The weekend-long contest apparently revolved around trying to create a playable RPG in 48 Hours around the theme ‘LOFI’, allowing developers to interpret that anyway they want. GirlFlash decided to interpret it through gameplay, employing the supposed bare-minimum required of an RPG. The result is The Linear RPG, an incredibly simple RPG where very little happens. Run right, kill everything. If that fails, run left until you kill enough that you can keep running right and killing everything. The story is told in the background, as the player runs around on the foreground which is represented using a very stylish 3D-Effect. Most of the enjoyment I had through the game came from reading the tale in the back, which is about absurd as it is completely awesome. You’ll never see Alphabetti Spaghetti quite the same way again.
Overall it’s quite a sweet dig at JRPG’s, playing off stereotypes and cliche whilst simplifying the gameplay to an almost insulting degree and yet still maintaining an easily recognisable formula in even current generation mainstream titles. An awful lot of RPG’s rely upon their story to be the main distinguishing factor between themselves and other titles in a genre, and if nothing else this game effectively demonstrates what many RPGs are at their very core. So at the very least, thank you GirlFlash for reminding me just how much I hate the opening of Xenogears!
Blueful is a short story by Aaron.A.Reed, designed to act as a prelude for his IF adventure Blue Lacuna. The interesting quirk of Blueful is that it takes place over a number of different websites which you navigate through your browser. It adds a certain amount of reality to the story, though sadly it does degrade the experience when a couple of the links refuse to work anymore (though a clever ‘word’ system is in place so you can skip broken chapters and carry on to the next link), however the sheer inventiveness of it all makes it worth the trouble. The ending especially sounds interesting, but whether I can even get it remains to be seen. I’m afraid closure is something you’ll have to wait for.
I’d suggest ignoring a lot of the ‘reaction’ comments on both websites if that kind of ‘This will change my life. Honestly, Thank you!’ testimonial grinds you the wrong way, but truthfully its a tough story to not enjoy given the clear amount of effort that was put into it. It’s very well thought out, and if it was partly designed to get me interested in the more complex follow-up Blue Lacuna I’d have to say its worked on me. Look forward to a review soon!
Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin
Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:14:00 GMT
Bernie, one of my favorite freeware developers (take a look at TIGS history), is working on his first RPG. At least, I hope he is! There hasn’t been any news since it was announced, but, assuming he finishes it (as Bernie is wont to do), it will be “simple, colorful, and easygoing.” To contrast these dark times we live in.
The game is tentatively titled “Kitty RPG” as it stars the kitty from A Game With A Kitty, which seems to get linked to in any post that so much as mentions Bernie.
In case you missed it, you can find A Game With A Kitty here.
Emerald City Confidential is a new point-and-click adventure game from Dave Gilbert, creator of The Shivah and the Blackwell series. I’m a big fan of The Shivah, which is notable for starring a conflicted rabbi, but earns my respect as a very well-written, humanistic, and entertaining game. So it’s with some disappointment that Emerald City Confidential is perceptibly marred for me by what I can only describe as “casualitis.”
Warning, I’m going to go on a serious tangent by the end of this post.
I just found out today that A Vampyre Story, the long-awaited adventure game by ex-LucasArts artist Bill Tiller, was released in December of last year! This one looked promising from the get-go, and not just because of the pedigree of its creators… the gothic setting seemed ripe and the early screenshots of the game were gorgeous.
Unfortunately, having finished the demo, I have to say I’m a little disappointed. I found the single puzzle offered as a trial about as intuitive as a Rube Goldberg machine... that is to say, it quickly devolved into a “try clicking every item on every hotspot”-type madness. And I still had to consult a walkthrough in the end!
I also think the English voice-acting is going to irk people – the game’s protagonist, Mona, speaks with an accent that I would describe as “French Bimbo.” It’s not terrible – in fact, it grew on me during the demo – but… aw, jeez, what can I say? The bar has been set so high for funny dialogue and voice acting in point n’ click adventures. Especially with a double act like this. It just wasn’t my bag.
