Sequitur

Sequitur is a CSI tech game with a unique feel. You play as Detective Stephen Cochone, investigating several mysterious deaths that occurred at a supposedly abandoned house. He’s being taught how to use sequitur, a program created by quirky tech girl Jenny, as part of the investigation. The main use of the in-game program is to review written descriptions of found footage and sound recordings taken from the crime scene, and arrange them in chronological order.

Having this separate ‘program’ as the main interface is itself pretty interesting. I did find it confusing at first because you’re hit with a lot of special commands and phrases upfront, which can be overwhelming. The game does provide you with in-game help, though, including the option to ask Jenny to order the sequences for you. While this may be too easy of a bypass, the player still has to view all the videos and come to their own conclusions.

What I enjoyed most, though, were the characters. We quickly get an idea of who they are, and I enjoyed the dialogue between Stephen and Jenny. I was pretty invested in them by the end and (Spoiler - click to show)really bummed that the endings don’t give us any concrete details about what happens afterwards. I first played Sequitur a few years ago, and I’m still disappointed we don’t find out what happens to Cochone! Even the best ending doesn’t tell us.

The game also has custom responses to out-of-game commands, giving functions like save or restart in-game explanations, which I thought was a nice touch.

Overall, it’s very well written and one of my favorite IF games.