Going Beyond Video Games


I was recently in Loyola, on a brief pilgrimage to the birthplace of the holy founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius. While I was there I was able to take in the 'chapel of conversion' where Iñigo famously moved beyond the romantic and chivalrous works of fiction he so loved and found lasting happiness in the lives of the saints and of the saviour himself.

The works of fiction weren't evil, Iñigo wasn't reading trashy novels or pornography magazines, he was reading tales that were essentially about virtue, great human qualities, but ultimately forces solely directed to worldly ends, transient goods that pass and fade with the evening.

The hunger that they instilled in him for adventure, for limit experiences, for romance, these desires weren't bad, but they weren't an end in themselves, they prepared him for something greater, and when he found the thing that was the greatest, the One Who is the greatest, He was able to find the answer to the thirst that God had placed within Him, and which the novels ultimately had helped him appreciate.

So, with this in mind, I turn to computer games and I realise that the best a video game can ever be is a distraction from the mundane of this life which serves to remind me that life is about adventure, only the greatest adventure is the adventure of holiness, of striving for sanctity, of snatching souls from the fire and of desiring to traverse the whole world in order to bring great glory for Almighty God.

Ignatius put down the novels and He started living an adventure greater than anything he had found in them. Switch off the XBox, unplug the Playstation, shut down the Nintendo Switch. We might not be called to the same soaring heights of sanctity as Ignatius of Loyola but we can certainly learn from Him where true heroism lies and how the greatest of human virtues and talents and fantasies that we cultivate must be channeled towards the absolute and fundamental course in life- the Way of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Fr Mark Higgins

The Sinking City | Review


The Sinking City Review

Quick Facts:

  • Release date: 27 June 2019
  • Developer: Frogwares
  • Genres: Action-Adventure, Survival horror
  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4


The Sinking City | Review




The Sherlock Holmes games' developer, frogwares has done a very good job this time. The Sinking City is a third-person detective adventure set in a fictional adaptation of 1920s New England, inspired by the works of influential (and, indeed, controversial) horror author H.P. Lovecraft. divers reveal an ancient cavern covered up underneath Oakmont loaded up with otherworldly statues of cosmic demons, and are driven mad by the discovery—a franticness that starts to spread through the city and awakens strange, vicious creatures the local people call wylebeasts. The game is divided between solving crimes and shooting beasts, despite the fact that the gulf in quality between each kind of play is quite wide.

The Sinking City places you in a detailed world loaded up with the incredible and absurd horrors befitting of any Lovecraftian story, yet gives a fresh however reverent take where others may have remained on the tracks laid about a century prior. So, while developer Frogwares' dig into Cthulhu legend has fantastic moments, the monotonous elements of this pulpy 1920s story can be the wrong kind of terrifying.



The Sinking City Review

The Sinking City starts solid. You'll soon find yourself on a beguiling whistle-stop voyage through Lovecraft's tall stories, investigating dammed caves for lost campaigns and managing with genealogy obsessed tyrants. Rather than insensitive map markers you often need to search out street corners yourself, setting pins and connecting the dots to unravel a wider mystery. 

Robert Throgmorton, one of the first people you meet who looks like an ape. Later you find out (which sounds really fucked up) that it's because his literal father went to Africa and literally had sex with a female gorilla. This seems to be inspired by the short story Facts Concerning The Late Arthur Jermyn And His Family, where a man went to Africa, produced kids with a "white ape of some unknown species, less shaggy than any recorded variety, and infinitely closer mankind" and consequently fucked up his whole heredity from that point onwards. Apparently, Lovecraft's skill as an author did not stretch out to nuance.



The Sinking City | Review

As one may anticipate from a Lovecraftian game, combat, discovery, monsters, macabre and otherworldly imagery, and the visions that impelled Reed down this path in the first place progressively take a toll on both his health and sanity. This results in some disturbing psychological scenes, illusions, and psychosis. It's a real hoot.

The characters you interact with, however, are intriguing and well-acted, and I was pleasantly surprised by how unique and thematically, suitable each person is written and performed. From mob bosses to cult leaders to crooked politicians and that's just the beginning, every interaction felt interesting and helped to fill out the lived-in feel of Oakmont. unfortunately, this shed a glaring spotlight on the shamelessly recycled character models. It's particularly noticeable that the majority of the dark men you actually speak to have the same cartoonish face (he was racist for damn sure, he once described black people as "semi-human"). I found this very distracting, particularly during some of the most shocking moments that otherwise do a passable job of depicting the racial tensions of the era.



The Sinking City | Review

the voice acting is strong and the detective gameplay is the best aspect of The Sinking City. The "Mind Palace" makes an appreciated come back from the Sherlock Holmes games and works well here when piecing together observations and giving you more details on the tough calls you'll have to make. The greater part of the actual detective gameplay comes down to finding clues around the environment and using different archives around the city, for example, police records, the library, city hall, and different others to either find specific people or locations.

