Reviews by Andromache

I finished the game with a near perfect score. Much of it was done without the hints. In fact, I didn't need them to actually win. I just used them for some checking to make sure I didn't miss anything. The puzzles were that intuitive. I only found one minor bug. (Spoiler - click to show)Since I managed to get the cube late in the game, after stunning Leela, she was out cold but was still able to point it out when I boarded the shuttle to leave. If I wanted to replay the game, I could probably get a perfect score, but since the endings weren't all that interesting, I'm not inclined to.

Technically, the game played very well. But story, setting, and characters all didn't work for me. I didn't care for the player character, didn't like Elysium, and especially didn't like the NPCs there. (Spoiler - click to show)Soolin and Andrew would have made a better couple, IMO. Because I didn't like Elysium, I couldn't feel all that bad about the tragedy that happened over two hundred years ago, for which the Elder still holds the Empire accountable. Yes, they did wrong, but no need to blame Andrew. And I knew Leela was hiding something when I found her camp. Besides, didn't the Elders kill Mark? This really wasn't a place or a role I enjoyed inhabiting, and because it was so distasteful, I can't be as kind as I know the game deserves. (Spoiler - click to show)But I like the idea of the drik. What a handy tool. I want one.

Being from Hawaii and having read Whale Rider, "Aotearoa" was on my watch list once I was made aware of its existence. It plays much like "Blue Lacuna" in terms of parsing, so I adapted to the keyword system pretty easily. I like it, and definitely appreciated all the scenery and background information implemented. I mean, even down to a guardrail.

This game was so easy I did not need to resort to hints. There was never a case where I wandered around wondering what I’d missed. I was also told explicitly what to do and why some solution or other wouldn’t work. I really appreciate those sorts of feedback responses, so I know at least I’m on the right track and just need to fix whatever the problem is.

Again, being from Hawaii, I am familiar with Maui and some of the stories about him. I also recognized some words, like "tapu" ("kapu" in Hawaiian), mana (same in Hawaiian), and "taro" ("kalo.") Also, "atua" ("akua.") I appreciated the history and backstory implemented into the menus. Helped to flesh out the game world. And naming the animals was lots of fun. (Spoiler - click to show)Riding the Notoceratops and the scene where we’re staring at each other for magical, spiritually connected moments is something I won’t soon forget. Such a mighty, magnificent creature - deadly but also friendly at the same time. I named mine Boga, because it kind of reminded me of Obi-Wan’s battle mount in Star Wars Episode III.

Characterization’s not that deep, but what’s there is very engaging. (Spoiler - click to show)I liked looking at Tim’s backpack and piecing together his backstory and getting to talk to the captain and Eruera about themselves. Speaking of Eruera, I really liked him. He was a great mentor for Tim and I could see him becoming an adopted dad, since he’s got his aunt. Having Tim be the one to help Eruera and having Eruera encourage Tim with stories and tidbits of Maori culture really helped me to bond with him and made me feel empowered. It was also comforting to have an adult there who was calm and practical. The nanakia was cute. I confess I was laughing at the poacher when the nanakia was getting the better of him, and the end sequence being chased by poachers is really well done. There’s not a move to waste, and a fair amount of ways to die. Adds to the urgency that there’s really no time to try to explore, but it’s not exactly a timed puzzle that requires a lot of trial and error. Was rather fun to plow into the jeep and kill the poachers inside. I hope that dinosaur got away and destroyed the place. I think it’s implied it did, but we don’t see it conclusively.

I highly recommend this game. Good writing, enjoyable characters, and I appreciate that while this is a game that reads like juvenile/young adult fiction, I don’t feel excluded or patronized. This sort of thing would probably make an entertaining cartoon. A great effort.

This is my second time playing "Worlds Apart" and it was an incredible, cathartic experience. It just pressed all the right buttons for me. Yes, I needed the Hints twice - once because I genuinely didn’t know what I was supposed to do, thinking I’d tried everything, and the second time was that I hadn’t realized one of the items was useable in a certain way. (Spoiler - click to show)Specifically, getting rid of the guardian and using the globe. But the rest of the puzzles were solvable pretty intuitively. That being said, the Hints system is one of the best I’ve seen. Context-sensitive, gives hints little by little, and it remembers where you left off if you call it up again. No need to go through all the hint revealing again.

