Ratings and Reviews by Deathworks
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A decent idea but, October 20, 2007First off: The link seems to imply that the game was involved in some form of time-limited competition. My review of this game which satirizes one of the more well-known European fairy tales does not take such circumstances into consideration but rather focus on a normal player's perspective.
Since I started in that corner, I will begin with the weaknesses and then get to the good points.
The implementation is rather limited with focus on the objects directly involved with the puzzles. As the game itself is somewhat streamlined and not attempting to invite major explorations by the player, this is not too much of a problem. The nouns you need to refer to are more or less obvious, so things should work out alright.
Most of the descriptions don't overwhelm you but they are not badly written - they are just a bit short/minimalized.
Finally, the game is extremely short - whether you consider that a fault or an advantage depends on your needs, of course. Its brevity certainly invites people to give it a try since even if they do not enjoy it in the end, it does not take up that much of their time.
On the positive side, the basic idea behind the story (who you are and what you want), as well as the outcome of the story are quite nice and I really like them, which is why I am a bit sad that the game itself is so short.
As a point of warning, the game has a bit of attitude. It is not really vulgar or anything, but people who are really sensitive about such stuff might be put off by it.
So, in the end, while I don't think it is something everyone should have played, I believe that it is a nice option if you have a few minutes you want to spend with a very short and simple piece of IF.
A very atmospheric game, October 19, 2007First, I have to acknowledge that I have not finished the game completely, because of personal reasons. But as far as I can tell, I got really towards the start of the home stretch.
In my eyes, this game shows what good horror IF should be like: The atmosphere is very intense and the writing does a very good job to convey it to the player. The player character is not really my preferred type, but rather falls into the common person category. His presentation is believable, making it easy to get into the game itself. The riddles are very fair, with just enough hints, but not too many, so the player still has some challenges to overcome.
Due to the basic plot, interaction with NPCs is relatively rare, with the game more about uncovering mysteries of the past and understanding what is going on. While some people may find this somewhat disappointing, I believe that it suits the genre quite well.
If you are a hard-core horror fan, you might find the game too tame in its content. While it does involve some aspects of violence, it is much closer to an eerie story than to a splatter movie. It can be said to be in a Lovecraftian tradition. In other words, if you like it more subtle, you can enjoy it quite well, while fans of hands-on action may find the experience less enjoyable, though not really bad.
I am not that experienced with IF, but I would say that it is of medium length, tending slightly to long. So, if you just want to have a quick play, this is probably a bit too much. Otherwise, I can only recommend playing this game as it is really a very fine creation I consider to be one of the flagships of IF.
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