Reviews by MathBrush
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A music-enhanced goofy night in a cemetery investigating aliens, April 9, 2024There have been a couple of polls over the years for 'games that need more reviews' and this has been on all of them. I loaded it up once a few years ago, but it seemed somewhat overwhelming.
But I'm glad I've finished it now!
This is a goofy, intentionally silly game in the vein of Escape from the Crazy Place. You are a police officer dressed as a Go Go dancer. Your partner is Donald McRonald: clown, pyromaniac, and overall goofy character.
The game map is split into about 9 main locations with a couple of extra ones. Gameplay revolves around bringing items from one area into another and getting Ronald to cooperate with you.
The plot is that something mysterious fell out the sky and crashed into the graveyard, and now so many of the dead and buried are rising up out their graves!
There is background music, which I thought was well-chosen; it felt like the soundtrack to one of those movies within a movie you see when people reference fake black and white horror films, like the werewolf movie in the Thriller music video. It has a lot more character than much of the music I've seen in other IF games.
However, I also found a lot of bugginess. The jelly doughnut was a major problem; I found it in a grave. I took it. Then I took something else in the grave, and it said I took the doughnut. I later gave the doughtnut to Donald, and it said he ate it, but then I still had it in my inventory. Similarly, the hints just went blank when first entered the (Spoiler - click to show)spacecraft. There were also a lot of interactions which may have been bugs and may have not; like when I opened my purse, and (Spoiler - click to show)tried to get something out and died, so I tried giving it to Ronald and told him to open it, then when I had it again I could take stuff out and not die, even though the boa was in there. Similarly, with the main nemesis, (Spoiler - click to show)I first tried doing nothing, and died; then breaking the machine, and died; then going through the light, and died; then talking, and that just gave a normal response. So I tried attacking the dog herself and got mind controlled away. So things were kind of chaotic. There are also several typos, mainly missing quotes when a sentence has a dialogue tag in the middle.
The characters and writing are funny and high quality, and the music really helps the ambiance. I enjoyed a lot of the puzzles, too. I wonder if that's why there are so few reviews; the game is good enough that no one would give it a 'this sucks, don't try this' review, but tricky enough to finish that people who like it often aren't able to see the end. However, I should note that as of writing this in April 2024, this game has a lot of 4-5 star ratings, while I'm giving it a 3-star rating, so my experience may be atypical.
Long, complex and creepy story about a private cinema showing, March 31, 2024This is a pretty substantial Moiki game with a creepy atmosphere, in French.
There is a book you love that is finally getting a movie adaptation! And your friend has a friend who knows someone who has an early bootleg copy!
The book is about a woman who reincarnates throughout history, including as various animals, but who can take control of some of the reincarnations given the right ritual.
Going to the movie takes you to a dark and frightening theatre where everyone behaves strangely...
The game gives the impression that there are many branches, although I only played through once. There are numerous quick-time events, which were difficult for me as a non-native speaker.
The use of background images, music and occasional voice were very effective, and I was impressed both by the technical skill and the storytelling.
I was left unsure of how the final events of the game where I learn more about myself were connected to either the book or the movie; perhaps if I had played more, I could have seen the truth.
A fantasy mystery traversed through a map , March 25, 2024This is my first time playing an OpenAdventure game, and it was interesting. I didn't get it at first, so I tried a tutorial game, and then it made more sense.
This game at first appears highly non-linear, but it becomes apparent that everything is laid out for you step by step. The way the game works is that you have a map, a list of places on it, a list of people, and rumors on the bottom. You can click on many of these things. Each time you do, you get a paragraph or two of information. Very occasionally, you can click within that paragraph to unlock more areas, or type in a password of sorts to get to a new area or even an entirely new map (there are 2 maps in this game).
At the end of each map there is a self-graded quiz where you type in the answer to various questions. Then, instead of checking your answer, it tells you the truth. I've seen this way of doing mysteries before and it works fairly well here, although it limits your opportunity to correct yourself when wrong or to work on improving a partial answer.
The storyline is that a goddess has a magic cauldron in your village that has an awful curse put on it against any villager who steals it. Yet, it has been stolen. You, a bard, have to figure out who did it and why!
