Like many Daedalic Titles, A New Beginning is a point n click adventure game. The game has the usual standards, a hideable UI and item menu in which you can look at and combine your objects or select them for interaction with the world. A button for highlighting objects or interaction spots in the world (This isn’t a hidden object game) but introduces a few concepts such as dissembling a single item for component parts or an item within it. A New Beginning starts at the ending… not an entirely inappropriate place for a time travel game. And that is the premise behind A New Beginning. The final survivors of humankind are about to be wiped out by a solar flare and decide to travel back in time to prevent the environment from ever deteriorating due to global warming, pollution and human disinterest. This of course is where the game gets interesting, the survivors all have different ideas about how to achieve their goals as well as different ideas about how to best accomplish that. Whether it be diplomatically through persuasion or catastrophically through encouraging a disaster. The graphics of A New Beginning are done in a comic book style. Animated panels flash across the screen, voice-acted dialogue is accompanied by speech bubbles to read, and the layout, drawing and animation are all excellently directed. The characters in normal screens all have believable animations that add to their individuality, and the screens themselves are carefully detailed with each new ‘environment’ that you encounter having a unique flavor. A New Beginning is an excellent adventure game. Whilst there are some issues with the menu, the cleverly crafted story, and interesting art direction make this an excellent game to play. At its heart the game is devoted to environmental issues and is simultaneously a chance to showcase the developers beliefs about the environment as well as a chance to make a fun an enjoyable experience.
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creekis a supernatural thriller disguised as a routine detective tale that enthralls with its multitudinous mysteries that develop throughout the game Suffering short term memory loss, a private detective awakens outside on a derelict street, with the storm receding, the towns people mysteriously absent and only the vaguest memories of why she is there. The detective embarks on a mysterious and thrilling adventure that will have her expose the twisted conspiracy that has held a town in thrall for years. Narrative Enigmatis is an excellently executed tale of mystery that carefully weaves plot elements to gameplay that will have you deducing each aspect of the story as you progress. That said, the story itself is not particularly difficult to unravel, its obvious from the outset who the perpetrator is, it’s the unfolding of the narrative and the way the game allows you to take charge of this that is special here. Gameplay Since Enigmatis is your traditional standard HoG, you can expect a large variety of HO scenes, puzzles and traversing back and forth looking to interact with the environment using objects in your inventory. It can become a little repetitive. The puzzles themselves are fun to decipher and although not challenging, are not always immediately obvious so the game is not overly simplistic either. Graphics Enigmatis uses what appears to be photo-manipulation. The game appears very realistic, with harsh and soft textures that are lacking in more recent games in the genre. It adds a gritty noire feel to the game, which complements the private detective themes that run throughout. Conclusion Enigmatis is a game that will draw you deeply into its mysteries. From the various natures of the individuals you encounter, discovery of your primary target and what became of your own short term memory its an enjoyable experience throughout that will keep you playing to deduce just one more clue.
