Platform: Steam
Genre: Adventure
Completed: 20/04/2024
It's time to go on another adventure... game! What can I say, I generally love the stories and puzzles these types of games offer. Assuming of course they are done right. This one was no exception. The setting was brilliantly rendered with a mix of both dystopian cyberpunk and 80s references.
I mean just look at this. This reminded me of the days playing on an Amiga. Heck, when you progress a little bit further from this you get to enjoy a nostalgic Amiga graphics demo. That REALLY brought back the nostalgia. So much so, that it distracted me from the important story message being played in the ticker running underneath. Frustratingly, you couldn't skip the scene to then reload it. So I had to wait till it ended (and it lasted just long enough to start being annoying) only to have to replay it again. Yeah...
When loading the game for the first time, I was presented with the option to play the Story mode (Easier puzzles; fewer inventory items to collect; and some "extra" sections removed) or the Old School Mode. While I appreciate the option, especially for people who might be getting into Adventure games, or who don't have the time with all the hunting around for answers to progress, I knew I was going for the original mode.
I knew what I was getting into, but there was still a lot of talking to NPCs, examining every little object, and backtracking to previous areas/locations/screens to see if my current inventory or recent chats enabled me to progress further. On the whole, most of the puzzles were easily solved. The logic was pretty straightforward. The only nuisance however was that sometimes you would need to look at something specific to be able to trigger either a dialogue option or to trigger the main character to realize he needed to do what you already worked out. And with there not being any on-screen help/hints to show interactable objects, I often found myself stuck in areas until I eventually came across that ONE thing I needed to find just to let me move on.
There was one section however that had stumped me good. Later in the game, you reach a point where a "guide" will ask you three riddles, and hidden in the text are a series of numbers. Depending on the phrasing of the riddle, you would then need to work out the sum of those numbers. (Got to love some Maths). Once you have the solution you then have to translate it into ASCII, which you will be happy to know you will have a document with a good host of them. Once that is done, you then select the corresponding symbol that is floating around the main character. Choose the correct you, and you move forward (to the next riddle and ultimately the final destination). Choose the wrong one and you restart. To make things even more fun, each riddle is randomly generated.
I managed to get through the first two the right way, but the third one... oh that annoyed me. This was the riddle:
"We are very large but look very small, Whenever night falls we are cherished by all, I am the greatest of all bears around,
Above the mountains; above the ground."
I had worked out that one of the numbers was 5 (because the first two verses indicated a star). But I was struggling with the next section. I knew it was referring to Ursa Major but I couldn't work out what the numerical value was! In the end, I saved my game and randomly picked one. Obviously, I got it wrong. But when I reloaded I noticed that the characters changed while the riddle had not. That meant the answer's symbol had to have remained. So I sketched each symbol on a piece of paper; picked another (failed); loaded and looked through all the symbols until I found a matching one from the previous attempt.
It wasn't the way the riddle was meant to be solved, I know, but even the main character thought the last riddle was a pain. For those who want to know, the final answer was 7 so the missing numerical value I needed was 2. I can only assume you were meant to realize that the last two verses were referring to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, and therefore you had 2 constellations.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. I loved how it gradually got you into the crux of the overall story. Now you might say, "But aren't all games like that?" For the most part, yes. I have played games where the main characters start with a simple task or mission (in this case, we were looking for his girlfriend who left unexpectedly while he was asleep) before it leads into the game's true story. But, I have also played some, were you, the player, know why you are doing what you are doing (generally because of a cutscene). Still, the hero character technically would not have any reason to go off on the investigation. A game I recently played which was like this was Dark Seed.
So obviously, I appreciate these games more because they are more believable from the character's perspective. With this one, I also enjoyed that it showed the hero's character's actions were not without consequences. Sure they were scripted and necessary to progress, but it's not often that you see the consequence of using a hacked card, or altering the tattoo design which was in the process of being given to a client.
I also liked how the game, while mostly focused on the overall serious and mysterious, had its funny moments (like sticking a ladder in your coat pocket - got to love that sound effect) or very philosophical.
While I am unlikely to play the game again (not often I do with Adventure titles) I do believe the story and conclusion will stick with me. I know that if either of my brothers or friends play it, I will enjoy discussing some of the themes and scenes with them.
Anyway, this now means another one bites the dust. Onwards with - Weird West.
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