There aren't any obvious waypoints to guide you along, you'll constantly rely on your map as you search for specific street names or locations, which to be frank is really tedious and time-consuming. This is especially true in the earlier part of the game when you're forced to tromp all over the map before you've unlocked fast-travel locations. Most games would have quest objectives radiate outward from a central location, however, The Sinking City attempts to show-off its diverse neighborhoods by sending you through every one of them in turn. This felt good at the beginning as I was surprised by the different cultures and immense neighborhood within the island.  Notwithstanding, this immediately turned irritating as I looked for alternate ways around the maze of overflowed streets. I was all the more eager to sit on the long loading screens during fast travel than having to frequently plot routes that required jumping in an out of boats, staying away from infested zones, and getting around a few blocked paths.



The Sinking City | Review



The Verdict

Overall, as much as I adore the story and atmosphere of The Sinking City, it certainly feels like a budget title at times. If you can get past the weird Lovecraftian bits, weak combat, harmless jank, tedious and time-consuming navigation, and enjoy compelling stories, exciting environments, memorable characters, and a solid detective experience that won't hold your hand and throw tough choices your way, you shouldn't pass up on it.










Oscar’s Bell, Short Film, Review And Interview


When Duncan goes camping he can let Oscar, his dog, who wears a bell so he can be kept track of. But when the wind is blowing in the trees, the sound they make can play tricks on the ear.

This is a delightful short that uses the sound as a major feature in the story telling. Anyone who has been camping where there are large trees blowing in the wind at night, knows already there is a certain level of eeriness. Chris Cronin (director and co-writer) captures that feeling and kicks it up a notch from eerie to suspenseful horror.

Oscar's Bell was screened at the 2019 FilmQuest film festival (website). It was nominated for Best Sound.

I recommend Oscar's Bell for those who are looking for a new scary story to tell around the campfire.

Synopsis: Duncan and his dog Oscar have gone on their weekly camping trip into the wilderness together. However, when Duncan looks out into the woods, something else looks back.

Chris and Sam Cronin wrote Oscar's Bell. Chris shares what inspired them for this film, what they are looking forward to and some of their other inspiration and drive in becoming a filmmaker.

What was the inspiration for Oscar's Bell?

We wanted to create something more akin to classic horror of the 70s than more modern horror. Simple, stripped back and with a supernatural threat that tied into the theme. The influences were a combination of spending a lot of time watching classic horrors and going down the rabbit hole on Reddit's horror forums such as 'Creepypasta' and 'No Sleep'. Oscar's Bell is an amalgamation of those two sources of sleepless nights.

My brother came to me with a scary story on Reddit and told me to give it a read, not to turn it into a project but just for fun. I thought the story was spooky but not all that scary. He said now read this comment response at the bottom of the story. Someone shared in two paragraphs what happened to them in the woods with their dog and that idea was much scarier than the story it was replying to! We spoke to the person who commented and that become the origin of our film. "Duncan and his dog Oscar have gone on their weekly camping trip into the wilderness together. However, when Duncan looks out into the woods, something else looks back."
 

What project(s) do you have coming up you're excited about?

I'm currently in post-production with a sci-fi short called All The Imagined Echoes. It's a human spirit story with elements of thriller and it's got a brilliant lead performance by up-and-coming actress Winnie Southgate. I should be dropping a trailer on my website in a week or two.

What was your early inspiration for pursuing a career in film?

I just enjoyed watching films and knowing everything about them at a young age. I used to live in the video rental stores, looking for the next adventure but it took a teacher at college to stick a camera in my stomach and say, "why don't you contribute something?" So, it was their fault essentially.

What would be your dream project?

At the moment, I'd love to dig deep into a dark crime thriller. I've always taken inspiration from South Korean cinema, so I'd love to put it into practice now that I'm feeling more confident. Works like Memories of a Murder, The Chaser and Oldboyhave stood the test of time and I'd love to do a British equivalent to those types of stories. On the flip side, since I was young, I always wanted to do a Cowboy Bebop trilogy, exploring the hybrid of genres as the story progressed. That would be my answer to Star Wars!
 

What are some of your favorite pastimes when not working on a movie?

I get a kick out of informative and True Crime podcasts. I know that's not a big leap from making films, but I just love anything that's creatively put together. I'm trying to get back into books, but I tend to read Graphic Novels. Ed Brubaker and Garth Ennis are my go-to [authors]!

What is one of your favorite movies and why?

To avoid a glaringly obvious choice, I'll go with Lost in Translation. It's the film that gave me the nudge to want to make movies myself. I obsessed over it and listened to the soundtrack endlessly. I visited some of the locations last year and it's just a mind-blowing place. The way the film was told and made, was quite inspiring for indie filmmakers. The fact that Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson star in it too make it a permanent favourite for me.

