Antifascista

Antifascista presents several scenes surrounding an incident in which a violent thug attacks the (gay) protagonist's boyfriend and seriously injures him. It is at times melancholy or disturbing(Spoiler - click to show), particularly when, as the player, you're navigating through dark alleys towards what you are almost certain will be a horrible encounter. But the game as a whole is extremely short and linear, and the character of the boyfriend remains largely a cipher for much of the game, revealing little of what he's thinking or feeling.

Given where the story opened and how it was presented, I was expecting or hoping for more -- maybe more scenes from the lives of these characters, or more complexity in the reaction they have to this traumatic event.

As it stands, Antifascista presents the player with a starkly unpleasant incident, but refrains from offering much by way of additional perspectives or observations about it. As a story it feels slight. It takes its power from the fact that horrible things like this sometimes do happen in reality -- but it doesn't seem to have very much to say about that reality.

Antifascista is a game with high aspirations, strong ideals, and limited interaction. The strength of this game lies in the linear story, demonstrating one way to resist fascism. It is a worthy message to deliver, but the interactive part of this fiction isn't implemented in a manner which actively engages the player.

The largest flaw in this game isn't so much a "guess the verb" issue as a "guess the action." Most scenes take place in a single location. The one scene that did allow movement kept the player on rails running along a single path toward a confrontation with a predetermined conclusion. There are no items to use in this game. There is only one instance of verbal communication in this game, and that's menu driven. The story moves forward only when taking actions that are not always understandable from the context of the narrative.

Due to the strict linearity of this story and limited effective actions the IF implementation isn't nearly as successful as a story of this nature deserves. Still, it is a worthy effort, and I do encourage the author to continue writing.