Masquerade

I'm not really sure why this game generates the kind of praise it does. Then again, I'm mystified why Shadows on the Mirror and Violet did as well. Masquerade is a lot like Shadows in the sense that if you don't read the author's mind, you'll never make it anywhere in the game. Unlike that game, however, Masquerade mercifully doesn't keep the torment going. If you decide to leave the first room (I was thinking that I'd come back later or maybe look for a side entrance), BOOM, game over. I was shocked and angry, but chastened.

So I tried again, this time using a little more patience. After five minutes of guess-the-verb, I concluded that I'd need a walkthrough to get past the first puzzle. As a rule, I loathe walkthroughs, but I absolutely will not use one for the first puzzle. Why is it that IF romances are all such tortures?

What I saw of the game balanced out its sparkling prose and interesting PC with a horrifically frustrating gameplay. I don't know if the rest of Masquerade is just as vexing, but I didn't want to find out.