(Two short older reviews of two games by Michael J. Coyne. Modern oldschool, one might categorize them. Challenging and eye-popping funny. They already have their fair share of ratings on IFDB, but I love these so much that I thought I’d share. Risorgimento Represso - Details (ifdb.org) & Illuminismo Iniziato - Details (ifdb.org))
- Risorgimento Represso:
Urbanly Fun Fantastic Romp
(Well, it actually plays out as much around the city as in it, but I have my reasons…)
First things first: It has a cannon! -Hmm?.. Yes, I’ll wait…
Now, Risorgimento Represso is a very good puzzler. Because the main puzzles center around the same theme, completing the first (silly) task before you is one big trial run to prepare you for what’s to come. It gets you comfortable with the feel and humorous tone of the game. It also teaches you what details to look for and trains you in the specific puzzle-solving mindset you need for the game.
All the puzzles are well thought-out and in-game logical; on top of that, you might pop an eyeball or two laughing while solving them.
Storywise, Risorgimento makes fantastic use of the Wizard’s Apprentice-trope. The whole concept gets the player and the PC on a shared learning curve, facing the same obstacles, and scratching their heads at the same times. I found this really heightened my involvement with my character and with the story.
There’s a great build-up of tension, from playful exploration and experimentation to seriously hard thinking about how to save your Master. That’s a good learning curve ànd a good immersion curve for you!
So, go shoot that cannon, those of you who haven’t done so already; and don’t smell the paint thinner, it’s bad for you.
- Illuminismo Iniziato:
Fantastically Fun City Romp
I would have rated this game 6 stars if it would have let me fly the Pterosaur!
There. That should be enough incentive to stop reading this and go play it.
Or not. I absolutely loved this game.Here’s why:
-The world. The two cities Illuminismo Iniziato takes place in are big, detailed and deeply implemented. When I began playing, I spent a lengthy and thoroughly enjoyable time just sightseeing, examining stuff, thinking about what I would buy later on and in what shop. I also read the newspaper, and was pleased to see it provided me with hot-off-the-presses news about what happened in the world. And of course, in a city like this, I talked to the people.
-NPC-interactions. The cities are populated with lots of characters, most of whom you might remember from the game’s prequel, Risorgimento Represso (also highly recommended). They each have their own personalities, and you can talk to them about quite a bit more than needed for the task at hand.
One NPC who undoubtedly deserves a paragraph to herself is Crystal, your NPC-tag-along slash hint-system. A wonderful character. Helpful but not too helpful when you need a nudge (or a shove). A knowledgeable guide to the game-world when you want background-info. And a tireless chatterbox for your entertainment only. (Ask her about her friends. Multiple times…)
-Puzzles. Against this background, there are puzzles. Many puzzles. They are mostly well-clued (and if they are not, yaay, another excuse to talk to Crystal!), some are quite difficult, and all are so well integrated that you hardly feel like you’re solving a puzzle. Also, some are laugh-so-hard-you-might-break-a-rib funny.
This is a fantastic game.