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Is This Game Even Finished Yet

  • Addit
  • 03/24/2014 09:50 AM
  • 5587 views


A Game Made By: GreyInvidia
Created Using: RPG Maker VX Ace
It's A: ADVENTURE Game
That Roughly Takes Around: 10 - 20 Minutes To Complete
And It's A... COMPLETED GAME!!!



Ah, good ol’ creepypastas… What is it about you that makes me feel so much more fantasied than I already should be about the matter. I mean, isn’t the whole point of reading a creepypasta in the first place to literally wet my pants in utter and terror trembling fear and question to whereabouts of some factious god!? Well, yeah, duh, that’s the whole point of reading these things. But what about a game based off the subjective genre itself? Can playing a game based off the original creepypasta or even one inspired by one into a story of its own be considered fun and subjective in its own way similar to all other games?

Okay, first off, when it comes to creepypastas, or even the subject of one, all of you need to know firsthand that these Internet made up ghost stories are simply not true. Nope, false, didn’t happen. Argue with me to the death all you want but the truth of the matter is that they’re all fake. So, in that case – why do we even bother with all this stuff in the first place? Well, because it’s fun! But I think another reason I like reading and viewing various spooky images and video content on the web about these things is that I like it when the author of the story tries his or her best to make it seem like something like this COULD be real or have happened. Case in point, “Pokemon Creepy Black.” When I first read about this story online I was simply fantasied and literally scared about the whole thing. I literally couldn’t sleep for almost a day after reading and seeing images on it. Although the entire thing was fake – it just seemed like it could have possible, you know? That’s what I like about creepypastas; the more believable that they can be the more the scare factor plays in. I have read so many…

But what about creepypasta inspired games? Well, when I think of something like that, I’m instantly flooded with things like “Sonic.EXE,” “Luna Games,” “HappyMouse.EXE,” and so many others like that. These games…aren’t really considered games in the traditional sort of sense as they’re more just…something that’s goes along with the initial tale. You could very well argue that most of these games aren’t even games at all to begin with.

And hence, that’s what leads us towards our next tale: “Townlore,” created by GreyInvidia for RPG Maker VX Ace. This short, but very bizarre, sort of game is largely based on the creepypasta itself that he wrote and is mostly the focal point for this review. Now, I must again point out that most games based off a creepypasta isn’t necessary a game in the traditional sort of sense, as they mostly involve you, the player, nine times out of ten, doing some mundane task until the screamers start to kick in. Either way, let’s give this thing the ol’ collage try and see what can we find.

The Story


W…Wha…?
Is…Is this game even finished yet…?


So – what the hell is the story even about in this strange game, anyway? Well, apparently, if you read the creepypasta first before playing (as there is no recap of the original story mentioned anywhere during gameplay), this “game” was apparently recovered on a man’s PC during a police checkup on a house in a fictitious neighbourhood where the person who had once played it literally had his face torn right off and parts of his skin was dangling from his skull.

Well, now.


When the case to find out what really happened to the individual was eventually closed, the police officer in the story gave a backup copy of the game to his son, explaining how it was of no use to the investigation and that it seemingly seemed like it was of no harm.

While the son enjoyed playing the game for the most part, and even ended up staying up very late at night to play it at times, there were a lot of times when he was just plain stuck, like he couldn’t make any progress unless he waited for the appropriate time to happen, often quoting things like “Pandora is resting” and “The girl inside the game is locked inside.”


Well, now.


The police officer decided to help out his son by trying to play the game himself. Apparently, he couldn’t figure it for the life of him, so he decided to post the game up online and see if anybody else can figure it out for him. The next night, the officer woke up to see his son just standing right there in front of him – looking like a complete dumbass – and saying that “I can hear her crying,” referring to the girl in the game, Pandora. Then, the next moment the son then fell flat on his face as he apparently had gotten into daddy’s medicine cabinet – which wasn’t locked, apparently – and he then choked himself on pills and then died right in front him. Apparently, to his observation, all those who have played the game before have ended up committing suicide one way or another, and, apparently, it was his turn next.

Well, now!


