This review is for the IGMC 2014 version.

Set in the shared world of Arum Trials and Tribulations is a short, as the contest decrees, puzzle/adventure game with a simple hook. Your beloved wife and travelling companion Emilia has been cursed by a demon and the only cure is the fabled water of life. To retrieve this mythical panacea you must find and enter the Cave of Trails and endure tribulations by overcoming obstacles, pitting your mind against puzzles and avoiding traps and dangers.


The things we do for love.

The opening sequence starts with a lovely little zoom in but is a little high on exposition, and unfortunately does fall prey to the show not tell syndrome in a few instances. For example the sequence where Emilia is feeling the effects of the demon curse, it would have been more dramatic to simply show her collapsing rather than a paragraph about it happening. The passage of time as Kato searches for a cure would have worked better with scenes of healers visiting and leaving, Kato studying books that slowly pile on the floor as he discards them in his search.

The menu has been reduced to simply an inventory containing items, key items and an exit game tab, so the handy health HUD is very useful. Save is via crystals interspersed throughout the cave, in such as way as they are available after most major sections.

The immersion factor in this game is high, the characters are well rounded and compelling and not just our protagonist and his dying wife, but the myriad strange and interesting creatures that abound within the world. Part of this may be that as a shared world Arum does have a pool of resources to draw from and an established history, but the developer has definitely set their own mark upon this world and given it an individual feel

The RTP graphics for the most part are handled well, and in some sections the mapping is delightful, especially in the temple complex, and that lantern effect is lovely. Given that level of skill I would really have liked to see it carried through to the entire cave, but I understand that time constraints do involve a sacrifice of the finer aspects. Still the maps in those other areas were more than serviceable, if a little lacking in content. The forest in particular needed something a little extra, but as it just one of many chambers within the cave, it didn't have that large an impact.


The light in the darkness

The face-sets and characters whilst still from a pack are chosen well, and were really quite lovely, portraying emotions well and with conviction. Though there were a few small instances when the dialogue that went with those faces was a little clunky.

Custom music is great, very atmospheric and used well from the dark and foreboding opening theme highlighting the tribulations about to beset our hero to the gentle harmonies of the temple.

A nice touch is that there is quite a few healing items secreted in various places in the game, and whilst combat isn't necessary for the most part, being usually a choice made by the player it's good to have a supply of healing herbs and antidotes in your pocket to keep you going.

Combat is simple side view turn based, with some nice animated battlers included, and a simplified combat menu with two offensive capabilities, light and heavy attack, with the heavy attack having a cool down period of a single round and parry which acts as a counter-attack, though it's not always successful. The simple combat has a small elemental affinity worked into it as certain enemies are more susceptible to a light attack than a heavy, as counter-intuitive as that seems, so a level of strategy is required in determining the weakness of your enemy.


Wibbles, what else would a bulky slime do?

One of the issues I have with the game is that there seems to be a penalty put on exploring. Quite a few of the interesting features on the maps which traditionally reward players for exploring either through an item or a comment are actually set up to be traps. Now there are a few, especially the first one you run into, which actually screams trap, but not all of them do, so it becomes something of a raffle to see if that log or collection of bones holds a potion or a trap that will rob you of your HP, of which as there is no levelling or advancement within the game, you do only have a finite amount. That being said however some of the traps are actually humorous and do make you think 'why did I stick my hand in there?' which does speak highly to the engagement in the game.

The trials i.e. puzzles however are a blast, they are a little easy for the most part, but given the time requirement, including a brain bender that takes 10 minutes to solve would mean sacrificing the other content in the game. The enjoyment isn't so much in the challenge, but in the variety, almost all of the sections have some form of puzzle in them and there are a number of distinct sections in the cave. They range from simple push boulder/statues to throwing snowballs to a timed traversing of a slippery ice-field .In addition a large section of the game is devoted to the tribulation part of the challenge, which is the emotional and intensive part of the story, the cave after all is supposed to test not only your mind but your sanity and this is portrayed well with Kato's resolve and motivation being tested by the those who judge the worthiness of the postulants.

All in all I found this short game to be charming and entertaining with a simple but well executed plot, some interesting puzzles and an endearing and inclusive feel. I would really like to see what the developer could do when not constrained by a restricted time frame for both development and game time, and I look forward to that day. Because in the end it's the journey that matters.


Cue triumphal music!

*No tribbles were harmed in the playing of this game.