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Number of Reviews: 6
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1-6 of 62 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
A short keyword based game about a space native and earth, June 7, 2016This game is about a young person born in space who wished more than anything else to go to the earth home they've never experienced.
It is keyword based, and in the inform version I played, it had some nice styling. The undum/vorple version has gorgeous UI and sound effects, but it did not display properly for me.
Overall, though, the game was very short with what felt like some missed opportunities for alternative routes. It was a well crafted but small bite.
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2 people found the following review helpful:
Brief melancholia, September 2, 2015Note: this review is for the Undum/Vorple version. It does not appear to work on Google Chrome (44.0.2403) or Safari (8.0.8).
You were born on the Magellan, kilometres and kilometres away from Earth. You were born and raised in space, and the ship Magellan has been the only home you've ever known.
You want to get home.
Starborn is a melancholic exploration game. Originally a Z-machine game, it has since been adapted for Undum/Vorple, which is a natural fit for this format. The writing is clean, though unremarkable; the most memorable feature about this game would probably be the close attention paid to the playing experience. Keywords are both hyperlinked and given a special column. Navigation can be done either through the hyperlinked keywords or through the panel on the left.
In terms of story, the author gives hints as to what's going on, but the writing has some emotional depth: a sense of alienation (ahem) and loneliness pervades the descriptions of Earth, and of yourself.
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3 people found the following review helpful:
Amazing. Short but Sweet., January 3, 2015I loved this. Yes it was very short, but you managed to tell a moving story in such a small game. Space travel stories always intrigue me, and this one left me wanting more! Such a beautiful piece, I think the author's purpose was to tug your heart strings a bit, and this definitely does. Bravo!
If you made a longer story in this setting I would love to read it!
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4 people found the following review helpful:
A comparison between the two versions of the game., January 16, 2012I had a peek at the original parser-with-keywords version of Starborn when it was released, but I did not complete it – which was a bit silly of me, given the very small size of the game.
Starborn now returns in a high budget Undum+Vorple form that fills your web browser screen with an atmospheric and clickable map graphic and your ears with a couple of spacey pieces of ambient electronic music. The keywords of the original version have become clickable hyperlinks.
The game content remains unaltered, and is a brief evocation of the life of a human born in space in the future who is contemplating what it might be like to return to the old homeworld, gravity and air and all. The writing does a good job of placing you "outside of the Earth" in a short space of time, but short is the defining word for the experience. There's just not that much to do or see or read, and it's all over in a few minutes, making it a tiny mood piece.
Having played both versions of the game, and at the risk of stating the obvious, I found that the new one certainly demonstrates that graphics change the effect of a piece, and so does sound. The aesthetic of the screen colours and sounds was actually quite unlike whatever I had made up in my head the first time I played the game, which was mildly jarring. The more high-tech delivery generated a sense of what might be described as high production values, which the simple text only original did not connote at all. By the same token, the game hasn't gotten any bigger, so the relatively lavish new delivery feels a bit overkilly after the fact.
However, that the game might come across a little weirdly to a person who played the old version first is not really the point. This new version is more effective to me as a demonstration of how a game like Starborn can be implemented by Undum & Vorple, and also shows that this implementation is very appropriate. Given that the game is mostly a CYOA, was originally driven by keywords, has movement around a map and also low interactivity (one gettable item) I found I did prefer playing it in its new format than the old. When the parser is unnecessary and you can click keywords rather than type them, why not do so? I found this design and the attractiveness of the interface appealing, though there was one thing I missed: the ability to undo. Not because of any difficulty in the gameplay, but because more than once I found myself interested in wanting to isolate what performing certain actions would do to different parts of the interface, and there was no way to undo then redo to test such actions.
I think Starborn itself is a little small for the new format, but its basic nature is well suited to the format, and playing it this way got me thinking about the possibilities.
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7 people found the following review helpful:
Brief, forgiving, interesting., May 4, 2011I've not played a keyword-based IF before; the approach certainly solves the divine-the-verb issue. Not quite a CYOA, but not as complex as a conventional IF, it falls somewhere in between. It's a big Internet, though, and I think there's room for this sort of thing.
It's a very brief story, but the author manages to suggest a fair bit of setting in relatively little text. Characterization was somewhat limited: the player character's definition revolves entirely around one key factor in their life. I would have liked more--more story, more background, more characterization. That it feels in need of fleshing out is perhaps a flaw; that I am intrigued enough to want more is perhaps a strength.
In any case, it's certainly worth a few minutes of your time.
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11 people found the following review helpful:
Hypertext fiction with interesting premise, January 16, 2011I'm generally not one for keyword-driven stories, which emulate the kind of interactivity you would find in hypertext. I've always felt that that type of interaction was inherently limiting; with all the connections drawn out for the reader, there isn't much interactivity to be had other than by exploring the graph that defines the story's structure.
That said, when considered with respect to some of the more railroaded story-oriented IF out there, it actually demonstrates some comparative benefits. No chance for hunt-the-verb, hunt-the-noun, synonym sickness, or many of the other opportunities for failure that "standard" IF offers. Non-interactive NPCs seem less of an affront when the illusion of free conversation isn't even presented. So maybe there's a natural fit between this format and an all-story, no-puzzles work.
As far as plot goes, this piece is short but very interesting. In the minutes it takes to play it, the author managed to interject some surprising ideas about the mindset of the protagonist -- things that I did not expect or consider but which are immediately obvious when pointed out, things which demonstrate that the author has put some time and effort into crafting the fictional world created. (Spoiler - click to show)I especially like the way some of the ideas are revealed through characterization; the response to "mirror" in the exercise room packs a lot into a few words. The short plot and ambiguous ending practically beg for a more thorough exploration of this fictional world.
This was the first work of the author's that I've ever tried, and it left me favorably inclined to try others. Worth the time if you are seeking a quick diversion.
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