Okay, first off, there sure are a lot of inconsistencies here with the story that kind of bugged me while reading it. Okay, okay, I know, it’s a creepypasta and certain clichés are present in almost every one of them – but, come on, man! There’s just so much here that takes me right out of the moment. First off, the author of the story claims that when he first saw Townlore being played on a PC to decide whether or not his son would enjoy the game too, he said that it looked pretty boring. Okay, then why the hell would you want your own son to play something like this if it looked pretty boring to you? This isn’t so much of a big deal as when it comes to certain parents picking out certain games that their kid would actually like they usually have a big heart but end up making a big mistake and pick out something else that’s quite the opposite (I know I’ve been down that road before).

Second off, if you manage to read through the rest of my review – or even play the game yourself – I can tell that no little kid would ever sit down and play something like this to completion – ever! There’s just not enough to do and there’s so much waiting in-between with very little in terms of involvement that most kids wouldn’t even give this a second chance. But I can understand; this game probably has some sort of magical power to persuade people to play it over-and-over again, as it did suck me in for almost twenty minutes for the review. So all right, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Then, you got the medicine cabinet; how the hell did he manage to get in there? Either the lock wasn’t on, the medicine cabinet wasn’t high enough for a child to reach it, or the author of this story is a complete dumbass. And then there’s this: why would the son commit suicide over the girl’s crying in-game? She only does that if you pick a new game – so, then, why? And then the father is about to shoot himself afterwards, even though he didn’t play the game for that very long and got stuck somewhere in the game, and then…

Story wise leading up to the game, I just found so many loopholes in it that would make most instances here almost completely untrue. But then again, maybe the game had some sort of undesirable effect on its victims that played it, maybe only children were affected, and maybe the officer was a complete idiot to not keep his medicine cabinet not under lock and key, but I just find it a bit hard to believe. In no ways is this a badly told story, as it’s quite all right for most creepypasta standards, but I really think it could have been done a bit better.

Now, on to the game itself. There really doesn’t seem to be much of a story present in the same way other games do. You play as a young girl named Pandora who lives in a small town with a group of anamorphic beings. As she begins to walk along the outskirts of town, a gatekeeper by the name of Goatson tells the young lady that the forest is off limits. After coming back during the night, while Goatson is asleep on the job, Pandora manages to slip by and enter the forest. Little did she soon realize that by walking deeper and deeper into the forest that she seemed to have slipped into a place that there is seemingly no way of returning. While there, she encounters a strange entity that begins to talk to her in a language that she doesn’t quite understand. Fearing for her safety, Pandora begins to make a hasty retreat in the other direction, but she doesn’t seem to get very far as the strange entity that she was talking to manages to run up behind her and…um…actually, I’m not sure if she was killed by the creature or just captured by the thing and just knocked out; it’s never really explained what exactly happened. Anyways, when she reawakens, she apparently seems to be back in the town but the color of the sky, the buildings, the water, everything just seems…rather odd. It’s also apparent at this point that Goatson, and some of the other townspeople, are completely missing. As time begins to pass more, more strange things appear to happen; the town gets more disoriented, people begin to become disfigured or warped, and almost like this unsettling feeling is happening at this very moment. When Pandora decides to wait a little bit more until nightfall, now, the entire town has been deserted and only she remains.

I’m not sure exactly what really happened at this point… Did Pandora release an evil spirit that was locked away in the forest and then made its way into town and, therefore, has killed everyone in the process because of her curiosity? Or did Pandora die in the forest at the very moment and her subconscious memories of everything that she knows and love begin to drift away into the void until there is nothingness? If so, this would definitely explain the opening of the game where everything is distorted with nobody around and all you can hear is just Pandora crying, it would make sense.

Either way, despite the initial creepypasta having a few flaws, clichés, and even some moments where I wasn’t necessary scared but was more like “what the hell,” the actual narrative delivered inside the game was definitely more fascinating. Even though I still have no idea what truly happened when Pandora entered the forest, I liked how this game allowed you to use your own imagination about what really could have happened at that moment. Either way, a not bad creepypasta, but an even better, and more mystifying, in-game experience.


The Gameplay


“I’m walkin’…! Yes, indeed, I’m walkin’!”


Well, despite a pretty solid narrative approach with regards to the overall plot, I guess you would expect something similar in the gameplay department, right? Right…???

