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Suzerain

While I can't say I'm an avid reader, I do enjoy both fiction and non-fiction books.  Even so, I've never had much interest in visual novels outside the indie gem Subsurface Circular.  Like those old choose-your-own-adventure paperbacks I read in my childhood, being able make meaningful decisions is vital to me.  In the case of Yes, Your Grace or...well...pretty much every Telltale game ever made, the illusion of choice is a bit too transparent and the plot too linear for me to fully enjoy the overall experience.  Sadly, this is also the case with many visual novels.  However, when listening to a fairly recent episode of the "Three Moves Ahead" podcast, I was surprised to hear how much playthroughs differed between the host and guest for a little political simulator called Suzerain.   

Actually, calling it a "simulation" might be a bit misleading.  On the other hand, I've seen people on forums claim it's really a text adventure which also feels a bit disingenuous.  For one thing you aren't typing in commands into a text parser, and for another there are portraits of nearly every character in the game.  Going into more detail about the art, some characters feel like tongue-in-cheek nods to real world counterparts.  For example, the player's minister of foreign affairs looks an awful lot like Jimmy Carter while the President of the not-USA is almost identical to Richard Nixon.  His Minister of Economics, William E. Simon, also shares a certain likeness to the personal holding the same position in the player's cabinet.  In a bit of inversion the ruler of the not-USSR basically looks like Ronald Regan with a tan.  Other characters seem to have their appearance inspired by Hollywood actors.  The leader of the liberal reform party is the spitting image of Jason Clark, while his direct opposite looks a lot like Robert Goulet to me.    

Most of the game takes place in the form of branching dialogue trees with short paragraphs of description or internal monologue sprinkled in.  That said, the game also features a beautifully rendered map from which the player can trigger events, as well as read reports and news articles.  The setting itself is in Merkopa, a fictionalized version of Europe circa the 1950s.  Some countries have fairly obvious real-world parallels: Wehlen is pretty much Iraq, whereas Arcasia and Contanan are stand-ins for the USA and USSR respectively.  Other nations are a mixture of several real-life counterparts: The Republic of Lespia feels like it is somewhere between Portugal and Italy while the player's country, Sordland, is an amalgamation of Spain and Turkey.  Others still are a bit hard to pin down: The Kingdom of Rumburg is a bit like the United Kingdom while The Democratic Republic of Valgsland seems vaguely German.  

Much of the input the player provides is in the form of relations with these various nations, as well as dealing with intrigue and turmoil within the boarders of Sordland.  While the game is mostly driven by static images and text, superb use of music and sound cues help set the mood.  The prose are also very concise which excels at drive the story forward at a steady pace.  A few handy charts and hotlinks to a mini-encyclopedia are provided to help the player grasp all the details.  There's even a in-game place to take notes if the player can't keep track of everything in their head.  That said, Suzerain is intricate but not complex.  The majority of events in the game involve meetings or negotiations, but peppered throughout are some personal moments as well, adding some much needed variety to the overall experience.  In general, the writing is great although I did stumble over a few oddly worded sentences that may have been the result of typos.  If I have one big criticism of Suzerain it comes across as a bit too cynical.  Some might respond with "that's politics for you..."  I agree, but this is a video game and as such could benefit from being a bit more lenient in certain respects.  It took me 64 hours split up between six complete playthroughs just to get an ending that didn't windup with my character, President Anton Rayne, being killed or imprisoned.  Bittersweet conclusions are fine, but I think one thing that could have been done to soften the blow of a "bad ending" would be to include an segment showing 21st century Sordland and what, if any, lasting impact the player's presidency had on the country.  As is, the epilogue feels a bit rushed with a quick summery (stylistically bookending the prologue), followed by a statistics page and then the credits.

Criticisms aside, Suzerain does an excellent job of getting the player into the mindset of a politician.  You are constantly weighing options, considering pros and cons, as well as being very carful about what you say.  The shear breadth of narrative directions is also quite impressive.  Anton Rayne, President of Sordland, can be a liberal-minded reformer, a conservatize reactionary or a simple autocrat.  He can lead the country toward capitalisms or socialisms, war or peace, glory or ruin.  It all depends on the choices the player makes throughout the game.  Pretty much every character and nation can be turned in to an ally or enemy.  Some characters even live or die depending directly or indirectly on what the player decides.  There are certain unavoidable nexus points that come up every playthrough, but the context and outcome of these story beats can change substantially based on prior decisions.  To give an example - Franc, President Anton Rayne's son - can study abroad and become a staunch capitalist or communist.  He can join the army and die in battle, survive and suffer PTSD or become an officer rising through the ranks.  He can even fall in love with a girl from a persecuted ethnic minority group.  Seemingly minor choices matter or, at the very least, have noticeable effects.  Player responses, both big and small, can sometimes have unforeseen consequences too.  This can be frustrating, in that the game is basically always in ironman mode, though it occasionally results in a pleasant surprise.  Lowering the age of retirement from 65 to 60 years of age, unexpectedly caused my unemployment rates to drop significantly due to older members of the workforce stepping down and being replaced by previously jobless young people.

