Ratings and Reviews by mg51

I appreciate what Being Andrew Plotkin was trying to do, but it fell a bit flat for me. Between the kind of unnecessary and awkward romantic plotline and a lot of jokes that were probably just too meta for me, it felt repetitive and overly linear, with almost no room for exploration with the frequent P.O.V. switches, leaving me with an overall sense of dissatisfaction with the environment. And in spite of the frequent P.O.V. switches, I never found myself attached to or invested in any of the characters. I should say I haven't seen the film this is based on, and while I don't know if that would have made me enjoy the game more, it probably would have given context to some elements I wasn't a fan of.

Basically, to me, this game relied too heavily on plot and not enough on gameplay, an issue I had with Photopia too, but unlike Photopia, the story wasn't interesting enough for me to continue forward anyway. When I reached the point in the story where you can find yourself in an infinite loop and couldn't figure out how to stop it, I gave up on the game.

So, because I didn't finish, please take my rating with a grain of salt. I can't speak to the entire game. I have selected to have my rating excluded from the game's overall rating too for this reason.

I quite enjoyed playing Vespers, but it is not for everyone. It was written in a way that elicited a kind of visceral disgust (unsurprising giving the setting is a medieval monastery in the last stages of being wiped out by the plague). The decay of scenery and the protagonist's mental state keeps you wondering what is real and what is hallucination, and the regular (and often gruesome) deaths of the few other cast members keeps a sense of suspense.

Positives:
I enjoyed a specific aspect of the game that I've seen complained about in other reviews. The prayers to the saints were the most interesting kind of puzzle to me (Spoiler - click to show) as the stained glass windows gave enough hints about what sort of scenario each saint can help you with. I found the writing properly atmospheric and terse, and the short timespan of gameplay fits the small-ish setting.

Negatives:
I was probably most disappointed by the lack of descriptions. Most rooms were fairly barren, and many of them served no real purpose during the game. Also, some aspects of gameplay can be finicky and require a bit of trial and error (for example, timing some actions perfectly) which is a quirk of some games that I'm personally not a huge fan of.

So overall, I would recommend this game with the caveat that players understand what they're getting into. I think most prospective players will be able to tell based on the reviews whether or not the game is one they'll enjoy.

This game was fun in a way that's common with some simple simulation-type games, but it wasn't typical for IF. It involved a lot of simple exploration, where speaking with different characters introduces you to new places you can visit. A lot of the game involves finding methods to earn money and simple resource management (rocket fuel). While it was enjoyable to play casually, it probably won't scratch your typical interactive fiction itch.