Old Skies

I've made it to chapter 5 Old Skies and am enjoying what it has to offer. Unlike most adventure games, Old Skies doesn't give you much of an item inventory. Puzzle solving is more about paying attention to conversations and other clues. Then using them to guide branching interactions. With that said, you'll still be picking up occasional items to solve more traditional adventure game problems. The story is also on point. The first few chapters are stand alone stories setting up the basics of the Old Skies world. Things then come together to a deeper meta-narrative starting in the middle chapters. I was expecting the larger narrative to focus on monopolies and manipulating time to benefit the rich. But, fortunately (in my opinion), the story is more personal than that. Emphasizing the psychological and physical impacts of being a time-manipulator-for-hire. With a balance of melodrama and light humor. I have a few more hours left in Old Skies and am excited to see where it goes.

Dave Gilbert has made some of my favorite adventure games and his newest work does not disappoint. If you’re familiar with his games (The Blackwell series, Unavowed etc.) then you know what to expect: witty humor, clever but relatively easy puzzles, heavy emphasis on dialogue and New York. And plot twists. Lots and lots of plot twists. The setting is interesting and the story, although it starts slow, kept me captivated from start to finish. Gameplay wise, this is an AGS game, so you know what to expect. The highlights are the rewind system and the in-game archive, welcome additions to an otherwise straightforward point-and-click adventure. There is also a built-in hint system that I suspect veterans of the genre will rarely use. The visuals are not in the usual pixel art style and that might throw some people off but nevertheless fit the tone of the game. The soundtrack by Thomas Regin is good but not as memorable as his previous collaborations with Gilbert. To summarize, this is one of the best adventure games to come out in the 2020s and if you like the genre do yourself a favor and play it. And that would have been the end, if I didn’t have some more personal thoughts. First, I don’t think the good Mr. Gilbert realizes what a dystopian nightmare he created with this setting. We are talking about a world where most peoples personal history changes every five seconds with an unseen corporate/governmental board, referred in game as “The brass,” deciding on what historical events are important or no. I really wished the game leaned more into that aspect of the world but it tells a far more personal story instead. Said personal story, although well told, stretches credulity a bit when it comes to the people Fia, the protagonist, meets. There is a theme about fate in the game and if Gilbert is trying to make a point there, he should have explored it more.

I have played all of the Wadjet eye games and loved them all (some more than others). This one has a new graphics engine that's not quite as pixelated and "retro" as the older games, I liked the old graphics but I like the new as well. It's not that one style is better than the other, just different and both styles are good in their own way. This one is a bit of a slow burn at first, it is definitely better enjoyed by players that are okay with things not being (bring in the kettle-drums) 100% intensity and excitement every step of the way. I found the story interesting and sympathized with the protagonist and her jaded feelings searching for something static in a dynamic world where even the past can't be relied to stay put. The puzzles were fair and logical for the most part and in the few places were I did get stuck there wasn't that so many options to be able to just try everything. If you've only played it for a short while you might think it's just a disconnected collection of short missions but if you stick with it there are threads that tie them all together and bigger plot lines besides those of each individual chapter.

Great little pont and click with mmorable characters and story lines, easy to get completeley hooked

Excellent in every way. Surely a must-play.