There’s some disorientation because there’s no explanation about the game world. Player character knows more than the player and the game narration doesn’t really elaborate on setting, races, culture, etc. However, these things can be pieced together with character interactions and there’s more of a sense of being there because of the lack of initial exposition. Still, separate documentation about the basic races, continents, and social structure would be nice from the start, so that names and places aren’t confusing.

The game was completely accessible. The status actually had a command, which more games should implement. Some screen readers cannot access game status lines, and if compass directions are put there, it’s pretty useless for a blind player. Also, menus are number-based, which is the most useable for blind players. True menus do not work well with any Mac interpreter, that’s for sure. As a blind player, this aspect alone would make me rate it higher than I otherwise would. But even without these considerations, I still give it a perfect score. This is just icing on the cake.

Interestingly, the game map is tiny, yet the content is huge. It does help that the world changes often, so due to repeated exploration, it’s a good thing the map is small. Flashbacks are implemented well, and the tutorial for using unconventional abilities for the player character was cleverly done. There was an in-character reason to have it, so it felt seamless.

But I think the best aspects of this game were story and characterization. The people are definitely distinct, believable, and evoke strong emotions. (Spoiler - click to show)I had Lyesh sever ties with Yuri and found I didn’t feel all that bad. It was like, "You don’t need a coward for a friend." But I could also see it in Lyesh’s character to forgive him. Then I had Lyesh go and help Lia, since I reasoned she still cares for the girl. In fact, my thinking is she still cherished the memories of Yuri, but she was an adult now and it was better for her to just complete the separation that he started. My favorite character would have to be Saal, though. A warrior but not cruel; a lover of tricks but not dishonest; a predator but compassionate; someone with agendas but not to use people. It’s neat to be able to talk to the characters and ask them about things I’ve seen and heard and get a lot of information that way.

The story, though, had elements I adore. A close-knit mother/daughter, mentor/student relationship; special abilities; losing friends and making new ones; transitioning from codependence to independence and empowerment; bonds that last forever; and a bit of pain just to make things interesting. (Spoiler - click to show)There is even a winged serpent in the game, and I *love* that. I have a fascination with snakes and reptiles. And I tend to prefer dragons that are serpentine as opposed to lizard-like and fire-breathing. Truly, this game had everything I enjoy: integrated puzzles, a knapsack to satisfy my packrat tendencies (at least in IF), in-character puzzles, vivid and reasonable characters (not dysfunctional), and a story that left me feeling cleansed and comforted.

This was a cute and satisfying game. Fluffy. If that’s not to your taste, you may really dislike the game. But when you have cats with nine tails and a pseudo fantasy feel with American cultural references shamelessly borrowed, it’s kind of to be expected. This is light entertainment and it was nice to play a treasure hunt game with a story. You can choose to play as a mage, warrior, or rogue and as a male or female. I played as a rogue female. One day, I will probably try playing again as a different class. I liked the rogue character and the items were well-imagined. Even the characters, while nothing deep, were distinct because each one had specific personality traits. Writing is spare, but mostly error-free.

I did need the walkthrough for a couple puzzles and there were some minor bugs. (Spoiler - click to show)Jeremiad is still reported to be in the garden after you free him. If you ask Threnody about the impossible cube, she talks about symbols that aren’t even on it. It’s as if it’s the wrong conversation or the puzzle used to be different but the advice was never changed to reflect the revised cube. As for the puzzles I had difficulty with, one of them was purely a "guess the verb" problem. The other one I probably could have gotten if I went through my items more methodically. I just didn’t want to bother taking the time. Also, there’s one unfair area that gives no indication you’ve missed a treasure. I would not have gotten it without the walkthrough. It’s not clued at all that I can remember, or only clued once and not a part of the room description. That’s a major failing. And be advised you don't need every item you can pick up, so it can be overwhelming. At least, inventory is not limited that I found.

