And now, Fairest
Positives: The game was very easy to go through. I’m not the best at guessing verbs or parser games in general, but this game guided me through some of the tougher parts. The story was also captivating! Prince Conrad felt relatable at the beginning - a bumbling, oblivious, prince trying to find his place in the world. However, as the story and tasks progressed I started to find myself feeling uncomfortable with some of his comments. (the shrug at the mangled woman in the barrel; the jealousy over the frog and true love being reunited; his thoughts only being focused on beauty) The nail in the coffin is when he was considering his choices of the girl to marry, many of which were women that were either happily taken, with terrible personalities, or young enough to be creepy. My first ending was myself giving up the mirror and letting him live his life in a cottage with the 7 dwarves, happy and content. When it comes to the marriages my “favorite ending” (used VERY loosely) was when he married the golden ball girl and was turned into a frog because at least then he could live a different type of peaceful life. However, Prince Conrad deciding not to marry anyone and tell his feelings to his father was definitely one of the best endings although it was left open-ended. Overall, amazing game. I’m glad to have played a parser game this Spring Thing and this sure was a great starter. The use of a 4th Wall Break was also tastefully implemented and nicely ingrained into the story.
Criticism: I honestly wouldn’t say there was really anything negative or flawed about the story. It was well executed, written, and it stuck with me pretty well. I just feel like I’m missing a little something I can’t explain at the climax of the story. Then again, Grimm Stories are notorious for having lax dialogue although the inclusion of some in this story may have served to create a more dramatic buildup. Nearly a perfect game!
Overall Impression: Fun, interesting, easy to play, and reflective! A great game all in all!