Ecdysis

by Peter Nepstad profile

Part of Commonplace Book Project
Horror, Lovecraftian
2007

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Reviews and Ratings

5 star:
(8)
4 star:
(36)
3 star:
(29)
2 star:
(4)
1 star:
(2)
Average Rating:
Number of Ratings: 79
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
One-trick-pony with a very good trick, May 24, 2010
by Nusco (Bologna, Italy)
Related reviews: lovecraftian horror, short, mature

Ecdysis 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.

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- C.E.J. Pacian (England), November 11, 2009

- tinroof, October 12, 2009

3 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Spartan and Under-implemented, August 8, 2009
by 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.

The bare-bones prose works until you start actually exploring the rooms and feel the linear plot snug around your neck. Then you wonder why the author couldn't bother implementing default responses and why the game knows so few verbs. Not only that, but objects disappear or appear only when it suits the plot.

As for the alternate endings, I couldn't find them, and after a while of fiddling with the game, I just couldn't see the point in it. It's a horror game and a Lovecraftian one at that, so there's no hope of a happy ending here.

Points for a creepy atmosphere even though the whole Lovecraft approach is tired and kind of silly.

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- Grozovaya (The Netherlands), July 21, 2009

- Fabien Vidal (Tours, France), June 14, 2009

- Otto (France), April 13, 2009

- Shigosei, February 17, 2009

- anj tuesday, January 22, 2009

- ensoul, November 17, 2008

- Dillo Fenderson, September 16, 2008

- tylluan (Vermont), September 2, 2008

- thisisboots, August 17, 2008

- NotVerySubtle, August 4, 2008

- Mike Gray (Wisconsin), July 29, 2008

- zibahkhana, July 15, 2008

- Steven (Honolulu, Hawaii), July 4, 2008

- spacetroll, July 3, 2008

- Steve Blanding (Redmond, WA), June 27, 2008

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Very brief, but effective, June 27, 2008

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.

Ecdysis is fairly linear up until the late stages of the game. I found that the first release of the game had some awkward moments, but the later release is smoother and easier to play. Puzzles are mostly a matter of figuring out the one next thing you can do, and are not too hard -- but all the same this does make some good use of its interactivity. Worth a look.

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- KalevTait (Guildford, UK), June 20, 2008

- Moses Templeton, May 3, 2008

- Tom Hudson (Durham, North Carolina), April 23, 2008

- brattish (Canada), March 27, 2008

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Robbed of the "Best In Show" award, March 14, 2008

A 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.

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