Reviews by Cody Gaisser
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A delicious treat!, May 10, 2023Eat Me is an absurd, whimsical, bizarre, and often disgusting game about a child with a bottomless pit for a stomach who lives in a fantastical world where everything (and everyone) is edible. The puzzles are simple and straightforward (try eating stuff), but there's a built-in hint system in case you aren't sure what to do next. This game had me smiling throughout and occasionally laughing out loud. Highly recommended!
Imaginative dark fantasy adventure, plus a little jank, May 10, 2023Baluthar is a dark fantasy adventure about a father searching for his son, who has gone missing down a nearby well that is said to be cursed. The world-building is strong, suggesting a much broader setting than the player will ever encounter directly. The ideas at play are very creative, though the writing itself is merely serviceable (and, at times, a bit clunky). The puzzles are mostly acceptable, though at least one near the end is incredibly unintuitive. This is also the sort of game where you'll need to examine everything in sight to pick up on important details. Baluthar is by no means an essential game, but fans of gloomy fantasy will find something to enjoy in the imaginatively creepy setting.
A good, but flawed, adaptation of Poe's The Raven, May 9, 2023Nevermore is a loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven. You assume the role of a sad, drug-addled alchemist who seeks to resurrect his lost love Lenore, whose life was claimed by one of his own misguided experiments. The text is moody enough, and the drug-use mechanics are a great touch. However, the game is hamstrung by some convoluted puzzles with vague hints (the alchemical process is inscrutable, and I believe it is possible to lock the game in an unwinnable state by using an item in a certain way before you are done with it). If you enjoy horror IF (particularly Poe and Lovecraft), Nevermore is worth a shot; but don't feel too guilty about using the game's built-in hint system or even resorting to a walkthrough.
A really fun pirate adventure masquerading as romance fiction, May 9, 2023Reports of Plundered Hearts being an interactive romance novel are slightly overblown. There are elements of that, of course (it does appear to be an homage to the historical romance genre), but swashbuckling pirate action is really the star of the show here.
You assume the role of Lady Dimsford, who must save her father from the clutches of a murderous pirate. The protagonist is initially a damsel in distress saved by a dashing pirate, but ultimately proves herself to be the most competent swashbuckler around (outwitting the villains and rescuing her love interest several times over).
The puzzles start and end a little roughly, with some agonizing timed puzzles as the beginning and climax of the game, but the majority of the gameplay is smooth sailing. The writing is engaging throughout (much more so than I expected from a text adventure of this vintage), and the whole thing seems quite polished.
I had a lot of fun with Plundered Hearts, and heartily recommend it to fans of story-forward text adventures.
*CAVEAT: There are some suggestive scenes and problematic game-overs that may trigger some players or run afoul of good taste. You play as a lady among immoral seafarers in a sexified genre, so you can probably guess what that means.
Spooky precursor to Anchorhead and The King Of Shreds & Patches, May 8, 2023Theatre is a nice, atmospheric horror game in which you find yourself trapped in an old, run-down theatre that seems to have malevolent designs for you. The backstory is pieced together out-of-order by collecting torn journal pages as you puzzle your way through the secret passages of the old building.
The puzzles are mostly logical, especially in the early game, and probably all doable with some patience and trial-and-error, though I found myself consulting a walkthrough a few times so I could keep up with the brisk pace at which I plowed through the early parts of the game. This logic breaks down a little towards the end, when I found myself consulting the walkthrough more often and doing things I didn't completely understand (or which only made sense once they had been done).
The tone is more eerie than outright horrifying (which is fine with me) and is a little inconsistent in places (as if tropes have been pulled from different styles of horror without serious thought as to how they fit together).
All that said, the game was fun and satisfying to play, and I found myself constantly eager to see what would happen next. I don't quite rate Theatre as highly as Anchorhead or The King Of Shreds & Patches (both of which were probably influenced by this earlier game), but I would still recommend it to players who enjoyed those other titles.
