very beginning.

I will definitely check out the sequel, and hope things will pick up.

BradentonSlick
BradentonSlick

Despite its odd premise, I picked up CCH 1 because I saw CCH 2 was coming out soon and I like superheroes. Ironically, even though your charcter is the only non-powered hero at the school I felt like my judo champion Acrobat was more powerful than most of the "powered" students at the school due to bizarre and limited nature of their powers. CCH is more like the Mutant X-Men of Marvel than the all-around heroes of DC Comics.

Anyways, liked the story overall and I appreciated that the "in your face" aspect of the "alternative lifestyles" that games from this company seem to have is not a factor in CCH 1. I had to play the game twice to get a satisfactory grade at the school, using my knowledge from the first time to improve the second. Your mileage may vary. For what its worth, I romanced Tress in the story and actually felt like it was more than the usual minimal background romance usually is in these games. I actually felt some emotion at the ending of the story, no spoilers.

Thesnazzybatserd
Thesnazzybatserd

Built and added on to the world established in the first book, answered questions and raised new ones and did everything you would want from a sequel

Lord of Dark Angels
Lord of Dark Angels

I absolutely LOVE this game. I played this game from start to finish. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure book, sort of. The story is well written and engaging, and never drags, you're making decisions all the time, which change how you do and how others view you, which will give you different options. As soon as I finished the first one I bought the second one, which were both on sale for even less than their already normally low price. You're going to a new school for potential heroes with powers, but you're the only one without powers! Background on the world is provided initially, just to get you going, then added along the way as neded to avoid any dragging expositions. It's text-based, but don't let that scare you off, part of the fun is how DIFFERENT it is from the VAST majority of games. AND you can transfer your character to the sequel to continue the story! Definitely try this game, so we can get them to make more!!!!

SlaveToTheGames
SlaveToTheGames

Decent story. The choices were more persona based instead of actual choices, almost forcing you to choose certain things in order to not feel like you're playing a stupid, idiotic, empty shell of a being that is decided by choosing between 4 options. The idiot. The Annoying One. The Ridiculously stupid & slightly less than The idiot out of place flirt. And the last one that STILL has cheesy phrases. I had to literally stick to one type of person because thats what this is. TYPES of personas. You are NOT you. You are ACTING a persona out the whole time un less you are like me and try to FORCE it to seem like you are making choices that actually make your character not seem like a complete moron, who either jokes every damn second, flirts for no goddamn reason, or sound like a idiot who thinks they are smart. It was SO hard to play myself in this having to navigate the mine littered field of choices that ultimately leave you with a hopefully realistic way of speaking/replying to people. Other than that the story is good. NOt amazing, but not bad. Classes kinda seemed aimed at failing you unless you decide to sell your soul to the devil or not have any fun like you would in real life in the story. All in all, I am a average person trying to be a hero who ended up dating a party girl or does drugs and who knows what else. My whole group revealed their identity except myself and two others. And I trust NONE of the school teachers, let alone anyone not from my own school. Hopefully in the next one I DO develope powers. Or at least have the story improve as well as the choices, for the love of god please the choices! Well See you in Part 2 in the review section!

Cannibal Christmas Tree
Cannibal Chris…

Easily the worst CoG/HG game yet. Dull writing, unlikeable characters, choices that don't matter, uninteresting setting, and a plot that doesn't go anywhere. Hard pass.

HolyQuadrant
HolyQuadrant

Honestly, I'm not good with text based adventures, escpecially ones like these, which have no sound or imagery. I tend to lose focus, and skip important decisions without so much as thinking. But something about CCH really drew me into it, whever it be your own character's powerless plight, the inventive powers and (somewhat) relatable personalities of you classmates and teachers or just the descriptive writing Eric poured into this making each scenes feel alive. Even if you're not into text based adventures, I say just give this one a shot, it will only take about an hour, maybe half to complete a single playthrough of it.

Eric Moser, you did good amd I hope to see more!

Zac
Zac

"Not all heroes wear capes."

Yeah, my hero wears a black trench coat with 50 pouches.
I named him 'Shady Dealer'.
What does he deal you ask? JUSTICE!

No seriously if you're into those "I don't have powers but I'm still going to become a hero!" kind of themes, this one's a read worth more than its price. The sequel is out too and you can import saves from this one.

Monarch
Monarch

I am not a fan of this the MC feels damn useless and kind of annoying plus it all feels kind of pointless i just never felt any kind of connection to the MC plus the story i will be really really honest it is boring very very boring in my opinion so damn boring that i would rather watch paint dry.

