you are an ancient chinese poet at the neo-orchid pavilion

I’ve never really been keen on Western courtly intrigue. There’s always been something blunt and stodgy about it, like a beef wellington of ideas. But the Eastern version, oh man, I am there with bells on. you are are an ancient chinese poet at the neo-orchid pavilion captures that style of Chinese political machinations really quite well. Different characters and factions are captured by a single but intricate philosophy. The court is sacred, yet everyone in it is in some way profane.

You are an unwitting poet dragged into the middle of the intrigue and have been tasked to speak the truth as an outsider and a wordsmith. Your explorations and responses to the philosophies of other people you meet prepare your mind for the task of creating a poem that will change the very fate of the kingdom.

This reminded me a bit of Imprimatura, although you are.. is more direct with regards to the gameplay loop, but more indirect in terms of the poetry/art. I enjoyed the poetry and it felt very in-theme and there were a few delicious plums of poetic lines throughout.

I got endings 5, 7, 8 and 16, and could tie the final story with the choices I made, although less so with the final poem. I feel like that’s on me, though, rather than the author. I did manage to get the elusive fifth line option once.

I loved the visual change of gradient and image with different scenes. It felt like a careful, evocative choice.

Throughout the piece are occasional anachronistic-sounding lines, which signal modern allegories and criticisms. For example, the cult of poets arranging themselves in a vast array in a polo field is a sly discussion about AI generation. In general, the writing was poetic yet down-to-earth --- a great embodiment of the protagonist.

I had minor troubles with the UI, but once you got the rhythm and standards for cyclic vs non-cyclic links, it was fine. I felt like the main text box could have been larger, but that was no big deal.

I’d like to see behind the scenes to know how the endings worked. 23 endings is curious to me as a mathematician, but maybe various options collapsed into one.

I quite enjoyed the game, although I may not be dedicated enough to find all 23 endings. The clockwise/counter-clockwise choice at the end seemed rather strong.