55 | HILDY
55 | HILDY
by: J. Michael
Progress:
- At the 2-hour mark, I had managed to score 35 out of 75, so I guess that means I was only around halfway through the game? I was pretty stuck at that point, so I don’t think I was on the verge of making a big breakthrough by the time the clock ran out. I made light use of the walkthrough, but overall, the game felt solvable despite its difficulty, so I didn’t want to overly ruin it for myself.
Things I Appreciated:
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I found the puzzles and environments to be well structured (at least, of the ones that I was able to solve). The use of items and spells was pretty intuitive, and the game does a good job of gating progression so that you’re forced to learn how they work in a tutorial section before arriving at what appears to be the main body of the game (the dead mall). The worst parser error I made that set me back was when I said “plumdo chestward” instead of “plumdo chest,” thinking I needed to input a direction. (Honestly, that was wild of me to think I could just make up a word like “chestward” and that would be the solution… in a parser game? Really??). But that’s on me. Overall, the game did a great job anticipating the different solutions that I tried and giving me feedback that helped me understand that I needed to find another solution.
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I thought the objects/spells were pretty creative and interesting. They were just weird enough that I had to think differently about how to explore the environment than the parser games I’ve become accustomed to over the last three weeks, but not so weird that I was truly struggling to understand what they could do. The whip mechanics reminded me of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and I thought that was a fun and distinctive weapon/tool to have available.
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At first, I found the zany and quirky language/humor of the game annoying. After a while, though, I just kind of got used to it and let it happen. While this style of humor tends to make me dissociate from a piece, what I can say is that it’s very internally consistent, so I appreciate that it commits to a style even if I don’t love it. I feel that for the person who this game is really for, it would be really fun and satisfying for them because it executes what it’s doing well. This game is extremely memorable and distinctive, which are traits worth celebrating.
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I enjoyed the use of footnotes to deliver optional information. Sometimes these were amusing notes, helpful context, or reminders of how to use an object/spell, and so on.
Feedback/Recommendations/Questions:
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It’s hard for me to comment too much on the plot because I didn’t make it to the end of the game, but I didn’t find the actual story engaging compared to the mechanics of the puzzles. There was a moment after spending like 50 turns pressing buttons on a panel when I suddenly stopped and asked myself, why am I here? At this mall. What was Hildy supposed to be doing when the wizard guy dropped her off? What is the motivation of this character? And I couldn’t answer that question. I had probably been told, but it was lost among all the wacky stuff that had distracted me. What I’m getting at is, the game feels more like a weird sandbox than a narrative. And I’m realizing that that’s probably fine. This game feels like it’s meant more for people who are familiar with what it’s referencing, an appreciation for the longer history of text adventures or 80s nostalgia, and most of that goes right over my head since I don’t have the lived experience to have an emotional attachment to it. What’s important though, ultimately, is that I had fun while I was playing, and I absolutely did.
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A minor note that I do have is that there were many objects that were too similar—a manuscript, a crumpled paper, a slip of paper, a silver notice, a dusty book, a spell book. Given the massive amount of items in your inventory/on your person (the various items of clothing with special properties, etc.), I found that combing back through the items for the precise object that I was looking for became more tedious as time went on. I’m not sure how this could be resolved, given that you need a way to deliver notes/info to the player, and I’m sure all those articles of clothing need to be removed/put back on for puzzles at some point, so I’m not sure what I can specifically recommend here.
What I learned about IF writing/game design:
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Through repetition, players will learn whatever language you use as a game mechanic, no matter how weird. At first, I found it annoying to remember what the names of the spells were, because I couldn’t form any mental association between the spell’s name and what it actually did. But, over time, I started to just… know the spell’s name due to the repetition of using it. There’s a hidden benefit to this technique, I think. In a parser game, there’s a certain ambiguity to verbs because language contains many similar-functioning verbs that you have to account for. This creates tons of problems for players and programmers alike when the infinite possibilities of language exceed the finite possibilities of the program. But, by essentially inventing nonsense verbs that the player has to learn, it removes that ambiguity entirely for core actions. That’s especially useful in areas where there are time-sensitive events where you might need to get the spell right on the first try.
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This game has one of the best-crafted tutorial sections I’ve seen so far. The game basically forces you to learn how to use each basic starting action/tool at least one time successfully before you can enter the more open section of the game. Even better, it didn’t feel like a gated tutorial section to me until I looked back in hindsight, so it wasn’t overly intrusive to me that I was being led through very linear progression up until that point. I would look back on this game as a case study for how to build up the player’s starting rapport with the core game mechanics.
Quote:
- “Gash hovor Zava Dreden.”
Lasting Memorable Moment:
- The first time I read the mirror, and things got really weird. I regret “sanctifying” the restroom after that, the profane version was a lot more fun!
I’ve attached the uh… “transcript” that I received. You may need to drink from a certain vial to make any sense of it.
More seriously: in order to get around the transcript display errors in past games, I’ve had to extract numeric code from the webpage using developer tools, and then convert that numeric code to normal text which, while tedious, at least eventually worked. This is something else entirely. My research into the topic suggests that what I’ve received here might be something called “base32768,” but I did not find a converter that I found accessible enough for someone at my technical skill level to use, and I’m tired and over it, so I’ll leave that to the Venn Diagram of whoever is both interested enough in this transcript and competent enough at programming to make reading it happen for themselves. (I’m sure you’ll be pleased to spend all that effort just to see me wasting all those turns just on pressing buttons on a panel. 
)
Best of luck!
DemonApologist_Hildy.txt (317.6 KB)