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Review
This game is fairly complex and its a good chance I didn't understand it completely. It involved quite a bit of folklore and older time things that were hard to translate (and copy and paste doesn't seem to work for google translate), and it is written in a dialect that drops the 'd' at the end of words (like tablao for tablado), which was a bit tricky for me. It's written in Adventuron, and is actually a well-implemented example of the engine.
You play as a man in a Romani family whose name I couldn't quite understand (I think it means something like the evil eye?). The game is divided into two sections; the first involves obstacles in the path of a wagon trip, and involves both conversation and some standard fetch quests.
The second part is a loop where you sing or play guitar for money in a cafe, each time receiving feedback on how to improve. I started off with horrible music but eventually got much better. That unlocks some ending scenes that are quite shocking and weird at first, but, upon reading the beginning quotes of the game again, seem to represent a kind of catharsis. I got kind of stuck on this second half of the game, to be honest.
Overall, this game is incomplete, according to the author, but I found it complex and descriptive. I appreciated the manual and the suggestions at the bottom of each page.
I debated for a long time between 3 stars and 4 stars, but I'd rather be nice if I can't decide so I'm going with 4.
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Just as a comment for general information:
1)
That "dialect" you talk about dropping some "d" at the words ending in "-ado" (so became "-ao") is in fact a common way of talking in many places in Spain, not a real dialect, as a way of make the talk more fast/easy.
It is traditionally used only in talked language and in an informal context, but some people defends that it is so extended that is in fact an evolution of the language, as some other letters disappeared or change their pronunciation during the history of the Spanish language.
https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/40970.pdf
2)
Anyway, the word “tablao” is a different word than “tablado”, and a real one by itself with its own entry in the dictionary, and its specific meaning related with a scenario to play Flamenco music.
https://dle.rae.es/tablao
https://dle.rae.es/tablado?m=form
3)
The name of “Virulé” is a nickname, used in the so common way of calling people by some physical peculiarity. In this case it would be something like “pop-eye”, “cross-eyed” or “one-eyed”.
The meaning of “evil eye” as “curse” is “Mal de ojo” (literally “evil of the eye”) but I think is not included in the meaning of “Virulé”, although the author probably has played with this meaning… let’s see what happens in the second part.
This game is probably not the most easy to be fully understood for foreigners because of its language and perhaps some topic situations, but I think they will enjoy it the same. Good for you for taking the risk of playing it!
