This may be the real problem I'm facing since the text in other Failbetter games is normally full of flavorful descriptions and choices while most of the text here is reading a back and forth that I have minimal choice in.
The worst dialogue trees in gaming always involve going down a checklist of questions because it doesn't resemble natural conversation or take us by surprise. Pages told me I somehow did a poor job of putting the pieces together which I wasn't even aware had been happening. When the demo suddenly ended and the "conspiracy" board popped up I was very confused and when I clicked to try and change something, Mr. It's hard to tell how much (if at all) my choices are affecting things, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it's hard to tell how much progress I'm making towards any of my goals apart from the pennies I earned. My engagement with the game world involves choosing a few places to go each day and selecting a few dialogue boxes. In Fallen London my current view is literally three eyeless skull cards and a silhouette of the shuttered palace with the words "OMNIS TRADVCTOR TRADITOR" which is incredibly bizarre, creepy, mysterious, and thought provoking. The effects and artwork are good but the music, background noises, and writing could do so much more. Something needed to pull me in and immerse me. The thick atmosphere of Sunless Skies or Sunless Sea isn't here because the rich soundscape and threat are missing. It's not creepy, foreboding, or even campy
Backstory and accent alone do not a character make. Their positive and negative traits need to shine through. They all feel so safe which leaves me apathetic.
Pages and his bountificatious vocabulocutions. So much of the dialogue feels like it serves the purpose of getting us from point A to B that I'm left recalling nothing of what makes any of the characters personalities unique apart from Mr. It's fine from a technical standpoint but stiff and awkward from an outsiders perspective. This is largely in part to what a visual novel is but moments like the music triggering and Griz sliding left when Archie first appears feel jarringly unnatural. It's as though everyone stands around waiting to talk to someone else then gossip whereas other Failbetter games frequently imply that your entrance is lucky to be noticed while characters are struggling with more important matters like being eaten by plants or hiding the screaming cutlery. The way every character jumps into the frame and slides to the left when character X enters stage right feels organized like a puppet show. The main highlight of a visual novel over typical Fallen London is the VISUAL aspect and seeing so little is terribly disappointing. In fact, the bats seemed to be the only living moving thing in the game world and I was outright excited by the few spontaneous bats in the background after meeting Mr. Talking mice, a basement tentacle, possibly the vake, nightmares blending with reality, and more are mentioned but the only big event we somewhat see is when we reflect on London being stolen by bats. I love the unanswered questions, unexplained events, and speculative aspects of Fallen London and would say it's half of what drew me in. Perhaps an attempt is being made not to overwhelm newcomers but the lore drip feeding isn't the right balance. Mask of the Rose begins by exploring the Neath from the perspectives of newcomers which can be frustrating as the initial story has us investigating relatively normal human characters that practically drop Easter egg type references to all the genuinely interesting things the neath has to offer. I've been trying to figure out why that is and here are my current thoughts.įallen London frequently understates dramatic or unusual events and the characters take it in their stride while the text implies many happenings should simply be regarded as common unremarkable occurrences.