Lingering Forsaken

Game Title: Lingering Forsaken
Game Creator: Corfaisus
Reviewer: AznChipmunk
Engine: Adventure Game Studio
Genre: Horror
Site: http://rpgmaker.net/

Playthrough:

Two Maps!
The idea that there are only two maps used in this full game caught my eye. Also... a horror game without screamers? That sounds like something I'd like! Well... I'll just have to try this out. This seems somewhat close to my own niche of gamemaking, from the description at least, and I'll have to give it a try. Using what seems to be mostly RTP, the game is a story within a story. A group of travellers decides to rest at a pub, and one of them begins to tell a ghost story. Thus... you are thrust into a mansion... as RTP Alex. While Alex does fit the role of a sort of adventurer, he is rather overused, but I'll let that go. The game presents itself in an adventure game style, where you find items, and utilize those items to progress.

Slow text AND slow walk
Yes the game does have slow text and slow walking--both of which are incredibly annoying. In the beginning, there is not a clear sense of what to do, and I wander around, exploring, and the slow text and walking aggravate me. After Game Over sequences, if I haven't saved, I find myself especially annoyed at the slow walking speed.





Walking to explore becomes tedious, as your speed is low, and checking objects becomes annoying as your text is slow.

Action Sequences
The game utilizes various scenes where a timer appears, and you have to complete a certain action before it runs out, like running away from an impending explosion, or solving a puzzle. They are fun to play, but if you fail them, they lead to game overs and you must load from your last save--which then causes the slow walking and talking to annoy me a lot.



There is also the occasional sort of instant-death sequence, where you can die from simple examining an object. This is also part of what makes slow speeds really annoying. There is also a battle at the end... a really bad battle.



Criticisms: (starred ones are more severe flaws)
1: Ditch the humor in the disclaimer. Don't need to include anything about... soiled undergarments. >_>
2: Have teleportation events on touch, not push key. It feels kind of awkward to have to push a button to transition to another map.
*3: PLEASE ditch the slow text, slow walking. Or at least use the slow text only sparsely, especially not for things like "The door is locked firmly." And the slow walking is annoying on maps that are mostly large and open.
4: Tighten the maps up a bit! Make the hallways smaller, shorter, etc. Also, showing the same map from a different angle near the beginning is kind of confusing.
5: Please put move savepoints! I didn't like walking back to the beginning to save, especially with all the possible deaths. There are only 2 savepoints total, I think.
*6: ... The battle at the end needs to either go away or be changed.

Overview:
Plot: The writing was pretty much flawless in terms of grammar and spelling. Also, the writing itself was coherent, and the plot made sense... However... slow text pretty much sucked. The sort of... higher diction used for the game's writing was interesting, but the game, honestly, was not scary at all. The plot itself was nothing special or interesting, and the whole sort of... pub-story-telling thing didn't add much to the plot. The plot itself really would not have kept me interested in continuing to play the game. At the end of the game, the plot just sort of "was," instead of making any sort of impact of me. A mystery was presented, and some potentially creepy elements, but they are barely explored. Jacob, the main character, has no personality whatsoever, and his reactions are rather odd--he seems apathetic most of the time. Weird stuff happens, and he simply accepts "oh a corpse" instead of an expected reaction.
1.5/5. Slow text = no.



Gameplay: The gameplay is based around a sort of semi-adventure game style. There are puzzles based on items you collect, and a few action sequences. The puzzles are good--they aren't too complicated. However, they are fairly straightforward, as most puzzles are contained within one room. (In fact, I think all are.) The action sequences are nice, except... the battle at the end is really horrible. I had to cheat to beat it--it was simply too hard to beat. The hero has a measly 3 health compared to the boss's massive 5. The boss shoots two shots at once and moves faster and faster (and also spews fire) while you can only fire an inaccurate single blade. And lastly... slow walking speed is really, really annoying.
1.5/5. The puzzles were nice, but all the bad parts brought this score down.

Graphics: Almost completely RTP, except for a very minimal amount of graphics from other sources. The mapping is bland--it makes sense, but maps feel too wide and open, especially with slow walking speed. The graphics are cohesive, but are nothing special. The game isn't really "nice" to look at, but the graphics work for what they need to do.
1.5/5. Nothing really notable.

Music & Sound: I thought it was a really nice touch how the lightning flash came a few moments before the sound effect. Realism win! The soundtrack, while not especially memorable, is all nice quality .mp3s that fit the game pretty well. The sound effects work (I don't think there were too many.)
3/5. I liked.

Creativity & Originality: I like how the game only used two map files--this isn't noticeable ingame, but it's what brought my attention to the game. Also, I really like the idea of horror adventure games like this, but in this case, I feel it needs a lot of work. The game simply did not scare. It had a few creepy moments at least. There were "screamers," but the game did employ a small sort of shock scaring at one point, where a dead body suddenly transformed into a zombie that chases you.
2/5. The game itself wasn't really... memorable, but it had some interesting stuff.

Pros:
-Good puzzles
-Good music/sound

Cons:
-Slow walking
-Slow text
-Really bad battle system at the end
-Plot and characters lacking

Final Score:
2 WELPS out of 5 WELPS

Needs to welp harder.

Final Comments/Notes: Decent, but... needs a lot of work. Nowhere close to The Longing Ribbon. The two games are similar in a few aspects, but The Longing Ribbon is executed much, much better.