Desert of Vice

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote] Desert of Vice is a mysterious horror adventure story that unfolds into its multiple available endings through text-based input from the player. It is a story that is told through the third person narrative, and your knowledge is restricted to that of the character that you are following. The premise is that you find yourself in a desert, not knowing how you got there, or for what reason. You find that the other folks around you are just not normal. There is something wrong, but you just can't wrap your mind around it. I will not give away any more of the story, you will have to play to find out for yourself. The input commands are text based, and this system could be improved. It is a bit difficult to navigate around and perform the actions that you need just by guessing at which words or set of words to type into the command line. However, there is a "Hint" function that you can type at any time, as many times as you need, in order to find out every available option at that juncture. This would seem to be a bit cumbersome, the developers would have made the game easier to play and perhaps a bit more enjoyable by giving you all available options, and you can just punch selectable number/letter options to progress. I am, of course, referring to the system employed in [i]SanctuaryRPG[/i]. The story has a total of six unique endings, there are some major decisions and minor ones, some altered pathways will lead down the same path to the same ending at times. The main story remains intact, only your in-game interactions/knowledge/decisions will alter the paths that you take. The artwork is rather psychodelic and simplified, giving the game the most basic of appearances and rough surface, but also adds to the mystery of the story as it unfolds. There is no animation, only simple picture by picture transition. The interesting way that some of the characters are portrayed is worth noting. Simple, colorful, mysterious. The music is quite nice, the tense and mysterious atmosphere of the game becomes palpable through the music. In order to advance past certain parts of the story, you need to engage in the simplest of puzzles. This is merely a sequence that you need to follow for progression. The game is fairly short, the shortest ending can be reached almost upon start of the game, which is interesting, and giving the false sense that the game may not hold very much content. But the other endings are rather a bit more involved. Replaying gets easier, as you learn all of the commands, and going through the story to different branching points to see potential other endings becomes easier. I have seen 4 out of the 6 endings as of this writing, it has taken me a total of 2 hours so far. Anyway, this game is fairly cheap and has an interesting story. It can be described as a choose-your-adventure horror story, with nicely drawn artwork and befitting music. It is worth a personal experience to face some of the strange decisions and scenarios set within the game. [quote]I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.[/quote]

Gives the illusion of choice but keeps dictating the one action you are allowed to take at almost all times. You must go to the motel because you are sleepy, you must clean your room despite the fact that you just said you had to sleep first, you must go to the bar now despite not having slept yet... It's all nonsense.

Desert of Vice is a horror text adventure game with inspiration of Zork, Lovecraft and even some Kafka. While the game is not completly text-based, as it got both visual design and soundtrack, the gameplay is pure text where the game responds to your input. Just like in the olden days of adventure games! The game has an interesting storyline which doesn't tell you everything in the beginning, instead it lets you explore and find out things on your own. There are some hints, but most of the time you're left to yourself, your keyboard and the desert. There's also multiple endings which gives the game some replayability, especially since you're offered a lot of variation in doing things. I recommend this if you enjoy text adventures and eerie horror games, otherwise stay away. No jumpscares though!

beautiful

Cool mysterious game, nice Lynch/Lovecraft vibes. Great atmosphere and music.

A melancholic, surreal, almost lynchian interactive-fiction-styled text adventure where you wander in a strange desert, typing text commands at a window. Got a minimalistic but interesting and totally fitting soundtrack and art style. Can be hard to guess the commands, thankfully hint command is always available. In fact, that's the reason I actually recommend it, and I must commend the creator for providing it (though an option to have the list of commands always available would be appreciated as well)

overall alright for in between.

[h2] Общие впечатления [/h2] Итак, первый отзыв от русского игрока. Не хватает перевода, ну вы поняли ))) но скорее всего, его и не будет, так что идём дальше. Игра - в жанре детективной визуальной новеллы, с простой графикой. Стилистика мне понравилась, сюжет - тоже. Печалит только то, что нет возможности ускорить появление текста. Очень долго проходить из-за этого на все концовки. Но в целом, в игре есть гайды каким образом можно сохранить тот, или иной эпизод игры, и пройти её дальше. Если бы в игре была система сохранений, было бы круче. [h2] Плюсы: [/h2] +хороший визуал +низкая цена +интересная история +1 игра в библиотеку +достижения +ненавязчивое музыкальное сопровождение [h2] Минусы: [/h2] -нет русского перевода -нет системы сохранений -нет перемотки текста -нет настроек -нет карточек [h2] Заключение [/h2] Мне игра понравилась, она не занудная, она любопытная. Любителям визуальных новелл, детективов, загадок, она понравится, при условии владения языком (он, кстати, не сложный, я играл без переводчика, уровень школьного образования оказался достаточен) Для указанных выше категорий игроков я бы рекомендовал игру. Для ачивхантеров и прочих - пожалуй, нет. -------------------------- [h2] General impressions [/h2] So, the first review from a Russian player. There is a lack of translation, well, you understand ))) but most likely, there won't be one, so let's move on. The game is in the genre of a detective visual novel, with simple graphics. I liked the style, the plot - too. The only sad thing is that there is no way to speed up the appearance of the text. Because of this, it takes a very long time to get to all the endings. But in general, the game has guides on how to save this or that episode of the game, and go through it further. If the game had a save system, it would be cooler. [h2] Pros: [/h2] +good visuals +low price +interesting story +1 library game +achievements +unobtrusive musical accompaniment [h2] Cons: [/h2] -no Russian translation -no save system -no text rewind -no settings -no cards [h2] Conclusion [/h2] I liked the game, it's not boring, it's interesting. Fans of visual novels, detectives, and mysteries will like it, provided they know the language (it's not difficult, by the way, I played without a translator, my school education level was sufficient) I would recommend the game to the above categories of players. For achivhunters and others - probably not.

Brilliant text quest with intriguing plot, thrilling atmosphere, handy hint system and unlinear gameplay (with a bunch of endings). Must-have for every gamer who loves old-school text games.