In terms of breadth, Suzerain is an impressive accomplishment that raises the bar when it comes to interactive storytelling.  It would be very interesting to see another game like this set in Eastern Merkopa.  Alternatively, applying a similar design template to a spin-off set in an ancient feudal kingdom or some kind of interstellar empire in the far future could be really exciting too.  Regardless, I look forward to Torpor Games' upcoming projects whatever they may turn out to be.

Dirigo Games Presents...

A good tagline for this free-of-charge indie experiment would be "The little Alien game that could."  Indeed, one of the biggest criticisms I've seen leveled at Stowaway is that it's a bit too much like the 1979 horror film "Alien."  In all honesty though, I think it would be even better if it were more like that movie.

I don't mean in a visual sense...Stowaway does an excellent job of cementing its own distinct look....an especially impressive feat considering the game is basically a spruced up version of a three-day-long game jam project.  The low-res black and white environments are highlighted with bits of color to denote points of interest.  Better still, they are coded for ease of recognition.  Your fellow crewmembers of the partially decommissioned space station "Aroura" exude a blue, purple, teal, yellow or orange aura depending on the individual.  Interactable panels are green, and the titular stowaway is red...as is the blood it spills in vast quantities.  Overall, the visuals are bit reminiscent of the somewhat more famous indie game Return of the Obra Dinn.  The Last Cosmonaut and Solipsis are other examples of indie titles that came later and borrowed the overall look and feel in order to tell their own sci-fi horror tales.  

Gameplay-wise, Stowaway is a first-person narrative-driven experience unsurprisingly similar to Alien: Isolation.  What is surprising though is how well it communicates a similar mood with far simpler presentation.  All the hallmarks are there: high-contrast light and shadow, unwelcoming maze-like industrial corridors, eerie sounding machines and an even creepier soundtrack....all this accomplished with a fraction of the resources.  Sadly, the thing Stowaway lacks is an A.I. guiding the creature to stalk the player throughout the later portions of the game.  Instead, it relies on carefully scripted sequences.  This brings me back to the comment I mentioned earlier about wishing the game were more like the film that it drew inspiration from.

Specifically, I'm not talking about graphics but rather the way the story unfolds.  Unlike "Alien" there's not a whole lot of room for character or plot development.  I understand why that is...the game doesn't have the necessary framework to make it an interesting experience for more than around 30 minutes of playtime.  That said, it would be cool if there were attempts by the crew to expunge the creature or perhaps have some branching paths in relation to the NPCs before they start getting bumped off like dominos.  The monster could also do with a bit more background.  The almost subliminal flashes of cryptic images that are peppered throughout the game don't really achieve much. even so, I want to stress that I'm not asking for a big "Prometheus" style reveal here so much as a bit more in terms of tantalizing hints.  The vessel the stowaway arrives on (the "Taurus") is classified as a "comet hopper" which is an interesting clue, but needs to be followed up by an apocalypse log or something that gives players a terrifying glimpse of where the monster came from and some kind of motivation for it's extreme hostility.  

Despite all those criticism, I really like Stowaway for what it is, and more importantly, what it represents.  You don't need a big budget or even a whole lot of originality to to weave a scary science fiction story.  You just need to observe how the masters of the genre plied their trade and add your own original spin to it. 

Dyuna

MicroProse...now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time...for those who don't know, it's a developer that got started in the 1980s by making military flight simulators.  Later, they went on to create the original XCOM, Civilization and Master of Orion.  As best as I can remember though, the company went under back 2003 and had most of their IPs sold off to other studios.  Apparently, a well-to-do Australian has revived MicroProse and kept to the brand's roots as publisher of military-themed games.  The first of which to come out under this label is an interesting, but very old-school feeling, title called HighFleet.

Set in a fictional realm that has strong parallels to central Asia, HighFleet places the player in the role of a commanding officer of royal lineage.  It's all very in medias res, with lots of in-fiction terms being thrown around during dialogue segments.  Simply put though, the objective is to recapture a land that has rebelled against its former conquers.  Things go sidewise at the end of the prologue though when news comes that the distant homeland capital of the player's invasion force has been obliterated by a nuclear strike.  Having little in the way of options, it's up to you to carve a kingdom out of the chaos.  Sounds difficult, right?  Well...it is, but the player does have a squadron of flying battleships at their disposal...

To be specific, HighFleet is all about methane-fueled rocket-powered airships that are bristling with missiles launchers and large caliber guns.  Gameplay itself is split into three distinct layers.  The topmost is a strategic display that gives a 2D birds-eye view (actually more of a spy satellite view, but you get the idea...).  From here the player can inspect the map and navigate their forces through a rugged and barren landscape marked by a network of towns.  Each of these points of interest has a specialization.  Some towns provide better repairs, others cheaper fuel, useful upgrade materials, valuable intel, or purchasable airships to augment the player's military might.  Each town also has a garrison that must be eliminated in order to utilize the town's features.  