You can see the trailer on Vimeo (link).

And find out more on IMDb (link).

I'm working at keeping my material free of subscription charges by supplementing costs by being an Amazon Associate and having advertising appear. I earn a fee when people make purchases of qualified products from Amazon when they enter the site from a link on Guild Master Gaming and when people click on an ad. If you do either, thank you.

If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

I have articles being published by others and you can find most of them on Guild Master Gaming on Facebookand Twitter(@GuildMstrGmng).


Status

Too long without a post.

Hopefully this  won't be the last post on the blog. I am still in draft three of a book, and don't seem to be getting much writing done or even seeing many movie. Distractions and all.

I still have an unfinished story. An unfinished book of parsha shiurim. Several half-baked and nearly baked game designs on the shelf.

However, I am still employed, having a social life, going on a vacation next month. My daughter is married and thriving, my son is thriving, too. Which is all good.

Still have weekly game nights and still get new games occasionally. I just got Concordia, Sushi Go Party, and I am expecting Gentes Deluxe and Haithabu. I am expecting a few thousand new Magic cards soon.

I and my boss have been playing games with three non-gamer coworkers at work every Thursday. It's been half a year, and, aside from Codenames, we have rarely repeated any games. Looks like we may start soon.

The magic of games, those little points, seem insignificant, but it's astonishing how they take a play activity and make people focus on a goal, a start, and an end. It's almost hard to understand why, but it must have something to do with: not only feeling great when you succeed, but wanting others to have a chance to feel great, too. If it didn't, the whole concept of multiplayer games would just fall apart. As long as we still play games together, I think humanity still has hope.

Peace.

The Sinking City | Review


The Sinking City Review

Quick Facts:

  • Release date: 27 June 2019
  • Developer: Frogwares
  • Genres: Action-Adventure, Survival horror
  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4


The Sinking City | Review




The Sherlock Holmes games' developer, frogwares has done a very good job this time. The Sinking City is a third-person detective adventure set in a fictional adaptation of 1920s New England, inspired by the works of influential (and, indeed, controversial) horror author H.P. Lovecraft. divers reveal an ancient cavern covered up underneath Oakmont loaded up with otherworldly statues of cosmic demons, and are driven mad by the discovery—a franticness that starts to spread through the city and awakens strange, vicious creatures the local people call wylebeasts. The game is divided between solving crimes and shooting beasts, despite the fact that the gulf in quality between each kind of play is quite wide.

The Sinking City places you in a detailed world loaded up with the incredible and absurd horrors befitting of any Lovecraftian story, yet gives a fresh however reverent take where others may have remained on the tracks laid about a century prior. So, while developer Frogwares' dig into Cthulhu legend has fantastic moments, the monotonous elements of this pulpy 1920s story can be the wrong kind of terrifying.



The Sinking City Review

The Sinking City starts solid. You'll soon find yourself on a beguiling whistle-stop voyage through Lovecraft's tall stories, investigating dammed caves for lost campaigns and managing with genealogy obsessed tyrants. Rather than insensitive map markers you often need to search out street corners yourself, setting pins and connecting the dots to unravel a wider mystery. 

Robert Throgmorton, one of the first people you meet who looks like an ape. Later you find out (which sounds really fucked up) that it's because his literal father went to Africa and literally had sex with a female gorilla. This seems to be inspired by the short story Facts Concerning The Late Arthur Jermyn And His Family, where a man went to Africa, produced kids with a "white ape of some unknown species, less shaggy than any recorded variety, and infinitely closer mankind" and consequently fucked up his whole heredity from that point onwards. Apparently, Lovecraft's skill as an author did not stretch out to nuance.



The Sinking City | Review

As one may anticipate from a Lovecraftian game, combat, discovery, monsters, macabre and otherworldly imagery, and the visions that impelled Reed down this path in the first place progressively take a toll on both his health and sanity. This results in some disturbing psychological scenes, illusions, and psychosis. It's a real hoot.

The characters you interact with, however, are intriguing and well-acted, and I was pleasantly surprised by how unique and thematically, suitable each person is written and performed. From mob bosses to cult leaders to crooked politicians and that's just the beginning, every interaction felt interesting and helped to fill out the lived-in feel of Oakmont. unfortunately, this shed a glaring spotlight on the shamelessly recycled character models. It's particularly noticeable that the majority of the dark men you actually speak to have the same cartoonish face (he was racist for damn sure, he once described black people as "semi-human"). I found this very distracting, particularly during some of the most shocking moments that otherwise do a passable job of depicting the racial tensions of the era.



The Sinking City | Review

the voice acting is strong and the detective gameplay is the best aspect of The Sinking City. The "Mind Palace" makes an appreciated come back from the Sherlock Holmes games and works well here when piecing together observations and giving you more details on the tough calls you'll have to make. The greater part of the actual detective gameplay comes down to finding clues around the environment and using different archives around the city, for example, police records, the library, city hall, and different others to either find specific people or locations.

