[IF Library Comp]: Reviews
Michael Iachini
group, and if reviews of games are inappropriate in these forums,
please just let me know and I won't make this mistake again. However,
judging from the rules of the competition, I gather that discussion of
the games is encouraged in these forums. I'm always one for trying
something new, so I played all three games. Here, briefly, are my
thoughts.
Summary Reviews:
"Dwenodon": Well-made game with some frustrating puzzles. Worth
playing once, but you might need the walkthrough. Leaves good
potential for interesting sequels.
"Familiar": Excellent game! Fascinating plot, and I'm looking forward
to trying out its replay value (I expect this to be high)
"Lazy Gods": I was not fond of this game. There are some mechanics
issues that bugged me, and a puzzle or two seemed weird (with some bad
"guess the verb" in one). My least favorite of the three.
I'll give more detailed reviews below:
SPOILERS AHEAD
The first game I played was "Dwenodon" by Gary Shannon. It's a TADS
game with a few graphics to help flesh out the setting. The writing
was good -- nice descriptions and dialogue, where it showed up. The
NPCs weren't much to interact with, as far as I could tell. The
puzzles... well, I was not fond of some of them. There's a cursed
coin involved in this game, and having it in your possession (which I
believe you are supposed to) makes solving the last puzzle of the game
VERY difficult. It's a timing puzzle, and you have to do things in
exactly the right turn order, with no mistakes. UNDO won't save you.
I did not like this feature at all. I needed to use the walkthrough
in three places, but one I should have figured out on my own if I had
read a letter I'd been given. The others... well, I have no idea how
you're supposed to figure out where the yellow note went, and I
already mentioned the timing puzzle. The tunnels underground were
kind of neat, and the mysterious stranger left some good unanswered
questions for a sequel. I thought the way you get a blurb for the
continuing sequel appropriate to your fate when you "win" or "lose"
was cool -- I'd like to see these sequels made. Overall, a pretty
good game with few mechanics problems and some frustrating puzzles.
Maybe a "B" grade.
Next, I played "Familiar" by Papillon. My only regret is that I've
played it just once so far -- I am going to play it at least a couple
more times to see what happens when I make variations on the potion.
This game fascinated me right from the beginning. I was worried at
first that the "You've lost your memory" bit was going to be a bad
cliche, but it was VERY well done here. The deal with identifying the
herbs was simply elegant. Outstanding writing and setting, great
implementation of all objects with good descriptions, and very cool
puzzles. I still don't understand the entire plot, but that's because
I've only played it once. My only request is that the "consult tome
about..." command be abbreviated to "read about..." or something, but
that's just because you have to consult it about a million things, and
I guess I'm just a little lazy sometimes. I actually ENJOYED
consulting the tome about a million things -- now that's a good game!
I'd give "Familiar" a definite "A".
Finally, I played "Lazy Gods" by Stark Springs. This one was a bit of
a letdown after Familiar. There were some real mechanics issues --
verbs that should have been understood, objects mentioned that
couldn't be examined, and so on. The conversation system was atually
quite interesting, but it was a little annoying that you can't talk to
an NPC any more after you've used up the available topics (unless you
get more to appear by performing other actions). The puzzles were a
little messy -- using the rod was supposed to be clear, but I was
confused by the description of what I should do, and just don't talk
to me about using the grappling hook. That is possibly the worst case
of "guess the verb" I have ever seen. I understood exactly what I had
to do, and the game just wouldn't let me do it unless I phrased it
just right. Also, exits weren't mentioned in some rooms -- getting
out of the Keep/Mountain area was confusing, and the underwater
section was fabulously frustrating -- talk about no margin for error!
I didn't like the necessity of finding find food and drink, and I
don't know that I ever would have figured out the flower puzzle had I
not already been working straight from the walkthrough because of
earlier puzzles. To be fair, the plot was at least somewhat
entertaining -- "Whoops, I destroyed the world!" -- but I really
didn't get a good feel for what the NPCs were like, and they're
central to the plot. I feel I'm being unfairly hard on this game, but
aside from a couple of novelties that were interesting, I didn't
really enjoy playing it at all. I'll give it a "C-".
So, that's my two (hundred) bits on the games in the first annual IF
Library Competition. I'm glad the competition took place -- this was
fun! Congrats and thanks especially to Papillon for making such an
outstanding game. And thank you to all three entrants -- I'm happy to
have participated in the experiences you've created!
Michael Iachini
Gary Shannon
"Michael Iachini" <fezz...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d0614955.02031...@posting.google.com...
FWIW: There are two hints given for how to be permanently rid of the cursed
coin and earn some bonus points. (Listen to conversations of passing NPCs
and examine what you see in your sister's room.)
> I did not like this feature at all. I needed to use the walkthrough
> in three places, but one I should have figured out on my own if I had
> read a letter I'd been given. The others... well, I have no idea how
> you're supposed to figure out where the yellow note went, and I
If you go into the cavern in pursuit of the note you will find, in the room
description, is a brief blurb telling you exactly where it went. If you
examine what it vanished into it will tell you where to go looking for it.
Also, there is an alternate way of retrieving the note without ever leaving
the cavern where it vanished.
> already mentioned the timing puzzle. The tunnels underground were
> kind of neat, and the mysterious stranger left some good unanswered
> questions for a sequel. I thought the way you get a blurb for the
> continuing sequel appropriate to your fate when you "win" or "lose"
> was cool -- I'd like to see these sequels made.
Thanks. The first sequel (for when you lose) is about 1/2 coded so far.
>Overall, a pretty
> good game with few mechanics problems and some frustrating puzzles.
> Maybe a "B" grade.
Thanks for your comments. As my first game I guess it wasn't too terrible
:)
--gary