Reviews by Wei Yuan Lee

This was a fun game that got me out of my IF funk. The design was well done with the chapter and links, but the pictures were not full enough, so when I scrolled down I would find a huge black bar, but then my computer screen is freaking large, so that might not be the same for everyone. However, image wise, it served the story well. The passages and writing were also nicely placed in the middle, with adequate padding, making for an easy on the eyes read, except for some parts where there were picture backgrounds, the text were a bit hard to read since they had no shadows.

Story wise, it's kind of cliched, a bit over dramatic, but it was fun to read. I will admit that I got a little confused with the flashbacks but I partly blame that on myself. My mind wanders often when I read on my computer.

It's a mystery game about a man who loses his girlfriend suddenly, for no reason and doesn't understand why she hasn't returned. So he looks for clues, only to find the answers brought even more questions than before or they were completely defiant against his pleas.

The game is linear but the choices allow the player to interact with the story by choosing their own dialogue and it also has 2 or 3 "explore the room" scenes and journal entries that delve into the past of one of the characters. So there is plenty to look at, to skim through, that give off the rush and desperation to find a loved one.

Pros: nice interface
Cons: some bugs here and there, such as misspellings and picture backgrounds that aren't long enough and some might find the story kind of silly. And TW for mentions of abuses to one of the women in the game.

This is a short story, nostalgic, bittersweet, and burned at the edges with a war candle type of story. It's about a woman who falls in love with another woman, who's more powerful, in a historic Argentina that most people don't know about. It's also a family drama, the main character isolated and alone knowing she's kind of like the black sheep of the family being the only one who is unmarried. Now, I have read some South American literature that took place in Chile, but not much about Argentina. But I know what happened was very tragic and similar in the fact that it had to do with corrupt government and war (although i could be wrong on this.) And this story gives a slight glimpse. The story is beautifully written, if you take out the CSS, you would probably find it as novelette in one of those artsy small presses I love so much that sell translated Latinx literature.

Pros: beautiful CSS and writing.
Cons: mmm can't think of any except there was a bug towards the end of the game causing me to switch browsers. Which isn't that big of an issue because it's not unknown that Twine doesn't work in certain browsers.

A darkly atmospheric twine game about a cult. It's a short survival story about a person who tries to escape from the horrific disasters created by a vengeful god. I also think the character might have powers or had powers due to some sort of betrayal against god. I got something like an X-Men vibe, the cult thing in 1Q84, and something like The Giver? (What really bad comparisons.) But the prose of this game is quite lovely and the game is intimate despite its doomed ending. It holds onto you until the flames eat you.

Pros: original and dark game about a cult.
Cons: Mmm. None I can think of.

A short detective game with immaculate CSS, graphics, and a Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. This is a surreal twine game about a psychic detective and a dead person tracking down their killer. Your choices determine whether this chase for the killer ends in failure or success. The writing is succinct for the genre and is a short length story. But there were also some concepts thrown in such as folklore, I believe its Icelandic or something from Alaska? And there were no explanations for these, it just felt thrown in. But overall the game is solid, just a tad rushed.

Pros: Clear, clean, impressive graphics and CSS along with atmospheric songs by Nine Inch Nails.
Cons: Rushed story.

A fantasy/thriller story about werewolves. The game has two screens, one side written in classical style and the other side written in a contemporary style. I believe even the font is different to accentuate the difference in time period and prose. I loved this, I'm not a person who reads werewolf stories, but this is actually a fairytale, the prose is vivid and there's a sense of fear as the characters search for this person or are running away from something. Although I will admit that due to the double screen aspect and the fact that I read this a few days ago, I'm a little confused about the plot, but I took this as sort of an epic poem. It really is a beauty.

Pros: beautiful, lurid prose. Fantasy genre.
Cons: Some might not like the double screen aspect.

A comfy, mountain climbing Twine game. I guess what you would call this is static fiction? It's a short story about a mother climbing a mountain to find a cure for her daughter's illness. You explore areas on her way to the top and visit a village. There isn't really much to say other than that it's a light-hearted short story. There is interactivity to the game, there are choices that may change some wordings or circumstances to the traveling, but I don't think there's any change to the ending. But overall, there is interactivity. However, I don't think there is more than one ending which is not unusual or bad for an IF game as there is a genre of visual novels, called Kinetic novels, which does much of the same.

Pros: A cozy short story with nice background pictures and clear CSS and prose.

Cons:mmm. I can't remember if there's any.

A short twiney jam game about motor cycle gangs. It has at least 3-4 endings. Due to the word limit of 300, it's a fast-paced,cutthroat action game. And it manages to pull it off nicely. These games usually fall flat to me. But this was a fun, high-speed choice scenario.

Pros: Short, nice viewable CSS.
Cons: Not much I can think of.

This is one of my fave Twine games, I was in love with the cycling links and convos and how each response gave a drastically different ending. It takes place in a post-apoc world where you and your husband are in a wagon deciding on what to do at this end of the world day.

The CSS is a cute lime green and has the sound of I think water in the background?

Pros: An enjoyable, short dialogue driven game.
Cons: I can't really think of any?

This is a short, post-apocalyptic Dynamic IF. You are escaping from an unknown force and you reminisce of those you are leaving behind. But someone is waiting for you at the end.

The game is short but felt quite long to me since this is dynamic fiction and the writer managed to write a full world in 23 passages. I liked how the CSS was the color of escaping dirt and dust, but the coloring was nice, tolerable, pleasing to the eye. It's a dark brown with an autumn orange text.

There were parts where you clicked links that led to other links and then somehow along the way you end up reading something you've already read. Which happens sometimes but there were times where I was actually lost. But I guess this may have been a puzzle mechanic? Which is common in IF, where you will go through a maze of links and choices to eventually find that ending and that's not actually a bad thing.

Pros: A fun Sci-Fi. I was slightly reminded of Marie Lu's Legend for some odd reason.
Cons: Some people might find the clicking in between the passages a little confusing.

Ruiness is a cosmic fantastical journey. You get to choose your character and explore different routes of a world that I sort of interpreted as desert like but also with really shiny temples and cities. The game kind of reminded me of all of my fave JRPGs, I can think of Phantasy Star and even the latest Xenoblade game.

There's also sort of an existential theme to it, at least this is how I interpret it from the ending I've gotten. Despite all the suffering you go through, in the end, hopefully, you will reach serenity.

She also makes this ingenious text map for you to travel to other places. The game overall has a very ambient feel to it despite some bleak existential feels.

It's freaking Porpentine just play it.

Pros: A RPG journey with nice graphics and innovative use of Twine.
Cons: I think one time I played this game and ran into a bug but that was a long time ago so I don't know if it's there anymore.