Reviews by forgepoet
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Fun, Silly, February 22, 2014The author has perfectly captured the engaging, slightly-to-very cartoonish feel of a King's Quest (or maybe Leisure Suit Larry) adventure and blended it with an adult game that is on the "naughty" side of things without (surprisingly, given the source tale) being repellent. And this is definitely an adult game, with the adult content integrated into the puzzles.
The tone starts out very light, and it's obvious this is a fantasy that isn't meant to be taken too seriously. For a fantasy game with such a direct purpose, it made me think a lot more about my actions (and gave more incentives to play "in character") than other games it might superficially resemble. You aren't exactly penalized for your choices, but it definitely feels as if the tone of the game (and thus how the world treats your character) adjusts itself to your actions. Something I'd love to see the author explore in a longer work in the future.
Which leads to my biggest complaint; just like any good short story, it left me wanting to stay longer. I wanted to see a lot more of the castle, and have more puzzles to solve (maybe even restore the whole place)! But as an "encounter", it works just fine without anything extra added. (Spoiler - click to show)Also, if you're really unpleasant to Beauty, I think she should make you suffer directly for it in the end. It's definitely possible such an ending exists, as I wasn't all that rude towards her.
So, recap -- adult, atmospheric, presented in a light way that takes a lot of the sting out of some otherwise really not too appealing actions. And too short!
Do My Choices Matter?, February 22, 2014I'm a little confused by this. The writing was fine, but the story never really took off; it seems promising at first but never really blossoms into an actual story. It's possible I'm missing the choice that will send me off into a different, more exciting branch, but there's not much incentive to keep hunting for it after a bunch of attempts have ended up in roughly the same spot -- and, frankly, the choices are so opaque it's hard to feel any sense of agency at all.
Even when deliberately trying to avoid the paths I'd already explored, I still ended up with the same game ending event happening in roughly the same way on every play through. (Mild) (Spoiler - click to show)You could make the case that experiencing the same event from the same POV but in different locations counts as multiple endings, but with no epilogue or explanation, it seemed more like padding than anything else. (Major) (Spoiler - click to show)Is there really enough of a difference between walking to a cafe and dying in a pool of vomit outside it vs going home and dying in a pool of vomit to count as two endings? So I'm assuming I only saw two of the ten endings ((Spoiler - click to show)I also managed to die at my desk before vomiting), but I really couldn't figure out how to access any others.
And even when my choices were clearly very consequential, or should have been in the game world ((Spoiler - click to show)opening an email revealing my sister's been kidnapped versus deleting it unread), they didn't seem to make much difference to what happened or to be reflected at all in the ending.
That said, I'd play another game by the author, assuming the setting were more interesting and something exciting happened in it.
Amazing Game, Mixed Feelings, February 21, 2014This was an amazing game. Professional in all respects, fascinating mechanics, gentle, well-described world hiding unexpectedly sharp teeth. I wanted to fall in love with it, and I did, for what turned out to be the first half or so.
The issue, for me, is that the characters were as gently and obliquely described as the world. I could sense there was a lot more to them bubbling under the surface, but I couldn't seem to unlock much of it. So I was left with a sense that the game would really be happier if we just stayed good friends and I didn't pry too much, and this left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied.
I may have rushed through too quickly; I'm used to IF that takes a few hours to complete, and this probably should have been enjoyed over a week. And maybe I'm spoiled by the easy narrative rewards of less demanding pieces. And maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy exploring all of the nuances of the system and fiddling with everything in pursuit of success.
Minor spoiler (general feelings on ending): (Spoiler - click to show)I found the ending to be disappointing, enough so that I assumed I'd gotten a mediocre ending until I checked the source and discovered I'd gotten the best one (and some of the reasons why the author made this choice). I wasn't entirely shocked that the ending left me with mixed feelings, since I've played a few other games by this author and have come to the conclusion that our definitions of "happy" are considerably different!
