Vespers

Vespers
by Jason Devlin

Historical, Religious
2005

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Reviews and Ratings

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(76)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(8)
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Number of Ratings: 172
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

Apocalypse a Few Centuries Ago, July 2, 2008

by C.E.J. Pacian (England)

As a hypochondriac, I stopped playing Vespers as soon as I read the word 'plague'. And then, a few days later, I started playing it again. Something about its atmospheric depiction of an abbey barricaded against the Black Death drew me back, not because it was pleasant, but because it was quite thoroughly sinister.

Another thing that quickly had me hooked me was the way Vespers starts out as a medieval detective story. Alongside the plague, murder has come to the abbey, not to mention a mysterious waif and stray, and the monks are all acting strangely - among them the player character. As things progress, Vespers only becomes darker and more sinister, something that I would normally expect to repel me - but this carefully constructed rendition of apocalyptic Dark Age sentiments kept me hooked until, naturally enough, the detective portion gives way to a set of uncomfortable decisions - some of which you will have already made before you realise their portent.

This kind of IF game, where you must explore a world and form a moral reaction, has obviously been done before, most notably in Slouching Towards Bedlam. But whereas in that game I found myself having to refer to the hints to get the least thing done, my experience with Vespers flowed quite nicely towards its dramatic and nihilistic conclusion.

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- Nathaniel Kirby (Pennsylvania), June 28, 2008

- Fra Enrico (Torino, Italy), June 4, 2008

- Moses Templeton, May 3, 2008

- Dave Chapeskie (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), April 23, 2008

- Cheryl L (Australia), March 11, 2008

- Timo Saarinen (Finland), March 1, 2008

- mrihel (Philadelphia, PA, USA), January 30, 2008

- Michel Nizette (Brussels, Belgium), January 18, 2008

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Haunting, memorable, January 17, 2008

by incandenza (carrboro, north carolina)

I still think about Vespers nearly a year and a half after first playing through it. In the game you are a monk in charge of a monastery during the plague years of Europe. The nearby town has succumbed to disease, and the abbey is the last available refuge. The game takes place over a few days as the plague begins to infiltrate this remaining sanctuary. Dark secrets are uncovered, and the abbey itself is one of the strongest and most dynamic characters in the game. Though not for the faint of heart, or those who are easily offended by violence or religious questioning, the sense of place, immersive character, and interesting NPCs make this one of my favorite IF works.