[IFComp] The Hours
Evidence suggests that I enjoy playing the games more than I enjoy writing about them. I have four that I've played and not written reviews for!
The Hours, by Robert Patten, is a time-travel game with a plot like an action movie. It has some strengths, but also some bugs and some things that, while not bugs, didn't really resonate with me. Incidentally, the first thing I typed in my notes as I played was, "Is there any connection between this game and the novel/movie based on Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway?" It is not a spoiler to say that the answer is absolutely no.
First of all, I liked how moving between rooms was implemented. Instead of the typical directional movement (north, south, east, west, etc.), the status line at the top of the screen informed you what rooms were available: "You can go to the lab, dressing room, or elevator." I also like the premise of a time-traveling antique dealership, and I hoped I'd get to visit a lot of historical locations, a la the IF classic "Curses."* Sadly, aside from the opening scene (which forced me to take an action that I found deeply immoral, in my nerdy way), the action isn't historical.
That would have been okay, though, if the plot had been tighter and the game had had more, well, game to it. As it was, though, there wasn't a lot in the way of puzzles. There were certain decisions to make when engaged in conversation with other characters, but these decisions didn't seem to affect the outcome of the game in any meaningful way. Big plot points were railroaded; the actions were mostly less crucial activities like searching for a missing object or walking in and out of rooms.
There were also some bugs. There were far too many returns after each line, resulting in a distractingly large amount of white space. I don't think it was intentional. Also, on my second playthrough (looking for new endings), there was a hugely long wait for a character to return to the room where he'd left me before the plot could resume. If I hadn't already played past that point once, I would have assumed that the game was just plain broken. As it was, it took 46 turns of waiting and repeating actions after I had done what I believe should have been the triggering event before the character finally came back. 46 turns of poking about in someone's fridge and looking out their windows at the view doesn't add to the feeling of an action game.
I'm going to end with a small rant about one thing, though minor, that bugged me out of proportion. This was the implementation of gender. I do see why nailing down the player's gender was essential for the rest of the game, but the way it was done rankled. It would have been simple to ask the player to "confirm" his or her gender at the same time that the game asks for the player's name, but instead gender is determined by which outfit the player chooses from a closet: a pinstripe suit or a "conservative but pretty" dress. As a graduate of one of those hippie leftist liberal arts colleges where the students folkdance and take classes in Feminist Poetry, this immediately rubbed me the wrong way. I dress pretty heteronormatively in my real life, but really dislike being forced into it in a game. As a result, I chose the suit, which actually made me all the more regret choosing to use my own name. Ironically, being called "Elizabeth" pulled me out of an immersive experience, as it reminded me of my actual life, where I'm not a time traveler prone to punching people.
This game did have a full story without major plot holes, but playing it involved too many moments of frustration for me. It goes into the category of "needs work" before I'd recommend it to a friend.
* Note: Curses is an epic monster of a game. It took me several weeks and copious online hints to get through it, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm not trying to compare this game, or any comp game, to it, as that wouldn't be fair in any regard.
Okay, now I'm only three games behind! The next games on deck are Fog Convict by Arman, Luster by Jared Smith, and PataNoir by Simon Christiansen. Though I'll probably play more before I fully catch up on writing these...
The Hours, by Robert Patten, is a time-travel game with a plot like an action movie. It has some strengths, but also some bugs and some things that, while not bugs, didn't really resonate with me. Incidentally, the first thing I typed in my notes as I played was, "Is there any connection between this game and the novel/movie based on Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway?" It is not a spoiler to say that the answer is absolutely no.
First of all, I liked how moving between rooms was implemented. Instead of the typical directional movement (north, south, east, west, etc.), the status line at the top of the screen informed you what rooms were available: "You can go to the lab, dressing room, or elevator." I also like the premise of a time-traveling antique dealership, and I hoped I'd get to visit a lot of historical locations, a la the IF classic "Curses."* Sadly, aside from the opening scene (which forced me to take an action that I found deeply immoral, in my nerdy way), the action isn't historical.
That would have been okay, though, if the plot had been tighter and the game had had more, well, game to it. As it was, though, there wasn't a lot in the way of puzzles. There were certain decisions to make when engaged in conversation with other characters, but these decisions didn't seem to affect the outcome of the game in any meaningful way. Big plot points were railroaded; the actions were mostly less crucial activities like searching for a missing object or walking in and out of rooms.
There were also some bugs. There were far too many returns after each line, resulting in a distractingly large amount of white space. I don't think it was intentional. Also, on my second playthrough (looking for new endings), there was a hugely long wait for a character to return to the room where he'd left me before the plot could resume. If I hadn't already played past that point once, I would have assumed that the game was just plain broken. As it was, it took 46 turns of waiting and repeating actions after I had done what I believe should have been the triggering event before the character finally came back. 46 turns of poking about in someone's fridge and looking out their windows at the view doesn't add to the feeling of an action game.
I'm going to end with a small rant about one thing, though minor, that bugged me out of proportion. This was the implementation of gender. I do see why nailing down the player's gender was essential for the rest of the game, but the way it was done rankled. It would have been simple to ask the player to "confirm" his or her gender at the same time that the game asks for the player's name, but instead gender is determined by which outfit the player chooses from a closet: a pinstripe suit or a "conservative but pretty" dress. As a graduate of one of those hippie leftist liberal arts colleges where the students folkdance and take classes in Feminist Poetry, this immediately rubbed me the wrong way. I dress pretty heteronormatively in my real life, but really dislike being forced into it in a game. As a result, I chose the suit, which actually made me all the more regret choosing to use my own name. Ironically, being called "Elizabeth" pulled me out of an immersive experience, as it reminded me of my actual life, where I'm not a time traveler prone to punching people.
This game did have a full story without major plot holes, but playing it involved too many moments of frustration for me. It goes into the category of "needs work" before I'd recommend it to a friend.
* Note: Curses is an epic monster of a game. It took me several weeks and copious online hints to get through it, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm not trying to compare this game, or any comp game, to it, as that wouldn't be fair in any regard.
Okay, now I'm only three games behind! The next games on deck are Fog Convict by Arman, Luster by Jared Smith, and PataNoir by Simon Christiansen. Though I'll probably play more before I fully catch up on writing these...