Yea, five stars. I gave it that much, because I've read the original comic and watched the movie. Also, I've walked through the game with a guide, so, yeah, I've just enjoyed the story and the visuals. I well understand the other review entitled "Terrible story". The game doesn't tell you enough, really - to fully understand what's going on you have to at least be vaguely aware of the original comic book. Too much is left untold in the game itself - so it just doesn't work without a comic book (8and movies has a way too different plot). So yes, on its own it is definitely not a five stars game. Among the Nikopol stories - man, it is probably the best. I like the more serious tones, the new additions... I definitely recommend to any fan of Bilal's work to experience this take on it - even though Enki himself haven't took part in creating this game, the guys who created it obviously were fans themselves. In two words, the text above is for those people who like the original and who question if they should try this game. The answer is - yes, you absolutely should.
It was a bit scary to play this game in 2022, but it's good. No modern stuff, everything looks like it came straight from the 90's. Reminded me of my childhood a lot and I love it for this fact. Minuses... Well, perhaps the game is way too easy. The pixels are fat and even the pixel-hunting moments are done for in a minute or two. Really, the only thing I could've missed is one of eight collectible cars which unlock the secret ending, but other than that there's nothing but the most obvious things. The game is also straight as a sword. There are no choices and it is impossible to lose, so it is pretty much a linear adventure. Which is also quite short, by the way. Done it in two evenings, but it is pretty possible to make through it in a day. Oh yeah, and the graphics are a bit too simplistic? On the positive side I have an awesome soundtrack, straight-but-still-quite-touching dialogues which ocassinally made me smile and a good, positive story which warmed my heart, so, yeah, despite all the shortcomings, I feel like this game deserves the 5 stars and my money.
Art-wise, there are, in general, two ways to transfer your idea onto viewer/reader/player. One is through the use of allegories, metaphors and comparisons - you make people think, leaving it to them to understand your idea and why it is worth something. The second way is the way of the statement: you state your idea blatantly and try to prove it. Every piece of art is somewhere in-between aforementioned critical points. The Flower Collectors is a statement, but it simply doesn't work given the positions of the characters. The main character is obviously in disagreement with the statement, spent pretty much most of his life fighting against it and has friends who still fight against it. The character that is supposed to be the embodiment of the statement is probably the most annoying character I've ever met. The said character breaks into your life and starts bossing you around, barely even showing any gratitude for your help. And while I can understand why exactly the protagonist can reluctantly choose to help in the beginning of the story, I cannot find a sole reason why in the end of it should he have even a single reason to choose an annoying, rude intruder over his friends, his life and his own supposed ideals, which should be there, but due to bad writing they seem to simply disaooear at one point for no reason at all. Hardly any love can come towards a protagonist who ends up being a will-less putty in the hands of someone he met two days ago. Especially since said someone is impudent and pretty ungrateful, doing mostly nothing but infuriating the player. I am not going to judge graphics, music and controls, since, obviously, the central point of this game is a statement, which lies in the story and the characters. And they are done bad. The game simply says: you're wrong, we're right - giving you no choice and doing nothing to actually convince you. There are much better statements out there.
The game doesn't deserve all those low rates because of the controls. The controls are weird, because the game was made for french keyboard layout. If you do not own a gamepad and you insist on playing with a keyboard, you can actually change your keyboard layout in control panel settings and have a comfortable gameplay. Alternatively, I've made myself a quick fix for controls - a really simple 6-lines long AutoHotKey script which enables any WASD-keyboard to properly control the game. Using it is a tad bit easier than swapping language in Windows settings. So, if anyone still want to play (or maybe re-play) this game, here's my script: https://disk.yandex.ru/d/FlBWE-ZmXJOy_A But, obviously, to use this script you also need to download AutoHotKey: https://www.autohotkey.com/ That's it, if the links are allowed. Either way, the game itself is great, and I'd gladly pay money for it just to support the devs. It's a beatiful platformer filled with art from start to finish, and its only unfixable flaw is that it is very, very short.
I have played this long before GOG. The game is definitely not finished. Several characters disappear without explanation, and the ending is sudden and unexpected, leaving you with a huge map with a lot of unvisited places. Feels like game supposed to be at least 1.5 longer. Yet it is still so amazing, I will definitely recommend this game to anyone. Story is exciting and interesting, pretty unusual one for WWII-era game. Characters have their stories and personalities, every one of them is pretty believable. Stealth and action are equally well made. And the style of the game is simply awesome. I do not know what exactly went sideways, why this game was largely unnoticed, but now, if you're reading this, make things right and try out the Saboteur.
