15 | LPM | NARTHEX
15 | LPM | NARTHEX
by: Wilem Ortiz
Progress:
- I reached the end in around 3 minutes.
Engagement with Horror Genre:
- This isn’t really a horror piece—it’s going for the “sweet supernatural” sub-theme, and does that effectively. A friendly creature—Narthex—helps hype you up and guide you to a party, where they then are able to grow and transform.
Things I Appreciated:
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I thought the presentation of this was charming. I quite enjoyed the illustrations, and the well-tuned gray and blue color palette. It looks very polished despite the time limit.
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It was an interesting choice to have the text part of the story told entirely through dialogue, I thought that it helped establish the character of Narthex quickly and effectively.
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I also thought it was interesting to parallel Narthex’s emergence/transformation with the player’s social emergence/growth of confidence in attending the party. These aspects of the narrative work in harmony with each other.
Miscellaneous Comments/Recommendations:
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A minor note on the audio—clicking the “stats” button caused the music to stop playing while I was still listening to it. I think it could’ve continued to play through that popup screen, and only stopped (1) naturally at the conclusion of the song, and/or (2) when the player chooses to replay the game.
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It would be really cool to see more story told with either this character, and/or in this presentation style! That’s beyond the scope of the 4-hour time limit of course, but I really liked the overall look and vibe of it.
What I learned about IF writing/game design:
- This was another example of the Moiki engine, and while I don’t know the specifics of how that works, it looks like it was great for creating something sharp/stylish and incorporating images. So it seems like it would be a good tool to tell short stories like this that have audiovisual element, based on what I’ve seen of it so far.
Memorable Moment:
- I liked the moment of suspense when you can see that Narthex’s horns are growing in, and you are not yet sure what they are going to grow into.