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Interesting game, but not without flaws.

I came across this game through terry Cavanagh’s site free indie games, and I played it during a free period in school.

You play an unnamed, silent protagonist, exploring a small world in order to work out the events leading up to the player taking control of the character and to find flowers to put on someone's grave.

The first thing I like about the game is the economy of the gameplay. Almost every building and object has a purpose, for example, you see cars all around the street, and then it turns out you can get a flower out of one of them. Another thing I liked was a feature unique to videogames, the ability to search and discover facts about the world and your character on your own, by discovery, a great example being looking in the mirror and seeing your cuts. And I have a soft spot for games which can forego violence and death (of your own character at least.). This game doesn't need explosions to drive the plot forward! The actual story was not especially complex, but it was nicely ambiguous and made you care about the characters and narrative with minimal text.

But the game wasn't without flaws. It would be too much to ask for it to get rid of every single video game trope, but the 'treasure hunt' gameplay, while possibly a metaphor for the protagonist’s search for forgiveness, is also a little lazy. Is love really measured in the amount of roses you collect? If there was some implication that the collection was unhealthy or the product of a damaged mind this would have been better (for me, at least.). And my biggest problem with the game is the cod 8-bit graphical style which has been done a million times in indie games, and I think is just boring at this point. Be original. That's not to say some of the graphics weren't nice to look at, but I wish this device was used less often.

In conclusion, a fun and diverting use of my time, it certainly beats most of the crap the AAA publishers are putting out, but the game could have been really really great with a less derivative graphical style and gameplay.

Posts

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author=CAVE_DOG_IS_BACK
I can simply cut off your head with one swing of my nodachi


no you can't
CAVE_DOG_IS_BACK
On sunny days, I go out walking
1142
I can simply cut off your head with one swing of my nodachi, but I would never do that because it is rude.
I can simply express my opinion without giving feedback.
author=Link_2112
bad review


bad feedback
8 bit kicks ass! I don't care what the kids say!
Have to agree with Calunio here, the 8bit style of Wither appears quite different than any other 8bit games on RMN.
Let me just say upfront that I'm not taking a defensive stance to this game. But I was a bit bothered by some things you pointed as flaws, so here we go:

but the 'treasure hunt' gameplay, while possibly a metaphor for the protagonist’s search for forgiveness, is also a little lazy.

I can't speak for the author, but I don't think gameplay elements always have to be metaphors for something. This looks to me like a game that wanted to tell a story, present a world, but it needed some gameplay to turn it into a game, as opposed to a graphic novel or something. The treasure hunt gameplay was an excellent choice, as it was simple enough not to take the focus out of what matters (like battles would do), and it forced player to interact with the world. But it's just a game mechanic. Doesn't have to be deeeeeep, you know.

And my biggest problem with the game is the cod 8-bit graphical style which has been done a million times in indie games


There aren't really options in this, as everything has been done millions of times. It was effective in creating a unique atmosphere though... as you could recognize a screenshot from Wither easily among a sea of screenshots.
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