Unfortunately, because of the specific wording required to reach the optimal ending and clearly not enough beta testing, I have to rate this lower than I would have liked. I don’t regret playing it, but I do regret the mechanical problems that made the game a bit more difficult than it needed to be.

Based on prior reviews, I was uncertain whether or not to try this game. I got the impression I would like some aspects and dislike others, and I have to conclude that I was correct. But in the end, taken together, it's not really a satisfying ride. Smooth enough to keep me playing to the end, but I found a couple rather glaring bugs which made the game pretty much unwinnable if you didn't have a restore before that section. One of them actually printed a weird error message that should have been caught in beta testing. Travel by landmark was a nice touch, but conversation was sometimes clunky, giving odd responses or errors that a character was unavailable when you're standing in the same location.

I will say that the setting was remarkably rendered. It was neat to play a game where weather and time of day actually matter, and though the interface took some getting used to, I found it convenient and well-implemented for the most part. The vividly imagined environments were described clearly, but not overdone. Specific but not verbose or dull to read.

However, as great as the setting was, the characters and themes were wishy-washy, inconsistent, and frustrating. It was like the author couldn't decide who anyone was. While I understand about the importance of imperfection in crafting compelling characters, this was more like behaving based on whatever feels right at the time. And that's just not enjoyable. (Spoiler - click to show)For example, Rume chastises the player character for painting, for following her own nature, but it's not her fault. If the player tries to have her wake him to explain properly, there's a message that Rume's asleep and you'll say goodbye later. Okay then. So you paint and then Rume just assumes you weren't going to say goodbye at all. And let's say his impassioned plea for you to give up who you are for him is granted. Well, twenty years later, after your daughter abandons you to pursue her own life in anger and impatience, the player character is in turn abandoned by Rume, who says he must follow his own nature. And he doesn't say goodbye. No. He's gone and leaves a letter. Hypocrite much? And the same goes for Progue. Sometimes, he's submissive and deferential and sometimes surly. At the end of the game, it's even more jarring because the game tells you his attitude is submissive but he's willing to attack the player on his own initiative. He also scolds the player for not helping him when earlier, he said he hadn't Called her, and then uses the fact she didn't help him when he needed her as some twisted justification for why he deserves to get his way. It's flat-out emotional blackmail. It's true that people don't always act predictably, but
actions and words really should match up better. If you say a character feels a certain way toward you, that should be borne out consistently unless something dramatic changes the mood. And I don't just mean disagreement. That's not enough. It was like the characters had to do things to make the plot go a certain way, so weird contrivances without proper explanation or foreshadowing had to be used. If the player cannot tell the character they're controlling to do something, it is unfair and annoying to then blame the player for not doing it.

(Spoiler - click to show)And then there's the weird dichotomy between art and love, which I don't think are mutually exclusive. Love or hate, art or science, friend or foe. These make sense. But it's very possible to be capable of both love and art, and if anything, I think they enhance each other.

The endings, too, didn't work for me. I think they might have worked better if I could actually respect and like anyone, but as it was, everyone was selfish and manipulative, to a greater or lesser degree. They either ran away from their problems, blamed the player character for not doing as they wanted, or abandoned the player character when they no longer needed her.

"Lacuna" is worth playing at least once, for the game world and innovative interface. But don't go in expecting to connect with anyone or to have your horizons expanded. And definitely don't go in thinking you can change the story. You can move through it at your own pace and with your own play style, but you really can't influence how events play out unless you play as a manipulative, dysfunctional person.

I played Babel several years ago. Enough time had passed that I didn’t remember the puzzles, but I did remember I enjoyed the game and was particularly moved by the story. I’m happy to report it is still true.

There were a couple points where I considered looking up hints, but I didn’t need them. Puzzles made sense and I liked how the game was very clear about why something wouldn’t work. (Spoiler - click to show)The radiation puzzle was particularly ingenious, since it was understandable that the machine would be able to talk and report problems, which has the side effect of helping the player follow proper procedures. My only problem was getting the game to understand me sometimes. Wasn’t so much verb guessing as phrasing issues. Sometimes, I had to split commands and let the game ask me for clarification to get what I wanted. But it didn’t happen often and certainly wasn’t frustrating enough to make me stop playing.

