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ecdysis.zip
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Ecdysis

by Peter Nepstad profile

Part of Commonplace Book Project
Horror
2007

Web Site

(based on 28 ratings)
3 member reviews

About the Story

You wake, a pounding headache loud in your inner ear, the back of your head itching and tingling, your mouth full of cotton. The pain drives away your dreams, weird visions of alien landscapes...

Ecdysis is based on an entry in H.P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book.

Game Details

Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: June 15, 2007
Current Version: 1.6
License: Freeware
Development System: TADS 2
Baf's Guide ID: 3111
IFIDs:  TADS2-73A28DCF8EB6077691F1273C2DA41118
TADS2-4237898024ECA31166DFB23C3B352D26
TUID: aqtol7ejlzadgnsz

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Member Reviews

5 star:
(4)
4 star:
(12)
3 star:
(11)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
(1)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 3
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Robbed of the "Best In Show" award, March 14, 2008
A shot of pure Lovecraftian horror. Unlike the disappointing Dead Cities, this entry in the Commonplace Book Project maintains the creeping dread perfectly from beginning to end. No jarring implementation issues or intrusive default parser responses, no aimless undirected wandering, Ecdysis is short, sharp, and perfectly formed. There are multiple endings, all suitably Lovecraftian.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Very brief, but effective, June 27, 2008
Ecdysis is a compact bit of horror. Summarizing the plot too much would only ruin it, but it's worth knowing that this is one of several games based on snippets from H. P. Lovecraft's "Commonplace Book", and that the premise is a weird and disturbing one.

Ecdysis is fairly linear up until the late stages of the game. I found that the first release of the game had some awkward moments, but the later release is smoother and easier to play. Puzzles are mostly a matter of figuring out the one next thing you can do, and are not too hard -- but all the same this does make some good use of its interactivity. Worth a look.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Spartan and Under-implemented, August 7, 2009
by AmberShards (The Gothic South)
I'm wondering what game the other folks reviewed, because the version of Ecdysis available at the download link to the right and up a bit is spartan and under-implemented. I have no problem with games occasionally yielding up gems of purple prose, but this game implements so few objects that virtually everything is purple prose. That's frustrating and especially so when you're trying to avoid the main ending.

The bare-bones prose works until you start actually exploring the rooms and feel the linear plot snug around your neck. Then you wonder why the author couldn't bother implementing default responses and why the game knows so few verbs. Not only that, but objects disappear or appear only when it suits the plot.

As for the alternate endings, I couldn't find them, and after a while of fiddling with the game, I just couldn't see the point in it. It's a horror game and a Lovecraftian one at that, so there's no hope of a happy ending here.

Points for a creepy atmosphere even though the whole Lovecraft approach is tired and kind of silly.

If you enjoyed Ecdysis...

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This is version 7 of this page, edited by David Welbourn on 15 March 2008 at 3:32pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item