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Showing All | Show by Page - aluminumoxynitride, August 13, 2023 - egostat (1st Level, Abyss), April 11, 2023 - Kinetic Mouse Car, August 29, 2022 As a mood piece, "Kaged" is excellent. Every bleak, oppressive nuance of the world you live in comes to life in the vivid writing, enhanced by graphics and sound (the opening picture is especially evocative), and your own character is well-drawn. As a story, it is ambitious, but less excellent. I felt that what began as tightly woven threads unraveled near the end--and not just because of the protagonist's dissolving sanity. I came out of the experience with no real understanding of what had happened and why.
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| Direct link | Add a comment >INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction On the one hand, I have to admit that it does an outstanding job at achieving what appear to be its goals. By the end of the game I was twitchy, angry, and thoroughly awash in the reality-questioning quasi-madness brought on by works like Brazil and 1984. Like those works, Kaged is a kick in the head all the way through, and a very powerful kick at that. In a way, I love this -- I find it a brilliant indictment of authority run rampant, and perhaps even a radical thesis on the problems of non-interactive IF. All that makes me want to rate Kaged quite highly indeed. On the other hand, if I give it what it wants, doesn't that make me complicit? If I truly believe in resisting totalitarianism (and I truly do), then shouldn't I resist Kaged and its demands by giving it the lowest rating possible? Shouldn't I raise my voice as strongly as possible to insist that IF like this is unacceptable? Maybe I should. But then again, what about that old rationale of irony? Sure, Kaged shows us totalitarianism, and controls us with an iron hand, but isn't it just making a point by doing so? Sure. Of course it is. It's all ironic, you see? That's what it is. And it certainly would be overly paranoid of me to think of that as just a rationalization.
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| Direct link | Add a comment - Edo, January 2, 2022 - Malasana, November 12, 2021 - Ruber Eaglenest, August 14, 2021 - getlostdont, July 8, 2021 - Zape, March 4, 2021 6 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
You spin me right round, September 9, 2020by deathbytroggles (Minneapolis, MN) With a Kafkaesque dystopia the author must be very careful that while the world is constantly spinning around the protagonist that the viewer in addition to being misdirected doesn't feel cheated. For the most part Finley does his job here. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Rovarsson (Belgium), November 29, 2019 - elias67, March 30, 2019 - Janos Biro (Goiânia, Brasil), September 30, 2018 - jamesb (San Antonio, Texas), July 23, 2017 - Cory Roush (Ohio), July 18, 2017 4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
A surreal, horror-futuristic game with some thriller scenes, July 5, 2017I have to make one big admission up front: I played Kaged with a walkthrough almost straight through. I had heard some of the puzzles were unfair, and the story seemed great, and so I just read it as a short story. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Pegbiter (Malmö, Sweden), February 20, 2017 - o0pyromancer0o, February 13, 2017 - Denk, May 3, 2016 3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
Not what I was expecting from a Dystopian piece, January 8, 2016by mjhayes (Somewhere east of Garinham) I entered into this story, expecting an interactive story not unlike 1984. It certainly seems to start off that way. You play as a minor bureaucrat working in a huge government tower. People have been going mad lately, most recently your immediate supervisor - and the story begins with your having an appointment with the Grand Inquisitor. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- BlitzWithGuns, April 19, 2015 - Thrax, March 11, 2015 - Sobol (Russia), December 13, 2014 - kala (Finland), April 30, 2014 - Sdn (UK), February 21, 2014 - DJ (Olalla, Washington), May 9, 2013 - trojo (Huntsville, Alabama, USA), October 3, 2011 - Rotonoto (Albuquerque, New Mexico), May 16, 2011 - Walter Sandsquish, February 1, 2011 - Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), December 17, 2010 - James Hall (UK), August 8, 2010 - Mark Jones (Los Angeles, California), June 9, 2010 - Nikos Chantziaras (Greece), May 14, 2010 - Sam Kabo Ashwell (Seattle), February 15, 2010 - Ioannis D., February 6, 2010 - Alessan, August 23, 2009 - Shchekotiki, August 3, 2009 - Michael L. (Germany), June 10, 2009 - Mark V. (Madrid, Spain), June 2, 2009 - bolucpap, February 24, 2009 - hywelhuws (Clynnog Fawr, Wales, UK), September 19, 2008 - googoogjoob, August 4, 2008 - Lonedale (Tula, Russia), June 30, 2008 - Moses Templeton, May 3, 2008 - lobespear, April 25, 2008 - Tom Hudson (Durham, North Carolina), April 15, 2008 - anj tuesday, November 18, 2007 - Benjamin Sokal (Elysium pod planting enclosure on Mars), November 14, 2007 - Stephen Bond (Leuven, Belgium), October 26, 2007 8 of
10 people found the following review helpful:
Orwellian darkness, October 21, 2007by Emily Short Not all of the puzzles in Kaged feel fair or well-clued, and this is a pity, because the game is otherwise very effective. You play a minor bureaucrat in the justice system of a vast and overbearing state, trying to understand a series of recent disturbing events. The architecture of the setting, the behavior of the other characters, and the unfolding of the plot all work together to create a sense of oppression and fear, which only grows stronger as the game plays out. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Michael R. Bacon (New Mexico), October 21, 2007 - Corey Arnett (British Columbia, Canada), October 20, 2007 Baf's GuideA nicely done dystopia, with plenty of atmosphere and some well-executed twists. Rather linear--about halfway through, the game sort of locks you onto a certain track, and there's really never more than one thing to do from that point on. The game does justify the linearity, however, and the puzzles are good enough that the player doesn't feel like he's just pushing the story along. The music and graphics enhance the game experience considerably, so be sure to use an HTML-TADS runtime. A worthy heir to the tradition of dystopian IF. -- Duncan Stevens
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