Dead Sea: The exile of the soul by Binggang Zhuo
Flavor: creative, surprising, short fable-like experience
Playtime: 21 min
So, I was drawn to this title by recalling the secret alligator cult in the author’s previous work. I didn’t even have to look it up, that plot point definitely made an impression!
The general tenor of Dead Sea was a bit more fable-like and allegorical than I expected from the front matter. There’s a sort of dream-like feel that’s probably intensified by the tersely unorthodox writing style.
I think the biggest highlight was the originality on display. I frequently felt surprised or wanted to note down interesting little things that happened (I mean, the game opens with procuring fanta for a gravedigger in an unorthodox way).
This was an enjoyable game. No specific puzzle was particularly hard but I don’t think that was the point, the point was sort of like being inside a story and the puzzles are how you progress, but I enjoyed the plot and worldbuilding, which was creative and surprising.
There were some QOL features that I’m not sure totally made sense–I liked the idea of resetting a zone as a supplement to allowing saving, but I didn’t try it, and from other reviews it sounds like resetting an area may not have worked. There was a fairly sophisticated inventory tracking system with different locations that, as far as I could tell, had no effect because my inventory was handled automatically.
I did vibe with the overall plot, although I thought the “normal” ending was probably “better” in my opinion than the “true” ending, but hey, tastes differ.
Selected quote: