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I hate you Max.

Well, not really. But you sure know how to tease people.

Disclaimer As this game was made for the four hour contest not so long ago, it won't sit alongside my normal standards of rating.

Background context
Conceived during the four hour contest in celebration of RMNs little party. Sinfonia was what to appeared to be a genuine attempt at creating a serious game, and he didn't do too badly either!

Story
The third entry in Max Mcgees unfinished Backstage trilogy see's the player taking on the role of Reginald fontaine. The ten minute scenario shows Mr fontaine meeting his psychologist therapist Dr. Benway where they discuss his paranoia, addiction to drugs and his bitter resentment towards his parents. The short story was engaging throughout my short experiance with the qame, though most of the ten minute running time was spent with Reginald talking to Dr. Benway about his issues. The supporting dialogue in this pivotal scene was a treat and made the characters more believable in my opinion.


Man this is so relatable!

My only complaint though is that it ends on a suprise twist that leaves me wanting for more. I might also add that the game employs some sweet references to the original Backstage, which might suggest that it takes place during the events of the first game. If Sinfonia was made into a full blown sequel then it would provide a whole new perspective to your Backstage universe, just throwing it out there Max!


So he was calling Reginald all along? :O

Graphics
The graphics are therodore chipsets from what I can gather. Even though the game looks like it hails way back to 2003, the mise en scene and mapping that was constructed together creates a certain anthrosphere that adds weight to the immersion. It's a pleasent suprise how much effort was put into this even with the strict time limit, however I must add the maps feel slighter larger than they should but thats really a small nitpick.

Gameplay
Ummm... Well technically it's walking and pressing space. With just one choice near the end providing a little bit of varity. And umm, thats it really.

Music
Some of the tracks I recognised from the original backstage. The music does the job at creating moods and certain themes to go along with the setting. With little sound effects making the game seem alot more engaging than it actually is.

In Conclusion
This short game feels like one of those annoying hot girls who goes in for a kiss and turns her head at the last moment saying "HaHa! Gutted!". If anything for what it is, this game will make you want to play more. And even if it isn't some massive rpg adventure with hundreds of features, I still feel compelled to give this an above rated scoring. Hopfully this trilogy will come full circle soon enough!

Posts

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author=StarSkipping
The graphics are ripped from what I can gather.


Nop! These are Theodore's chipsets. One of the few original rm2k/3 chipset - sets. (Along with Mack & Blue/REFMAP/First Seed Material or whatever they want to be called these days) Basically the modern equivalent to Mack in that if you're making a modern (not fururistic) game you'll most likely use these.

Fair sounding review, though. I haven't played the game so I can't make any objections, plus it's short as hell by the sound of things so I guess that's why this review is too.
Thank you for the correction, I'm not that savy with regards to chipset packs :'(
They actually say "Haha, gutted"?
author=sbester
They actually say "Haha, gutted"?


I'm drawing from personel experience =o=
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
What the fuck is wrong with that second screenshot?

It does not look like that on my machine, just FTR.

Anyway, thank you for the review. 3 Stars for 4 Hours work, not too shabby.
Yeah, that last screenshot is wonky. I didn't encounter anything like that when I played it.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
It *should* be completely grayscale as I recall, but it should *not* have the shading flattened/sepia-toned like that.
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