The King of Shreds and Patches

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fantastic game, March 8, 2024

this game was greatly done, it felt like i was back in the year of 1603, great detail, i recommend this game to anyone.

Wake up, recieve infodump, sleep, repeat, March 31, 2023

--Spoilers--

Over the last two weeks (though its felt more like a month) my partner and I have been playing this game together. We're casual IF players so perhaps our little experience with these types of puzzles has something to do with our negative experiences, but besides that we've found finishing the story difficult due to flaws in the writing and game design.

Our first issue is with the bluntness and amount of exposition. John Croft's house was the first investigation of the game, but the papers in his house explained so much backstory and implied events so clearly that the mystery was dashed from the first scene of the game. Had the notes been more cryptic or sparse, we could have formed theories and made predictions. George, the pub guy, has a memory so good it eliminates intrigue by dumping so much exposition. It robs the player of the chance to investigate Barker ourselves by, for example, noticing him in the pub when we visit and then asking George about him, and perhaps trying to talk to Barker. Even better, had Moore not been in the asylum yet we could have listened to the two interact, but instead much of the story seems to have already happened. The investigations are fun when the information is garnered from a number of sources, but when it isn't worked for the gameplay is unsatisfactory.

The knowledge system also discourages exploration and validation of hunches. Rather than being free to explore the city and conclude for ourselves after firsthand examination which areas aren't relevant to the task at hand and which are, getting to discover locations that make us wonder what will happen there when they do become relevant, we are simply told up front by the game (in a meta narrative way that breaks immersion) what places are relevant. Moreover, through these knowledge flags we are forced to go through every motion the author planned in the order that he planned them. Again, when that linearity is unavoidable, without even getting to discover for ourselves that's the order they have to happen in. An example of where such linearity is purely unnecessary would be when we find out that Lucy has left her house. We left the Henry's and went to Barker's, and we were unable to enter, we instinctively tried to go to St. James Palace because it was nearby. The game prevented this because we had not found Lucy's burned note in the fireplace, so our instinct was worthless given the way the game was programmed.

The sleep system is egregious and heavily restricts freedom in a number of ways, including by even more rigidly forcing us to do things in certain orders via the time of day mechanism even when they don't have to be done in that order necessarily, and also limiting what we can do. Its worst use is after Barker tries to kill us and kidnaps Lucy. Being forced to go directly to sleep after her abduction and being frozen as Barker absconds with her is patently absurd storytelling. If we weren't supposed to find her yet, we could have tried to give chase, gotten lost in the city, and then decided with a heavy heart to go home /for ourselves/. Instead the game forces us go home, which since that we believe she's going to be tortured to death, is infuriating.

The writing itself brought particular irritation to my partner. Besides the historical fiction kitsch of interacting with famous people from the past, the use of cliches and poor imagery became annoying and made immersion difficult. Maher only describes the main character's feelings explicitly and directly, telling you how to feel, or gives objective descriptions of locations, never anything in the middle. He prefers to tell everything rather than using atmospheric description to convey emotion indirectly through superfluous set dressing, metaphors, similes, and deft emphasis.

The topics list hurt immersion as well as making conversation feel boring. If you are told explicitly what a character knows, all the player must do is loop through that list rather than think about what information you might be able to collect from them. This gives a lawnmowering effect to the conversations and feels less like a game. The conversation system also makes you repeat 'ask ___ about ___' until you've exhausted the character's knowledge and returns a summary, which is again a meta narrative break in immersion.

In sum, the game feels railroaded even though a lot of IF is linear, because it is constricting to play. It doesn't let you find things out first hand, directly experiencing the story; instead, it tells you about things that have already happened. Similarly, it gives too many answers and too little choice. Goals and their means are given cheaply. There should have been some balance between knowing exactly what to do next and having no idea, but this balance is only rarely struck (the very clever gun puzzle, for example). It was a fascinating and large game made with obvious dedication, but it felt like wake up, get infodump, sleep, repeat.

ambitious and enthralling, September 9, 2021

i have (overall) been really impressed with this game. i love the setting and of course the Lovecraftian vibe is great. some of the parsing and phrases are a little clunky, and there's a lot of "guess the verb." i think i'm about 3/4 through, but it's hard to say. it's a lot of fun to play, and the HINTS feature comes in very handy, as does the THINK command! i think 4 1/2 stars is a more accurate rating for this game, but, alas, this is not an option...

A stroll through Shakespeare's London. (oh, and unspeakable horror), April 24, 2020

It had been a long time since I seriously played IF. The King of Shreds and Patches pulled me back in.

Right from the back cover description, I got a tingling feeling in my brain about this game. A Lovecraftian horror set in the historical London of Shakespeare. Uhm,... Yes please.

The player is invited to empathize with the protagonist in a simple but very effective way: neither has the abilities needed to bring the story to a good end. So they have to be learned and practiced. The first few times you try a certain action, you have a rather high chance of failure. The more you perform it, the more proficient you get at it. Nice.