Yeah…I’m not going to lie; this game is as exciting as watching an entire afternoon baseball matinee on ESPN while its going into even more extra innings in a scoreless tie with only one person managing to get on base for some odd reason. This game…really isn’t much of a game at all; it’s more like a lot of waiting around more than actually doing anything. I mean, the only time you’re actually doing something in this game is pushing the shift key to run around while occasionally talking to the odd person here or there while constantly reading the same textbox in front of doors, “This door is locked.” Oh, you think that there’s something there but there really isn’t; there’s jack bottley shit behind these doors.

Anyways, when you first start up the game and choose start you’ll probably be as shocked as I was to see nothing but a wavy screen with a couple of houses in the background hearing somebody breathing with a girl crying in the back while the timer thing at the bottom goes absolutely ape shit. Confused, I waited around for two whole minutes to see if anything was going to happen, took a swig of my chocolate milk, and proceeded to shut the game down. When I decided to look up if there was a file I could resume from, I did, started the game, and then it told me that “Pandora was sleeping, try again.” Even more confused, I waited around for three whole minutes before eventually giving up.


- Is this game even finished yet???


And then I found out that this game uses your internal clock settings – in glorious real time – to make things happen and appear. So, when Pandora is sleeping in the middle of the night – then you must be playing this game at night. When you decide to get up during the afternoon and play this game again, Pandora will be up, ready for another adventure!

I appreciate the mechanic, but I find its use here to be extremely irritating if not entirely unnecessary; it almost makes this game completely unplayable if you didn’t know you could change your internal clock settings at all. Imagine somebody who didn’t know that. They would have to literally have to play this game almost three whole days, totalling up to about ten minutes of actual gameplay before they were done with this game. Are you kidding me!? The actual time of day shouldn’t effect whether you can play this game or even not play it all! Why didn’t the author just do it where Pandora can sleep in her room and make the time pass manually instead of just going with a real time approach!? It’s stupid! It doesn’t work for something like this.

As for the rest, you’re basically stuck mostly in the same town, talking to the same people who will give you the odd different message depending on the time of day, while having the scenery occasional change. This, my friends, is boring. Yep. And I never thought I’d say this in a million years, but Wither, yes - that Wither - has probably more going for it than this (and Wither doesn’t even have that much to begin with).

Look, I understand that these creepypasta games are meant to be like this, short, cryptic, and very little in terms of actual gameplay, but I always feel that if they were handled right that they could be so much more than just that. Unfortunately, I rather tape my eyes to my eyelids this game is so damn boring. If the time mechanic wasn’t implemented and there was more in terms of gathering materials and learning more about this world, then it wouldn’t be so bad. It’s just a shame because we really don’t know too much about Pandora herself or even the inhabitants of the world that she lives in. Like, why is Pandora the only normal looking person in town and everybody isn’t? I just felt that this game really didn’t offer me that much as a player looking for just a nice game to sit down and play. Hell, I’m starting to think that Marie Goes To Space had more to offer than just this.


*shutters*

The Soundtrack


Is it because that lake turned from water into strawberry kool-aid?


Let’s see…long wining static, a little crying over-and-over again for more than twenty seconds before it loops, six different variations of the main town theme, each getting more depressing with each rendition, oh, and a creepy NES chiptune song that sounds like something straight from Monster Party (arguably, that one is probably my favorite track in this game). Yep, the music in this game is…rather bare bones and pretty much completely forgettable. Other than that “ruinedmind” track, the rest of the music is pretty much by the books for a creepypasta game that offers up no flavor or even staying power with any of these tracks. It’s quite ironic that Pandora’s crying theme which drove many people to commit suicide in the story is just so… not very notable. The sound effects aren’t even anything extremely noteworthy unless you want your ears to bleed if you decide to take a listen to any of them in your music player. This really isn’t the game’s strongest suite, but it’s not like it’s anything super glaring or brings the game’s overall experience down. It works for it, but I’m not such a big fan of it besides that one track.

The Aesthetics


I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that.


Graphically speaking, it’s a pretty nice looking game. I really like the sprites and all the attention to detail with some of the landmarks, townspeople and even the scenery. Hell, I like the look for this game. It’s too bad when everything goes to ape shit that it looks like somebody vomited in some cases. Anyways, I really do appreciate the look to try and make the experience more pleaseable to the eye. Most creepypasta based games that I’ve played or have seen usually use poorly edited rips or just look extremely dull, but this game tried to least have a sense of style to it that’s actually fitting. In fact, I’d probably say that the presentation for this was probably the game’s ultimately strongest suite. It’s grim, I know, but at least everything looks quite nice.

