Beautiful, low key but melodic, an all around exceptional soundtrack.
First of all, this is one of the all-time great fantasy adventure games. It's beautiful, poignant, the gameplay is unique. You use your musical staff to play notes and solve puzzles. The fantasy world it's set in is wonderous. My only criticism is that the game is too short. I won't go any further because that's all you need to know: Go play this game. So why only 4 stars? The GOG version is subpar. This is the VGA talkie-version, which does improve on some aspects of the game. The VGA graphics are nice as are the voice parts. But this is at the cost of cutting content. There are portions of dialogue missing and it's really a shame. Some folks also think this version feels less magical than the EGA version. I personally would like the changes they made, IF this version of the game was complete and uncut. You can get the better version through other means (I think the FM-TOWNS version is considered the best). Use your favorite search engine to learn more. I'm not saying don't get this version here, it's still a great game, just not quite all it could be.
You play Ord, a cryptologist piecing together the mystery of a writer's suicide and the trail of clues left behind. GOOD: The story is engaging and I was interested in seeing where it went. The characters are reasonably well developed. The puzzles are varied and whether you like them or not, the developers should be commended for at least making them interesting. Some of the game involves playing through a fantasy story left by the dead man in an unfinished book, and those fantasy scenes are some of the best in the game. NEUTRAL: Puzzles range from neat and clever to "how would I ever have known this". The game is hard, occasionally agonizing without hints or a walkthrough. Voice-acting, sound and and music are passable. Writing is okay even if some of it seems a bit amateurish. BAD: There's a significant amount of pixel-hunting involved: objects I didn't know were there, exits I didn't know were exits, etc. There are a few tactical/action sequences which are frustrating. And the ending, which I think is actually great in concept, is not handled with enough seriousness.