There aren't any obvious waypoints to guide you along, you'll constantly rely on your map as you search for specific street names or locations, which to be frank is really tedious and time-consuming. This is especially true in the earlier part of the game when you're forced to tromp all over the map before you've unlocked fast-travel locations. Most games would have quest objectives radiate outward from a central location, however, The Sinking City attempts to show-off its diverse neighborhoods by sending you through every one of them in turn. This felt good at the beginning as I was surprised by the different cultures and immense neighborhood within the island.  Notwithstanding, this immediately turned irritating as I looked for alternate ways around the maze of overflowed streets. I was all the more eager to sit on the long loading screens during fast travel than having to frequently plot routes that required jumping in an out of boats, staying away from infested zones, and getting around a few blocked paths.



The Sinking City | Review



The Verdict

Overall, as much as I adore the story and atmosphere of The Sinking City, it certainly feels like a budget title at times. If you can get past the weird Lovecraftian bits, weak combat, harmless jank, tedious and time-consuming navigation, and enjoy compelling stories, exciting environments, memorable characters, and a solid detective experience that won't hold your hand and throw tough choices your way, you shouldn't pass up on it.










Hypercharge: Unboxed - Now Available For Pre-Purchase On The Nintendo Switch.



Independent developer Digital Cybercherries have announced that Hypercharge: Unboxed is now available for pre-purchase on the Switch eShop. For those who want to get in on the toy-themed action can do so by pre-purchasing the game at a discount with 10% off its $19.99 launch price. The game will officially release Jan 31, 2020.




About the game
Cooperative First Person Shooter including Multiplayer (Split-screen/Online) with Wave based Tower Defense mechanics.

HYPERCHARGE Unboxed tells the story of Sgt. Max Ammo and his epic mission to defend the HYPER-CORE. Your task is to fulfill his mission and prevent the HYPER-CORE from being destroyed. If it's destroyed, you can bid farewell to your human friends. They'll forget about you. It'll be like you never existed. Do not let that happen. Work together and win, for the future of toys everywhere!




Game Features
  • Co-op - Fight for Toy-kind, together. Squad up with 3 other players in Online / Local Co-op and save the HYPER-CORE from total annihilation.
  • PvP – Plastic vs Plastic. Go head-to-head against other small soldiers as you fight to become top of the scoreboard.
  • Single-player - Not every hero needs a team. Are you a lone wolf and prefer to play offline on your own? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
  • Split-screen - Old school. Buddy up on the sofa and blast the enemy as a team. (4-player Split-screen when connected to the dock).
  • Explore - The Sky is your limit. Well, the top shelf is. Unlimited freedom to scavenge each environment for credits, coins, batteries and if you're skilled enough collectables.
  • Fortify - Defend what you swore to protect. Build turrets, traps, walls and fight off evil hordes of weaponized toys. Watch out for the T. Rex.
  • Progression - You deserve to look the part. Earn XP, unlock skins and customize your action figure and weapon. Just because you're small, doesn't mean you can't look the part.
  • Strategies – The Art of Defense. Discuss tactics with your squad and plan out the best form of defense. Teamwork is crucial if you want to earn the highest tier rewards.
  • Difficulty – A choice for the whole family. With Casual, Regular and Expert, there's always a mode to suit your level of skill.





Ween : The Prophecy - Alternative Paths And Final Rating

Written by Alfred n the Fettuc

Before submitting WEEN to the PISSED rating, we need to study the alternative paths that you can take through the game. I counted two (but I might also have missed something), one using the fish amulet to breathe underwater, and the other attainable by choosing the second door when you exit the temple, just before the ant garden.

The first hint about an alternative path comes from our friend URM

First alternative path : Sea monsters eating each others.

Restarting the game, I scan once more every screen to see what I could have missed but don't find anything before the lake itself (I still don't know if I can do anything with the bolt I found on OHKRAM's balcony by the way). Turns out that on the first venom/pollen puzzle, there is a very tiny leave hidden in the corner of the screen.

Obvious isn't it?

Considering all the pixel-hunting I had to do in order to progress later in the game, I'm really surprised I didn't spot the leaves on my first play-through. I think at this point of the game, I didn't really need to search every nook and cranny of every place I went. Anyway, I make the monster appear on the bridge, get the feather, use it to make the venom and pollen appear in the chest, and mix a potion of growth out of the two reagents. And what do you know…

More strawberries!!!

I call URM and give him the strawberries. Joyful, he drops a small ingot of gold that fits perfectly with the half-statue to make a complete fish amulet. Guess it means that URM had the amulet since the very beginning and just didn't give it to me because I didn't have enough strawberries in my pocket… stupid greedy bat. Using the amulet on the water allows me to enter it and breathe underwater. URM comes back afterwards and get back the Elixir from me, so the hint of an alternative path works whatever path you choose. Nice touch.

