izigame.me

*Potential Spoilers Ahead*
TL;DR: Incredible, deep game. I did everything to find compromise, to do what was best for my country and my family and now I am alone and hated. Beware my story to all who would follow.
I was a president, once. After a few dry runs and restarting the game a few times, I was ready. Ready to serve Sordland and be the president that the nation needed. I gave my full attention to every detail brought before me. I took a long time, and carefully weighed my choices to make the best decisions I could. Above all else I sought unity and compromise, forming alliances with other politicans while working to not become a pawn to any of them.
I wanted democratic constitutional reforms, ones that would satisfy the reformists while paying some respect to the fears of the conservatives. I wanted to preserve the values of the nation, while moving us towards greater political freedom. For a time, it seemed that I would have the full support of my party and that the reforms would pass by a landslide. I made compromises, and worked with party heads to give them what they needed to support me. And you know what? When the vote actually came they all turned against me. We didn't even win a majority.
And so with my constitutional plan in shambles, I turned my eyes to the economy. We would reverse the recession, granting benefits to attract investors while not making myself subservient to them. I mingled with the elite often but never took a bribe. I was friends with the media, but did not seek to control the press, and all across the country I prioritized infrastructure to revitalize the nation. When the topic finally came up about privatizing government industry, I took a balanced approach. We would sell majority shares, but they would have to compete for them on the free market. And you know what? All of the big business turned against me. Still, the economy seemed to be doing great, so I was content. Well, for a time.
Despite my tendencies towards a free market, I was not blind to the needs of the people. I poured money into healthcare. Both healthcare and education were partly privatised, since the budget couldn't meet the demand. Militant protesters couldn't be tolerated, not with the crime and violence. But I tried to address their concerns when I could. We were surrounded by militant neighbors, so I funded the military, I sought alliances and eventually has trade and alliances with all but two of my most militant neighbors. I even eventually joined this game's version of NATO. Yet while we were safe, the protests got worse. We seemed always to be on the brink of civil war. The woman's sufferage movement grew, and while I felt I could not publicly support it without losing my political support, I never spoke or took action against it.
Despite the toll of public life, I did everything I could to be a good friend and a loving father. I grew to love my wife and kids, and kept up old friendships such as my Vice President and made new friends with my driver, who believed in me when nobody else did. I even sent his kid to school on my dime. Yet my VP got caught up in a sex scandal, and was getting divorced. He was still a friend, but he had to resign. Within weeks, by best friend had taken his own life. My loyal driver eventually gave his life to defend me from an assassination attempt. My wife, a firm supporter of women's sufferage, grew distant from me and eventually filed for divorce. I tried my best to win her back, and never meant to hurt her, but it was over. I couldn't even see my kids.
Things got worse. The nation's former president disowned me. The protests destroyed the economy. One of my ministers declared to run against me in the next election. Then slowly, every member of my cabinet resigned and turned against me. I showed them nothing but respect and support, and they all abandoned me. When the election finally came, I lost by a landslide. By the way, remember how I supported the military to protect the country? Well, they decided the nation needed protecting from me and declared a coup that left me imprisoned for 7 years. I was finished. The recession had advanced to depression. National debt was high. Unemployment was up and the GDP was tanking.
So after four years of doing everything selflessly to serve my country, lovingly supporting my friends and family, and making hard choices every second, everybody that I ever cared about either died or abandoned me. My name is reviled and I am considered a traitor to my country. Now I have been in prison long enough that I don't even recognize my country.
If you made it this far and found it interesting, or if you read this and believe you have what it takes to lead your nation into the future, then this is the game for you. Amazing the depth of choices this game has and unlike many branching narrative games I never felt shoehorned into saying something other than what I wanted to. A lot of work clearly went into this niche game and it pays off with a unique product that will likely be the best game in it's genre for years to come. Two thumbs up.