First of all, this is a kinetic or visual novel, in the length of a short story. Not a game. Which is not to say that it isn’t good, but rather that it doesn't have any interactive elements aside from controlling when to advance to the next written phrase. In fact, when you start from that expectation, BAPTISM is really quite good. Both the story and writing are very well done, and the character design is distinct and striking, capturing the weight of the characters and their situations quite well.
For me, the tone reads much like an Esben and the Witch song - eerie, self-fulfilling, and prophetic in feel. Dark, sad, troubling, yet without feeling despondent - it instead just looms overpresent and discontent like an ancient mysterious god. And this is a tone that I enjoy, hinting towards those of Lovecraft, David Lynch, Portal, BioShock, and more. The writing is evocative, written in a future-perfect tense that captures the prophetic-horror-tragedy mood perfectly, and is full of great asides and phrasings that clue us in to what may come ahead without giving anything away. The music, though sparse outside of the ending, does its job well, expanding the mood created by the images and words to a satisfying end. As well, the serene yet off-putting character designs and beautiful background photographs fill the story with memorable images and imaginings that stick in the mind past completion of the game. A few non-character shots are also drawn by the artist, which capture more of the burbling emotion, darkness, and depth rumbling beneath the surface of this story than any of the photographs do, leaving me wanting more of these throughout.
However, where BAPTISM does suffer, and this is where my only drawbacks lie, is from a clear lack of budget, time, and resources. Where the writing draws you in with good suspense and evocative phrasing that perfects the horrific tone, it is also clear that it would have benefitted from having a professional editor in certain places, or more time to develop the story in deeper detail. This is a tragedy I wanted to spend much more time with and was disappointed I could not. Similarly, while the character art is striking and removed in an elegant and terrible (in the biblical sense) way, the budget or staff to have these animated or increased in number, at least for certain portions, would have improved the product further. And a voice cast or addition of any sound effects outside the music would have added further immersion and truly completed a couple of already great moments. Lastly, the story is only 30-55 minutes, depending on how slowly you read or want to stay with the panels, which leaves me aching for more story to see and read, and may seem too short for most. This clearly also came from time and budget restraints, which is unfortunate, as with more material it could have expanded the story further or offered differentiating narrative decision paths for the reader to choose between, much like other visual novels might.
However, overall, I truly enjoyed this story and was quite pleased with the material I got. It was an interesting, different sort of myth that kept my attention and kept me thinking about it some time past when I finished. I was satisfied with my experience and was left wanting to learn more about this tragedy and this setting. I can’t wait to see more from this creator and spend more time in this terrifying but serene world of horrifying beauty and pulchritudinous terror.