The End Result


- Uh oh… Quick, Pandora! Play the Song Of Time!!!


My general feelings and afterthoughts about this game seemed to be extremely mixed and going all over the place when I completed it… On the story front, this game has a pretty interesting story with a vary degree of different conclusions based on the imagination of the player which, like in most creepypasta based games, did a very well done job here. The story itself that ties in with the creepypasta is a bit flawed, but the actual direction behind the game itself was great. However, as a game, this definitely isn’t something I would highly recommend. Because of the game’s internal time mechanic, slow pacing, and very little in terms of interaction or even anything else to do for that matter, this seems to be a game that loves to watch you wait around like an idiot to find out if anything happens next, which, in fact, doesn’t. It’s almost like it’s taunting you but at the same time rewarding you for your curiosity. Well, I don’t like it…

It’s pretty bad when I have to say that Wither, even Marie Goes To Space, has more to do in it than this thing does, which is a real shame. I feel that creepypasta games can be a lot more than just being something to play for a couple of minutes while waiting for the eventual screamer or the main character to have his or her fate sealed by some outerworldly demon or thing. And although this game falls in the same trap, I like to believe that there’s something out there that can offer an unsettling vibe without feeling like it’s a waste of time.

Overall, this is a game that I feel that only a small few of you might find a bit of enjoyment out of. If you an avid creepypasta fan of such wonderful classics, love anything horror related or just like playing some weird trippy shit – then this game might be your cup of tea. But for everybody else around here – even remotely curious – I’d say skip it in favor of something else. GreyInvidia tried his best, but I’m afraid it just wasn’t meant to be…well, at least in game form. Although, I would like to see him try his hand at another one of these and deliver something more on the playing sort of front, it seems like telling a story and creating good visuals is what he does best. Now if he could only do everything in the middle than we might have something here.

…Now I’m going to go play the Song Of Time and redo everything that I’ve just seen here. (It’s been a long day.)




OVERALL GRADE:
1 / 5 - D- ~ Not Even Worth Your Time.

Posts

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I wouldn't normally respond to ranting like the above, but you did call the author a dumbass. I am not the original author of the pasta mind you. On the other hand, I did try to keep as close to the original as possible. I am the one that put the medicine cabinet thing in place. Number one, most medicine cabinets do not have locks on them. Number two, I was implying that an unseen force opened the cabinet for the child.

Another thing that I noticed from your review is that you don't have little kids. This game would be perfect for a child. If you have ever watched a kid play a game on nickjr.com you would know what I mean. As for the father offing himself, he did play the game from beginning to end, otherwise, he wouldn't have given the warning at the end. Keep in mind too that his son just died from swallowing a large amount of pills. That would drive any sane person to commit suicide.

Finally, I am sick of seeing people review games when they don't like the genre. If you don't like horror or creepypasta or weird trippy games, don't play them it is that simple. Another thing that irks me is that if you are going to review something give the person some feedback as to how to improve. If you can do better tell them how you would do things differently. Its called constructive criticism and this review those not fit that category. If you don't you come off as someone just tooting their own horn.


unity
You're magical to me.
12540
author=jpcopenv
Finally, I am sick of seeing people review games when they don't like the genre. If you don't like horror or creepypasta or weird trippy games, don't play them it is that simple.


I never got the feeling that Addit hates the genre. Especially with him talking about how “Pokemon Creepy Black" unnerved him back in the day.

As for the game itself, I have to agree that I found it a bit disappointing. I had to mess with my computer's internal clock a bunch and all I got for my time was one scare in the forest and distorted graphics. I think the graphics and the distortion thereof were done extremely well, and so was the forest, but there's just no substance.

I know that most Creepypasta games are pretty bare-bones, but I don't think that they should be. If you want a game that really feels like "a real game that's haunted" rather than "No content and a few scant scares" I think it would be way more effective to have actual non-horror gameplay (other than messing with your clock over and over so one NPC will be asleep, I mean, actually stuff you'd find in a game) so that there's a contrast when the creepy stuff comes in. Sure, there's a great visual contrast but no gameplay. And this is supposed to be a game.