There was a lot of text in this game. I try to avoid using google translate but leaned on it at some points. It seems well-written in french. Due to the quirks of language translation, I had to laugh at google's attempt at translating this (to no fault of the author):
Original: "Il semble que vous allez devoir mouiller vos braies pour continuer la traque..."
Translation: "It looks like you're going to have to wet your pants to continue the hunt..."
Overall, this format seems like it has some clear advantages for mystery games. I'd be interested in seeing how it would work for other genres.
Solve a splitting headache, March 25, 2024This brief Inform game has you waking up with temporary amnesia in a medical research facility with a door that has recently been welded shut.
It's a small game with about six rooms. There are two major tasks to take care of: getting some quiet and making things dark.
It is possible to lock yourself out of victory unwittingly, I believe. And one major puzzle requires some intuition that is not in the room description and which doesn't make sense based on earlier responses. In particular, (Spoiler - click to show)you have to turn off a radio, and TURN OFF RADIO says you can't turn it off and BREAK RADIO says you can't do anything to it, and it's too big to TAKE or PUSH. The solution is apparently to UNPLUG radio, despite the lack of a plug being mentioned.
Overall, it works as a small game to make to get used to Inform, but I prefer Sidewise by the same author.
A longish Moiki game about guarding a door that no one returns from, March 17, 2024This is one of the bigger complete games in the French Comp this year (2024).
You play in a fantasy world with two main races, one of which is white and in power and the other dark skinned and with less power. You are part of the latter group, and you have been called to be the guardian of a mysterious Door.
No one who goes through the door ever returns. As the guardian, you are given seven rules, including that you should try to dissuade anyone from entering, but can't physically prevent them.
The game has two main modes of interaction. One is recurring visits where you talk to a person and make decisions, some substantial. The other is exploration, which seems to stay roughly the same. There is a part where you need to solve a code; I made a guess based on my weak french and got it right on my first try (Spoiler - click to show)I thought 'ice, flower, sun, leaf' and put in 'hfsf'. I either got it right or it accepts anything.
I did get engaged over time seeing the evolution of the kingdom and the strange people entering the door. In the end, I chose to go through.
It said I only found 2 of 15 objects, and I only saw 300 or so of the 900 passages, so I assume it is very replayable.
A complex underwater salvage mission in a larger universe, December 28, 2023This game, as its name suggests, is part of the same universe as A1RL0CK.
It's set in an underwater wreck that is enormous and filled with strange biological material. You have a special suit designed both to let you interface with the technology around you and to keep you under control.
The gameplay is partly exploration and partly puzzly. I enjoyed searching out parts of the ship, interfacing with technology and so on. I had some trouble with the parser when trying to deal with wheel valves, but I realized I had been using the wrong verb (SET is right, TURN works sometimes but not as often).
There is frequent strong profanity in the game. It makes sense in context. The story is very violent, kind of like 80s sci fi action like Alien, Predator, or Terminator.
Overall, I found the story strong. At times I got stuck, like I said; this is not an easy game, and careful attention to detail is basically required to pass through. I had a good time with it overall.
Live a semester of a young woman's life, November 29, 2023Having played many recent Autumn Chen games in the last year or two, I saw a lot of references to Pageant, and thought, 'I don't really remember that game well'.
Turns out, I never played it! I mixed it up with another game and never even tried it.
Having tried it, it's pretty great. It's clearly influenced by Emily Short's Bee; both use the same system (one from when it was a semi-commercial system and another after it became Dendry). Both are based on quality-based narratives that play out over several weeks, both are about a certain type of rigorous, conservative upbringing, one by fundamentalist Christians and oene by Chinese diaspora parents.
However, this is certainly not just a retread of familiar material. Our main heroine, Karen (whom I recognize from several other games) has a unique and complex approach to life that makes choices not straightforward. Karen is thoughtful and compassionate but also is under enormous stress and has social anxiety at times that makes intended choices (like responding and so on) impossible to actually carry out.
One fundamental aspect is that Karen is extremely competent but does not see herself that way. She does 95% of what a human is capable of doing, but only sees that 5% gap. She works with adult research scientists but only sees her ineptness; she is told frequently she is beautiful but only sees awkwardness; she is loved by others but only fears rejection.