These tactical engagements take the form of battles viewed in (once again) 2D, but this time they are shown from the side.  The player can only field one airship at a time (which they control directly), but the enemy can have up to three vessels active on screen.  Reinforcements arrive on the edges of the screen with an order of appearance set by each side for their own respective units before the battle begins. To mitigate the apparent unfairness, there are several things that the player can use to their advantage.  For one there is a retreat point; randomly chosen somewhere along the top or far edge of the screen each battle.  The player can use this to withdraw a damaged unit or one that has expended it's missiles.  Enemy units also show where they are going to fire shortly before doing so, thus giving the player a chance to dodge provided the airship they are currently controlling is somewhat agile.  Friendly fire is another way the player can turn being out numbered into an advantage.  I've had more than a few enemies destroy one of their own teammates with misdirected ordinance.

The final layer of gameplay takes place mostly in cities (or perhaps more accurately described as a semi-linear series of story an managerial events) happening periodically throughout the game.  Here, the player chooses from one of several dialogue or decision options that can affect their standing with NPCs, as well as the overall moral of the men under their command.  One other important feature here is the ability to recruit "tarkhans" (essentially rogue warlords with powerful ships and connections of their own).  Persuading them to join can be tricky though in that it typically takes the form of a mini-card game.  Figuring out what cards to choose involves a lot of trial and error, and what cards the player has available is dependent on certain character traits they unlock through those aforementioned decision events.  Aside from all that there is the management side of things: repairs, refueling, modifications, salvage, etc.

Overall, there are a number of interlocking systems at play that need to be mastered in order to win.  I should also mention HighFleet is really hard.  Enemy strike groups patrol between cities and have the firepower and determination to make things very difficult, especially when they are backed up by a tactical group outfitted with long-range missiles or a complement of conventional jet fighter/bombers.  Of course, the player can get these weapon systems too...although using them effectively involves judicious application of radar which is a whole game of cat-and-mouse unto itself.  On top that, intercepting and (sometimes) decoding enemy transmissions can give the player vital clues on how best to proceed to their ultimate goal of seizing the region capital.  Oh, and there's nukes...maybe don't use them...at least not until the end.

I think it's easy to come away with the impression that HighFleet is a surprisingly original game, but in fact it bears more than a passing resemblance to two other old, lesser known MicroProse titles: Sid Meyer's Pirates! and the Ancient Art of War in the Skies.  There's even some optional Lunar Lander thrown in for good measure.  The setting feels very similar "Dune" by Frank Herbert.  Similarities to other media aside, I really like the general aesthetic of the world.  The music and sound, the analogue switches and buttons that make up the interface, even the slightly glitchy vacuum tube display add to the experience and help make the world feel alive.  It's also my understanding that the game was made almost entirely by two guys living in Russia.  If so, a tip of the hat to them.  HighFleet is an impressive accomplishment for such a small team.  

Seeing Between the Trees

The premise is simple: 

• A plane crashes in the woods
• There are two survivors (a father and son)
• The son is abducted
• The father must find and rescue him

From there things grow increasingly complicated.  The father is actually a survival expert, minor TV celebrity, and has been recently widowed.  The forest is actually a forest-covered peninsula with the only land access blocked by impassible snow-covered mountains.  If that's not bad enough, the place is completely infested with primitive tribes of cannibals and, worse still, horrible things in a network of caves just underground.  It's clear that the developers are big fans of the horror genre, as well as survival/crafting video games.  What makes The Forest stand out from the plethora of other entries in the genre is the refinement of its systems.  The enemy AI is clever and unpredictable.  The mechanics are open-ended enough that players can be creative with their building projects.  The game also has a some interesting little references to other media.

It's possible to find a human effigy that looks suspiciously like Lara Croft.  Along the shoreline there are non-interactable pig skulls impaled on wooden spears (a reference to "The Lord of the Flies").  The protagonist's last name is "LeBlanc" which might be a reference to "Les Stroud" writer, director and star of the "Survivorman" mini-series.  The primary antagonist is a bald man (painted red from head to toe) who has facial features very reminiscent of horror author Adam Nevill, a novelist with somewhat of a reputation for writing scary stories that take place in natural settings.  "The Ritual" (both novel and movie adaptation) is probably his most famous work, but he released another book called "The Reddening" which happens to be about a bunch of murderous cannibals who paint their bodies red.  Coincidence?  Possibly...

Spoilers to follow, so if you don't want to know about any late game details stop reading here.  There's a lab hidden underground that was, until fairly recently, conducting highly unethical experiments.  Sounds like Resident Evil, but it goes deeper.  There are unearthed artifacts that have been burred in the peninsula for a long time.  Nobody knows who made them.  It's all very Lovecraftian and a rather weird twist.  The developers have said that they were inspired by films like "The Decent" and "Cannibal Holocaust".  If you ask me though, I think the works of Panos Cosmatos had an even bigger influence on them.  

Overall, it's an dark but interesting game.  Some minor bugs persist even though it has left early access.  Further development has also stopped because the team has moved on to making a sequel aptly titled Son of the Forest.  I'm curious to see where the story goes and hope that the mechanics get some nice refinements.  Oh and the handheld camera recordings found in game is a nice nod to the found footage genre.