Do fishermen dream of electric fish?

Just before arriving on this screen, I witness a little cutscene with a big barracuda-like fish eating some kind of metal pole. When I click on the seaweeds on the left of the screen, a little fish appears and get eaten by the same barracuda-like fish, that WEEN describes as a wurk, a greedy fish that could eat anything. I'm starting to suspect that we'll have to make him eat the electric fish one way or another. Clicking on the staircase sets a trap where iron bars appear from the wall to stop me from going up. Messing with the electric fish gets me zapped. I spend some time looking around until a little bug appears… it's our friend the useless mosquito sent by KRAAL!

Hey there little buddy, I thought I would only kick your ass much later in the game…

I catch it pretty easily and feed it to the electric fish… Just when I was wondering if it meant that taking this alternative path would make the mosquito disappear from the rest of the game, another one quietly arrives and lands at the exact same place. I'm guessing KRAAL has an infinite army of mosquitos underlings for some reason. Knowing that the electric fish seems to love mosquitos, I get the other insect and drop it near the hole where the wurk is hidden. It exits and eats the fish, resulting in death by electrocution. I grab the glass piece on the ground and cuts the wurk open.

Gross

I use the steel bar found into the belly of the beast in the small hole near the door, making it bigger. Clicking on the hole now makes another marine monstrosity appear as a moray eel tries to catch me. Messing with the seaweeds on the left make another innocent fish wander around and gets eaten by the moray eel.

Underwater massacre

Inside the fish I find a harpoon point (what do they eat in that lake?) that I combine with my metal bar to make a perfectly fine harpoon. Trying to use it in the moray eel hiding place doesn't work though. Looking in the seaweed to find another fish, I catch it with my harpoon before it gets eaten and then feed it to the moray eel, hoping it would choke on my harpoon, but no. It just eats the fish and spits back my harpoon. What a nice monstrosity. Pixel-hunting the place once more, I discover a crack on the side of the barred staircase. Destroying a part of the wall with my harpoon, and trying to climb the staircase once again breaks the trap. However, the iron bars are now stuck in the stone.

Not for the marine life around here, that's for sure.

Using my trusty harpoon, I catch another fish from the seaweed and put it between the iron bars. It works! The moray eel catch the harpoon point and forces the iron bars open with its voracity. Now that's what I call one hungry fish! Finally, I'm able to exit this horrible place and get to the entrance of the dragon temple with the wasp trap and the snake.

So all in all, this path allows me to avoid the goblin-looking statue with its sword and the Orivor puzzle. I kinda prefer the underwater path as I think the puzzles are more fun. However, I'll probably never go in a lake again in my life now that I've seen what's in it…

Second alternative path : Laser-eye petrifying dinosaurs

After getting the three grains of sand and exiting the temple (and before the two dimwits lost my haversack), I was presented with two doors. The door on the right, that I chose, brought me to the ant garden puzzle where I had to mix a digitalis meal for the ant queen. Selecting the door on the left brings me to another garden, where some kind of huge laser-eyes dinosaur petrifies URM the second we get in!

We hold the winner in the Coktel Vision teeth contest

PETROY appears and tells me that KOR, the deity that's pictured on the left, can help URM, but I need to give him offerings. Namingly, the power of thunder, the star of light and the wealth of the tide… Just that. I grab what appears to be a net (probably in order to get the wealth of the tide. I knew I should have brought another dead fish from the underwater segment). Trying to operate the well tells me that I need a handle to work the pulley. The right of the screen allows me to exit to another part of the garden.

A grill? Maybe I'll be able to barbecue the wealth of the tide…

Getting the grill allows a huge orange crab to exit the trap. I grab a fish from the river with my net. Clicking a second time on the river makes the fairy of the river appear! She tells me that in her river lives a crab with sharp pincers (doh!), and that great riches can be found in the water. Trying to use the grill as a sieve doesn't work though. Not finding anything else, I go back to the statue of KOR in order to offer him the fish I just caught. No reaction. So I guess the wealth of the tide refers to actual wealth. Pixel-hunting the first screen, I find that I can remove the hoop from the barrel.

You know? For kids!

Using the grill in the hoop, I make an actual sieve. Using it on the river allows me to get a few gold nuggets. Going back to the statue, I can put the nuggets at the feet of the statue but nothing happens. I guess he wants the three elements before doing anything. I realize I still have a fish in my inventory and go back to the river. Putting the fish in the trap next to it makes the big orange crab come back in order to devour this meal. I catch the crab (with my bare hands… WEEN is clearly braver than me). Not finding anything to do with it, I try using my other inventory items everywhere. Putting the sword in the hand of the statue, it attracts lightning! After hitting the sword, the lightning falls on the ground and I can grab it in my hands.

Pretty sure that's not how lightning works.