But the key is that she acts in spite of these fears; she just keeps on trucking.
Having played other 'pageantverse' games I immediately narrowed in on interacting with (Spoiler - click to show)Emily as much as possible. This game explores young trans interactions quite a bit: what does a trans relationship look like? Actually, that's not true; this game isn't about 'trans relationships' first; it's just about relationships, and what happens when someone being trans is thrown in the mix. Some of the tensest moments in the game for me were switching between private moments with my friend being able to express herself however she wanted and public moments with her family where the expectation was 'be normal or get punished'.
Overall, I'm glad that this wasn't a 'downer ending' game. I was able to succeed in my goals (being close to someone and doing good in pageant + research while being mediocre in science olympiad and basically ignoring family).
A strong game, and it's clear why it spawned several good followups.
A creepy night of programming, November 22, 2023This game is (hopefully partially) autobiographical, describing a long career in a game company. A lot of it was familiar to me; my father owned a video game company growing up and I spent a lot of time at work. The arcade games, chill out areas, lots of sketches and endless cubicles, mixed with frustrating bugs, all sounded about right.
The main point of the game is two-fold: fix a bug, and find a 'peep' to hide in someone else's office.
There is a lot of narrative momentum, with parts like fixing the bug being an effective story, and the strange happenings beyond the janitor's closet...
On the other hand, I often found myself fighting the parser, especially when dealing with a certain unreachable thing I found.
Overall, there is a good haunting story here.
Whip up some medicine to cure a cold, and do genealogy, November 22, 2023I beta tested this game.
The Alaric Blackmoon games have a long and storied history going back I think decades.
Most of the ones that I have played have been written in Adrift. They are written in traditional fantasy style; as books, they would have fit fine as a TSR series along with Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance.
The games are usually quite long, often with action sequences, and several of them use similar set pieces (like the castle in this game, which features in several other games).
This one is a stripped down and smaller version. There is just a simple goal: to explore the genealogy of the main characters.
I’ve seen others saying this game felt a little too small; I could see that, but I feel like it’s more polished than a lot of the other Blackmoon games. The only issue I found was with some leaves, where I had some both in my hand and in a cup, but that’s not necessarily bad, as I could have taken only part of it out.
Genealogy is a requirement in my religion and one I enjoy, so I liked this lower-stakes storyline. It can be very fun to track down an ancestor and find distant cousins.
Overall, this is a nice introduction to the series, and can get people use to the style of the other games (like magic, the way the Axe works, etc.)
Italian slasher film where you're the star, November 22, 2023This game is a game with multiple layers of storytelling. In it, you are an actress speaking with the police, telling a story about a film that is set within a film, all played by you, the player, as a game…but is all of that true? Layers shift and change.
This is a giallo story, but due to my inexperience with much of Italian cinema I took it to be a ‘slasher film’. As a meta slasher film, it shares a lot in common with movies like Scream or Wes Craven’s new nightmare, or to games like the recent IFComp game Blood Island. The only real difference between this genre and those is that this game has a lot more reference to nudity and sexuality, but that’s a common difference between American and European cinema. While I tend to avoid erotic games, the nudity and sexuality in this game never felt erotic; if anything, it was just a way to incite more fear and helplessness.
You play as an actress who leaves one movie set to go to another. Along the way, a mysterious figure stalks and harasses you, and can kill you. But is that just part of the film, too?
I received ending 1, which seemed like an apt ending for the game. Overall, just like another game that I mentioned to its author, this game reminds me quite a bit of opera. Its symbolism reminds me of things like Don Giovanni, with the statue dragging him to hell, or Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, where all actions are symbolic.
The game does have several implementation issues though, which I share a large part in, as I tested it. I’ll send specifics to the author, but there are a lot of places where things fire out of order or synonyms are missed. I certainly could have aided with that better!
But I suppose it’s a bit of a missed opportunity; due to the occasionally sketchy implementation, I had to religiously follow the walkthrough. This could have been presented as a ‘script’ feelie (similar to and mirroring the in-game script), adding another layer to the game. But I suppose a new release of the game could also bring the errors in line, which would raise the game to a 9 or 10 in my mind.
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