The Reliquary of Epiphanius (reprise)
Francesco Giovannangelo
So! After I posted my review, the author fixed the bug that had stymied me. I still had time left in my two hours, so I replayed it, got past where I was stuck by the bug last time… and managed to finish the game!
I’m quite happy that I managed to help get the game fixed, because it is, as noted previously, quite lovely. There’s a ton of attention to detail everywhere. There’s a very nice overall map, supplemented by room-level maps for every location you can visit. There’s a calm, haunting soundtrack that didn’t overstay its welcome for me, even after several loops. The item descriptions are solid and carefully thought out. In fact, so many things have so much careful attention to detail that it’s startling when you suddenly find an under-described thing. There aren’t a ton of these, and it’s oddly kind of nice to know you don’t have to worry about something, just because you know if the author didn’t spend a lot of time on it, it must not be important.
The story is simple but reasonably compelling: you have to try to find your father, and then try to finish his archeological work. The discoveries you make feel significant but not unduly so, like they might actually have been left for you two to discover, after so many years.
My only complaint essentially boils down to the fact that the game didn’t get enough beta-testing. If you happen to fall off an author-predicted path, all the lavish attention you’ve had suddenly falls off, like the spotlight that had been lovingly shining on you suddenly found a different area of the stage, and you’re left blinking in the dark. The nice thing is that it wouldn’t take too much effort to flesh out those areas, I think, and given that the ‘correct’ path is so solid, I hold high hopes for a future version of this game to be completely fleshed out, instead of merely mostly fleshed out.
Did the author have anything to say? Yes: presenting the world of the story, with its multi-era history and the secrets it had yet to unlock.
Did I have anything to do? Yes! Now that the bug is fixed, it’s a solid gameplay experience, with satisfying and realistic puzzles to solve.