Major spoiler: (Spoiler - click to show)I wanted Alexandra to be separated and to see them interact with each other face to face after spending so much time so intimately connected and going through so much. Leaving them joined just felt incomplete.
I would definitely suggest using Gargoyle if possible, since on WinGluxe, "go to" and "find" became incredibly sluggish as the game progressed.
Adult Adventure Puzzler, February 21, 2014This is a fairly long but easy puzzler, with a defined world and an interesting story (and a clever travel mechanic) that reminds me in a lot of ways of a graphical point-and-click adventure. Ultimately, I think it would have been a better game if the resources put into writing so many rather forgettable dating targets had been put into other aspects of the game.
Adult stuff, very mild spoilers: (Spoiler - click to show)All the encounters are strictly heterosexual; the only overtly gay character is cowardly, ineffectual, and obnoxious (this may have been a joke, since he's a vampire and I entirely expected to be offered a sex scene with him). There's not much going on otherwise besides willing sex between (with one exception) equals, one of whom wants to repay the other for a favor. The one exception is easy to avoid and telegraphed as "bad" in big, bold neon. None are particularly meaningful or add much to the story except the witch and the pirate.
Since that aspect of the game is entirely optional, I would recommend only pursuing the NPCs who feel plot appropriate or just skipping the adult stuff entirely. It isn't poorly written, but the engine used is obviously based on incrementing meters with actions and that gets tedious pretty quickly, especially with chunks of text recycled between characters.
The plot is dramatic, the stakes high and personal, but the hero never seems to be too concerned about the fate worse than death awaiting him (or about the others who may have already suffered it). The hero remains a blank slate throughout; we know his name, his occupation, his lifestyle, and what he's been doing for the past five years, but his description is the generic "about the same as always" and he has no opinions about anything going on around him (or happening to him) besides mild feelings of guilt if he's unkind. This bugs me, and is representative of the game as a whole; it just can't seem to commit enough to have real impact.
The puzzles are straightforward and somewhat varied. I did flounder a bit occasionally trying to figure out what I should do next other than wander around and look at everything to see what might help. The key seems to be asking everyone you meet about everything you can think of. Personally, I find that I almost never hit on the right things to ask, not just here, but any time an "ask X about Y" system is used without suggested topics. Fortunately there's any ally you can get early on who will guide you somewhat.
I had some issues with the specific phrasing of commands (during the first puzzle, no less), but the game has a context-sensitive hint system that provides two hints and then an outright solution, so I was never stuck for long. None of the puzzles are cruel or require mind-reading. I did find two a bit unfair. In one, a crucial plot item is (Spoiler - click to show)hidden behind a locked door in an out of the way spot, just past a room with six locked doors in it, and the solution is (Spoiler - click to show)to knock on that door even though the first six do nothing. By the time I found the important door, I had assumed the locked doors in this area were scenery. In the other, (Spoiler - click to show)you need to "look in" an item that's only marginally a container (examining it won't work). (Spoiler - click to show)If you can't find the coin to pay the apothecary, (Spoiler - click to show)"look in red chair" in the Ice Flow Tavern.
Be aware that "strip" is not implemented correctly; NPCs may not realize they've been divested of their clothes, and they certainly won't notice if you're naked. And inventory management in general is kind of a pain, but you're given a mobile base to keep everything in that's never more than three or four rooms away. "Drop all" is your friend here.
All in all, worth playing at least once, and a game I would definitely recommend to someone familiar with IF who wanted to try an adult game.
Amusing, Different, February 20, 2014Might just be that I'm a sim addict (I am), but I wish there were more IF games like this. Not that ALL IF games were like this, just that there were a few more.
It's amazing how easily a few bits of information (name, gender, four stats) and a little responsibility can be converted to genuine (if very mild) affection. I genuinely wanted my charges to be attractive and well-disciplined so that they could get out of my orphanage before despair killed them. And to get paid in the process.