Lokaror
Lokaror

Absolutely amazing one, if you like well written hero stories you will love this and its sequal. I highly reccomend picking up both as of right now. I cant wait for the third!

rbx3
rbx3

Hm trying to not give spoilers, this is very much like most other Choice of Games. The replay value is therefore somewhat limited, because there is a "right" choice for most cases. This trait seems to be enhanced by the college setting of the story, and chances for protagonist development can be extremely cryptic. For instance, you are instructed to do a throw in one part, but no option for throw appears in the multiple choice. I do not recommend buying this unless you are a fan of Choice of Games in general, because it seems to be more about college than about heroics. Like in other Choice of Games that I have tried, the mystique and fantasy of being what the story is about (in this case, a superhero), is lost because the story focuses so strongly upon trying to explore what goes on behind the scenes. With a story structure of that sort, there is little besides a few adjectives that could distinguish this superhero story from one about a law enforcement officer or secret agent. The fantasy of what it feels like to have powers and be different from normal people is not significantly explored.

I think it is not a spoiler to say that the protagonist does not have powers, since it's one of the first things you learn in the game. This game is the first part of a planned series, and it took me 3 hours to play through.

Oswyn
Oswyn

I really enjoyed this game. It was a decent story that felt more immersive the further you went. It was nice being able to make some decisions based on however you wanted to play the character. It reminded me of the old days in elementary school reading "choose your own adventure" books. Although in the game you can simply let back to pages and make a different decision. Your decisions are final unless you want to restart from the beginning giving the experience. I thought this was great giving the game more substance because there are consequences to the choices you make and how well you pay attention.

I highly recommend this game for anyone who enjoys reading and a bit of adventure

Cummerou1
Cummerou1

I enjoyed it, only things I dislike about it is that 1. this makes it seem like you can have superpowers, you cannot, you are in fact the only person at the school without powers. Not that that's bad, just different than what I had anticipated.
Secondly, I have noticed that many of the games the author/dev makes are set up for a sequel, not that that's bad, I get it's easier to make a sequel than something new. But I personally find that this means each game does not feel like a proper game. The endings do not feel like proper endings, (they obviously are not since there is a sequel, but still).

Best way I can describe it is that the first game ends before you complete your final exams, you do not finish going to school before the ending. It feels more like a 10 hour game that was chopped up into 3 bits.
Don't get me wrong, every bit of it is very enjoyable on it's own, it's simply that I miss a proper ending. A proper send off, and having to wait for sequels (the zombie exodus games the dev made handled endings better IMO) is just frustrating.

All in all, I still very much enjoyed the game, and recommend it.

njosnavelinx
njosnavelinx

I do recommend it, but I do not think that I enjoyed it as much as almost all of the other reviewers. Maybe it is because I have never liked superheroes. Nonetheless something I did like were the characters in this game who despite its relatively short length, were all very well done and very engaging. Each were very distinct, very memorable, and very alive. I also liked the wide variety of types of superhero you could be, lots of good player choice.

My big grief I guess comes with the feeling that no matter what you did, the plot just progressed the same way anyway. Yes you could do good for yourself and benefit or you could hurt yourself but it never felt like you were influencing the direction of the plot in any way. While it definitely made for a more tight, compelling story, it was also sort of agrevating.

Overall, 7/10.

mystery-voice
mystery-voice

The pacing is awkward (huge time-skips), the writing is mediocre at best and - the most important - your character doesn't affect a single thing in this story.
The game looked promising in the beginning - opened with an action scene from the future (which hasn't happened yet, because the third part of the series is yet unwritten - keep that in mind!), you could design your own superhero, including their persona. I always wanted to be the snarky one, and luckily there was such an option. Well, if you're fond of kindergarden sense of humor and jokes like "I'm doing your mom" - direct quote. The rest I summed up above.
There are also the tests. Just the thing when you're trying to relax, playing the story-based game, amirite? The tests on all subjects you'd better pass. They require not only attending the lessons and pay attention, they require extacurricular activity to pass. And you can't choose extra lessons on all the subjects, you have to choose. The tests themselves, or, rather, te test in law, depend only on the above and not on your decisions. You must attend the extra lessons or you'll fail and fail and fail... well, not that it matters in the end. The plot progresses on its own and doesn't need you anyway.

Blue_Shayde
Blue_Shayde

Its an OK story, for sure. But as I got into it, I really started to see what some were saying about your character and decisions being pointless. First of all, the story has a way of taking your decision and then cutting you off, so that it didn't matter. So you want to do this? Ok-Nope. Wait. Story has decided that before your character can even blink, you're going to do what the story wants you to do instead. Silly peon, choices aren't real.

