IFReviewed by
Andrew Plotkin on 2006-06-25 09:11
Well, this is confusing. I've got a first person, a second person, and a third person. "Who are you?" and "who am I?" ought to work. "Examine me" does work, but doesn't clarify matters.
I seem to be a deity, but the game won't accept "stop rain". I assume the point is that I'm a very lame excuse for a deity, but the game ought to be telling me so.
Ok, finished by following the walkthrough. There were a whole bunch of actions which seemed totally unmotivated -- maybe I could have sorted through them by experimenting, but I'm doubtful.
On the other hand, I spent the first few minutes thinking "I have nothing to do." Playing with the tools in my possession (note that I think of it as "me" even when the game says "him") ought to have been obvious, but they were underplayed somehow. Also, having to repeat commands twice really doesn't work.
I like the premise a lot, but it needs to be introduced better. The initial scene just leaves me feeling blind. Does the interlocutor persona need to be in the game at all? It gives a sense of separation between the worshipper and his deity, which is good, but that might have worked as well with a "traditional" third-person IF format.
(Why doesn't the cement get wet out in the driving rain? If I'd started playing with the cement before cutting myself, that would have seriously confused me.)
