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2 people found the following review helpful:
A deeply disturbing horror game, March 22, 2023by dogdennings You wake up in the middle of the night with a throbbing headache and an itchy scalp. It is only going to get worse from here. Based on an idea by H.P. Lovecraft, Ecdysis is the story of a man struggling to make sense of a rapidly changing environment. The game begins in a rather mundane setting, but soon shifts to an alien landscape of lust and violence. The gameplay is a little too linear for my liking, but the story is interesting enough to keep me invested. Locations, people, and objects are represented as clickable hyperlinks, so you can play the majority of the game with just the mouse, although typing in commands will sometimes give you additional information. The game is short, and there are no puzzles, aside from the general process of interacting with the environment. There are multiple endings, with each one seemingly more grotesque than the last. I recommend Ecdysis, but that recommendation comes with an asterisk. If you are looking for a scary but ultimately uplifting story about conquering evil, you are definitely looking in the wrong place. But fans of the macabre will find a lot to appreciate in Ecdysis. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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3 people found the following review helpful:
Umm... Okay, October 27, 2020by GhostGabriel How can I sum up what I just played in the last 10 minutes? Hmm. Well, I clicked on a bunch of blue hyper-links in the text of a parser IF piece. I followed a protagonist I didn't know much about (Spoiler - click to show) quickly turning into a monster. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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6 people found the following review helpful:
Short but potent, September 18, 2020Ecdysis is a parser-based Lovecraftian horror game by Peter Nepstad, published in 2007. You're a man who wakes up at night to a pounding headache and weird visions. You get up and eat some pain medication, descend down the steps, feel strangely sweaty... and from there things only get more and more strange. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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2 people found the following review helpful:
A reminder why I can't read Lovecraftian horror..., July 19, 2017by Cory Roush (Ohio) I still have chills. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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5 people found the following review helpful:
Okay horror story, but never becomes greater than the sum of its parts, June 27, 2016I had high hopes for Ecdysis: the title and cover are evocative, and I am a fan of both Lovecraftian and body horror, and have found other entries in the Lovecraft Commonplace Book Project extremely enjoyable. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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3 people found the following review helpful:
A game that crosses the line for me, but may not for others, February 3, 2016by MathBrush I enjoy horror games quite a bit, but I like to stick to "white-hat" games, where you overcome evil or learn about yourself, and the final feeling is generally uplifting. This is not one of those games. While you can choose your actions, it is a lot like Vespers, where rushing along will lead you down a path that leaves you feeling uncomfortable and unhappy. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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2 people found the following review helpful:
I wish for more implementation, August 14, 2015by Harry Coburn (Atlanta, GA) The core premise of Ecdysis is sound. It is tight Lovecraftian horror. However, it needs more implementation throughout to flesh it out. Too little implementation makes a game feel like a railroad or a visual novel. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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1 people found the following review helpful:
Haunting and creepy, August 24, 2014by Jason Lautzenheiser (Navarre, Ohio) Under-implemented and not a lot going on, however the story is very creepy, one that sticks with you for a time. I love Lovecraft and like these little bite-sized portions games like this give you. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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4 people found the following review helpful:
Tons of fun! (For those with perverse sensibilities), July 31, 2013by Cody Gaisser (Florence, Alabama, United States of America, North America, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Known Universe, ???) This is a brief, but disturbing, Lovecraft pastiche. There are a couple of spots of weak implementation, but the solutions aren't too difficult to figure out (and walkthroughs exist). If a grotesque Lovecraftian hallucination sounds like your sort of interactive fiction, then not only should you play this immediately, but it's also probably worth taking the time to save your progress regularly and see what happens to the protagonist when you make him make bad decisions. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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4 people found the following review helpful:
Hey Ho, Let's Go, January 18, 2013by N Ecdysis actually has the honour of being my first IF I've ever played. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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5 people found the following review helpful:
Horrors great and small., December 16, 2012Ecdysis is one of the English language entries making up the HP Lovecraft Commonplace Book project of 2007, and in spite of its brevity – or maybe because of its brevity in league with its quality – it's probably the best of them. It is based on the following jotting from Lovecraft's book, which I wouldn't actually read if you want to approach the game in a pure state: (Spoiler - click to show)Idea #221: “Insects or other entities from space attack and penetrate a man’s head and cause him to remember alien and exotic things–possible displacement of personality.” Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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9 people found the following review helpful:
Evidence as to Man's Place. . ., July 20, 2010by joncgoodwin If you look up "ecdysis" in the OED, which I hope that most people would, you may notice the following illustrative quotation from Thomas Huxley's Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature: "A skin of some dimension was cast [by ‘the human larva’] in the 16th century..a new ecdysis seems imminent." Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (3) - Add comment
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13 people found the following review helpful:
One-trick-pony with a very good trick, May 24, 2010Ecdysis is underimplemented, extremely short and linear, heavy on directing the player and very limited in scope. However, it makes up for all of its shortcomings by being a very disturbing small piece of IF - even more disturbing than Lovecraft's average work. Not for the squeamish. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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13 people found the following review helpful:
Spartan and Under-implemented, August 8, 2009by 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. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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20 people found the following review helpful:
Very brief, but effective, June 27, 2008by Emily Short 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. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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18 people found the following review helpful:
Robbed of the "Best In Show" award, March 14, 2008A 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. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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