A frustrating, but funny, text adventure parody, May 7, 2023Thy Dungeonman II (a text adventure parody from the Homestar Runner site) is slightly more substantial than its predecessor. There are more objects to interact with, more ways to die, more characters to talk to, a maze, combat, a status effect, and 100 possible points. It's also funnier than its predecessor (Percy the plague rat being a particular favorite character). No, it isn't logical; yes, you will die a lot trying to play it. That's all part of the spoof. It's probably best not to go into this expecting a real text adventure, but it's an amusing diversion nonetheless.
Amusing, brief text adventure spoof, May 7, 2023Thy Dungeonman is a text adventure parody from the Homestar Runner site. It's very brief and barely a game, but it's an amusing spoof with several idiotic ways to die.
An interesting early attempt at political commentary in interactive fiction, May 7, 2023A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) is quite good and recommendable, even if it's not quite the masterpiece I was anticipating. The biggest strengths of the game are the dystopian sci-fi setting, the author's lack of inhibition with regard to including political commentary (a rarity at the time, I suspect), and the relative lack of traditional adventure game puzzles. The biggest weaknesses are (I suspect) artifacts of the game's vintage (such as: the manual is required to look up passcodes at various points in the game).
AMFV is less about unlocking doors and solving problems than simply observing changes in a society over time. The player assumes the role of a sentient AI tasked with exploring simulations of the city of Rockvil over the course of 50 years, recording evidence to determine whether or not a proposed policy called The Plan will benefit or harm society.
I found Rockvil difficult to navigate early in the game when there was a checklist of specific tasks to accomplish; however eventually I got used to the layout of the city and found exploration much easier to deal with in the mid-game when the objectives were more open-ended. I still recommend looking up a map, as my several attempts to map the game myself were consistently thwarted.
Likewise, I found the climax (the closest thing in AMFV to a puzzle) to be counter-intuitive. A walkthrough revealed that I needed to be using mechanics which I'd gone the entire game without even realizing existed. This section of the game played out rather dramatically, but the actions required for progress were not well signposted.
There's more to AMFV than just the intro and the climax, though, and the game managed to surprise me a number of times. I especially appreciated the news feed and the unexpected events that will happen from time to time while running the simulation.
I enjoyed my experience with A Mind Forever Voyaging and would recommend it for its historical significance and unique gameplay. I don't feel any regret about utilizing a map or consulting a walkthrough for the climax, though.
CYOA Street Fighter + Reverse Sexism Simulator, February 23, 2022In this Twine game, you play Street Fighter II (as either Ryu or Ken) while Chun Li and Cammy make inverted sexist comments about how boys aren't real gamers or whatever. It's funny, but I think something's a little wonky with the CYOA Street Fighter combat. I thought I was winning until I lost. Then I played again and thought I was losing until I won. Either the game is wonky or I am. Whatever. It was cute enough.
A Hyperlink Diary About Being Transgender In Public, February 16, 2022Cis Gaze is a short diary-like hyperlink story told from the perspective of a trans woman who experiences rude glares and misgendering while trying to carry out the otherwise mundane act of buying soda from a pharmacy. The story focuses on the way even seemingly small or unimportant acts of aggression and ignorance can linger in the mind of someone who is already made to feel marginal or freakish at every turn. It hints at some of the little problems (like a stubbly face or stocky physique) that can cause big insecurities in a person who is trying to be themselves and fit in but cannot. The protagonist turns to an uplifting Twitter hashtag for reassurance, but it is subsequently taken over and corrupted by bigoted trolls. The narrator laments the mental energy wasted paying attention to such offenses, likening it to picking at scabs (you know doing it will only hurt you, but sometimes you can't seem to stop yourself).
It's not fair to rate this as an adventure game (no puzzles) or interactive fiction (no choice) or even static fiction (the author doesn't seem concerned with literary aspirations here). Cis Gaze reads most like a non-fiction essay or public diary, aimed at promoting empathy for the oppressed and marginalized. While those hellbent on hate (or stuck firmly in old habits) likely won't have their minds changed by a Twine game, there's some chance that it could teach a little bit of sensitivity to someone who is simply ignorant or inexperienced. I've personally been on the wrong side of so many issues in my life that I've lost count; but I've learned a lot since my youth, so I know that learning is possible for those who are willing to do so. I hope Cis Gaze is played by people like that, and that society continues to shift more towards tolerance and acceptance, and that people who share the author's experiences find the peace and security they are looking for.
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