I still remember when my dad bought a new computer in the late nineties and received a free copy of Myst. He wasn't interested - he bought his computer to work from home - but I was thrilled with the game and even bought a guide in order to finish some of the tougher puzzles (we didn't have access to the internet until a few years later). Since then I have played a lot of games that have tried to copy what Myst did and combine a compelling story, a beautiful world and clever puzzles, but many have failed to do that in a successful and satisfying way. It's impossible not to compare Quern to Myst, since it's premise is very similar. At the start of the game you are suddenly transported to a beautiful island filled with puzzles, left there for you by a mysterious scientist with a hidden agenda. Similar to Myst you spend your time exploring, solving puzzles and reading notes that set up the back story. The developers behind Quern have gone the extra mile and added features that Myst didn't have. Similar to Real Myst, Quern is a game played from the First Person perspective and allows you to walk around freely. But very much unlike Myst you have an inventory and you'll collect many tools and items which you'll need in order to solve puzzles. There is a large variety of puzzles, which start out pretty simple but evolve into more and more elaborate and complex puzzles. Puzzle mechanics are introduced gradually and are then combined and expanded upon. Quern favours physical puzzles to puzzles based on mathematics and cryptology. There are plenty of helpful hints and I rarely needed a guide in order to solve puzzles. There are also a number of achievements to get. Some will require you to use some of the puzzle mechanics and tools in unexpected ways and are a fun challenge. Towards the end of the game you'll be faced with a moral dilemma and you'll have to choose which of the two paths you want to follow. All in all it was a fun game which took me just over fifteen hours.
This game came out in the late nineties along with a score of Myst and 7th Guest wannabe games. It's a game that tries very hard to be both different and artistic and both succeeds and fails. It succeeds in that it's like no other game of the same period. And it fails because the writing is pretentieus and obtuse and the puzzles are simply no fun. You will basically spend hours playing the same levels over and over again writing down clues to which objects should be used on which apparitions. I remember playing it for a while and then giving up and never coming back to it. Only bother if you really want to own every game (from the nineties) or if you like a challenge (based on obscure rules and a lot of trial and error). I will probably get this when it's on sale but I'm afraid I'll end up getting frustrated with it just like I did twenty years ago. I can only hope GOG.com manages to get it's hands on superior titles like Amber: Journeys beyond (1996), Obsidian (1996), 9: the Last Resort (1996), John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles (1998) or Morpheus (1998) which are much more interesting and enjoyable titles.
Rebel Galaxy is the first game of a small developer made up of industry veterans. And it shows, graphics are impressive, controls are smooth and the basic game play is exciting. I've put 60 hours into this over the course of two weeks. I've spent many a late night upgrading and doing missions. The game plays like a cross between Wing Commander: Privateer and the ship portions of Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag. Some areas of the game could use improving. Trade is mostly useless, while I did earn money by selling cargo I had picked up during combat, it's nearly impossible to consistently get high prices for your goods. Prices are dynamic and will change while you travel to your destination. So a merchant that previously gave you top dollar for a certain item will pay sub standard prices the next time. So just check whomever will pay the highest amount, right? Sure, you can do that, but chances are that by the time you reach that merchant, he's no longer interested in your wares or is suddenly paying only half of what he was willing to pay when you went on your way towards him. Luckily there are plenty of missions to perform that will pay plenty of money. The other let down is that once you've fully upgraded your ship (probably after finishing the story) you won't find anything worthwhile to do. There are achievements for getting certain popularity ratings with the different fractions, but it takes a lot of time to change these once they're maxed out. There is no way of setting up trade routes (not that it would work, see my first remark), you can't take over or build bases and you can't hire freighters (only a single fighter pilot). There isn't even a captains quarters that you can decorate by buying items with your hard earned cash. So once you've fully upgraded your ship there basically nothing left to do. I was hoping for some DLC that would add some additional challenge or reason to keep playing but that hasn't happened unfortunately.
