[Two Warnings. First: This is my first full review of an IF work. Secondly: *major* SPOILERS below for every part of the game from beginning to end...]
[SPOILER SPACE DELETED]
In a Nutshell: An excellent piece of Interactive
Fiction, set in an incredibly (if not *impossibly*) detailed
universe...
--
Getting started: I admit I didn't have the best first impression: A PC who wakes up without memory. Ho hum - nothing that hasn't been done before. An opening sequence which seemed similar to that of Winchester's Nightmare (a game I *very* quickly lost interest in) made me not expect much.
I was wrong. The game's strong point isn't its originality (though there are a couple points of true originality indeed) or lack thereof but the amazingly three dimensional universe, society and characters that it contains. On to specifics.
Characterisation: The characterisation of everyone is excellent: no two-dimensional characters here - I don't think I would call this level of characterisation unprecedented for a IF work, but it's certainly quite rare. Every character has a history and personality of their own: and it can also be seen slightly changing as the story (and the flashbacks) progress. Yuri turns from a carefree jester, to a concerned father, to a man fearful of the choice that he will have to face, to someone devastated by guilt. Kitara becomes more and more withdrawn. Lashiaran more and more strict.
And none of them is really without flaws or virtues. Even Lashiaran has a point of view which is not absolutely non-understandable, more like a man whose pride has been injured, than a completely villainous individual (though certainly his actions bring much evil).
Yet, the character I most liked was the ones I saw least of. Echo/Lyric is a fascinating character.
What's unprecedented (sp?) in this game, is the extent and depth of the dialogs - you can ask every character about everything and everyone: their responses will be reasonable, often illuminating, quite often opening up new topics of dialog.
And sometimes it's just unexpected (and rather lovely): I didn't expect an answer to questions as generic as LIFE for example, or (to Saal) about LOVE, FEAR, HATRED, etc... And yet everything's there...
And every response will ofcourse be different in every different scene... Saal is the most talkative of them all obviously... Try and discover things about the entire universe (and beyond) from him... Again the depth of the discussion is amazing; topics opening new topics and so on and so on... I've played the game two times from beginning to end: the first time I completely missed learning about Tanika. The second time I somehow failed to rediscover the action which had led me to see a tidbit of the relationship of Saal with his fathe (anyone help?). And I'm sure I've still not discovered everything that's there to know... Lovely.
Universe, Nature of: Through one of the early scenes you'll rediscover your mental talents of sensing, entering, and becoming, which from then on will be crucial for every bit of your progress afterwards.
These mental powers (alongside with others you don't possess like imbuing, and illusion-weaving ) are the main characteristics of the world (or perhaps their major difference to ours). Originally I had thought it to be a fantasy world, and to some extent it is: but some flashbacks later this world gained a far more scienti-fictious turn, with different worlds, spaceships, technology gaining prominent mention. Especially in the northern sequence, science is quite important.
Another important thing is that neither the protagonist nor most individuals are what we'd call human, even though they themselves name themselves such... I've wondered quite a bit on that and it was rather confusing initially. Was this an intentional discrepancy, meant to make the players insiders of the world, rather than aliens to it? (The same way than in SF we hear the aliens speak english, rather than what would be their own tongue.) I can't find a different explanation...
Universe, Structure of: You have the relationships between the individuals... Not all such connections are obvious initially, (especially in the case of Saal). That's a mini-structure of its own ofcourse and in most IF settings it's the only "structure" important to the game...
But in this work, above (and a bit more distant than) the first layer then have society's structure, with the noblemen, houses, hasidja, queen, and inside the same planet, the differences between the South and North...
And above that structure there's the relationships between the planets - little explained here but still important... The race of the Mantians who killed two of your three "fathers", the Exorians (conquerors? protectors? both?) and their emperor...
And above *that* structure, there's the one of the Fathers, Elders (Nariath and Enyeri), the 'normal' races...
I've not seen any game set in a world more detailed (or seemingly detailed) than this one...
Playing specifics/Puzzles/Presentation: A couple puzzles were rather of the guess-the-verb variety (the shylf-in-a-cage puzzle for example) but since hints are provided I won't complain much... Most puzzles were quite reasonable and often rather beautiful in their way - I suggest that noone uses the hints except as a last resort. Do use the locket though - even if you didn't need it to solve the puzzle, UNDO a move and check it out. It's an interesting part of the world, and usually its assistance is both helpful and subtle... (I especially like the help it gave me in Lia's dreamworld, with the starving shylf...)
I think this game once again shows how scoring has become a very obsolete form of 'reward'. Progress here is once again its own reward as the storyline progresses : we've seen that in other storyline-oriented IF works. But here's there's something extra: When I helped someone in the game, I felt *good*; when I saved the pakal, when I played with the freed shylf, when I sensed Lia's vibrant joy... that was its own reward also. I think I'm going soft, or became too immersed in the gameworld - I almost didn't have the heart to go back and check out what would happen if I replied 'no' to Yuri.
Plotting/Themes: If there's a weakness to the story in the way of its plotting: like other similar games it's focused on the flashbacks and the psychological war that's taking place inside your mind... The connecting story with you wandering around trying to remember is rather weak (rather non-existent) - that only changes in the last day where you have to travel elsewhere and the scenery changes - a welcome change in pace.
But there's a connecting theme: and that's healing. Even as you heal your own self, you remember how in previous times you healed others (and also help heal other in the 'present' time). And most specifically the theme seems to be 'breaking out of cages', which ranges from the literal (shylf puzzle), all the way to the psychological, social, even metaphysical...
Another weakness (if you choose to see it that way) is the story's irresolution. As Suzanne said it's only the first half of a larger story - as such much hinting and teasing take place concerning a conclusion to the story that we don't see...
Various thoughts: There's quite a bit of (nice) ambiguity in some scenes, especially how much the flashbacks are a memory and how much reoccurs, how much in control you are... There are places where it almost seemed as if time-travel was taking place, for example when the child-you sees an image of the adult-you inside the locket... does Lyesh's mind actually travel back in time, something which the earlier you could almost feel? Or is just a funny way of remembering?
Nice way representing telepathy with bold for other thoughts, italics for your own... there are also a couple places where the text is bold italic when something is simultaneously thought by both you and another... Now will anyone go all the way and represent tangled thoughts in the way that "The Demolished Man" did? :-)
Was the 'unseen hand' an Enyeri? I couldn't find a way to ask this of Saal which was one of the few places where I found a problem with the conversation system...
Final thoughts: This game has entered my top-ten list of all time favourites. Surreal but without the surrealism getting annoyingly out of control (such as I felt happened in "Losing your grip"). I wonder about how it will do in the Xyzzy awards... - I think there are some awards it deserves to get, but with some it will be a close fight (I think) with other games... We'll see...
As for me I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel...
On the whole, great job, Suzanne! Keep them coming. :-)
Notes: first posted 19-Jan-2000 | added here 23-May-2000
Email me at: katsaris@gmail.com
Last updated: 01 Apr 2002