Trying to put the lightning on the pedestal to offer KOR the "power of thunder", WEEN tells me that he's got far better things to do with this object for the moment… So first, thank you, protagonist, for this hint but could you please do as you're told? Secondly, ok, what else can I do with a solidified lightning? Use it as a handle for the well of course! I pull up something that looks like a chest from the bottom of the well and I can put the lightning on the pedestal afterwards. Thank you, WEEN! The chest is locked by a heavy metal chain that I use my crab to cut. It still doesn't open, though, so I get my sword back and use it as a lever to open the chest (swords used as levers during the game : 4). Inside the chest is a key that I use to open the lock under the beast statue. In it I find a sun effigy, which is sure to be "the star of light". I put it on the pedestal and KOR reanimates URM, who doesn't take long to be his normal self again!

Ungrateful fruit-eating bastard

And then I arrive at the garden with the view on Volcano Island, the worm and the giant mushrooms. I tend to prefer this path also to the one with the ant queen, if only because I spent way too much time on the ant queen screen turning my copper ball into a pipe and a cauldron and vice-versa…


FINAL RATING

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for. I tend to be a bit afraid of the PISSED rating because I know this game is fondly remembered by many, but I'll try my best to give it a fair trial.

Puzzles and Solvability

The puzzles are pretty fun overall. The game is a nice suite of inventory-based puzzles and there are a lot of them. However, the game is a bit on the easy side and a few of the puzzles are repetitive without enough differences between them. The room with the fireflies comes to mind where you're supposed to repeat the same tedious steps five times. The other problem is that you stumble a bit too often on the solution instead of wanting to do something and successfully do it. That's usually the issue with games with a single "action" button (as opposed to a list of verbs or a parser), in my humble opinion, but in this kind of games where things happen because "magic", I think that clicking on random things and see what happens is a big part of the fun, like a less chaotic version of Gobliins 2.

When the game avoids being too easy, however, it tends to fall pretty quickly in the "obscure" territory. The dragon battle, for example comes to mind, or the potion mixing.

Never forget the mighty battle of the cat and the beagle.

Thorough pixel-hunting is a huge part of the game as well and it can be infuriating at times, especially when you think you have the good solution and can't make it work. Globally, the game could do with a little more hints, even subtle ones. Too often was I stumbling in the dark just trying to make something happen with no clear objective of my goal.

Having two branching paths (even if it's for a short period of time) is great though, and adds replayability, which is still rare enough in adventure games to be underlined.

Final Score : 6. Overall, the puzzle design is solid, pleasant and there are a lot of things to do. A few roadblocks are difficult enough without being unsolvable. The fact that you are too often stumbling in the dark is what prevents it to get a 7, but just quite.

Interface and Inventory

As was noted by Ilmari in his playthrough of Gobliins 2, the interface shares some similarities, which is a novelty for a Coktel Vision game. It's probably because it works. You can combine inventory items, use items on yourself, etc. I think the guys at Coktel were working on something that would be used in all of their games at the time if only because they left the "fast movement" icon in the menu without using it once in the game. It was Coktel's take on something similar to the SCUMM engine, even if not as brilliant.

There is even a notepad to keep track of whatever seems important (like potion recipes)

The interface is overall pretty functional, but it has a few flaws that really get irritating in the long run. I've rambled enough on the transformations of the copper ball/sword/pipe/cauldron. It's because you do that ALL THE TIME. And what is a charming little animation in the beginning of the game are excruciating when you do that fifteen times in a row because you're trying to solve a puzzle and don't know which tool to use. The fact that you have to go through the copper ball transformation every time you want to change the sword into a cauldron is more irritating than it has any right to be.

There are other issues as well. Using the glue on the firefly works but not the other way around. Granted, it makes more sense in this order but when you're trying to find the solution to an obscure puzzle, you don't necessarily try the two sides of an item interaction. There is also a little "slugginess" to the whole game (like a few milliseconds too long) that makes the whole thing a little too slow for my taste. But it might also be the emulator I used so I won't take it into account.

The integrated joker system is a nice touch. In a time before the internet, it was always a solution to make some progress in the game if you're completely stuck. I tried it here and there after my playthrough, though, and it could beneficiate from a little subtlety by guiding you on the right path instead of telling the solutions outright. But still, it's always better than throwing the game disks against a wall in frustration.

Final Score : 4. Functional, but a few issues tarnish the whole experience here and there.

Story and Setting

Well… this one is tricky. I'm pretty sure the story as a whole made some kind of sense to someone at Coktel Vision (or they were under a lot of drugs), but after having completed the game, I still have little clues about exactly who is OPALE, what the REVUSS is, what the BORGOL is, why the two stupid twins change their height every five seconds, etc… The whole story comes out as quite a mess, and it's not a translation issue as I've tried the french version and it's more or less the same thing.

