Adventure Gamers - Forums

You can, of course, play ahead!

Karlok - 04 January 2023 05:52 AM

Great atmosphere in the intro, which is creepy and intriguing enough to get me warmed up for the next part. I also like Thomasina but - and this is quite a big and annoying BUT - you can tell the developer is male. No woman would approach a guy who sexually harrassed her, let alone buy him a drink.

I’m a bit disappointed there were no puzzles. Only one dialogue after another, all about the barrow and the mysterious Mr Shoulder.

there are a few puzzles in the chapters to follow but mostly their fetch Quest stuff that’s very easy. This game only has a few real puzzles, so it’s barely above a walking simulator. personally it does meet the threshold of being a true adventure game to me, but not by much.

Doom - 03 January 2023 01:23 AM

I finished the first chapter (the one before the “The First Day Adventus”). It was indeed short and easy, and also very linear — Thomasina refused to go anywhere/explore anything that wasn’t her current goal. And all her current goals were somehow connected to one annoying wino she just met: first we punch him in the face, then use our last money to buy him a drink and then go on a lavatory quest in search of him.

Not much story so far. The game looks rather cute in its pixel presentation — I especially liked the use of colours and moving panoramas. It has those old horror vibes here and there, but also in a cute way. All those unfriendly locals felt more comical than threatening, there’s a smiling deer head on the wall, and the cat that was meant to scare us to death during the night dream was anything but scary. Those cartoon cutscenes are actually very nicely done and add certain style to the whole thing.

As far as the setting goes, this is much more in the vein of creepy than a true horror game for the most part, there is some stuff later on that gets more horrific to a degree. Hobs barrow reminds me of a movie called The Witch if you’ve ever seen it.

From what I can tell the choice you’re given on how to deal with the drunk really doesn’t affect the story much. it’s kind of a false choice, there’s different options, but I think the story plays out the same no matter what. for instance I did not punch him in the face, I basically just told him to get lost. And I also still bought him a drink later.

Finished the intro. Not much going on yet. Intro was pretty short, less than half an hour. Voice acting is really good, graphics ok… Kinda bored that most modern adventures have pixelated graphics. I guess its a budget thing.

Doom - 04 January 2023 03:25 PM

Jdawg445 - 04 January 2023 09:12 AM

As far as the setting goes, this is much more in the vein of creepy than a true horror game for the most part, there is some stuff later on that gets more horrific to a degree. Hobs barrow reminds me of a movie called The Witch if you’ve ever seen it.

Indeed, it feels like those slow British “folk horrors”. There was another old one with a similar feel, also about witches, “Claw…” something. It also feels like playing the first day of Shadow of the Comet where nothing horrific happened and we just explored the little town and its surroundings, meeting inhabitants and doing simple quests.

I actually like this more than a straightforward “Oh shit, a bloody corpse in my bed and a bunch of folks with gills trying to murder me!”. And most characters I met were fun to know and talk to. There are more “choose your answer” options in the second chapter (first, according to the game), I’ve no idea if they influence anything, but so far I’ve been nice to everyone, because I do like this little community. Maybe I’m too naive, but I trust in Thomasina, that she could deal with all sort of surprises.

When you get the chance tell me about some of the other choices you made when talking to characters to see if they match mine. I really do have a high suspicion that your choices don’t matter and the narrative plays out the same no matter what. which I think is a deceiving device too many game devs use these days.

In that case, I think everybody has ginished chapter 1?
We have now: Karlok, Lady Kestrel, Chrissie, Walas74, Sylv.

Let’s start the next chapter now, and see if we can have it finished at the end of Jan 11.

I will be quite busy during next week, so I hope I will be on time to check how you all are doing.

Considering the choices:
They only influence the dialogue. Somehow, I don’t like choices, and having to do different playthroughs to see all the outcomes…

In the next chapter, there are choices in a conversation with the priest, about Shakespeare plays. You might want to save before, to have every answer wrong for an achievement, and then every answer right, for another.

Karlok - 05 January 2023 06:55 AM

Intense Degree - 05 January 2023 02:42 AM

That’s interesting when taken with the comments about the “illusion of choice”, i.e. do choices actually matter. I decided that guy wasn’t getting a drink from me and yet somehow that’s exactly what happened anyway.

I wondered about that. I’m playing the next chapter and had no money left to buy something from the woman at the church. I even considered replaying the part in the pub. Glad I didn’t.

About the name plaques at the church: I noticed a William Ager among them. The Ager family plays an important part in Jonathan Boakes’ The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure. This is William. Not a nice guy.

I didn’t recognize any other names, but maybe someone else will spot more tributes to other games?

PS: Thomasina strikes me as an independent woman who should be able to take care of herself, but she doesn’t carry enough money and needs an assistent to bring her some. Weird.

I see your pt about her wallet and money. When i played i got the impression she is almost singularly focused on her job and writing her book. And got used to her assistant doing more mundane task, aka booking travel, money, and packing. Plus the flashbacks imply she comes from wealth. Her family at least had two servants, most likely more.