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Showing All | Show by Page - Kastel, September 28, 2023 - Greg Frost (Seattle, Washington), August 20, 2023 - aluminumoxynitride, April 17, 2023 - Cerfeuil (*Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personnel, Kid), October 15, 2022 >INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction The Moonlit Tower is a rich and gorgeous piece of work, and a very strong debut from an excellent new author. Easily the most striking thing about this game is its writing, burnished and evocative prose that sets a very elevated tone.
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| Direct link | Add a comment - Edo, June 16, 2020 - Sammel, April 5, 2020 - AKheon (Finland), August 24, 2019 - Denk, August 21, 2019 - Sobol (Russia), February 14, 2019 - lkdc, December 2, 2017 - Wanderlust, August 3, 2017 4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Exploration in a lush, beautiful East Asian-influenced setting, July 16, 2017The Moonlit Tower is a small, self-contained game, set in a lush, unusual setting. Who you are is not immediately clear; finding out is its own experience. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Audiart (Davis, CA), February 14, 2017 - mousetail (India), August 28, 2016 - eyeballkidable, July 18, 2016 - Ryan Veeder (Australia), May 4, 2016 - leanbh, March 15, 2016 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
A short Asian-themed "atmosphere" game like Dreamhold, February 3, 2016In the Moonlit Tower, you explore a small 3-story tower to help remember who you are and your past. Like Dreamhold, the key to your memory seems to be masks, but much of the game, you don't know what to do with the mask. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Aryore, December 13, 2015 - paranormal-potato, June 5, 2015 - Thrax, March 11, 2015 - hoopla, March 8, 2015 - Christina Nordlander, February 18, 2015 - CMG (NYC), November 7, 2014 - blue/green, July 16, 2014 - Lorxus, March 8, 2014 6 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
A touch of moonlit magic, July 4, 2013by Jim Kaplan (Jim Kaplan has a room called the location. The location of Jim Kaplan is variable.) Related reviews: yoon ha lee, fantasy, atmospheric, mid-length Play it if: you want a game rich in atmosphere and abstraction. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
Would recommend, June 11, 2013by seryph Personally, this is the type of narrative that I prefer from an IF. A narrative that reveals itself gradually with each item and room you explore. For me, it promotes the interactivity aspect to have the story only told if you take the time to look around and interact with your surroundings, rather than having large chunks of exposition thrown at you. It also helps that the writing of Moonlit Tower has a poetic simplicity about it. The details of the narrative aren't necessarily explained to you outright. Rather hints are scattered here and there and tidbits are provided for the player to piece together. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Shadow Fox (Texas), April 17, 2013 1 of
1 people found the following review helpful:
Sad, but hopeful. Wow., April 11, 2013by Andromache (Hawaii) This game is difficult to review because there's so much to think about in terms of story. The setting, atmosphere, and writing is superb. I truly felt like I was in the story - while I played, I could easily envision the feel of tower walls and the sounds evoked by the text. The thing I loved best about this game was that you could touch everything and get short descriptions of what you felt. Same with listening and smelling things when appropriate. As many senses as possible were engaged, and that is rare to see in the IF I've played. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- amciek (Opole), December 26, 2012 - AADA7A, September 25, 2012 - Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), August 12, 2011 - LaFey (Porto, Portugal), July 15, 2011 - Felix Pleșoianu (Bucharest, Romania), March 18, 2011 - Walter Sandsquish, February 2, 2011 - Alder (San Francisco), August 15, 2010 - MyTheory (Missouri), July 27, 2010 6 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
Beautiful writing, July 26, 2010by SarahTheEntwife (USA) The Moonlit Tower gets an enthusiastic 5/5 from me on writing, setting, and character, but only a 3/5 on puzzle implementation. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (2) - Add comment
- Sam Kabo Ashwell (Seattle), February 15, 2010 - Grey (Italy), December 25, 2009 - finferflu (Manchester, UK), September 28, 2009 - perching path (near Philadelphia, PA, US), August 18, 2009 5 of
9 people found the following review helpful:
Spellbinding, July 16, 2009by AmberShards (The Gothic South) If I had to condense my feelings to a sentence, this game is what IF is all about. The writing is lush, evocative, and tinged with the stoic sadness of the Japanese (I presume) medieval period. The puzzles are just difficult enough to draw you further into the dread revelation that builds and builds into a cathartic end, but no harder than they need to be. Yes, this is a deliriously wonderful and refreshingly non-frustrating work. The Moonlit Tower is far more memorable than many of the games penned by IF legends. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (1) - Add comment
- Shigosei, May 4, 2009 - Newbot, March 8, 2009 3 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
Absolutely beautiful, without the use of pictures, December 27, 2008by Molly (USA) An absolutely gorgeously described game, based around the mythology of East Asia. It may be the most evocative IF ever. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Linnau (Tel-Aviv, Israel), October 31, 2008 - Fra Enrico (Torino, Italy), October 13, 2008 - george (Seattle), August 21, 2008 14 of
14 people found the following review helpful:
Haunting and Unique, August 12, 2008by C.E.J. Pacian (England) A beautifully written, evocative, almost poetic game, The Moonlit Tower is a short tale of strange myth and melancholy longing that, in its final moments, gave me goosebumps in the best possible way. Best of all, though, contrary to what you may expect from a game praised for its writing, The Moonlit Tower is far from florid or long-winded, its tightly written imagery packing a lot of content into a few sentences per action. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- jwbjerk (Mid-West USA), July 24, 2008 - jfpbookworm (Hamburg, New York), February 25, 2008 - Maureen (California), November 2, 2007 - Hauston (Seattle, WA), November 1, 2007 - Steve Evans (Hobart, Tasmania), October 28, 2007 - Brian Slesinsky (California), October 27, 2007 - Wendymoon, October 26, 2007 - Quintin Stone (NC), October 23, 2007 Baf's GuideA beautifully-written game based on Asian mythology. To explain the premise would be difficult, but that's not really an issue -- the best thing about this game is simply enjoying the setting, which is full of rare and lovely imagery. The puzzles are occasionally a bit elusive, but the built-in hint system helps somewhat with that problem. There are also multiple endings and an extensive set of notes describing the game's background -- quite a lot of polish for a (relatively) brief piece. -- Emily Short
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