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Forest Fairies

  • Kylaila
  • 08/25/2014 06:34 AM
  • 446 views
"TRAP!" is a very nicely presented visual novel about getting lost in an enchanted forest. Sex involved.

The story

You start off trying to get to your aunt and somehow wind up being ditched on the road for an hour where you can't wait, but instead go wander off in spite of all kinds of warnings.


Fairies .. yeah right!

The major theme in this game is the existence of fairies, or the tale of such (and we know tales in games are always true)
Small or not so small, they are there. So is magic, the existence of multitudes of world and a time-shift. These pieces are only working as a frame for the little cottage you will be playing in, but they are a nice background world for you to fit in and quite coherent. Not everything is to be understood, but we aren't supposed to do that. And as far as magic goes, that is fine by me.

So you wander off into an enchanted forest, and can't leave any time soon, because that's how the fog and this world works.

The majority of time will be played in an old-fashioned, far too furnished cottage where Rowan Wisht takes care of you until you can get back .. or you don't.

On to the details

The writing is simple and straight-forward. It's a little bit disappointing that there is no change whatsoever when playing as a different gender, but so be it.

A major gripe I have is that there are so many many choices, but unfortunately, none of them matter!
There is only one obvious choice to make on multiple occasions. That's it. Yet you can spend your time differently, ask different questions and so on. You get a different line of dialogue, but it has no impact for the progression which is enable by one simple fact: they aren't all that different.
So you say you want to take a path that isn't dark or you mention that it is dark. You can tell Rowan to you'd like to go out immediately in two ways.

I love exploring all lines of dialogue, and all kinds of choices, but why have a choice when they all amount to almost the exact same thing?
You can do that when these choices express a different stance towards the other person - so you can indicate whether you like the person or what is going on or not. Yet that is not so.
There is a slight attempt to do that in the beginning when you greet the unknown person, but you cannot comment on how you perceive this situation at all. The narration complains about not being able to go home, but you can't choose so for yourself. Perhaps you like it there, perhaps you would like to strangle Rowan right this instant. No way to indicate anything.

This obviously means that you can't influence Rowan's actions at all, and can only have these two options - staying a while longer, or staying as little time as possible. Although the game itself indicates a third ending - staying forever, but that is left unexplored. So are all details regarding your stay.

Rowan's character is left ambigious on purpose. Speaking straight-forward and leading you, you just follow. You do not, however, wonder about Rowan's gender, which is suddenly brought up out of nowhere without any previous indication of wondering.
At least I didn't. I was more curious about all the magic going on than keen on seeing someone naked. It collides with the magical atmosphere that kept you occupied - the "TRAP!" title is used both for the whole scenery of being trapped inside the fog and for Rowan. But since Rowan is not really portraying one sex or the other you are just uncertain.

And as a fair warning, the TRAP involves also possible rape .. with resistance either being magically impossible, or the intercourse okay with our character. It feels completely out of place and has no catch whatsoever. The whole possible "romance" feels that way.

The game description seemed to focus more on the exploration of this bit, and I was intrigued since the female sideview shows off some very broad shoulders as well, but it really isn't. It is cleared up as straight-forwardly as it was brought up. The focus lies more on this enchanted world.


Reading's the hardest task of this all

The aesthetics are wonderful. There's a broad variety of colors, rooms and natural scenery which all look simply gorgeous. The playable characters strike odd poses most of the time (especially for the man since you look over your shoulder practically any time you speak), but they are nice to look at.

One minor gripe is that the house has too many clustered rooms with a huge focus on red. It dims the variety down a little bit since you first see lots of environments and then lots of rooms. I also found the environments much more beautiful and balanced (color- and clutterwise) despite them being used only in the beginning.

The music fits this fantasy environment very, very well. It gives off a mysterious atmosphere and does credit to the artstyle chosen. It is a little bit bland and will stay in the background, though.


All in all, this game is okay.
It does not offer any emotional impact, deep story or character-depth, but it does give you a short little story in a very beautiful frame.