Reviews by Felix Pleșoianu
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A game that's flawed in interesting ways, December 6, 2012I wanted to play A Martian Odyssey ever since I noticed it was apparently written by another Romanian author. Stupid reason, but there you have it.
Unfortunately, the game suffers from misplaced priorities. The 50-megabyte download is all due to a long ambient/electronica soundtrack, which is nice, but hardly essential. Worse, it can't be turned off in-game, and it gets loud at some point. No offense, but I don't want to turn off my speakers because of a single application. Give me a sound-less version and I'll be sure to play it further. A few more verbs wouldn't hurt either. Did no-one think to try "radio Harrison" in beta?
On to the good parts: retro sci-fi is sufficiently rare that it feels fresh here, and I'd like to see that angle developed. Terse writing doesn't bother me either, and there's a cast of characters who actually feel alive and interesting, at least initially. (I didn't get far at all.) And while it was jarring to find unimplemented nouns, that at least told me what wasn't important; in more polished games, it's all too easy to waste countless turns poking and prodding at irrelevant scenery. Though on second thought that's arguably a part of the fun.
No, I can't give the game as it stands more than two stars. But I think it does have some potential, if only the aforementioned annoyances were fixed.
P.S. I'd like to know more about the author. Is he also the composer? Did the soundtrack inspire the game? It does help create mood...
Lettres Volées as played during the French IFComp 2008, March 19, 2011Lettres Volées ("Stolen Letters") is the kind of game you can't write much about without giving spoilers. Let's just say it's a game in which you're not moving in space but in time. That's very rare in IF, despite the fact that time tracking is well-supported by Inform, at the very least.
Essentially, we're talking about a one-room game where descriptions change constantly. As time passes, you remember more relevant information about the surrounding objects, and you're offered more things to do with them. As a nice touch, the location itself is only described indirectly, through said objects. Artistically speaking, this works very well. Lettres volées does a great job of setting a mood and making an indirectly-discovered world come to life.
On the minus side, what I'm supposed to do in the game is despicable. I had to turn to the solution to even realize what was expected of me, and I still don't understand why I should be interested in doing it. And what's with all the waiting? I know there's a reason for it, but the third or fourth time it's no longer funny. Either I'm not on the author's wavelength, or else Lettres... needs a lot more clues. And I mean in-game, not in the hint system!
I could not reach the end in time for the voting deadline, (or afterwards, for that matter) but I hope to return to it someday, if only to see what other surprises the game has in store.
Brume as played in the French IFComp 2008, March 19, 2011While the English interactive fiction community regards long, elaborate works as an ideal, French authors seem to prefer small but well-made games (Ekphrasis being the exception that strengthens the rule). Brume is an escape-the-locked-room puzzle, very simple, but almost flawless. Except for a couple of unimplemented objects and an overwrought blurb, I have no complaint.
The game is made to convey a particular mood, and it does so with a carefully designed environment and short, well-written descriptions. The timed mood messages and occasional sudden deaths (they're undoable...) help, too. The puzzles are very basic, which is just the way I like them, but since the game is so small, more red herrings would not have been out of place. The author has clearly mastered the basics of text adventure authoring. I recommend just a little more ambition next time.
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