I still want someone to explain to me why my haversack was an owl the whole time…

Then again, the whole "it's magic" works with this universe and the sense of mystery permeates everything, but that's something that enters in another category. As a story in and by itself, it doesn't make a lot of sense. I'd also love to have some kind of confrontation with KRAAL at the end instead of an over-complicated Bond villain scheme to foil. It's like if at the end of Legend of Kyrandia, you just had to disarm a trap instead of confronting Malcolm while you've spent the whole game chasing him.

The same can be said about the places you're exploring. Once you exit the cave complex from underneath OHKRAM's house, you spend your time going in and out of caves and gardens with little coherence. It's not a big deal in itself, as most of the puzzles are self-contained to one screen, but it doesn't make you feel like you're making any progress, more like you're being lugged around random places.

Final score : 3. The story is serviceable, nothing else. You solve puzzles and sometimes, someone talks to you spouting nonsense.

Sound and Graphics

In the visual department, the game suffers from a strange dichotomy. The places you explore are mostly pretty and nicely detailed. The catacombs and temples are creepy enough and the whole "sunsets and moonlight" ambiance suits the magical atmosphere overall. However, I found the monster and creature design to be quite hideous, to be honest. The dragon, the orivors, the mosquitos… I guess a monster is supposed to be ugly, and it's also a matter of taste, but I frankly disliked the overall creature design.

The horror… the horror…

And then there are digitized actors in Halloween masks integrated in all this. If you remove UBI and ORBI little dance, all of them are mostly shot in close-ups and there is a little "cheap" feeling about all this, like a bad short-feature horror film. On the other hand, it's nice enough to have integrated digitized actors in the first place in this day and age.

On the sound department, the whole ambiance is great and the music is pretty nice (even if it could have benefited from a little more tracks because it tends to repeat itself pretty quickly). The sound effects have nice swishes and swooshes that add to the magical theme and all of this is of pretty good quality overall.

Final Score : 5. Pretty good overall but a few hits and misses in the design department. Good music though.

Environment and Atmosphere

Despite the odd design choices and a few elements that I could easily have done without (UKI, ORBI and your little dance, I'm looking at you), if there is something that you can't reproach Ween : The Prophecy for, is its atmosphere. The whole game is full of magic, weird things and every new screen is an invitation to explore and find what new kinds of surprises the game holds for you. The mysterious statues that are found everywhere, the magical beings you're encountering… Add to that the whole sunset/moonlight feeling that you have for most of the game and you have the feeling of a magical world ending.

When the sun in the sky looks like this, it's time to go to the nearest shelter

The use of colors is also to be commended. The whole game is painted in dominant colors (mainly orange and purple) and it really adds to the atmosphere (despite a few clashes here and there).

However (because we always need a however), once again, a few choices go against the whole thing. There is sometimes goofiness that would be more in its place in a Gobliiins game, sometimes alternating immediately with something more mysterious. I think the developers were trying to alternate between mysterious and funny, but it sometimes doesn't work. Managing a "hot and cold" ambiance (like, let's say, the early movies of Tim Burton, for example) is something that's really hard to achieve and I can't help but feel like the developers should have chosen a direction and stick with it instead of trying to alternate between serious and goofy.

Final Score : 6. Great magical atmosphere, marred sometimes by odd goofy moments.

Dialog and Acting

Like I've said earlier, a lot of the exposition text and dialog is pretty nonsensical. Sometimes, the ORACLE or the BORGOL (whatever the latter is) appear and tell you a lot of things, much of it not making a lot of sense… Some other times, OHKRAM appears and tells you you've gained a grain of sand even if you weren't really trying to do so… Most of the interactions with the animals and sentient beings you cross path with are nice without being really noteworthy.

The exception to this rule is URM, your vampire buddy, which is the most competently written character. His lines are sometimes funny, especially when you call him for no reason. He's helping and mocking in equal measures and is a pretty good sidekick.

And he really seems to enjoy doing evil deeds, which is a good thing in my book

The rest of the sidekicks are not that great. PETROY spends most of the time telling you "he can't tell you anything about that" when you ask him for help, but sometimes, he drops a clue that's mandatory to understand the puzzles. And I think I've rambled enough on UKI and ORBI, but let's say that every time their ugly mugs appear, you know you're here for what appears like full minutes listening to their stupid dances and songs. And the fact that you can't speed up the dialog doesn't help, especially if you reload to earlier stages of the game you've already suffered through.

The acting in itself is mainly digitized people in Halloween masks waving and doing over the top gestures to make their point, so it's nothing to write home about. At least, the final animation of KRAAL apparently trying to peel his face off is satisfactory enough.

Final Score : 4. Apart for URM, nothing really stands out, and the twins are consistently cringeworthy.

