The Act of Misdirection

by Callico Harrison

Fantasy, Historical, Horror
2004

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- caligula jones, March 9, 2024

- Zape, October 25, 2023

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
If at all possible, know nothing about this game before starting, October 25, 2023

I downloaded An Act of Misdirection many years ago, having seen it mentioned in passing in a positive way. The only thing that I remembered about it when I loaded it up this morning was that you play the part of a stage magician, and that you had to figure out the steps of the performance.

"Well, this should be interesting," I thought after reading the run-up to the first command prompt. Imagine my delight as I found that the way had been carefully prepared for my bumbling first attempts, that hints and nudges were craftily placed within every turn of phrase of the interaction. These hints began small and subtle but escalated to large and glaring when needed to get my attention, and rapidly taught me both to follow their lead and to take advantage of the breaks in the action to "work the crowd" for a response.

I have noted in the past about certain games' ability to follow the player until the player can learn to follow them. This is accomplished so expertly here that it seems effortless. The only point where I got stalled too long was a place where a little thinking about the logic of performances of this type would have sufficed. (Spoiler - click to show)Specifically, having used a blunt instrument for its intended purpose, it makes sense that it can be disposed of thereafter. (Spoiler - click to show)A hint from your assistance about which item he expects to catch would have smoothed the way here; if there was one, I missed it. The correct move was apparent enough when I stopped to consider it... it just took me a while to do so because I was swept up in the urgency of keeping the show going. The author, Callico Harrison, should truly take a bow for this achievement; not many games manage to instill this sense of immediacy.

Having come to this game mostly "cold," I wasn't even aware that there was a horror component to it. I would imagine that this situation has been relatively rare since the game's initial release -- this IFDB page, for example, clearly labels it as such -- but knowing about it is a massive spoiler! If you have already played the game you can imagine my own shock, echoing that of the fictional audience, as the performance reaches its culmination. The first act had been an Act of Misdirection, indeed.

Moving on from there, Ms. Harrison demonstrates a surprisingly rich and deep command of language in painting the scenes of the protagonist's origin story. Many people seem to find this second section to be inferior to the first; I did not. The same craft and skill is used to keep the action moving with clues, now less blatant in their prompting of the right command. The parser is fairly free in its interpretation of your input at this point, redirecting your intent when you are "close enough" in order to keep the scene moving briskly. Call it "railroaded" if you like, but I prefer to think of it as the game urgently requesting your cooperation to play along so as not to ruin the intended pacing. I found myself eager to catch up as the game led me through a chaotic situation, glancing this way and that at glimpses of Victorian life before being tugged along to a more contemplative setting where the horror begins in earnest.

Here Ms. Harrison shows that her command of the psychology of horror is as great as that of her command of language -- indeed, I found this section to be a master class of the technique for "showing, not telling" in the context of interactive fiction. I expect to spend much time scrutinizing the writing here to better understand how she so expertly conveys key knowledge indirectly; important realizations suddenly appear in your mind at the center of a flourish of well-chosen connotations. A second bow in encore is called for here.

If there is anything to criticize about this work, it is that it is over too quickly, and that certain details of the scenario are not clear after a first playing. I am glad to see that other reviewers almost universally recommend a second playthrough, and I look forward to doing so... preferably with other players who don't know what to expect.

As a final note, I want to point out that this game was written in Inform 6, and it is a remarkable feat to achieve such a level of polish with that toolset. Very few games of the era are its equal in this respect, though nowadays Inform 7 makes it easier (if not exactly easy) to build scenarios of comparable quality.

Ms. Harrison does not seem to have ever produced another standalone work of IF (though she did contribute to Cragne Manor), but if she does she will find me among those waiting "in anticipation of something magical" to try her next work.

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- egostat (1st Level, Abyss), May 4, 2023

- elysee, May 4, 2023

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Tip o' the Top Hat, February 22, 2023
by Rovarsson (Belgium)

The Great Meldellevo ends his magic show with an unforeseen and, honestly, quite gruesome finale. While he runs away memories of how his career began flash through his mind...

The magic show is a marvel of finetuned implementation. It is possible to rush through with a few well-chosen commands, following the game's nudges. Far more satisfying however is to savour the moment and give the audience a real show for their money. (And give yourself, PC ànd player, a healthy dose of adrenalin and smugness...)

The following flashback to "Meldevello"'s humble origin is a rather railroaded vignette. There is one all-important choice to make, which determines the protagonist fate. Whether this option is even available depends on certain actions during the magic show. Replaying once you understand what I am referring to would almost certainly heighten your appreciation of this game.

I found the pacing of The Act of Misdirection somewhat unevenly balanced.
Act I, the magic show, requires the player to explicitly give the right commands for the following step to the PC. While the game does nudge you forward, sometimes the nudges were not enough for me. Being stuck in this part, searching for the appropriate action, breaks the tempo and the thrill of the performance.
Quite the opposite is true of Act II. Here I wanted to loiter in places, taking my time to study my surroundings and especially to talk about all manner of topics. In this part though, the game seemed so eager to drag me along with the story that half a command was often enough to trigger the next scene.

Taken together, the occurences at the magic performance and the explanations in the flashback make for a fragmented, shiver-inducing short horror-tale. A story that takes a while for all the bits to fall into place.

Worth playing, and replaying at least once.

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- TheBoxThinker, February 11, 2023

- jaymesjw, February 6, 2023

- Cerfeuil (*Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personnel, Kid), October 11, 2022

- William Chet (Michigan), June 7, 2022

- Second Lemming, April 4, 2022

- Prosilire (New York City), August 3, 2021

- hoopla, June 7, 2021

- Xuan Li, July 6, 2020

- kierlani, April 2, 2020

- elias67, October 25, 2019

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Play Act I!, July 17, 2018
by f-a

The first Act is marvelous and exquisitely crafted: perfect specimen of a "restricted choice" IF where the player still feels in control. Excellent experience and (for me) a pinnacle in its genre.

The remaining adventure (Act II and III) are less interesting/funny, but worth playing with a walkthrough.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A Work of Art, July 16, 2018
by Whystler
Related reviews: harrison misdirection

This game is a work of art, and as such, it takes a mind which can wander and forgive the mechanical quirks. It deserves a 5 as a work of fiction, but because of certain stumbles in mechanical planning that made some transitions awkward, I had to knock it down to 4 for IF. If you have an open mind to these things and persevere for a great story, then please, entertain yourself, and spend time savouring this delicacy.

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- Stas, March 31, 2018

- C. W. Gray , February 19, 2018

- lkdc, December 3, 2017

- Wanderlust, August 3, 2017

- gilhova, July 26, 2017

- KGH (North Carolina), September 15, 2016

- NJ (Ontario), June 11, 2016


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