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Original but a little slow, June 18, 2009Please note that I played the English version, specifically the Dead Reckoning translation.
The game has a novel premise and it is interesting at first to explore the constraints you are faced with. However I thought the game was a little sparse; I would have appreciated a little more detail and support for a bigger vocabulary in order to make those constraints more enjoyable and less... well, constraining. For instance there was obviously support for a lot more words in Aisle, which made its constraints more of a puzzle and not as frustrating.
It seemed like there was a pre-determined path you had to follow, and there were no interesting detours off that path. And due to the special nature of the constraints, you can't really go back and review everything you've learned, as compared to going back to a complicated room and typing LOOK again to remind you of the details. Let's just say you really have to pay attention as you go, or it is hard to win.
It's not a game that takes too long to play and it was a good one to play on my Palm, since there was no need to write down anything. It made for an enjoyable half hour on a plane trip, although ultimately I gave up without winning and had to resort to hints - it was just getting too frustrating. I don't regret the time I spent playing it, but I'm also glad I gave up and read the hints so I could move on.
Baf's Guide
Of the two English translations available, "Dead Reckoning" is preferable; it has been translated by a native speaker of English, and avoids some of the vague and confusing elements of "Shattered Memory" that may make the game hard to play. With that out of the way, the play experience is somewhat surreal. This is another game that starts with the player's amnesia, though the explanation this time is somewhat different from the usual. Gameplay is mostly not terribly difficult, except for some guess-the-phrasing problems, and one or two places where the action required is not something that one would consider common in IF. Fortunately the hints provided for "Shattered Memory" are general enough to be used with "Dead Reckoning" as well. This is a short game without a lot of puzzles that most reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode. It does have a distinctive flavor that seems to set it apart a bit from most English-language IF, and is worth a try.
-- Emily Short
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