Tales of the Traveling Swordsman

>EXAMINE ME
You are the traveling swordsman; the strong and silent stranger; the wandering vanquisher of villainy. Damsels swoon for you. Good man respect and envy you. Scoundrels learn to fear you. Even so, you are a rumor throughout the land.

The player's description sums this game up: you, the strong and silent swordsman, must save the helpless inhabitants of a fishing village from a tyrant. The writing is excellent, if a little too poetic, and the plot is straightforward -- until the ending, of course. The puzzles are sensible, with solutions that make perfect sense (although not always as well clued as I would like). I don't recall ever having to guess the verb for anything: almost all possible synonyms were accounted for and implemented.

Despite the brilliant game mechanics, I did not enjoy the game as much as I did more badly coded games. Why, I do not know. Maybe the fact that the plot was to do with a curse got to me, or I disliked the logic of the puzzles. However, it is an excellent game and I recommend it, even though I personally did not enjoy it that much.

I loved the ending. I'm not sure what I should say about it, but don't give up on the game until you get to the very end, because it is worth it.

The atmosphere was rich, but not overwhelming or misleading. As a player, you aren't subjected to the mini-game of "Guess the verb," which is a refreshing change from the frustration that can drive one to ragequit. The puzzles are not too intricate, but you're not spoonfed the answers either. Many things I didn't expect were actually implemented (taste lock -- You can't eat the lock), so I suspect there is a good amount of amusing content to discover. The provided walkthrough is also well done in a more conversational hinting style than usual.

The perspective of the player character is great and the development almost so subtle that I hadn't realized how I felt about the character until the Epilogue. A rich and celebratory perspective on people living full lives with disabilities.

I love Snyder's games. TotTS is an excellent linear mid-length game with not-too-hard puzzles that has a fantasy feel not found in many places, kind of like the story The Fool of The World or the beginning of Princess Mononoke.

You play a swordsman who travels the land searching for a village under oppression, righting wrongs along the way. You use several items in rather creative ways, and puzzles have multiple solutions.

I found the ending unusual, and extremely satisfying. It made a few points in the game much more understandable, and tied everything together very well. I wanted to go through and play again with my new understanding.

Strongly recommended.