This learning curve also shows in the guidance of the player in solving puzzles: use a certain simple way to get an object in the intro, then complicate things in the middle game.
Two other puzzles are long but completely logical mechanical puzzles. These were great, as puzzles. I loved tinkering and fiddling with the objects needed. However, one of them in particular completely breaks the immersion in the character. (Spoiler - click to show)You are a printer of pamphlets, yet you somehow have to learn how to operate your own press...
One puzzle is frustrating as heck. I could not get my visual cortex to envisage the situation. I even thought it might have been better to implement this puzzle or sequence as a graphic mini-game. ((Spoiler - click to show)yes, the rowing boat)

Storywise, TKoSaP is very engaging. It's long and sprawling, with a good division into chapters that have to be handled in order. Two seemingly separate story-arcs meet eventually. Allthough you can see this coming, it is still very satisfying. That means good writing.
The adventure takes place in historical London, and the author has gone all out with this. There is an illustrated map of the city, the descriptions of background noise and activity puts you right in that time, and of course there are the characters you meet.

All of the NPCs that are of any importance are extremely well fleshed out, with many topics to discuss. Some have different opinions or viewpoints on one topic, filling in the backstory tremendously.

One of the non-player-characters is William Shakespeare. Nuff said.

The suspense leading up to the finale is long drawn out, as it should in a Lovecraftian tale. Books of lore, tales of myth, whispers and rumours,... it's all there, getting you to the very edge of your chair.

And then there is a very good and also very Lovecraftian finale.
(Spoiler - click to show)Of course, the story ends up shooting itself in the foot with a classic Lovecraftian backfire. Showing the tentacled monstrosity from the deep makes it laughable. But that's also part of the genre.

An extremely large Lovecraftian horror game with Shakespearean influence, February 3, 2016

This ultra-long game will appeal to three kinds of people: Shakespeare fans, Lovecraft horror fans, and realistic simulation fans. The amount in which the game succeeds will vary depending on the audience.

As a fan of Shakespeare, this game was wonderful. I was skeptical of someone trying to write dialogue for Shakespeare, but this game succeeded fairly well. Shakespeare didn't necessarily talk in as flowered language as he writes, so it works out. The game contains several references to plays William is considering writing (a story about an island in the New World, a story about witches written, etc.). It contains numerous quotations, mainly from Hamlet, and your character (Spoiler - click to show)attends the premier of Hamlet. Other people involved in the game include Christopher Marlowe and John Dee. If you are a fan of Shakespeare or Elizabethean times, you will love this game.

As a Lovecraft game, this game must stand under the fierce gaze of its predecessors, including The Lurking Horror, Theatre, Lydia's Heart, and of course the almost-genre-killer Anchorhead. This game acknowledges its roots; at one point in the game, you can view scenes from many of these previous games, starting with Anchorhead. The King of Shreds and patches offers nothing much new in this area; it has a little bit more gore than some of the other games, but only in one or two scenes (the rest of the game is fairly clean). The main nemesis has more character than most Lovecraftian foes. The obligatory elements (cult, language, mist, visions, etc.) are well-crafted. The game does drag in the middle a bit, but it's huge. I think, overall, it is one of the best of its genre.

Finally, the game contains several simulations of Elizabethean technology. Fans of simulations (such as flying the Ghost Plane in Jigsaw) will really enjoy this game. Others can consult the numerous hints to bypass these segments.

Overall, I resorted to the hints 2 or 3 times, generally finding out that I had missed some text. I highly recommend this game.

Highly enjoyable, mildly frustrating, July 7, 2015

For those of us who cherish the great city of London, and have always wanted to experience it in all its 17th century glory (or filth), this game will satisfy the craving.

Massive, suspenseful, detailed game. Wonderfully thorough NPC conversations. Historical and geographical gems. Built-in hints range from gentle prods to downright spoilers, but very useful for beginners or the occaisional stumpers. Puzzles almost always are intuitive and logically make use of game’s plot and surroundings. Learning how to operate a 400-year-old printing press is priceless.

My one frustration was missing an important clue/item mid-way and figuring out at the very end of the game that I’d have to replay a large portion. Granted, I prefer games that make it clear when there is no way for you to finish at least after some reasonable length of time, not after many hours.

Ending seemed a bit cliched after such beautiful buildup and intricately detailed beginnings, which is my only reason for not giving 5 stars.

Take aways: great for beginners and history lovers. Suspenseful enough to make up for minor plot and puzzle issues.

Not as newbie-friendly as it wants to be, May 26, 2014

Despite the rather extensive tutorial introduction, much of this game is an exercise in frustration. Despite the author's advice to avoid the hint system, I found it absolutely necessary in several situations, with ridiculously specific puzzle solutions. Due to the "guess the verb" nature of many puzzles, it's very easy to be confused and misdirected on your own. If you use one verb, the game suggests that object is completely unnecessary, where the answer is actually doing something very, very similar on that same object.

