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Good job, Ernesto!

Hello! New review, new game... well more or less!
An Essay on Insipidity is a RPG Maker MZ game by ̶C̶a̶r̶l̶o̶s̶D̶a̶v̶i̶l̶l̶a̶ Ernesto made in 2020 and then updated until 2021. It was realized in one week using the RPG Maker MZ Trial Version, and also for this reason it's an RTP-only game. The lenght? It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete what I guess is all the game, since there are some optional battles and extra places to visit... if you want to learn everything about both protagonists and stories.
Ok, now you're probably wondering what I'm talking about: the game tells not one but TWO stories (this is not a spoiler since you can see both the protagonists on the menu screen right at the beginning): the adventure of ernesto (or ernestp!), a "grand aventurero" that has to defeat three big demons, find the "sowrd of the gods" and use it to slay the king of the demons, and Ernesto the developer, whose laugh is the first thing you will hear when you start the game. Both are obviously the same, but clearly live two completely different adventures, one in a fantasy world and the other in real life.


The glorious world map. You will have to visit each location in a precise order, but also go back later if you want...

Now, the game: An Essay on Insipidity is a very classic (and bad) rpgmaker game, in which we play as a lone hero. I'm pretty sure everyone that will read this review has played, at least once, one of these amateurish jrpgs with badly mapped villages that includes shops and store owners that are all identical, labyrinthine dungeons with random encounters and backtracking, many mapping errors and typos and untranslated text. Oh yes, but like another game I recently played (I'm referring to "That's my Exploit Keeper", another adventure about bad rpmaker games and their developers, but it's a totally different story) it's clear that's every bad design choice is done on purpouse (they're never game-breaking and some glitches are useful, for example to farm sa many potions you want for free!), it's a parody. A sad parody.

Luckily, unlike the "pseudo-sequel" (An Essay on Insipidity II, that has apparently no relations with this game, anyway I already discussed it two years ago) the gameplay is not terrible: battles are easy, you can farm infinite potions in ernesto's room (as I wrote before), escape from battles is you can save anytime (game also prompt you to save before every boss battle, even the minor ones) and once you get the fabled "sowrd of the gods" you will be nearly unstoppable.


in this game there are lots of battles, and the common aspect is that Ernesto (or ernestp) is always alone...

Ok, this is the story of ernesto/ernestp, but what about Ernesto the developer? As mentioned before this is a sad parody, but I do not want to explain and spoil Ernesto's story, I'll only say that's pretty different from the protagonist's heroic life. The clever idea is inserting subtly Ernesto's story details and characters inside the game, rather than blatantly adding cutscenes that show his life in the real world. This means that some parts can be pass unnoticed or even skipped if the player wants, it's a choice. But if you backtrack and try to open every door and explore every corner you can find new details together with optional battles and dialogues.

Ok, for music there isn't much to say since it's all Rtp even if there are some odd choices, like the music in the first cave. But the maps? Ernesto what did you do? The villages are terrible, the inn (that I never used once!) is just a row of beds, the houses are huge blocks whose doors open into walls... and dungeons aren'r better. The tower is a simple corridor while others are simple mazes, but you will hate that you have to backtrack (even if there will be potions to reduce enemy encounters or even remove them for a while, eheheheh). The dialogues are also amusing and in broken english (like "congraturations, u now kil the demon" and the answer is simply "ok"), the story is linear and banal, but the side-story about Ernesto will instead provide a totally different mood and feeling.


I like these dialogues: simple, short and straight to the point! Also we've no choice, so onwards to the castle!

Final Verdict
"An Essay on Insipidity" is a deeply emotional game disguised as a boring and bad rpgmaker title. It's perfect, even if probably you need to know a bit of spanish (besides english) to understand some parts about Ernesto's diary, anyway it's easy to recognize the bad aspects of the game as made bad specifically. In fact there are other aspects and details that are instead extremely good, and I can mention two, like the (optional) totally black dungeon engulfed in darkness or the haunting ticking of the clock that is the only sound heard in a particulary section. This game is really a series of contrasting feelings, shifting from hilarious to depressing. It's an experience that kept me hooked for an hour and a half, until I witnessed everything. Or so I guess.
For a game made in a week it was surprisingly interesting, and unexpected! A silly rpgmaker game hiding a gripping story that will leave you in tears, because it is very very sad, and you are probably going to cry when you beat the game because it is that sad.