Comics! Chips! Waffles! Music! L'art Nouveau! Beer (Ah! The Beer!), Poirot and now Benoît Sokal, will be forever imprinted in my memory.
I must admit that at first the game didn't appeal to me. It is possible that, at that moment, I believed I needed something livelier. How wrong I was!!
Unexpectedly, it sneaks on you. You’re in a world that embraces you completely. The backgrounds, the light, just right, the music, the people you get to know, the details - architecture, machinery, landscapes, and the depth of the characters, main or otherwise.
Art Nouveau is everywhere. Such grace, with its intricate twists, so full of movement, energy, life! It blends so well with the essence of the game and its steampunk quality, always present in these games. Look at the Music Square! Those Trams! The Orchestra!
It is a slow-paced game, no rushes, no suddenly outbursts of activity. I found it quite different from the first games. Less adventurous, more focussed on the main two characters and what connects them, so intensely and emotionally - less puzzles, greater introspection onto the human nature/essence, what stimulates it.
Some of you might see it as essentially political. Yes. It is part of the narrative, of its context, reflective of those times. The story goes deeper than that and if you can't perceive it, you should not play the game. It is, above all, very emotional. A story where you seldom laugh, but often smile. So full of human drama and all the tragedies, disappointments and pain that go with it. But also so enthralling, so full of warmth and care.
The work that was put into this game! More importantly, the care, the love, that soft embrace that surrounds you throughout the game, it can be felt physically. Yeh! It’s like that.
And then, at the very end, everything fits. The surprise! (Not really!) Kate's energy and spontaneity takes you back to your own past when you played the first games!
So sweet! Oh, So Sweet!
P.S.: I leave the technicalities to others.
