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A tale about love, explosions and rubber ducks!

Good day to you!
Yes, this is a good day for me, since I've just finished a good game.
Two Strangers: The Third Stranger, is a spin-off or side story (made by Lavendersiren) set in the weird universe of the Two Strangers Trilogy (so far) created by Frogge.
In this case the story is about "They", a totally new character that, like the protagonists of the other games, travels the wacky universe visiting silly and surreal planets, meeting crazy characters and solving some small puzzles.


Oh yeah, well this is probably one of the most normal things that happened so far!

As you can expect, being this a... uhm fan-game, there will be some old familiar faces, some from Frogge's games and others from Lavendersiren's works, and while I recognized them, it's totally not necessary to have a previous knowledge of other games. Yes, this is a totally stand alone adventure, with a beginning and an end (but maybe some future adventures, who knows?).

Travelling the universe and visiting planets it's a common occurrance in the Two Strangers saga, and this game is no exception: They is on the run, because his/her terrible grandpa wants that he/she gets married asap! And since They never wanted to get married, especially since the old man is organizing an arranged marriage, escaping is the only way, but the old geezer will be more relentless than a horror movie monster.

And this is only the beginning of They's adventure!


Gimme a hand, my friend...

Don't be scared! Two Strangers: The Third Stranger is a short adventure of just thirty minutes, but this is half an hour of pure entertainment: besides wacky and funny dialogues and situations there are some small puzzles, and little easy diversions, some time wasters that requires little effort and are more pleasant than a dungeon filled with random encounters!

But this is just one of the nice things, the best of the game are in my opinion the maps and the music: while charsets and facesets are the usual Rtp edits, White Screw sprites and so on (that fits with the genre since this was the same style of the three Strangers games), the funny cutscenes and the maps are especially brilliant and are on par with those of the last Two Strangers game (the ones I liked most!). Music is really good and... different from the usual. I was impressed because graphics and music are really Froggy-sh. I mean, if you played the Two Strangers games, you will clearly see a similarity of style and a coherence that, for this aspect, will make you doubt that Frogge and Lav are two different developers (even if there is slightly less insanity, since the portraits match the charsets, and this time the spaceship looks really like a spaceship!).


And I hope he was right!

Buuuut wait! Soon that impression will wear out. Yep, because there are some big difference that sets this game a bit apart from the saga: well, first, obviously, the focus on a totally different character that lives a different situations, and second the fact that this game has a sort of lighter/happier mood, it lacks of some dark and gloomy overtones of the other games, and if you played them you will clearly understand what I'm talking about (If not play them! It's an order!).
Is this a bad thing? Well NOT AT ALL, it's pleasant to see something quite different, a less cryptic (and more positive, maybe) message that is still linked to the themes of the original games. So yes, there are many similarities, but also some stilistic differences that will manifest especially during the final parts of the story.


I can just say "AAAAAAAAAAAAA"!!!

The Verdict
WARNING! WARNING! A picture NOT from the game infiltrated this review! Now you must play the game to find out which one!

... no, really, play this game because it's pretty cool, even if to understand better the Froggeverse it's recommended to play at least "Two Strangers sat in a Garden", the first chapter. Well, no play them all, but that one is the only one that you really need to appreciate fully Lav's work. And yeah I liked it a lot!

My rating is the same of the third Two Stranger game: 4/5! There is no doubt that this was made with great care, attention to the details and to the source material. It's not just a good short game with fantastic surreal maps, but also one that follow closely the footsteps of the original episodes while introducing something new without changing the main points: this game is exactly what you can expect after playing one of the other games of the series and fits well with the rest!

And now that I finished playing this game I've just one question left: was Biodome a good movie??

Posts

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Thank you for playing my game! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
(as a note, They uses they/them pronouns, if it wasn't obvious from their name, which is literally They.)
author=lavendersiren
Thank you for playing my game! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
(as a note, They uses they/them pronouns, if it wasn't obvious from their name, which is literally They.)


Yes, yes the best thing is that is close to the originals without being a copy, there is a distinct personal style that still is fatithful to the source material (that's the hardest part of making a fangame, I think).
Nice idea, next time we'll need a protagonist named "It"!
Yeah, I figured I couldn't copy Frogge's storytelling style perfectly so I gave it my own spin instead. I'm pretty good with adapting to Deep Lore, so it was a nice fit.

(Perhaps some neopronouns could get some get some attention in the future...?)
author=lavendersiren
Yeah, I figured I couldn't copy Frogge's storytelling style perfectly so I gave it my own spin instead. I'm pretty good with adapting to Deep Lore, so it was a nice fit.

