Ratings and Reviews by SELI-chan

Save often, but be rewarded for your exploration. Stunning art and sound direction accompany you (Kai) along your journey through post-apocalyptic lands. I'll be honest at this point in the review and say that I haven't finished the game yet -- I've made it through five or six of the many, many possible endings but haven't seen everything the game has to offer. (I'll update once I do finish.) I was just incredibly impressed by the level of quality and finish that this team brought to the game. The writing is also very evocative, not to mention the worldbuilding. Stunning work!

After playing (and loving) another of Charm Cochran's games last year, I became really excited to see Retool Looter, and I wasn't disappointed. Counterfeit Monkey is an absolute classic in the genre, and this scratches that same itch. Without spoiling too much, the main idea in the game is that you use a word reverser to rescue your colleagues who have been disguised as objects. The built-in hint system (your person in the van, Kay, who had been turned into a yak) feels organic and helpful without being too much. I also love Val's commentary. The writing is really fun, and Kay's quirks never felt tired. I was extremely impressed with how smooth, seamless, and logical most of the puzzles were. There were many small details that show a level of polish I was delighted to discover and reward exploring and playing with the world. (For instance, *every object* has a texture. Love it!)

However, there were a few moments that I felt could have been addressed better. In a couple instances of conversation where you're given a numbered list with selectable prompts, after giving me the response, it would produce an error. Also, in a game where the puzzling was so intuitive -- impressive in a genre famous for needing to read the author's mind -- there were a few towards the end that really stumped me and I had to turn to a guide to solve. (For instance, I knew I had to (Spoiler - click to show)create a hammer with some of our collected materials, especially since the ATTACH verb was cued earlier, but even after I did so, it was unclear what to do with it. I don't believe making LOOTS was possible before, so I had to turn to a walkthrough for it. These are really minor criticisms here, though, notable only because the rest of it was so polished and intuitive. Another fantastic piece from Cochran, and I'm excited to see what'll come next!

I have a huge soft spot for this game since it's one of the first IF pieces I've played, but I think it holds up quite well. You play as Xanadu Magoo, and you're trying to get revenge and break into an enemy compound. The puzzles are really creative and clever, avoiding the lock-and-key repetitiveness that can befall other games. The chase sequence is especially fun and feels quite tense and breathtaking -- quite rare for this medium! I think the problems, though, are also quite obvious. I don't have a problem with the opening sequence, as others had, but the USE command is *rough*. It's a good catch-all, but the ending sequence had me throwing my hands up in frustration several times, not because I didn't know how to solve it, but because I couldn't figure out the specific wording. In any case, these feel like relatively minor issues, especially since XanMag was generous enough in replying to me on another IF forum regarding my questions. Overall, this is just such a zany, fun romp and I'll always love it for being a perfect introduction to IF.

The premise of Studio is simple: for lore reasons only hinted at, your safe house studio apartment has been broken into by an armed intruder looking to kill you. (It's technically not all one room since there's a bathroom, but it's close enough.) You spend your run(s) in a tense thought game of cat-and-mouse as you and the intruder creep around each other in the tiny studio apartment.

Your playthrough begins with you having just moved into your new studio apartment. Here you have as much time as you like to explore, and Charm Cochran takes care to incorporate a surprising level of character depth, should you choose to look for it. Some of it is given to you with the REMEMBER command, but others are easily missed (Spoiler - click to show)like the text messages to her handler. Her quirky nighttime routine is a fantastic way of infusing character into a tutorial, and attention to detail is rewarded.

Then once night falls, you understand how justified her paranoia is. The intruder NPC is smart and reactive to your own choices, making him feel like a real threat. The game itself (Spoiler - click to show)takes place in mere moments as the main character plans her escape (another lovely character detail!) and this framing device allows for many interesting playthroughs. Playing the game once through is short - it doesn't take that long to get just one of the endings - but I found myself playing for hours, resetting the scenario over and over again to try everything the apartment has to offer. After a few runs, I suggest (Spoiler - click to show)restarting the game altogether so you can prepare your studio apartment for the night to come.

This game is very polished. The CSS enhances the nerve-racking mood without being distracting, and Cochran has taken care to reward unusual decisions -(Spoiler - click to show)I was surprised when standing outside the door when the police arrive gave unique lines!. The puzzles aren't punishingly difficult, but aren't immediately obvious. There is lots that can be missed even with several playthroughs (Spoiler - click to show)like many of the radio stations. If you like atmospheric games with vivid writing that you can come back to again and again, this is for you!