Recent reviews by G1G4-TP

If you enjoyed It Takes Two, then you're going to love Split Fiction. The story was well written, the gameplay was always fresh and fun (something super important for a game this long), and the visuals were freakin' breathtaking.

Just finished this game (finally) and it was simply amazing. While there were plenty of things to this game to made it its own unique thing, you could clearly see this as a love song to the classic graphic adventure game written by people who probably grew up during the golden age of companies like LucasArts. Without spoiling too much, let me just say the setting for Chapter Two could have easily been developed into it’s own game and I would have happily played it with the same enjoyment I did DotT or Sam & Max back in the day.

Great job Draw Me a Pixel! :D

When I first watched the trailer for this game I was really afraid it was just going to be another "run for your life" horror game. After actually playing it, I’m actually happy to say it was not. While I’m not saying it was perfect, this game definitely left me feeling super creeped out (there were a few times I just wanted to say “fork that child and his disturbing responses”). I got a serious Silent Hill vibe at times with the eerie music, the incoherent voices over the PA, and jump scare moments where you knew they were going to happen and they still made you jump.

Best part of this game is the semi-PT-ish elements in the Haunted House. There were seriously moments down there that I really didn’t want to progress fearing less what they did and more what I thought they were going to do.

My only complaint is that the game felt a little too short and the story left me a bit more confused about some elements than I would have liked.

Still trying to understand the fly in the jar...

As a huge fan of Neverhood, I was pretty satisfied. However, that being said, I felt the game went by way too fast and was over almost before it even started. While I didn’t time myself, I actually believe that I spent more time reading the Lore Wall (which is quite useful to do) than actually working through the puzzles. I also felt that, and I’ll try to say this without saying any spoilers, the plotline for the antagonist was a little too confusing and really lacked the needed development to best explain how the villain became what he was. If there is ever a sequel (which I would happily back), I really hope they revisit that part of the story a little more.

Even with these few problems, I would still definitely recommend it to anyone who grew up playing Adventure Games in the 90s. The graphics and music alone are worth the price of admission.

Now if only Pencil Test Studios would open a store and let me buy a little furry creature block…

Before I get into my complaints about this game, I just want to make it clear that I did, overall, really enjoy playing this game and would happily buy the sequel if they ever get around to making one. The game play reminded me a lot of the old Vikings games, minus the perma-deaths, where you had to rely on the abilities of more than one person to get a job done. The character levels and the “transition” levels (those stages usually between the character specific ones) were pretty fun and the puzzles, while not that hard, did give my brain a little exercise. I won’t even bother gush over the art style or script for this game because you’d have to be made of stone not to like them.

This all being said, I did have a few problems with it. First off, seven was not the lucky number here, it should have been nine. The reason for this is that, by the time you get to the third round of the game, you have now exhausted playing all but a single character. This means you have to repeat at least two people’s levels. Knowing exactly what to do makes for a less fun experience the second or third time around. I say “third time around” because of my second complaint. I would have loved to see this game provide more than three “transition” stages. Again, the ideal number would have been nine. If the game designers had given each character their own transitional stage, then you would have never felt like you were playing the same game twice. Tedium is the worst enemy of the “one solution only” adventure game. If you have already solved the puzzle once, what value is there in solving it exactly the same way again?

Of course, even after saying that, I would still recommend this game to anyone who wants an excuse to laugh and enjoy a few hours running around a sentient cave. Just remember, sometimes your greatest desires can be your own worst enemy.