Where this game really shines is characterization. I think the characters are some of the most vivid and three-dimensional I have ever seen in the IF I’ve played. While playing, I felt as though I were watching a movie. I think there was the right blend of story and puzzles. Some games, such as those that have a lot of conversation, feel like I’m reading a book and am just there to press the right buttons and turn pages. I feel like I should just read a book. I’d get more story at one time. Babel gave a sense of purpose interspersed with cut scenes that gradually fleshed out a dramatic and tragic tale. (Spoiler - click to show)Admittedly, the calendar felt contrived, but I can forgive that since it was useful for the overall story. All the characters had good and bad traits; everyone was culpable for what happens in the story. It’s not like you can say one person was the mastermind and everyone else just went along. Setting was well done; there was definitely a sense of isolation and a quiet, creeping horror that doesn’t overdo it on the overt graphic images. I came away feeling just as I did last time - horrified but in a satisfied way. The ending felt fair, right, with just the right amount of pain to add an emotional component. Think of Anakin Skywalker and his subsequent failure, and you have Babel.

I'm starting to think games with a Christian component really aren't for me. I always end up feeling dissatisfied and conflicted, that ultimately, I'm somehow to blame for having an IF mindset or an ethical code. I understand that in Vespers' case, it was kind of unavoidable, but I'm still left feeling like I've been judged unfairly. Maybe I am just angry that none of the endings I found were really to my liking.

The best thing about the game was how the monastery and monks change over time. You really get a sense of how inexorable their fate is. However, implementation is uneven. I enjoyed the changing scenery but then would fetch up and be thrown out of the story when I asked someone about something and got an answer that didn't make sense considering what the PC knows or how he's interacted with the person. I also felt like some of the disgusting imagery could have been toned down, that it served little purpose but to be revolting. I'm aware the Plague is going on, but it was just so raw and unrelenting. Not to mention none of the characters are really likable.

This was one game I did not need hints for. That was nice. There are plenty of ways to die, and some timed puzzles, but if you cultivate a habit of saving games, it's not that much of a problem. It's not like you have to play really far back. They are just sections that take trial and error to get past. Somehow, this was not frustrating, since every time you die, you get clued in on what you did wrong. So the puzzles were satisfying and logical.

In the end, I don't feel very edified by this game's experience. I would not replay, even though there are other ways through it. (Spoiler - click to show)I got the middle path, but you can also be excessively evil or try to be the Christian your character is. My advice: Heed the disclaimer in the game menu. I made the mistake of thinking the gore wouldn't be so bad. It gets worse as the game progresses.

My predominant mood after finishing this game is one of contemplation. I am not getting where the horror or sorrow mentioned by others comes into play. But I found all the possible endings without much trouble, and each of them says something about the player character as a person. I found that the character was both believable and easily identified with. There is a dark side to her that I could appreciate, as well as a dutifulness that I could respect.

The writing is rather spare and minimalist. In fact, there aren't really many places to explore. But IF conventions are honored. You're told what you need to do, and cut scenes give relevant backstory but are vague enough to have the player wondering what's being alluded to. Even now, I'm unsure about a few points. Perhaps reading more about the game will bring some insight.

Really, though, the central point of this game is a moral choice, so emotional impact comes from the various endings.

There are no puzzles in this game. Everything you need to do is simply achieved, so that all focus goes to the story and setting. But setting falls down for me because not everything was implemented. (Spoiler - click to show)The reeds rustle, but you can't hear the river. No ability to touch things, either.

I think there are clear links between the tasks at the beginning of the game and the protagonist's backstory, as well as a juxtaposition, a mirroring, of reality and the character's internal monologue. This creates a pleasing symmetry.

Because of the sparse prose, which doesn't really do it for me aesthetically, I rated this game as average. But it has a good story and doesn't take any significant time. Everyone should play it at least once. Not much commitment and worth it for anyone who cares about the literary side of IF.