That said, reviews of the game seem to be overall pretty favorable, like this one on RPGFan (from which I learned of the game’s release), and even this one on Adventure Gamers, which is more sober. And there are some interesting mechanics, like hotspot hints (hold “Tab”) and being able to store “ideas” in your inventory screen for items that are too large to conceivably carry. It’s very likely that the full game ($30, retail-only) is more polished than what the demo and the rather flimsy website suggest. But it would have to be quite a bit more for me to recommend it.
You can buy A Vampyre Story at retail stores in the US and UK, or online through The Adventure Shop or Amazon.
Annie Android: Automated Affection is a new adventure game from Ben Chandler that muses on creativity and the idea of free will. It stars a lovelorn young android named Annie who’s got the hots for the local Mailbot. Unfortunately, he’s a little lacking in the brains department and the domineering RoboHQ wants to keep it that way.
It’s a short adventure and I found the puzzles to be fairly easy, except for one “physical” puzzle near the end that felt a bit broken. Without spoiling the scenario, it felt pretty bizarre to hear Annie alternately screaming “I don’t want to get too close to that thing!” and “I need to be closer!” At one point during the trial I also managed to get her stuck and had to restart the game.
Aside from that, it was an enjoyable ride – I liked the game’s sense of humor and its cute characters. And even though the use of sound is fairly limited, it’s always refreshing to hear theme music with actual lyrics!
Auntie Pixelante recommends this nostalgic Christmas treat – Philip Williams’ Freddie Trims a Tree, a crude, yet charming, Klik n’ Play adventure game from ‘94.
The Strange and Somewhat Sinister Tale of the House at Desert Bridge (a name so long it breaks TIGdb) is one bloody funny adventure game. Even as a Yank, I feel I can inoffensively use the word “bloody” in this situation, because Desert Bridge employs a kind of droll, British humor that is genuinely infectious. Seriously, the amount of wordplay, puns, and nonsense in the game is staggering – it really takes absurdism to a whole new level, even for a genre that is kind of heavy on it.
“It’s an orange carpet. It smells of oranges.” That was the first giggle the game got out of me, but it certainly wasn’t the last. Your giggle-mileage may vary.
But what ultimately makes the game so good is not just the surreal humor, but the fact that, despite how random and weird things can get, the puzzles themselves are quite straightforward. Jonas Kyratzes (who also created the decidedly less humorous Last Rose in a Desert Garden) has done a good job of imbuing his game with a strange internal logic that bubbles out from beneath the absurdist veneer. And it helps that the hand-drawn crayon graphics and the music are both very good and jive well with the game’s atmosphere.
If there’s one minor complaint I have, it’s that it can be easy to get lost in the game, given its first-person viewpoint. But the areas are not big enough that this became a serious issue for me. I still recommend it highly.
Well, Aquaria has been out for over an Earth Year now (as of December 7th). Pretty hard to believe. I remember back in the day when it was all, “Why don’t these damn turtles move?!” And now look at it. All grown up and shipped and critically acclaimed and everything.
Here is the newest trailer ever, in honor of the game’s anniversary and, more excitingly, Big Update. This weekend, Bit Blot will release Aquaria version 1.1.1 (for Windows). This patch includes “widescreen, graphics and audio enhancements, improved puzzles, a new/awesome map system and more.” And a reduced price.
Alec and Derek have been working hard on this update since the game launched, addressing all the feedback the game’s received. (And that’s a lot!) If there was ever a time to get Aquaria, it’s now. (Yeah, I’m talking to you—no more excuses!)
Congrats, guys! A series of increasingly complex high-fives is in order.
NOTE: Dunno why this ain’t been posted yet, but a Mac version is also now available.
Free from Gandreas Software, this iteration of the father of dungeon crawling is advertised as being faithful to the original. This version is controlled via touch using a ‘Commands’ menu for actions such as opening doors and climbing stairs, although these actions also have a gesture-based ‘hotkey’ for those of us just barely patient enough to play a traditional roguelike.
Playable in both the original ASCII as well as a nice tileset.