I found the interface simple to use and not overly tedious even in the tail end of the game once I discovered I could "x all" and "assign all". I enjoyed the random story events, and liked that I could dismiss ones that were unfulfillable. I wish there were more of them, or that they were more frequent ((Spoiler - click to show)and that the sewage one came up a lot less frequently, or not at all unless you have wards in every room. I had it happen on two different plays when I had no wards in two of the rooms and it took forever to clean up).
At some points (like when a ward I'd gotten almost perfect bolted) I found myself wishing for a bit more agency. And I would have liked a subplot that required spending money (maybe enriching myself or improving my station) to make the choice of where to spend my money more interesting than just "what order do I buy stuff" or "buy whatever will help solve my current issue".
After several play-throughs, I only found one bug; one of my wards met an untimely end yet was still active and present the next day.
Definitely a game worth playing as both an interesting experiment and a fun game, as long as you don't dwell too long on what the game is actually requiring you to do (or find it amusing).
So, it turns out I somehow downloaded both versions and played the wrong one! The updated version seems to have increased the number of random events and decreased the morale hits. Very nice.
Decent, For What It Is, February 20, 2014This is actually not bad for a first or casual foray into the medium.
The central conceit of two players is cute, clever, and makes sense inside the game, and also leads coherently into the sole moment of interactivity. The writing is sturdy and hints at more world than we get to see. It's definitely silly, but serious enough within its own framework to work. It's not terribly interactive, but then again, it's not a bad short story.
I've played worse Speed-IF games.
Worth the two minutes to click through.
Entertaining, Fun, February 19, 2014This definitely comes down hard on the narrative side of IF, with a light, linear story and explicit sex scenes that are integrated into the plot and don't feel tacked on. I felt that it relies a bit too heavily on genre conventions, and that those genres (YA series mystery and Cinemax film) don't mix entirely comfortably, but the game never takes itself too seriously or veers into making fun of itself or the material it pays homage to. The format, an interesting blend of CYOA and parser, kept things moving quickly and forward as events unfolded.
Well, with one exception: (only a spoiler if you're as obtuse as I was, in the very first scene) (Spoiler - click to show)I didn't realize I needed to read the newspaper to move things forward -- I read all of my news online -- and on my first play through never advanced the main plot at all. But even with my cluelessness (seriously, I failed about as hard as you can fail in a scene with two implemented objects, despite being given seven separate attempts to wise up), the game appreciated my efforts and rewarded my character with a nominal win (and some, shall we say, interesting scenery). So, while the story itself is strongly linear, there are a number of exit points that aren't the "optimal" ending to see on the way.
The title and some of the characters seem to be intended as a fairly direct reference to Nancy Drew, but I really picked up more of a "Made for TV Mystery of the Week" vibe. You know the kind of movie -- the one that's playing at two in the afternoon on a weekday, the heroine is feisty, attractive, billed by everyone around her as brilliant but can't spot that the guy she's just hopped into the sack with is a psycho stalker, and nobody ever gets killed, they're just kidnapped and made uncomfortable. Usually based on a cozy mystery book, often with the same title and character names, but generally bearing no resemblance to the source material in any substantial way. (The author of the book probably cried when she saw it.)
None of the above should be taken as a spoiler for this game, by the way, except maybe the "kidnapped and made uncomfortable" part but since that's in the blurb, it's not much of a surprise. Movies like that aren't usually totally unenjoyable, they're just forgettable and often disjointed; this game's plot, as slight as it was, actually held together very well and made sense in context.
I think "slight" actually sums it up, and I very much hope the author uses this format to make more games, ones with more confident and original stories.
Note on adult stuff (read this if you don't care for it): (Spoiler - click to show)You can pretty easily mentally replace everything between the start of a sex scene and the end of it with "fade to black" and not miss anything too important.
