Wadjet Eye have done it again: proved that it's possible to create a really great 2D point-and-click adventure game, if you have a cracking story, characterful dialogue writing and voice acting that is nothing short of stellar. Fia works for an organisation called ChronoZen, which sends rich clients on short trips into the past. Playing as Fia, your job - supported by her remote handler Nozzo - is to give them the experience they want, while making sure that no harm comes to them or to the timeline. Of course, the missions are never as simple as they sound. In one, the client runs off by himself and Fia has to track him down and find out what he is trying to do. In another, the person the client longed to meet, because he was her role model, turns out to be a protection-money collector for one of New York’s gangs, so that Fia has her work cut out to prevent them both from being killed. The puzzles which advance the story are mostly solved through dialogue choices or through use of information gathered from other characters, the environment, or Fia's biographical database. No implausibly large inventories here, and the dependence on conversation, setting and history works to build a rich sense of the characters and the worlds they inhabit. Even when you get stuck on a puzzle, you can get Fia to ask Nozzo for advice; he's effectively a built-in hint system, but one that deepens immersion in the game rather than breaking it, because giving helpful advice is what his character does, so it never feels like cheating to ask him for help. Without being heavy or overly serious - and there are some very funny moments in this game - Old Skies packs an emotional punch, prompting thoughts about meaning and purpose and the nature of a life well-lived. Having played the game through to its thrilling conclusion, I'm not sure whether Fia's story has a happy ending or a sad ending. Perhaps that doesn't matter. I'm very glad to have known her and gone through it all with her.
Lucy is a small girl, with big specs and unfeasibly large pigtails, and a no-nonsense attitude. When she suffers from nightmares, she determines to get to their cause: first by detective investigation of the ten-year-old events which may have traumatised her, and second by taking control of her dreams (the title is a pun on "lucid dreaming") to obtain tools to deal with her nightmares. (A key game mechanic is that objects acquired in one dream are retained in her inventory for use in all other dreams.) I liked Lucy; she's a brassy northern lass with a keen eye and a blunt way of talking. (Example, when trying to check her email: "I'm buggered if I can remember me password.") I also found it nice to see a thoroughly British game, down to the village fete where it is permanently raining (everywhere else is dry), the grimy pub, and the charity shop selling worthless tat. I wonder what Americans make of it. (Here's one example: https://ladiesgamers.com/lucy-dreaming-review/) Disclosure: I helped Kickstart this game.
