Like Cultist Simulator, this is a rich narrative experience told through hundreds of snippets of flavour text. I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that playing this game requires the wiki (or, if you prefer, taking exhaustive external notes from scratch), but ultimately it conjures up enough of an atmosphere that I just can't stop playing.
A rare example of a brilliantly-written, genuinely funny game. Excellent puzzle design, quests that actually make you think, and fantastically good fun. The main combat was at no point difficult during my playthough and I won most fights with ease, but I'm aware there's a "Hard Mode" that might provide more challenge. The wargame scenarios at one of the forts were pretty good though - you actually have to think ahead and plan your attacks out in those. Verdict: Why haven't you bought this already?
After 16 hours of play, I have achieved one of the victory conditions. These are my thoughts having experienced most of the game one time through (I shall be playing again). The main attraction is the worldbuilding and storytelling. If you're not interested in reading every bit of flavour text and trying to interpret the clues hidden in the writing, you will likely neither enjoy the game nor learn how to play it properly. However, if you are interested, this is a game unlike any other I've seen. The writing is fantastic, and I found myself immersed in the game world to the point where I could not sleep in real life for all the half-understood secrets buzzing round my head. Will the Inspector uncover evidence of my latest atrocities? What could be the missing piece that I need to finally summon a Hint, whatever one is? Is summoning one even a good idea? How do I persuade the Peacock Door to open? A lot of these questions stem from figuring out the game mechanics, which are woven tightly with the story/lore. The game has no tutorial, and zero hand-holding. This does mean you occasionally feel like you have no idea how to achieve your goals, or even what they are. I would argue that this is a good thing. It means you are not only playing a character who is trying to uncover secrets and gain understanding, but you actually are uncovering secrets and gaining understanding yourself. Learning to play the game is half the point, and it (mostly) works brilliantly. Sometimes, it is slightly too opaque for its own good, and during the endgame I did resort once to the internet for summoning recipes. My advice is: go into the game as blind as possible, and resist the temptation to look up guides until the very endgame, and even then only if you’re desperate. tl;dr A fantastic atmosphere/story driven game that requires immersing oneself into the lore to get past the sometimes clunky and repetitive game mechanics, and is definitely worth doing so. Embrace your imagination.
After 16 hours of play, I have achieved one of the victory conditions. These are my thoughts having experienced most of the game one time through (I shall be playing again). The main attraction is the worldbuilding and storytelling. If you're not interested in reading every bit of flavour text and trying to interpret the clues hidden in the writing, you will likely neither enjoy the game nor learn how to play it properly. However, if you are interested, this is a game unlike any other I've seen. The writing is fantastic, and I found myself immersed in the game world to the point where I could not sleep in real life for all the half-understood secrets buzzing round my head. Will the Inspector uncover evidence of my latest atrocities? What could be the missing piece that I need to finally summon a Hint, whatever one is? Is summoning one even a good idea? How do I persuade the Peacock Door to open? A lot of these questions stem from figuring out the game mechanics, which are woven tightly with the story/lore. The game has no tutorial, and zero hand-holding. This does mean you occasionally feel like you have no idea how to achieve your goals, or even what they are. I would argue that this is a good thing. It means you are not only playing a character who is trying to uncover secrets and gain understanding, but you actually are uncovering secrets and gaining understanding yourself. Learning to play the game is half the point, and it (mostly) works brilliantly. Sometimes, it is slightly too opaque for its own good, and during the endgame I did resort once to the internet for summoning recipes. My advice is: go into the game as blind as possible, and resist the temptation to look up guides until the very endgame, and even then only if you’re desperate. tl;dr A fantastic atmosphere/story driven game that requires immersing oneself into the lore to get past the sometimes clunky and repetitive game mechanics, and is definitely worth doing so. Embrace your imagination.
