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Review

Unsavoury Inn Every Way, June 4, 2014
by jgerrie (Cape Breton Island, Canada)

This simple two-word parser is a typical 8-bit Basic adventure. However, it is not one of the better games of this type and shares all the traits of the worst of its kind. The puzzles are very difficult and verge on the arbitrary. The deaths are largely arbitrary. The 7 item limit means you waste a lot of time shunting objects about to different locations. There are no other living characters except Fifi (who can hardly be described as living). And of course the entire premise is sexist and can only have appealed to the teenage boy who, like so many 8-bit Basic adventures, was probably its creator. The premise could have, perhaps, been redeemed by some subtle satire on the sterotypes it draws on--something Leisure Suit Larry managed to carry off. I had hoped that it might be an example of such for the 8-bit Basic adventure genre. Unfortunately, it basically plays its central premise straight up (lit), right to the bitter end. The best you can say about Madame Fifi's is, at least it's not a haunted house.

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Jenni, June 17, 2014 - Reply
As far as my childhood deductive skills could figure out, this game was a reskin of someone else's vampire game, which I knew only as VAMPIRE.EXE and have been unable to find. In the original, the dirty magazine was a scroll, etc. I suspect the author simply sexed the thing up without altering structure or puzzle design.

I will admit to having a soft spot for this game, if only because it inspired me to ask my mother what a whore was.

Edit: Found the vampire game! It's called Vampire's Castle, unknown author, and the source code is here.
jgerrie, June 21, 2014 - Reply
Thanks so much Jenni for your background info. Now that you point out that it is a reshash, a lot of the clunky aspects of the plot make sense. I was probably a bit harsh in light of its humble origins. I'm keen to see the original...
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