Long Live the Queen (LLtQ) is an interesting blend of puzzle game and visual novel. It deftly weaves its roleplaying mechanics into an advanced narrative that is slowly revealed on multiple playthoughs of the game. The question is... will you be able to guide Elodie to a succesful reign of benevolence or tyranny or will you die a direful death! Gameplay Long Live the Queen melds its carefully constructed rpg like system to a puzzle game mechanic whereby you control Elodie's moods so that she will be able to learn the appropriate lessons in order to gain the skills she will need to become Queen… or just survive. The RPG system works on the premise of classes, not classes that you choose such as warrior, mage or ranger (although you can choose to make her fulfil those roles) but rather of school classes. As Queen in waiting Elodie is still learning the skills she requires in order to run her realm. Whether its points in internal intrigue or archery, Elodie can develop a full range of abilities to assist her in her goal of running her future kingdom. However learning is determined by what is called ones ‘affective filters’ and the game adopts a mechanic around Elodie's moods; if she is feeling willful she is more accomplished at studying military matters however if she is feeling melancholic, the expressive arts such as music might be more appropriate. In short moods provide a bonus to certain lessons. The player’s role is to guide Elodie’s moods each day so that she will be able to learn the appropriate lessons that she needs to rule her kingdom or survive deadly encounters. Her mood is determined by what sort of activities she engages in, going to court can lead her to feeling submissive and depressed, whereas an escape outside the castle walls will leave her feeling willful and encouraged. More options for activities to assist in controlling Elodie's activities unlock as you advance Elodie in certain skillsets i.e. progress far along in military knowledge and you can review your troops at the Barracks location. This gradually allows you to better manage Elodie as you move further in the game. However all is not so simple events in the game also affect Elodie’s mood and may upset your emotionally balanced princess. The story is driven forward by events, that require certain stats to either pass or fail (failure isn’t always a problem but it can affect the ending you receive) and each decision you are given during an event determines some of the checks that you will need to pass (or fail). In this way the game doesn’t simply use choice as a method of determining which branch of a narrative you are on but also as an actual mechanic that allows you to choose what trials Elodie will face. Another important aspect is the way achievements are actually integrated into the gameplay. In LLtQ, achievements can be as much of a puzzle to achieve as finally guiding Melody to her coronation. Some of the achievements require certain events, others require an event and to pass an appropriate skill check, whilst others relate to various deaths and endings. It’s just as much fun to try work out all the ways to gain achievements as it is to simply play the game. And in this game at least the achievements aren’t just glorified for your steam profile but actually add longevity to the game. Narrative The story in “Long Live the Queen” seems fairly simplistic at first but is actually underpinned by a fairly robust world. The story is revealed in a variety of ways and possesses a fairly extensive narrative tree, to explore to various endings. The first thing to note however is that not all of the narrative unfolds in the events, a major aspect is that skills when leveled up grant flavor text which also sometimes reveals additional details about the world and characters. Since LLtQ is a game in which you will die, often, exploring the skills flavor text can be crucial to success. The characters are not altogether interesting and far more important is how your Elodie will interact with them, and most of the time seem as if they are merely obstacles to overcome to set Elodie on her path to greatness or tyranny. What is interesting is the rather extensive worldbuilding that has gone into the game… this worldbuilding is sadly backgrounded to Elodie’s narrative but it does exist for those who are interested in discovering the intricacies of the royal plots, and foreign machinations upon Elodie’s kingdom. Events in the game are fairly linear, and will unfold in similar ways in each instance of play, however some choices do allow you to avoid some events and learning which events require which skills to survive is just as important as learning their sequence. The game is such a clever blend of narrative and mechanics that it is truly something that future visual novels should take note of. By incorporating the RPG mechanics directly to what knowledge is given to the player (and which they’ll possess on future playthroughs) is not something many games in the genre have attempted. Graphics LLtQ looks like a late 90’s mahou shoujo anime. (Magical girl). It is somewhat appropriate and whilst perhaps not as cute as say, Cardcaptor Sakura, Elodie will slowly develop her own unique charm. The bright bubbly colours and array of outfits, as well as Elodie’s bouncy curled hair and large eyes, are often quite disconcerting against some of the events that play out (later games like Doki Doki Literature Club also use such innocuous graphics) in addition the exaggerated expressions assist in determing which mood Elodie is in. The overall menus are slightly bulky however the essential information is available at a glance and the text is clearly legible even if the font is not quite befitting the girlish pinks and roses, and medieval aesthetics. The graphical settings are rather limited in options but the game does scale to a number of standard resolutions. Music and Sound The music is rather devoid of sound effects but is accompanied by a rather pleasant piano soundtrack that adapts to events and Elodie’s mood. The opening theme may also be rather familiar to many British players! Conclusion LLtQ is quite an accomplishment, its unique blend of mechanics and daring attempts at incorporating storytelling into the actual mechanics is unprecedented. It was a bold move and a highly successful one. LLtQ is a highly memorable game and definitely one worth playing and whilst I have some arguments as to the morality of controlling emotions and searching for ways to achieve your characters demise in a nihilistic precedent, the game is still charming and interesting to play. Recommended to: Anyone interested in unique ways of storytelling. Not recommended to: Those who don’t like replaying a game multiple times… you will die, a lot!
