Ratings and Reviews by Cerfeuil

Played this one a while ago and can't stop thinking about it. Didn't expect much from the description, but the start is immediately engaging with its wonderful design, both in sound and appearance, and the 'you wake up amnesiac' plot hook (an oldie but goodie). Then the moment you think you've found your footing, it pulls you out into the Lovecraft Inn, and then.... I'll admit the system of switching between fiction and reality is a little jank, and there are some quirks of the game's behavior that I'm not sure are intentional. For example, (Spoiler - click to show)you can sell the suitcase, then ride the ferris wheel to get it back. (I also don't know what the suitcase was supposed to do, think I sold it then left the story so I couldn't get on the ferris wheel again. Whoops.) Is that a glitch? The game never tells you how everything is supposed to work—it would ruin the fun, after all—so I have no idea.

But generally speaking: As I learned to play the system, switching between hotel and story to shift things on both ends, I got more and more into it. So many satisfying parallels between fiction and reality, and the weird details thrown in there are excellently creepy. Especially the carnival. Sh*t gets wack, yo. And the ending is excellent.

Great sense of place, uncanny aesthetic (as befitting the name!), clever writing and puzzles. Didn't even notice the Dante's Inferno allusions until I saw one of the other reviews pointing it out.

A classic 'explore mysteriously abandoned spaceship' game: solve puzzles and figure out what happened to the crew. Rather simple story, featuring the generically named CORPORATION UNLIMITED as driving force for the plot. The AI was the most interesting character, but we barely get to see him. (I am biased towards AI characters, so take that with a grain of salt.)

Puzzles were well-balanced if a bit obvious, with hints galore telling you what you need to do. Didn't have trouble with any, thought the logic/math puzzles at the end were tedious. Not generally fond of puzzles you can solve by feeding into a computer. But the writing has a nice humorous touch and decent atmosphere, despite the rare typo. I liked the wacky corporate ship names, Silver Lining and Charitable Donation, and I bet there are other ships with names like Synergy or Paradigm Shift. 4/5 for presentation and because I'm fond of abandoned spaceships.

Playtime: about 50 minutes. Ended with (Spoiler - click to show)'Humanitarian' after 7 loops, where you bring the crew back and save the ship, because I refuse to trust that shady corporate AI. Discovered 2/3 dumb (and funny) ways to die. I'm satisfied with my ending, so doubt I'll play again.

Favorite quote:

> > 3. About CORPORATION UNLIMITED
>
> CORPORATION UNLIMITED was founded in the year 2072 by [redacted]
>
> It [redacted]
>
> Despite the [redacted]
>
> DOC reads the screen behind you.
>
> "Interesting! Several years ago CORPORATION UNLIMITED made their GREAT TRANSPARENCY PROMISE. I'm sure it'll take effect any day now."

(Let me guess: that transparency is never gonna happen.)