Reviews by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano
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A study of an android-like character who has sharply attuned senses, October 21, 2020Sense of Harmony tells the story of a woman who may be an android, but more importantly seeks to balance emotional labor with her own needs, all while she seems to get closer to an understanding of her past.
I enjoyed the”sense system” idea, with data storage blocks color coded by sense that pop up to highlight or expand on different experiences for the character. There’s also some very solid world building, and polish in the setting and design.
While I like that senses play a key role, the boxes that pop up repeatedly create a lot of cognitive load and perhaps could be used more sparingly (at one point, the descriptive link “you’re alone” triggers a sense box for Hearing that reads: “Confirmed”). Also, the main narrative doesn’t have as much momentum as I had hoped for between the sense boxes, backstory boxes, and scenes whose dialogue and choice points are slow-moving and sometimes feel too low-stakes given the rich setting.
A retelling of the Phantom of the Opera story in a modern setting, October 21, 2020As one might expect, Phantom retells the classic story, this time in a modern setting and fully from the perspective of Christine as she navigates opera house intrigue and encounters the titular singing tutor.
The story has very solid writing and characterization, with a Christine and Phantom that feel fully fleshed out. The scene-level approach to structuring choice points is also polished and a bit reminiscent of the Choice of Games style, usually presenting alternative approaches for overcoming an obstacle.
The flip side of this is that the game is very text heavy, with relatively few choice points and interactivity—it could have used some mini-scenes with lower stakes choices to create more dynamism. Also, something minor, but the musical component didn’t work well on my browser, only playing during the first and last scenes and cutting off abruptly after a bit in both cases.
A spooky piece of dynamic fiction, October 21, 2020Babyface uses interaction and multimedia effects to craft a bone-chilling horror story about someone returning to their hometown to investigate family secrets.
The game has very high production values with fades, music, photos, link replacements, and design that all helped to create a foreboding feeling. There is also solid pacing and build up in tension throughout the beginning and middle of the story.
On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed because while the build up is great, the climax/ending is more confusing than scary to me; it isn’t clear what’s happening, why it’s happening, or what really connects the protagonist to the final events. Also, the forced wait times between passages are a cool idea but occasionally slowed things down too much for me, to frustrating effect.
A cute text conversation narrative, October 21, 2020Mother Tongue tells the story of a character whose mother wants to impart lessons in Tagalog, in the process exploring the ambivalence of what it means for second-generation folks to discover parts of their identity.
I found the framing device of a text conversation very effective; the chat screen and the little moments waiting for a response from the mother help to create a realistic and compelling flow. There’s also good use of subtext to develop the relationship underlying the language lessons.
Though it’s interesting to learn words and grammar in Tagalog, the game’s use of lots of “test” questions makes this sometimes feel more like a language learning app than a game/story. There are great moments where the language lessons serve the narrative, and I wish those had outweighed the more rote testing moments that focus on rule recall.
A mini tabletop RPG quest in choice-based format, October 21, 2020Tavern Crawler is a game that's chock full of fantasy tropes, stat progression, and relationship building as the player follows the intrigue of what happens after a dragon is slayed.
The choice points, descriptive links, and dialogue are great, totally in tune with a tabletop RPG campaign and often feeling like an interaction with a DM. The characterization is also solid, with the two companions being nicely fleshed out. I also enjoyed the UI and the sidebar that tracks stats and notes.
I was a touch disappointed that in my play through the game seemed to encourage moral ambiguity at first, yet choices felt like they mapped to “right” and “wrong” when determining the ending. Another note is that, being a short game, there are lots of elements to track (class, skills, gold, side quest status, dating sim progress, etc.) that are individually cool but could perhaps be pared down for a more focused experience.
A story about a remembrance of relationships past, October 21, 2020In a highly experimental fashion, The Moon Wed Saturn tells a cinematic time-shifting story about a the memory of a relationship between two young women that twists and alters itself as it’s recollected in three separate moments in time.
I enjoyed the idea of an experimental setup that hops between three conversations, and found the story to have a beautifully cinematic quality. The writing is deft and poetic, and I appreciate that choice points often feel like they have no “right” answer—everything has consequences in the past and/or future.
On the downside, it takes a while for the story and interface to gel, with some confusion at first about what’s happening. With the narrative jumping back and forth between conversations, it can also be hard to piece together a sequence of events for the plot. And on replay, the narrative seems to drive toward a single conclusion regardless of choice, which dampens its impact a bit in retrospect.
A beautiful, lived-in short story with light interaction, October 21, 2020Congee is a short game with multimedia elements about a young woman who craves a piece of home while living abroad.
The story features strong, assured writing, with great sense of place and character. And the sleek interactive design with chat window choices and occasional visual asides sets just the right tone to deliver the mood and message of the narrative.
It’s hard to find a negative, other than I wish the game were just a bit longer, expanded to get some more characterization and narrative heft. As it stands, the piece feels closer to flash fiction than short story in impact, but maybe that’s intentional.
A hardboiled story set in a fantasy sand world, October 21, 2020Doppeljobs follows a newly trained doppelgänger who’s trying to make ends meet while avoiding (or seeking) a mysterious sand deity.
I loved the strong, catchy writing and subtle world building within the pulpy genre, as well as the neat framing device where some choices are surrounded by arcane symbols that map to an alternate serpent-related goal—which might turn out badly! There’s great flow to the game, with nice interactivity in each job episode, likely thanks in part to it being written in Inkle.
One thing I would have liked to see is more variety on replay, since the game teases four endings (I found two) yet many things appear to remain constant on subsequent play throughs, like the same sequence of clients and many choices appearing to play out in similar ways.
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