I will also use this post to prototype how I write reviews for games. I will start by listing the possible attributes of a game, and then explaining why I gave it that rating in detail.
| Attribute | Rating (Unicode) | Rating (Plain Text) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 Stars |
| Plot | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 Stars |
| Character Development | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 Stars |
| Gameplay | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 Stars |
| User Interface | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 Stars |
| Video | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 Stars |
| Sound | ★★★☆☆ | 3/5 Stars |
Plot
The game had a somewhat interesting plot, but it lacked severely in execution. For instance, without spoilers, the player has to meet all the characters again at the end of the game and it becomes a let-down, because you do something for each of them and it never expands into the other characters' conditions at the end of the game. The ability to hear drafts by ear interested me more than the plot, which is a rarity as I usually play singleplayer games for the plot.
Character Development
The game had no character development whatsoever, something expected of at least the main character in an adventure game that usually tries to convey a morale learned by the main character. The characters stay exactly the same as you met them the first time to the end of the game.
Gameplay
Gameplay makes for the worst quality of this game. As aforementioned, the game has 4 points-of-no-return, three of which where the player must use a draft from earlier in the game almost immediately after reaching that point or they must start over.
Secondly, the game plays around three or four drafts with higher notes than the user has already learned, then the user has to go past a point-of-no-return and expected to figure out that draft without the ability to relisten to it.
The game should have implemented the following systems:
- Unlockable teleporters for all the points-of-no-return unlocked after a user progresses past the point.
- The ability to pick up the book at the beginning of the game and store drafts in it.
- When a player hears a draft the player should have to replay it to learn it and add it to the book.
- The game always allows players to relisten to drafts which require a higher note than the user already knows.
- A notification to stop the user from progressing to a point-of-no-return without learning all drafts in the area.
User Interface
I had to figure out how to play this game myself. I found no instructions in the game directory and found it quite tedious. F5 opens the Save/Load dialog, F7 toggles fast/slow animation, F8 prompts a restart of the program, F9 toggles subtitles, QWERTYUI play the notes CDEFGABC respectively, and space pauses the game. All the function keys could have easily become an ESC menu, and the game should have told you the use of the other keys.
Video
I will never judge an old game on its graphics, because I love old games and I play them a lot, but I do judge them on their graphics compared to other games from the same year and what the video has to offer.
The video does not go fullscreen; now that is a basis of personal preference, and it might benefit the user in the end as I could easily pause my game and work on something like this with it on the side.
The video's largest problem probably stems from the environment; when I first started the game I did not recognize that you had to turn around and go down the mountain from behind it. Usually a game where a player cannot see his or her character does not bode well.
Sound
I actually found myself surprised in the quality of the sound for this game. The voice actors had a lot of definition to them, they did not sound awkward or fake. In addition, and most obvious, the game requires the player to replay four notes by ear on the hardest difficulty, which seems easy for some until they actually play it. The game also had decent FX sounds and music when the player did certain events.
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