Well obviously Frogge style is a bit more cryptic and darker, still yours is similar, as I noticed from your games (well I am limiting to the Strangers series since I do not think I played other games by Frogge). Oh and the ending was nice too.
I'd like to see more reviews about these games since I wonder if maybe he's not cryptic at all and I am just enable to grasp the references fully due to cultural differences....
I don't even remember what neopronouns are, but I am terrible at grammar! =)

(Sorry double post :/ )
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
It's interesting that you pointed out the game has a lighter tone than the canon series, I actually took notice of the exact opposite that maps generally used cooler tones and gloomier atmospheres, making it seem like it was darker than two strangers 2 and 3 at least, which leaned a lot more into pleasant color palettes in the maps. I guess I gotta save this stuff for the developer review tho so I'm gonna shhhh myself
author=Frogge
It's interesting that you pointed out the game has a lighter tone than the canon series, I actually took notice of the exact opposite that maps generally used cooler tones and gloomier atmospheres, making it seem like it was darker than two strangers 2 and 3 at least, which leaned a lot more into pleasant color palettes in the maps. I guess I gotta save this stuff for the developer review tho so I'm gonna shhhh myself


Frogge you are absolutely right, BUT the gloomier atmosphere is contrasted by a story that goes towards a positive/favorable outcome. The darkness well represent the bad situations and obstacles that the protagonist lives but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

The 2 Strangers instead have an opposite structure: world can be colorful and happy-looking, you meet fairies instead of vampires, BUT there at the end of the tunnel there is no light, but darkness. It is a similar path, but different, like a mirrored image.(whoa that's deep, I hope I did not spoil anything).
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
author=TheRpgmakerAddict
author=Frogge
It's interesting that you pointed out the game has a lighter tone than the canon series, I actually took notice of the exact opposite that maps generally used cooler tones and gloomier atmospheres, making it seem like it was darker than two strangers 2 and 3 at least, which leaned a lot more into pleasant color palettes in the maps. I guess I gotta save this stuff for the developer review tho so I'm gonna shhhh myself
Frogge you are absolutely right, BUT the gloomier atmosphere is contrasted by a story that goes towards a positive/favorable outcome. The darkness well represent the bad situations and obstacles that the protagonist lives but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

The 2 Strangers instead have an opposite structure: world can be colorful and happy-looking, you meet fairies instead of vampires, BUT there at the end of the tunnel there is no light, but darkness. It is a similar path, but different, like a mirrored image.(whoa that's deep, I hope I did not spoil anything).


Oh, great point actually. I need to start doing more deep dives into my own franchise, apparently ,,
author=Frogge
author=TheRpgmakerAddict
author=Frogge
It's interesting that you pointed out the game has a lighter tone than the canon series, I actually took notice of the exact opposite that maps generally used cooler tones and gloomier atmospheres, making it seem like it was darker than two strangers 2 and 3 at least, which leaned a lot more into pleasant color palettes in the maps. I guess I gotta save this stuff for the developer review tho so I'm gonna shhhh myself
Frogge you are absolutely right, BUT the gloomier atmosphere is contrasted by a story that goes towards a positive/favorable outcome. The darkness well represent the bad situations and obstacles that the protagonist lives but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

The 2 Strangers instead have an opposite structure: world can be colorful and happy-looking, you meet fairies instead of vampires, BUT there at the end of the tunnel there is no light, but darkness. It is a similar path, but different, like a mirrored image.(whoa that's deep, I hope I did not spoil anything).
Oh, great point actually. I need to start doing more deep dives into my own franchise, apparently ,,


It's good, it was a pleasant surprise, considering the ending of each game I was expecting a last-moment backstabbing ...but Lav surprised me. Again. Lol.

Make the 4th 2 Str4ngers now! ^_^
Yeah, for the ending I almost planned to have They turn into a vampire and then drain Legs or have They try to break the screen and attempt to attack the audience, but neither idea quite melded with how things turned out and at that point I just wanted to get the game finished.
author=lavendersiren
Yeah, for the ending I almost planned to have They turn into a vampire and then drain Legs or have They try to break the screen and attempt to attack the audience, but neither idea quite melded with how things turned out and at that point I just wanted to get the game finished.


Well it would have been in both cases an interesting and suggestive ending but I am not sure that it would have fit the game. The one you choose anyway was already unexpected and still coherent.
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