Reviews by namekuseijin
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hypertexter outcast gets revenge on her text-adventure elder pursuers, October 22, 2016As much as I hate to give this thoughtful piece of a fiction just 3-stars, I can't reason how it could be any different: it's not quite interactive, but its fine prose and imaginative setting deserves something. Actually, by the end it turns out to be pretty evident that some kind of metacommentary on the IF community is at the heart of it all and that kinda ruined it to me.
(Spoiler - click to show)A girl is outcast from her village. The eldars actually wanted her dead, but she flees and survives her pursuers, eventually settling on an abandoned hut in the forest. Day after day she lives the miserable life expected from freedom: hunting for food (actually, choosing this or that link), customizing her hut (choosing this or that irrelevant link) and surviving some random encounters with past acquaintances who want her dead and either killing them or fleeing. She also finds a pack of wolves who were supposed to eat her, but don't feel like it and learns not much from it. Then some inevitable day one such encounter with villagers get her nearly killed, but she's helped by some ancient being and cast as some kind of undead. She now can hear spirits and have her vengeance on the village, by destroying the token of their traditions. She's really shown them how not to mess with sacrificial women, bastard eldars. oh, I got end 1, but no achievements unlocked, too bad.
anyway, I really liked the beginning and I liked the prose. Good writing is always scant in IF these days all with twitter fiction fans and all. But I felt that second person singular did nothing to me here. I was never under the illusion I could actually do anything, it didn't engage me into it. And while prose is good, there's not enough of a story there. The prose goes all about into trying to set the mood, to set you in the shoes of the character by lots of sensations, smells, tactile feedback thrown at you. It was almost like text VR! unfortunately, did little to me. Which is weird to say because I took quite some time with this one, so in a way, I was pretty engaged.
But now I've seen most of it and felt like I accomplished little here. I did have 2 parallel playthroughs with it, so I know there's lots of text you only see one way or the other, if one enjoys multibranching hypertext.
BTW, I truly loved the visual style of it. gorgeous and mood setting typography. at least that twine gets right. or is it plain css? anyway...
the primordial user agency verb taken to a whole new level, October 15, 2016I started playing this one and it felt like Midnight Swordfight - let's call it MS - all over: a weird setting not immediately recognizable that takes a while to digest with a constrained verb list. I hate this "modern" take on parser games to be constrained to a few verbs, perhaps a sinister plot by twine jihadists to constrain parser to "clicks". But here, as in MS, it works. Apart from that - and from swordfight - they are very unlike each other. And I quite enjoyed this one. my somewhat spoilery review follows...
In MS, I never felt quite connected to the story: you kind of view the whole thing from an audience's point of view, being able to interact with scenery and "script" your way through some kind of play. Here, something ironic and strange is going on: take is the primary verb, but it's not used in its usual and traditional parser-IF agency-setting way, but it's supposed to be your take on things happening around you. You don't take things, you write your take on them to some mysterious audience eager for some kind of perverse reality show. Who are the audience? why, certainly we, the players. The protagonist keeps us enthralled by his descriptions and we write back and with our feedback, he lives on. something metaphorical here...
Despite lacking apparent user agency, your take on things is what keeps you alive: you're some kind of clone or android - with the audience always in contact to you via some monitor (probably text-only) installed between your ribs. Yeah, the setting is kind of disturbing. So, either you keep them enthralled by your takes or you're history. Choosing your takes is the challenge. So, ironically, this is choose-your-own-takes in parser form to great user agency effect. :)
The story goes from the point of view of what looks like a gladiator in his late years, a fading star in his profession still into this for his skills in taking anything - including opponent blows. It seems there is indeed nothing he can't take and taking it graciously to his audience to keep them enthralled is what the gameplay is all about. I found the setting pretty fascinating by itself, and the narrator is clever enough to keep it gripping. Finely crafted prose at work here.
The pacing is quite linear and although there are a few physical locations with their own props, you don't move with cardinal directions, you're moved through the scenes in time. Like most other games in IF Comp this year, it looks like a short game because they forgo long linear plots with single solutions in favor of a multibranching solution space, where many paths may be rewarding in their own. It has quite high replay value and you keep playing to see where other branches might lead you. Not quite a puzzlefeast, but still got enough beef to keep you wondering...
one of the best this year, hands down.
Btw, earlier I called the player character a "he": it's not quite that and it's only when we take the point of view of the adversary that we can understand the meaning to the empty sheath and fragility of the old gladiator. There's quite a lot to digest in what looks like simple uncompromised fun here. Some playthroughs are a must.
And btw, my personal take on it: (Spoiler - click to show)it's an ironical description of hetero sex, with the player character being a female whose only role is to take a beating from the sword from the male adversary. She doesn't seem to enjoy it nor take it lightly, thus it's never a win. You only win when you can USE the sword, as the point of view by the male protagonist reveals. So, yeah, a single joke, but a well thought out and executed one.
roadtrip, conspirations, twilight zone, October 7, 20163 girls on a roadtrip stop by an old motel in the middle of the desert to spend the night. Once the neon flower is lit, the hotel comes to life with a plethora of eccentric characters reeking of nostalgic times. Should the girls move ahead, should they stay? Do they even have reasons to go on? What's going on? I thought it might hide some horror behind it, but instead it treads along a Twilight Zone path.
