De Baron

by Victor Gijsbers profile

Fantasy
2006

Return to the game's main page

Reviews and Ratings

5 star:
(49)
4 star:
(65)
3 star:
(33)
2 star:
(8)
1 star:
(4)
Average Rating:
Number of Ratings: 160
Write a review


Previous | << 3 4 5 6 7 >> | Next | Show All


- paperclypse (Portland, OR), April 24, 2008

- aaronius, April 14, 2008

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Disturbing and difficult to like, but this brave work demands to be played, April 11, 2008
by Jimmy Maher (Oslo, Norway)

It's hard to write a review of The Baron using conventional computer game metrics. Did I like the game? No, not really, but then I wasn't really intended to. The game deals with a very difficult real-life subject and manages to handle it with maturity and even a certain degree of understanding, to the extent such a thing can be understood. I was nevertheless left with conflicting emotions toward the person you play in the game. His crime is SO monstrous that even understanding cannot bring forgiveness.

There is at least one notable formal innovations in the game. In keeping with the focus on ethics, responsibility, and morality, you will occasionally be asked not just WHAT you wish to do but WHY you have done so. The game does a reasonably good job of keeping track of your choices and bringing them to your attention later, although there is only one fairly linear path through the game, and the only real global player agency over the outcome comes with your final choices.

The game is unfortunately plagued by a constant trickle of typos, and in various places its author chooses awkward phrasings that no native English speaker would ever employ. It's by no means a perfect work, but it is a very brave and important one. I don't expect you to enjoy it, but I do highly recommend that you play it. (I should note in closing, in case the above hints were not enough, that the game deals with a VERY sensitive, difficult subject. This is definitely one for adults only.)

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

- Juhana, April 2, 2008

- lobespear, March 14, 2008

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Simple navigation with menu-based conversation, March 13, 2008
by Ron Newcomb (Seattle)

While I enjoy the lack of puzzles as it ensures a constant amount of forward progress through this short work, the writing needs to be strengthened in order for my choices' weight to be felt. I felt disorientated more than anything by the sudden twists. The choices themselves covered a good variety of options, so I never felt that "my" answer was never listed. And I enjoyed chatting with the gargoyle. I did not, however, replay the game after completing it. I have never been a lawnmower; it's rare that I would return to a point in a game just to see what would've happened if I had chosen differently.

On a side note, this game shows me why characters in literature are not people, and why people make poor characters in literature. Characters tend to be more provocative, to hold slightly more extreme viewpoints than real people do, and so, when the protagonist of the story is a real person making moral choices, he doesn't fall into the same kind of traps a character would. The story loses its punch as a result.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

- oddgrue (California), December 30, 2007

- Shade (North Carolina), October 25, 2007

- SamGordon (England), October 23, 2007

- Emily Short, October 22, 2007

- Emily Boegheim, October 19, 2007


Previous | << 3 4 5 6 7 >> | Next | Show All | Return to game's main page