Final Score

So without further ado, the final score equals (6+4+3+5+6+4/0.6) = 47! I'll add one discretionary point for the fact that, despite all its quirks and errors, the whole experience was overall pretty pleasant and I think it'll stick with me as a good memory. And I realize now that doing so gives it the exact same score of the first Gobliiins and five points above The Legend of Djel, so kudos to Coktel for upping their game since Bargon Attack and Emmanuelle!

Congrats on your score guess, Lugh, you earn CAPs!


I'm glad I was able to finally play through this game. I had memories of it for a long time ago and being able to make some real progress on it instead of being stuck on the second screen like the stupid kid I was made me feel like an achievement! See you around and thank you all for your attention and your comments!

CAP Distribution

100 CAPs to Alfred n the Fettuc
  • Blogger Award - 100 CAPs - for playing through Ween for everyone's enjoyment
115 CAPs to Joe Pranevich
  • Vohaul Award - 5 CAPs - for letting us know that Infamous Adventures have just released a new version of Space Quest II
  • Festive Blogger Award - 60 CAPs - for blogging through A Christmas Adventure with a bonus interlude for everyone's enjoyment
  • Classic Blogger Award - 50 CAPs - for blogging through Crash Dive for everyone's enjoyment
105 CAPs to Ilmari Jauhiainen
  • Djel Historian Award - 5 CAPs - For giving us worrying details about DJEL and AZEULISSE real relationship
  • Classic Blogger Award - 50 CAPs - for blogging through Growing Pains of Adrian Mole for everyone's enjoyment
  • Classic Blogger Award - 50 CAPs - for blogging through The Price of Magik for everyone's enjoyment
70 CAPs to Will Moczarski
  • Classic Blogger Award - 50 CAPs - for blogging through The Institute for everyone's enjoyment
  • Intermission Award - 20 CAPs - for a 1981 Summary of Med Systems Software
51 CAPs to Vetinari
  • True Companion Award - 20 CAPs - for playing along
  • Alternative Award - 6 CAPs - for giving hints about the alternative paths
  • The Ball and the Cauldron Award - 5 CAPs - for agreeing with my rambling about the copper ball transformation and alerting me about the potion mixing nightmare.
  • Psychic Prediction Award - 10 CAPs - for  being the closest guesser to the Price of Magic PISSED rating
  • Psychic Prediction Award - 10 CAPs - for correctly guessing The Institute's PISSED rating
32 CAPs to MorpheusKitami
  • True Companion Award - 20 CAPs - for playing along.
  • Back Of His Hand Award - 5 CAPs - for sharing his interesting insight on a game that he knows very well
  • Djel and Azeulisse Award - 5 CAPs - for guessing that Djel and Azeulisse were probably deadbeat parents
  • Alternative Award - 6 CAPs - for giving hints about the alternative paths
  • Size Does Matter Award - 5 CAPs - for engaging in a discussion about the two stupid twins real size
  • Lost Bet Award (Unaward?) - -10 CAPs - For betting against me that I wouldn't find the answer to the snake puzzle
  • Ho Ho Oh... Award - 1 CAP - for remembering a Christmas game we could play... but not knowing we'd already played it
20 CAPs to Mr. Sack
  • What's Your Story Award - 20 CAPs - for submitting his answers to our What's Your Story questions
15 CAPs to Lugh
  • Psychic Prediction Award - 10 CAPs - for correctly predicting the PISSED rating
  • Gene and Dean Award - 5 CAPs - for telling us about the Ween band that might have (or not) something to do with the title change
10 CAPs to Rowan Lipkovits
  • 33 and 1/3 Award - 5 CAPs - for the surprising news that games have actually been distributed on vinyl records
  • Do Androids Dream of Kindle Paperwhites Award - 5 CAPs - for knowing how reading in dreams works
10 CAPs to ShaddamnIVth
  • Minotaur Award - 5 CAPs - for actually programming a labyrinth while studying
  • Do Androids Dream of Kindle Paperwhites Award - 5 CAPs - for knowing how reading in dreams works
5 CAPs to Jonathan
  • The Doctor Is In Award - 5 CAPs - for giving us chilling details about the digitalis and its effect on rats
5 CAPs to Deano
  • Cold As Balls Award - 5 CAPs - for letting Ilmari know the likely background to the brass monkey puzzle in Price of Magik
    5 CAPs to Andy_Panthro
    • Alchemist Award - 5 CAPs - for finally explaining to me why people bite gold
    5 CAPs to Laukku
    • Pixel Filtering Award - 5 CAPs - for alerting me that my emulation software was filtering pixels
    5 CAPs to Mayhaym
    • Wario Ware Award - 5 CAPs - for appreciating that sometimes you need to pick the nose of a demon dog
    5 CAPs to Corey Cole
    • Rutabaga Award - 5 CAPs - for answering Will's question, and adding more historical context to a character from The Institute
    5 CAPs to Lisa H.
    • The Shape of Watercraft Award - 5 CAPs - for pointing out that all submarines are long, thin and full of seamen