The author talked about a bunch of ideas about how this would be like Animal Crossing and then get scary, but all of that was dropped. I don't think I'd go so far as giving the game just one star in my opinion, but I didn't feel like the game was really worth my time. I think there's a lot of promise here but there's just no substance to this world the author has created.
It's funny, I was not attracted to this game at all but after reading your review I feel like playing it.

I don't know, maybe I'm just part of that group who "like playing some weird trippy shit ".

Anyway, good review ;)
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=jpcopenv
Another thing that irks me is that if you are going to review something give the person some feedback as to how to improve.

If nothing else, he suggests getting rid of the internal clock check. Which certainly sounds like the biggest beef he has with the game. Though, I'm not quite finding where he makes such a suggestion or I'm totally blind. At minimum, I'm inferring it through the rant made against it.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
author=jpcopenv
Finally, I am sick of seeing people review games when they don't like the genre. If you don't like horror or creepypasta or weird trippy games, don't play them it is that simple.

Are you kidding me? You can't call something that is terrible a "style" or a "genre." Addit's critique of this game wasn't focused so much on not being a fan of creepypasta, so much as the game itself is so bare-bones and mundane that it honestly fails to be a "game" to begin with.

If you think adding horror or trippiness in a game means sacrificing the core aspects as to what makes something a video game to begin with, then you are absolutely wrong.
Unity basically hit the nail on the head here. I ended up ultimately going with the score that I did mainly because there just wasn’t that much to do here to begin with, even for something of its genre. The whole real time mechanic basically just forces you to either wait for the right appropriate time to play the game or you have to adjust your internal clock settings manually in order to even play the game in the first place. At least in something like Pokemon Gold and Silver for the Gameboy, I could still play the game like normal but couldn’t participate in a few events due to the real time clock. That’s fine. But if I have to basically wait around to even play the game in the first place, that’s just bad design. And I don’t mind if it was worth the wait if the game was going to offer me more than just talking to the same townspeople with the odd occasion different dialogue choice and going to the forest for a seemingly small jump scare, then that would be fine. Sure the graphics and whole intrigue surrounding this world may be pretty well done – but what good is it if you don’t have good gameplay to go along with it?

I do sometimes cut the author(s) a bit of a break if that particular game was made for a contest, had an extensive deadline, or whatever in regards to the overall score, but I just can’t do it here, even if most creepypasta games are designed very similar to this. In the end, games are meant to be played. If I can’t enjoy a game for whatever the reason, then what’s the point of even playing it in the first place?

Look, despite the score, Townlore isn’t the worst thing I have ever played on RMN, but it’s in the pile of games that I personally just didn’t like - and that’s okay, because everybody has their own sense of taste, just like the setup for this review.
Good review, and on the whole I agree. It's not so much a game as some sort of addon for the creepypasta, which also could use some work, by the way. This would probably be better as some sort of text adventure, or maybe even a visual novel.
The game seems unique and disturbing, but at the same time it seems boring (As there's very little to explore and you have to alter your computer clock all the time so you can play the game). It tries to be like Dreaming Mary (One of my favorite games of all time), except the latter has easter eggs, and it's actually fun to play.
Well, at least the revision of Townlore that GreyInvidia posted up a few years ago (that you can find here) is a bit marginally better than this version, as there are a few more additional things that you can do in it compared to this one. But, yeah, either way, I just didn’t enjoy the idea of having to change my internal clock settings every few minutes in order to progress through it, and there’s really not much here other than some trippy visuals and that one jump scare that you get later on.

For creepypasta standards, the game isn’t too bad, but for a game as a whole, well…there are just so many other better options out there available...like Dreaming Mary, for instance.
author=Addit
Well, at least the revision of Townlore that GreyInvidia posted up a few years ago (that you can find here) is a bit marginally better than this version, as there are a few more additional things that you can do in it compared to this one. But, yeah, either way, I just didn’t enjoy the idea of having to change my internal clock settings every few minutes in order to progress through it, and there’s really not much here other than some trippy visuals and that one jump scare that you get later on.

For creepypasta standards, the game isn’t too bad, but for a game as a whole, well…there are just so many other better options out there available...like Dreaming Mary, for instance.



Yes!! I love Dreaming Mary <3
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