Flawed But Entertaining, February 19, 2014This was the first game by this author I played through to the end, and I found it surprisingly entertaining. Years ago, I had slotted it into the "don't bother" category over some of the flaws that are glaringly apparent within ten minutes of beginning, and I'm glad I disregarded that initial impression and tried again.
Where the game shines, and where it's entirely focused, and what makes it worth playing despite the implementation flaws, is the narrative and the characters (there are no "he looks exactly as you would expect a clerk to look" descriptions here), and both are engaging enough in a light action movie kind of way to want to see through to the end. Too often I found myself in a situation where I needed to simply "wait" a turn before talking to an NPC again or before something interesting happened on its own. I can't help but think this would have been a better game if it had been written in a different format (say, CYOA or CYOA-hybrid) that allowed these strengths to really shine.
Unfortunately one of the four or five missions in the open world segment gives away much of the ending if you're at all genre savvy and even remotely paying attention (if you want to avoid this, don't hunt down (Spoiler - click to show)Failed Romero).
Even though I knew what was coming, it was still compelling enough to make me want to see how it played out. In some respects it felt as if the author lost interest after the big reveal; I would have liked to have known more about the ramifications of what was going on. But the conclusion was rewarding and the game definitely felt complete.
If you enjoy action science fiction, this is well worth playing, just save often and have a walkthrough handy.
Entertaining, Surprising, February 18, 2014CYOA is a difficult medium because it has to succeed as both a short story and as a game. And what one person enjoys in a short story another might dislike intensely (see "Lovecraft, H. P."). There's nothing here to distress anyone, but (slight) (Spoiler - click to show)there is an uncompromising statement about how the world works, and I found it thought-provoking.
As a short story, this is competently written in a serious, slightly overblown way that recalls the simplest high fantasy of my childhood. And it skips over the boring bits, as stories like that usually do, in favor of the parts where you get a cool item or get some bit of sage and cryptic advice or meet someone interesting.
Most clicks, even ones that appear decorative, move the story forward, but choices are not uninteresting, usually reward you with specific text, and are often reflected on your character sheet. There was an appropriate amount of interactivity for the story to have maximum impact and to allow for a replay or two without becoming tiresome.
I played through three times, twice as a wizard and once as a warrior, and I'm pretty satisfied that the endings are fair reflections of my choices. I also quite liked the second ending I ended up with; bittersweet but surprisingly okay.
To sum up, nicely entertaining and more challenging than it might seem from the first few clicks. Well worth the time to enjoy.
Not Sure What I Just Played, February 17, 2014The thing about games (stories? Hypertext fiction? Poetry?) like this is that whenever I reach what seems to be a wall, I'm never sure if I've experienced the full game, if the author is trying to convey some message about frustration or death or something else profound, or if I'm just dumb and not finding the next thing to click on.
This game epitomizes that feeling. After clicking on everything I can and reading the resulting slightly-to-fairly gross, bizarre (but presumably with some much deeper meaning I'm not catching) snippets of text, I'm locked in a loop that doesn't seem to have an exit, with a score of 800,000 and with no apparent way to continue. (Spoiler - click to show)And the only way to progress through the loop -- just so I can respawn at the beginning of the loop again -- requires several actions and then sitting through a poem, which appears line by line, with a brief but excruciating timed delay between each line.
At this point, I have very little interest in continuing; I feel vaguely sorry for the amorphous protagonist, but (slight) (Spoiler - click to show)I'm pretty sure nothing I help him do in the game is going to improve his life outside it, and he's so passive it'd be hard to imagine him improving it for himself. And the dreary, unrelentingly unkind atmosphere suggests this is the kind of game where "winning" will be Pyrrhic, if not worse than losing.
As a game, I found the biggest flaw to be how difficult it was to know what to do when (or even if there was a "right" or "best" or even "productive" thing to do). As a story, I found it surprisingly compelling, in the same way that a kid feels about poking a dead thing with a stick. But the appeal wears off pretty quickly.
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