![]() Also, there are a couple cases where you’ll be navigating in cardinal directions (N,S,E,W, etc.) and then suddenly be expected to use a different way to navigate. Sometimes, if you attempt to go in a direction that you can’t, the parse will respond with “You can only go southeast and north,” but other times, it’ll simply say “You can’t go that way.” In the prologue of the game, in fact, there is a vital room you must enter that you only find out is there if you attempt to walk in a direction you can’t and get a message implying that there might be something behind the wall if you go one room west then head back southeast. Rooms occasionally have exits that are undescribed and there is really no way to ‘LOOK’ or ‘EXAMINE’ the area to find them. Furthermore, the game expects you to look under and on top of things, deliberately, without any hints that something might be there, even when doing an ‘EXAMINE’ on the thing in question.Īnother difference, and probably the hardest thing for me to adapt to, is that the game is very sly with respect to available exits. There are several sequences in the game that are very tightly timed (including, to my astonishment, the prologue!), as well as many, many ways to unknowingly put yourself into an unwinnable situation (including, again, in the prologue). What all that means is that Jigsaw’s gameplay is almost brutal by today’s standards. So I was (rather ignorantly) surprised to realize that Jigsaw – released in 1995 – had more in common with Zork (circa 1980) than it did Violet (circa 2008). Intellectually, I knew games like Photopia, and Galatea, and Violet, and Blue Lacuna were atypical entries into the massive ocean of IF games, but, I think, somewhere in there I had come to expect that most games were like that, even games that predated them. To sum up, I suppose for me Jigsaw's attempt to be different is its downfall - its seriousness and sombre mood means there are no light touches, and even a few attempts at humour provide only a brief interruption to the overall feeling of worry about what mess will be waiting to be cleared up in the next zone, after Black has done his/her usual meddling.Īs a latecomer to the IF scene, I have to admit to being more than a little spoiled. It's certainly a vast, interesting, well-written game, but is it really enjoyable? Dunno. It's also very interesting to play through a puzzle or an NPC interaction more than once, trying different things, to see wildly different results. Most are logical and straightforward, even if the right answer is not obvious. Some of them rely on the player looking in just the right place for an item. The puzzles themselves are challenging without being insurmountable players looking primarily for mind-bogglers will probably be disappointed, at least in the earlier chapters. The mostly linear progression helps preserve the illusion of a story in progress, instead of being a jumbled collection of get-the-bird-scare-the-snake hoops through which to jump. Finishing one chapter provides the means to enter the next. Structurally, the game is laid out into sixteen sections. (For that last point: The Kaldecki Detector found on the Titanic helps a lot.) Has a crucial dependence on character graphics. Three warnings: Some of the puzzles are very difficult indeed (one requires elementary knowledge of Proust!), many of the chapters have time limits, and it is possible to lock yourself out of victory without realizing it. Trinity's influence is obvious in the layout: a central strange and fantastic land, from which you can temporarily escape to the past. The game is divided into partially-ordered chapters, which are mostly, but not entirely, self-contained. Nelson also found time to include some romance - and the love interest is that charming stranger whose plans you're foiling. The environment is highly interactive, with some extremely detailed gadgets (such as Alan Turing's Enigma machine.) Surprisingly enough, Mr. Lots of detailed research went into this game. Huge, difficult, exceptionally well-crafted. Hunt for the jigsaw pieces that allow you to travel trough time, following a charming stranger who wants to "improve" history.
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