You know, the setting and writing are pretty solid and really captivated me, despite being a bit too much of the short prose style and link-exhausting side. But then, as I kept playing to see where it leads, there it comes, tucked away in the literal middle of the road, blunt as a slap on the face: (Spoiler - click to show)the scene where they're walking to the phonebooth and they pretty much SCREAM OUT LOUD THAT ALL THIS FANTASY SETTING IS REALLY JUST AN EXCUSE FOR YET ANOTHER GAY COMING OUT SIMULATOR. just like Birdland last year and the myriads of twine output that make up most of IF these days. guess this is what we get for decades of puerile dungeon spelunking abuse...
5 stars despite it, thanks to gripping, vivid setting, lush presentation with fine typography and color schemes, some memorable characters, fine dialogues and storytelling, good dosage of drama, comedy and conspiracy... I don't know what to tell without giving out much, only that this is a must-play and well worth it.
amusing short vignette on Buffy the vampire slayer, October 6, 2016So it seems Buffy can't take a short break from vampire-slaying even when ordering some burger. Her trained senses and keen reflexes know all too well when there's danger around. And thus, in the limited confines of a famous fast-food chain we have to deal with these bloodsuckers as best as we can without our usual tools of trade.
This was fine enough and gives you enough ways to get things right and wrong too. Fun game, finely crafted and polished.
Some have argued about that vampires are too cunning to 1) trying to hit on a McDonald's employee and 2) getting slayed so quickly by an underpowered slayer, but frankly 1) he may just be too thirsty (and plus they were alone at night until player enters) and 2) he may not be quite such old and cunning vampire. Buffy was able to slay plenty of them with the brains of a 90's cheerleader...
anyway, good game, specially great since it's a cyoa demanding more player agency than usual...
very short, surreal and fun, October 6, 2016From the outset it looked like a real stinker, but although very short and straightforward, it was quite a fun ride. Nothing major or earth shattering, but definitely worth some 10 minutes for a good laugh.
favorite line:
(Spoiler - click to show)"I'm being held hostage by God!" you reply. You hear the sound of someone hanging up, sounding pretty pissed off.
so, I got a few bad endings, the good ending and tried out a few outlandish actions for laughs. There's more detail and the outline of an actual story there than immediately perceived. Some playthroughs are a must.
wanders off in many directions and goes nowhere, October 6, 2016Many sightseeing and characters and paths in a deeply unfulfilling experience. You read a paragraph or two of text, drag your verb into the relevant word, rinse, repeat. There seems to be no narrative arc whatsoever and the whole thing plays like a rushed marijuana-fueled egotrip without purpose and no two elements ever adding to each other.
flawed but gripping speculations upon gaming legacy, October 3, 2016This felt more like plain reading a short story than playing a game, which is ironic given its subject matter. Which is a meditative and imaginative speculation about emergent narratives and behaviour in games eventually evolving into something else.
Pacing doesn't help either, as the protagonist stumbles upon new characters in a hurry and seems to care too much about them by the end. Despite that and the lack of true agency, I kept going just to read more.
At first, it seemed just a cheap shot at the traditional parser-based community, but it delved deeper than that and thus was quite satisfying.
not IF proper, but fine short story, 3 stars in my book. got ending 2
Dracula for IF n00bs, September 28, 2016I'd easily put this one among the best IF for novice players. It's quite short, doesn't bog the player with compass directions and still offer plenty for the diligent player to dig. Some solutions to puzzles require some leap of faith, out of box thinking or willingness to face one's fears. An all around very polished entry-level IF.
It is notable that the author doesn't really enjoy some IF conventions - notably cardinal direction navigation and intricate puzzles - and thus get rid of them in one way or the other in all his works. Here, Amaranth doesn't look feel a physical place, but a dreamland - or should it be nightmareland? The protagonist is able to instantly go at will from place to place regardless of being separate by great physical distances. He does this by EXPLORING places, or x place, which is really a smart device to just examine a map with hidden sublocations. One could say it is a dreamland that the protagonist visits by spirit alone, but the villagers in the tavern certainly think otherwise. Talking to the prince and reading one of his books may explain that in a way.
The puzzles are pretty good for an author which usually despises complex contraptions. Instead, exploring and overcoming our fears seems like the motto here.
Plot is lacking, yes. It sounds more like The Count than The Horror of Rylvania in its nostalgic nod to old games, perhaps even Castlevania: SotN. But nonetheless, a quite fit for intro IF.
fine first try, September 23, 2016but polish the little details, because:
In that game you scored 65 out of a possible 25, in 26 turns.
the bell always scores and I guess other actions too... :)
manipulative and barely interactive, September 13, 2016Almost like Photopia, but lacking enough fiction as well. Narrative goes as nothing but brief dialogues between dad and daughter and the tone is such that from the very beginning you know the outcome.
I usually don't care much for the outcome. The end of all things hardly is surprising. So, if there's not enough substance for thought during the journey itself, I'm left cold.
I sadly suspect twine is used more for blog entries and steaming off real life hurdles than for real fiction. In which case it's not only barely interactive as also barely fiction at all.
"You jackass, this is emotional, it empowers people to share their personal drama"
Perhaps, but so do blogs. And with comments for feedback and support.
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