Next, the uselessness of your character becomes a real pain. You start to wish you HAD superpowers, because most of the time what skill you do have always fails and you just end up a wart on your fellow peers toes. Really, I played a sharpshooter and EVERY time I tried to attack ranged, the game either made me fail miserably, cut my off before I could even try, or at one point flat out put my character in a no-ranged combat situation...for a grade. Then said teacher tries to solicit my character for sex for a better grade? Seriously?

This could have really been a promising COG, but in the end, while its an ok read, it really feels to on-rails to be a choice game. Maybe more just a straight novel.

Citrus × sinensis
Citrus × sinensis

This is an NPC simulator. Your choices mean nothing throughout the course of this installment. I am massively disappointed by this game, given how well it is apparently received by so many others. Community College Hero is banal game that, for the amount of substance it really has, contains too many words between beginning and end. My playtime appears very short because I played in offline mode. Look at my achievements and you'll know I suffered through this game in its entirety.

The biggest thing that bothers me is the dialogue writing. It isn't simply amateur, which would have been forgivable. Instead, too many dialogues looked like they came out of some kid's Keenspace "animu style" webcomic from 2007. No nuance and all bluster. There was unforgivable abuse of the exclamation point in the dialogues. There was an attempt to demonstrate an "interesting, colourful" cast that instead came across as lazy and laboured.

You get to choose how your superhero persona is portrayed, using the cringiest representation of each generic personality. See, there isn't always a problem with generic personalities. Generic personalities can be used to allow readers/players to better insert themselves into the character. But this game doesn't do that. It thinks that's what it's doing, anyway. Some of the cringiest dialogue options were the jokester/heroic options, followed by all other personality dialogue you're presented with.

I ended the game with no romanced characters because I hated everyone equally. The only one I tolerated wasn't even human and was not a romance option.

The concept of zeniths and how their superhuman abilities came about has a lot of promise, and what drew me in initially. The execution ruined it. The terminology used for stats, however, were really very cute, and exams being entirely up to you to pass or fail was cool; That much I honestly enjoyed.

If for some reason this game ends up in your library, play through it once to learn about zeniths, because that's pretty much the coolest part in the game. If it isn't already in your library, you're not missing out on much at all.

MikeJForster
MikeJForster

This game transports you into the world. I could picture my hero, and all of his friends in my minds eye and that is something I only normally experience from written books and stories. For me, this game an excellent escape and an environment I enjoyed being a part of.

TerFrostinator
TerFrostinator

This game is a lot of fun. If you like superhero/comic book type material then you might want to consider this game. It is a text-based game though, so be prepared for that. It is really well written, and it puts you into the story. I think it is very good, especially for the cheap price.

An anime girl
An anime girl

There are two main issues here:
the first being that the writing is somewhat puerile at times. Trying to be a jokester feels almost impossible because of how inappropriate and just downright lame you have to be. On top of that the dialogue seems to split 50/50 between your choice is completely ignored, and there being a definitive "correct" way to answer. Which is kinda killer for any game like this.

Second is just how absolutely pointless everything feels. Your choices rarely amount to anything and often fail when they do. It's not uncommon to be put into a situation where there is nothing your character archetype can do.
Ultimately it comes down to: do you want to be the dead weight being carried by your team? Do you want to continually fail and feel like a worthless piece of garbage?

The other factors in this game are nowhere near enough to justify these shortcomings. Ultimately, it's just unsatisfying to play.

SomeBeavers
SomeBeavers

The worst COG for me. Really, all I have played was somehow interesting but this one just meh. Was thinking about refund but decided to pull myself together and finish it.. Totally regret it. This game is so immature. From the given choices and character's action I assumed that the age of MC (and all other "heroes") is 12. I like funny options usually but in this game they are the worst: inappropriate, lame, strange. Story is not interesting (and, of course, not finished). Not recommend.

Newbie
Newbie

Easily the best Text based RPG I've ever played. Seeing so many well written character occasionally interacting at each other, Is just the best. I've been a fan of a text based games since playing "The Life of the Mercenary" and "Heroes or Villain" But this series is my most recommend.

mammalion10
mammalion10

I really enjoy this game, particularly the twist of the secret identity trope.

Ravenir
Ravenir

The only reason I have 23 hours playtime is because I fell asleep reading it

Anilomu
Anilomu

One of the better choice games out there, you're a powerless hero in a school of people who have powers. It can be a little daunting knowing that but it can work out great if you have the right stats. After having so many restarts I finally made a hero that can sort of function in this environment. The story is interesting and romances a bit minor. I wish there was more interaction time between characters but the main focus is to keep the story going. My biggest grip is just how important stats are here, there are even times when you don't even know if a decision will be the right one, hence the restarts. I would still recommend this for anyone who still enjoy's choice games like this.