Vespers

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Average Rating: Number of Reviews: 3 Write a review

Haunting, memorable, January 17, 2008
I still think about Vespers nearly a year and a half after first playing through it. In the game you are a monk in charge of a monastery during the plague years of Europe. The nearby town has succumbed to disease, and the abbey is the last available refuge. The game takes place over a few days as the plague begins to infiltrate this remaining sanctuary. Dark secrets are uncovered, and the abbey itself is one of the strongest and most dynamic characters in the game. Though not for the faint of heart, or those who are easily offended by violence or religious questioning, the sense of place, immersive character, and interesting NPCs make this one of my favorite IF works.

Apocalypse a Few Centuries Ago, July 2, 2008
As a hypochondriac, I stopped playing Vespers as soon as I read the word 'plague'. And then, a few days later, I started playing it again. Something about its atmospheric depiction of an abbey barricaded against the Black Death drew me back, not because it was pleasant, but because it was quite thoroughly sinister.

Another thing that quickly had me hooked me was the way Vespers starts out as a medieval detective story. Alongside the plague, murder has come to the abbey, not to mention a mysterious waif and stray, and the monks are all acting strangely - among them the player character. As things progress, Vespers only becomes darker and more sinister, something that I would normally expect to repel me - but this carefully constructed rendition of apocalyptic Dark Age sentiments kept me hooked until, naturally enough, the detective portion gives way to a set of uncomfortable decisions - some of which you will have already made before you realise their portent.

This kind of IF game, where you must explore a world and form a moral reaction, has obviously been done before, most notably in Slouching Towards Bedlam. But whereas in that game I found myself having to refer to the hints to get the least thing done, my experience with Vespers flowed quite nicely towards its dramatic and nihilistic conclusion.

Extremely overrated, December 26, 2009
OK I've decided I don't care whether any of the haters vote no, I give only my honest opinion, and I don't run with the pack (or rather flock)

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Vespers

Name of the Rose all over again? It is impossible to deny the influence (right to the end (or rather one of them)).

Good points

- while this is an Anchorhead-like game in that you have to walk around and see what room description has changed, in contrast to the aforementioned game it's generally not too hard to advance the plot, I was able to guess most things the game expected me to do

- puzzles are solveable and logical (very big plus)

- style is ok

- technically good

Neutral points

- multiple endings, but I don't have the slightest desire to see them

Bad points

- there is little logic in the plot or characters, e.g. why should you (Spoiler - click to show)pray to a woman! In the end, everything goes to hell, also literally.

- the world never comes alive (big minus point), descriptions are too minimalistic, interactivity is severely limited, rooms generally feel very bare

- little fun stuff (stuff that is not needed to complete the game), I don't think you (Spoiler - click to show)find a single item you don't need to complete the game other than the notes

- syntax isn't really flawless, there are bad responses and I think even some typos

- the game is never actually interesting or gripping, nor deep, it could as well be set on the moon, what were you reviewers playing!!!

best NPC nominee?! Twice?! I cannot jot down how angry that makes me!!!

game of the year?! with every mediocre or bad award-winning game I play the artistical level of interactive fiction seems lower and lower to me

where is the Planescape: Torment of IF?! there MUST be one... I will continue searching.

Vote no. I command you to.

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