That hint system, while invaluable, is not without its own flaws. In aiming to give you only the information you need (a "nudge"), instead the first few hints within the skill tree simply confirm, unhelpfully, that you are indeed facing a puzzle. Likewise stating the obvious, some of those hints will only tell you what you already know (else, why even look up the hint?). For example, while facing a locked door, to which you do not possess a key, one of those hints may be "You can't seem to open the door, can you?".

The quest tracking system, on the other hand, is often invaluable, in all but one instance showing you that there are indeed more little details still hidden somewhere in a specific area.

Those minor details are at once both a sort of frustration and a part of this game's strength. It is very obvious the author put an enormous amount of time and effort into this game. Within the rather large environment, virtually every single detail, no matter how inconsequential, is painstakingly described in full, vivid detail. This both adds richness to medieval London and its characters, as well as ensuring that to proceed, you really must pay attention to every detail, searching and manipulating everywhere and everything.

This richness of detail really does redeem the rest of the game. The rich prose and story make it desirable to continue trying to solve the mystery at hand, no matter how painful it may be to do so. Though the plot is interesting, one part that is unexplored is why the main character is so compelled to respond as he does, and only in that way. (Spoiler - click to show) Upon discovering the untimely death of a friend, investigation is the only course of action available, and no help at any time is considered desirable. Even when it leads the protagonist to a series of crimes and murders by his own hand.

All in all, this was an experience I enjoyed, though I am very unlikely to ever play it again. I would recommend this to other people, only so long as they already have a solid grasp of IF and its mechanics.

The game that makes me believe in IF..., March 10, 2013

First of all, this review was made by a newbie of the genre, don¡¯t expect any comparison with other games, just a honest review from someone that was scare of IF just a few months ago. This review is mostly for newbie players. Also, I hate spoilers, so I will not talk much about the story. My 1st language is Spanish so yeah, lotz of typos.

What got me to play this game was, the map¡­ yeah, a piece of paper with names of places make me play this game until the end. For newbie players, sense of direction, is very important. Walking randomly just hoping to arrive where you want to, will lead to frustration, unless you got a very . memory (I¡¯m talking about new players, an expert of IF I suppose can get around without a map) or incredible luck. The story was very interesting, is about this man, Robert, trying to figure out what happen to his friend after finding him dead, any more info will spoil the fun of it. Its play kinda like a detective game, finding clues, talking to people to discover who or what did this to your friend. This games is not as graphic as I will like it to be, only one scene really surprises me, otherwise I will have love if the game would have gotten more mature and disgusting bloody scenes. The puzzles were very good, maybe one or two will lead to frustration, (especially new players like me) but there¡¯s a very good hint system, its follow your progress and give you the tiny bit of info to keep solving the puzzle on your own, or give you the full solution, I really love this system, and I think many IF uses this. The game uses very easy commands, you will never will find yourself typing random verbs just to ¡°cut the paper¡±. And in the conversations the game give you the topics beforehand, just in case you forgot what you have to ask to a certain person. The conversations feels lively, the writing is very good in my opinion.

I really recommend this game to newbie players. One of the first IF I played what this game that was supposed to ¡°teach me¡± how to play, and it did the opposite, its make me afraid of ¡°games without pictures¡±, its make me feel like ¡°if I can¡¯t resolve this puzzle in this game for ¡°new players¡± without typing hint, its mean I will never be able to beat any other IF on my own". All those IF expert players learned by trial and error, playing multiple games at first, without even beaten half of them. Also, play a game with a story you like with normal places. Houses, shops and a city, this is easy to imagine and to get into, not like a castle with a supernatural wardrobe that you have to use to light a candle in the first 10 minutes of the game. This game should be in the top list of games to play for people that think that IF is an error in writing and have to be in lower case¡­ like I once did.

Great setting, good game, October 12, 2010

The game has some good puzzles and intriguing story, although it suffers of our knowledge of Cthulho Mythos. There's also some moments were it isn't what to do and were to go - I've stuck searching for a shop of some dutch mentioned in a letter from old friend. There's no solution, so I couldn't move on and left it unfinished.

It flows like the Thames, September 7, 2009

In one memorable scene (though the associated puzzle is somewhat irritating) of The King of Shreds and Patches, the protagonist is rowing on the Thames, attempting to make headway against the stream. Playing Maher's game is nothing like that. It is, in fact, the exact opposite, a smooth ride along with the flow.

Maher has a satisfying tale of Lovecraftian horror to tell, and tell it he does. The player is along for the ride, although she encounters enough (generally easy) puzzles and has enough influence over the order in which the story unfolds to keep her from feeling powerless. The result is an enjoyable game that is the interactive fiction equivalent of a page turner: it may not always be of the highest literary qualities, but you want to keep on reading nonetheless.

Apart from the often excellent puzzle design, the main reasons that you can keep on turning the pages are the helpful map and "go to..." commands, and the self-updating list of goals. These together ensure that the player cannot get lost, either in space or in story-space.

In other words: this game is not incredible, it does not "advance the art of interactive storytelling", but it is very enjoyable and one can learn a lot of craft from it. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets one or more XYZZYs.

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