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Words and peace.

  • nhubi
  • 07/09/2014 11:00 AM
  • 1441 views
This review is for the IGMC 2014 version.

From the title screen I'm already a fan of this game, which is not good for objectivity, but really how could you not like the elegant and stark simplicity of this, though the fact that 'regret' is the synonym for 'continue' in this menu, doesn't bode well for the mindset of the game itself.


From the outset.

Simple, comprehensible cut scenes follow outlining the perils of adventuring and how it relates to the little village our protagonist calls home. It seems someone delved where they shouldn't and brought that evil back to our hero's rustic hamlet.

Custom, and let's be honest, kind of eerie music plays after the opening exposition is over. A mash up of merry-go-round and jack-in-the-box, two things that always seem to feature in any creepy movie worth its salt, and really suit the Typhoid Mary homicidal maniac love child feel of this opening section of the game. Once we progress into the mind of the afflicted we get another level of macabre with the audio choices, no music here, just the sound of a lonely wind winding its way through all the dark caverns of the patient's mind, with the occasional deep shadowing breathing, agonising screams and disquieting sounds thrown in for good measure. As far as atmosphere creation goes, the audio nails it.

So our healer is minding her own business in her home when she's accosted by a nun, but it's all right she's an evil nun so our hero is forced to kill her in her underwear (the healer, not the nun), and we've got an active battle system, which I will state for the record I am not that big a fan of, it always feels like a button mash to me with no option for subtly or strategic thinking, which is something I enjoy. However given the premise of this game and the overall survivalist vibe, it suits well enough that I can look at it with a fair degree of objectivity. Which is another way of saying if you like ABS you're going to be happy with this aspect of the game.

I don't have menu control, why the hell not? Seriously that's annoying. Stop that. I don't care that I have no items, one weapons and no armour, you've already taken away the strategy part of battles, give me at least the illusion of some control, at the very least I'll be able to read my character description.


Make-up? Oh I'm meant to be a girl! I suppose the pink curtains were a stereotypical giveaway.

So after a run through the village dodging zombie villagers, or something that makes them walk slow until they see you and then attack you randomly, and trying not to kill people she's known all her life, because seriously murdering a nun and two kids in her house has already damaged her fragile psyche. Jadranka makes it to the hospital with its handy evil be gone wards to find that the curse-as-disease has now gone airborne, the wards are failing and stuff just got real. Time for the apprentice to become the master, and off she goes to try and heal this crazy adventurer who brought this curse to her home from inside his mind.

Ah so there's the save crystal, sorry save pentagram, that's why I don't have menu access, you could just disable it you know. So restrictive saves, not an advantage in my book, but hopefully the pentagrams will be spaced with some regularity...and it later turns out, no they're not. In fact there is only one available until the very end and you need to exit the mindscape in order to access it, which does detract from the feeling of impending doom that a possible breach of quarantine warrants. Though since it appears to be the only way to heal your character, it becomes imperative to use it whenever you can.

There is an 8 way movement script, which is generally something I enjoy, but it clashes with the graphics in making movements through doorways a little problematic and having the character sprite overlap with walls on occasion.

After checking the patient's chart, which gives her his name - Aegar Falkasius, and marvelling at the sheer number of ailments and issues this poor schmuck has Jadranka is ready to delve into the madness, and sudden tile set shift, it's still the default VXA graphics but we've gone from the relatively simple and bucolic scenes of a quiet village to a disjointed landscape predominated by purple and steel with random thoughts and emotions floating past as they enter and leave Aegar's dreaming state.

However I'm not sure the RTP is the best option here; unlike the real world you're exploring a mind, so I think it requires visuals that break away from the default blocky style to something a little more organic. I only make this point because later in the game, there is a section where custom graphics are employed and I just wish this had been the template for the entire mindscape section.


So this is what the mind of patient zero from 28 Days Later looks like.

Personally I'd be rethinking my profession and getting the hell out of Dodge, but heroes don't falter so on she goes to confront the evil shadowy presence hovering menacingly in the middle of this dystopian mindscape.