Edit: I upped the rating because the impact really hit me hours after finishing the game, when I realized I was still thinking about it. (Spoiler - click to show)The horrifying barbarism probably perpetrated on innocent children and unfortunate mothers.

"Sunset" was a breathtaking journey of beautiful imagery, some humorous game responses to wrong solutions, and a wonderful blend of realism and fantasy that somehow worked.

I wish I could give this five stars, but there were some puzzles that weren't well-clued and there were a few sections where I spent time wandering around and around trying to figure out what I hadn't done. The frustrating thing was that I had to look up hints for puzzles which I should have been able to accomplish on my own but for precise actions that had me needing to read the author's mind. The puzzles were clued, but the problem was that it's only in hindsight that you see that. If just playing the game, the clues feel like a part of the scenery description and don't necessarily prompt you to act on them.

On the upside, some puzzles had alternate solutions, which I ended up finding, so it wasn't necessary to find all the possible items. And there are a lot of items that are just red herrings, so don't expect to need all of them.

Oh, another thing I found frustrating was that you can only carry limited amounts of items, which means a lot of picking up and dropping and walking back and forth if you happened to be missing something you needed for a puzzle.

I also found some minor bugs. (Spoiler - click to show)I was digging with a sieve, but the text said I was using a shingle. When I tried to tie something to myself, it said I couldn't, and if I tied the object to my arm, it said I'd attached it to my wrist. There is a point where you can't take any more glass bottles from the pile. If underwater in the diving bell, if you type "exit bell," you leave the bell but don't lose any oxygen. Because of these text errors, some solutions were kind of spoiled.

Beware the hint system. It can be spoilery. And I don't mean in the sense that it gives away solutions. The various objectives are listed specifically and not really context-sensitive, so if you call them up, you'll get glimpses into puzzles you may not have figured out exist yet.

Still, the writing is excellent and the emotional impact of the various discoveries the player character makes is lasting and memorable. (Spoiler - click to show)Two of my favorites are the sleeping dragon and the crystal castle. And I got a perverse satisfaction out of killing and eating the crab. The setting and immersion are well done, with nice touches of color and detail that made the game world come alive. Emphasis on how the player character feels both physically and emotionally was a fun twist, and helped in identification and understanding. Also liked the option to list exits all the time. I hate the, "You can't go that way."

The strength of the literary aspect of the game is what makes this game recommended. If not for that, the game would have been three stars because of the puzzle frustration.

This game is difficult to review because there's so much to think about in terms of story. The setting, atmosphere, and writing is superb. I truly felt like I was in the story - while I played, I could easily envision the feel of tower walls and the sounds evoked by the text. The thing I loved best about this game was that you could touch everything and get short descriptions of what you felt. Same with listening and smelling things when appropriate. As many senses as possible were engaged, and that is rare to see in the IF I've played.

The story itself, from what I could piece together of the hints, is a tragic one. The tower is symbolic of your character's inability to accept, to let go, to forgive himself. As you play through, there is a fun revelation going on, where each new discovery fleshes out the character's backstory more and more, but you never get anything really concrete. It's all implicit. Still, I found the character to be both sympathetic and likable. The tower is pretty small, but choices you make in terms of how you solve puzzles impacts the various endings.

The puzzles were intuitive. There was one that I got stuck on how to word my command. I knew what I wanted to do but had a devil of a time getting the game to understand me. I managed it in the end without hints, but it did cause some frustration. But don't let that put you off. I know which combination of choices produces my personal optimal ending, and having seen several of them, a little more of the backstory gets revealed the more endings you see. It's possible to finish the game without solving all the puzzles, but this produces a less satisfying ending. Puzzles are well-clued based on the writing, however, so it's not really possible to not know what to do. The puzzles feel natural and not intrusive, made to serve the story, just the way I like it.

I think this is a good beginning game; something that showcases what IF can be when it's done well; why there are people who choose to play a story in such a medium instead of one where things are explicitly drawn for them. IF should provide the immersion and escape of a good book, along with the emotional engagement and food for thought of great literature. This game does that, and it's short enough to replay for the endings. Everyone should give this a try.