Prelude

Hello!
And welcome to Prelude, a game that despite the title it complete. Oh yes, in this mysterious adventure made in 2011 (even if last version was released in 2012) by Ziwei using the classical RPG Maker VX we are going to face various puzzles, problems and quests that are everything but classical.
Well, at least most of them, there are still some classic tasks like fetch quests, in any case, let's start from the beginning of Prelude.

We play as an unnamed blonde haired man that find himself in a weird place, where he meets a strange talking cloud that will lead him through various worlds, there are seven of them and each one will be the place of a trial. Anyway even if these trials do not involve fighting monsters, pay attention to your choices and actions because a wrong move may lead to death, and this right from the first world and trials!


Well, yes, it IS worthless in this kind of game of course! If you were looking for an rpg game this is not the place for you!

Luckily in Prelude you can save anywhere and anytime, and this is a great help since during the first part of the game you will find a consumable item that gives some hints for the current world and trial before disappearing... and if you save-scum this may help, but do not worry, these will be just hints, not a complete walkthrough!

Why did I suggest this? Well because Prelude, despite being a sort of mix between adventure, visual novel and puzzle game, it is really challenging in some parts, at least for me: you will have to read carefully what the different characters say, and often speak to them more than once or leave the dialogues using the Esc key, in order to unlock other dialogues. You have to observe the various worlds and take in account various details to put together the pieces of the puzzles, because what you find in a zone can be useful elsewhere. And unlike most other adventure games made with Rpgmaker you cannot just hope to collect items and wait for the game tell to use them at the right moment for you, but you have also to check the inventory, use some of them on your character, or stand on the right tile when interacting with something else.

But you need also items to heal, because despite the lack of combat encounters (real time or turn based) in several occasions it's still possible to lose hit points (there are still hostile creatures that should be avoided, and also some actions may hurt our alter ego). So pay attention, and as I wrote before... save! It's free, and can save (no pun intended) you lots of time.


Wll I'm really sorry, I don't even know how much can be classified as "low HP". I'm happy to be still alive then!

The puzzles are varied: there are some classic puzzles that involve levers and buttons, some that involve colors and jumping a limited number of time to reach the other side of a cliff. But there are also questions and riddles where you have to answer correctly or die, fetch quests that involve different spicy sauces, exploring a haunted house, fixing broken artifacts, and so on. So many different tasks, including finding a needle in the haystack. LITERALLY!

But the game would be boring if it wasn't set in a series of different worlds, from the Bridge of Death to the World of Dreams (that include different dreams), from a flying island to the Babel Tower... and the interesting thing is that there are many recurring characters like Da' the adventurer, of or the green hair man that is met in the beginning, and even those who are not recurring still have some connections between them, like the housewife telling that her husband is visiting the Babel Tower, an anticipation of one of the next worlds.

Visually the game is nothing new or special, anyway every place feel different and there is a good use of effects, even if nothing makes the game stand out from a visual point of view. Mapping is decent, almost every item can be interacted (almost! Yes, that's a pity because there are so many useless items that give at least a short description, while others instead were totally ignored, and sometimes they are identical so it's weird that a bush in a location gives you a description, and another not far is treated like a soulless piece of scenario, but ok!). Music is likewise nothing special but pretty much ok!


No, no, I'm sorry grandpa I didn't mean to disrespect!

Final Verdict
Prelude is an interesting game, I can say and experience: to solve some of the puzzles and tasks you have to think out of the box and see the bigger picture. It's important to be observant, read, think and use deduction to solve the different challenging tasks in order to proceed. Yes, this is a linear game, but surely not one of the usual rpgmaker games, despite the bland outlook and apparently simple concept. I mean, if you believe that a puzzle adventure game is just about pulling lever, pushing boulders and pressing buttons... well, this game will prove that you are wrong even if levers, boulders and buttons will be present.

My suggestion is to try it, it's a good game but on the other hand I can understand this is not a game for everyone. Anyway I found it relaxing and challenging at the same time some parts felt a bit of trial-and-error, but still I didn't mind, because it's refreshing playing an rpgmaker game that tries to make something different from most of the other titles!