Suddenly combat becomes postulating an argument with someone who speaks a different language, actually I'm not sure it is a language at all, but I shouldn't judge, my character is a healer, not a linguist. But seriously, what?


I'd rebuke it if I could understand it.

Luckily this form of incomprehensible combat appears to be an aberration and suddenly Jadranka is conversing with her patient in the common tongue and using the arguments outlined to convince him to let her help. Well that's slaked some of my thirst for some strategy, but soon enough I'm back to the ABS and slaughtering random demonic entities as she traverses the metaphorical landscape of her patient's mind. Happily it turns out this alternate combat system is not a once off, this conversational type of combat is the norm for the boss battles, and for the monster of the week you use ABS. Well that's going to keep it interesting and I appreciate the mix, which caters to a multitude of player types. Though for those who prefer the ABS system, the magniloquent nature of the conversational combat may get a little draining.

The mind of Aeger is a mix of puzzle, dodge and battle mechanics, and it works well. As stated by the protagonist 'When you're in a mindscape, one thing you have to remember is that everything is metaphorical.' So the traps, doors that will never open, distressing memory sequences and re-spawning monsters roaming through the ice cold convoluted corridors, or heat blasted landscapes are redolent of the curse warping Aegar's mind into a nightmare beyond comprehension, and a breeding ground of infection.

Oh and 'S' gives me access to an inventory, finally. But it's not a normal one; it's a place to store information, memories and assumptions gained whilst traversing this diseased mindscape.



Oh the Lost Lenore trope.

As the game progresses Aegar's state of mind swings from one mood to another, from fatalistic to furious to enamoured. That last is actually the most interesting as it indicates that the work being done by your character is having a profound effect on the patient, and not just in their steps towards healing. It's a dramatic example of erotomania and the transference effect and I would have really liked to see it expanded upon as it would have been a realistic but unexpected turn in the narrative and could have had some critical impact on Jadranka's character, unfortunately this portion of the interaction between Jadranka and Aegar is cut prematurely short by the intervention of the entity that has invaded Aegar's consciousness. Which whilst narratively consistent with the entity's reaction to the success of Jadranka's treatment is a disappointment for the player.

There are a handful of spelling and association errors throughout the game, but they are more the exception than the rule and I'm sure they can be cleaned up easily enough. Luckily none of them are part of dialogue, just item and object descriptions, so they could actually be missed by a player. Not me though, I bump into investigate everything

The final showdown is a little clichéd, and also just a little out of character for Jadranka, as she does not completely believe in the argument she proposes to win. This however can be explained adequately by the classic Primum non nocere on a global scale as to have done any less or to have given in to her doubt would have indeed caused harm.

Irrespective of its narrative flaws, the story is still interesting and portrayed with conviction and competence, the graphics could be improved or at least the great custom section expanded, the conversational battles could have more intuitive choices and real consequences for failure, but the music/audio is spot on and atmospheric. Peace of Mind left me with mixed feelings, but the overall impression was generally positive. I do hope the developer revisits this game once the contest is over to tighten the narrative a little, apply the custom graphics to the entire mindscape and clear up those small grammatical errors.

Posts

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Thank you very much for the feedback. I definitely plan on revisiting this after the contest is over; I'm surprised to see people enjoying a first-timer effort, though like you said there are definitely quite a few areas that need polishing and tightening.

I'm very glad that you spent a little time talking about the audio, though! I had a whole ton of fun making custom sounds and songs for this (easily my favorite part of development), and I'm really happy to see that it all came off wonderfully.
nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
Ah, and you've run across one of the joys of this community. It likes newcomers. I mean don't get me wrong, it likes old-timers too, ones who have polished their craft and you can rely on for a good game (or advice, tutorial, script, resource etc.), or you know are going to create games that aren't for you, or who on occasion do both, but the way newcomers become old-timers is through practice, feedback and growth. We like having new visions and perspectives, new ideas and dreams and we also like providing help where we can in practical and sometimes nebulous ways.

Anyway enough about that, yes there are some flaws and polish needed but its framework is solid, and the audio is very well executed. I am glad that the thing you enjoyed the most was well received, and not just by me by all accounts. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.
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