Inkslinger

Compact and dense narrative driven game, with a novel typing mechanic. Though a typing game per se. The games aesthetic is visually and audibly beautiful, and the feel of the typing is great! It is a short game and is written in a high english, which fit the setting perfectly, though take your time and re-read and look up words if necessary, they have been paired with the story, as wine to food. I am impressed with how the world and setting can be so dense in such a compact game, and hope to see other games in a similar setting. It is not a game for everyone - but if you like story/narrative, and curated experience aesthetic, then this is for you!

[h1]君の血を賭し文字を、運命を刻み続けよ[/h1] 手紙の代筆屋兼タイピストとなって依頼に応じて手紙を書き、自分の過去を紡いでいくテキストADV。 どこかから流れて来た主人公の少女は、とある事務所で手紙の代筆屋兼タイピストとして雇われる。家を出た息子を心配する母親、自分を侮辱してきた人への意趣返しを目論む女性など、さまざま依頼人の求めに応じて手紙の文章を紡いでいきながら、主人公は自分の中に隠された暗く忌まわしい記憶を紐解いていく… ゲームとしては依頼人の求めに応じて、表示される単語のうち適切なものを選びタイピングすると手紙が書ける仕組み。時には依頼人の言葉通りでなく、言葉の裏や空気を読む必要も…。どういう手紙を書いたかで、依頼人のその後は変わっていく。そしてうまく手紙が書けると、記憶の扉を開くキーワードが表示される。 クリアまでは１～２時間程度。EDは４種類。 言語は英語のみ。ヴィクトリア朝をイメージする持って回った言い回しや訛りが多用され、英文学がふつうに読めるレベルが要求される。急がされる場面は一つを除きほとんどないので、じっくり読める人なら大丈夫。（自分は翻訳支援ツールのPCOT使用し、理解度６割程度でした） PVを見てわかるように、近代ヨーロッパ風の渋いUIと重めのテキスト・演出が作り出す雰囲気がとてもよい。特にラストに向けた盛り上がりは、小さな作品ながら引き込まれるものがあった。PVの雰囲気に強く惹かれた人や英語得意な人におすすめです。

It is a unique spin on text-based games, mostly because of the interface. I really liked the aesthetics, but the text is really small, which can become tiring in a game based on reading a lot.

Fun and unique indie game with an interesting and refreshing mechanic and fitting art style. Not to mention, the supporting characters and the twists I've unlocked are a perfect mixture of funny and tragic, respectfully. My only criticism is, besides being rather short (which I don't mind personally), is the lack of a skip button. I've only been able to get one ending because it's such a pain to sit through cutscenes where every word of narration is typed out slowly and needs a prompt to get to the next. I don't mind replaying the actual gameplay, but some kind of visual novel type auto-skip would help me a lot to experiment and get different endings. TL;DR I'd definitely recommend getting it on sale if you enjoy story-based games with distinctive mechanics and twists. There's not really anything like it out there.

[h1]"The writing is superb, with convincing characterisation, vivid use of language and beautifully poetic prose during the memories. The narrative design is intricate, powerful and emotive and is without a doubt the stand out feature of this title."[/h1] [b]Inkslinger[/b] is a short game and can be played within an hour or so, however, it packs a little punch within that time, delivering a fantastic narrative through interwoven stories and characters. Whilst dark and somewhat heavy in that regard, it is a refreshingly casual take on the typing game genre and a somewhat unique set of mechanics for a narrative-driven game. At its humble price of £3.99, it is easy to recommend, both to existing fans of the visual novel genre and those looking to try something new! [b]WANT TO KNOW MORE?[/b] A full review of Inkslinger, where I go into detail about gameplay, narrative and styling, is available at [url=https//indie-hive.com/inkslinger]Indie Hive[/url].

There's some ingenuity on display. The gameplay is very unique - typing words representing styles and with each keystroke your character types more of what you're supposed to write. I've never seen anything like this. Also, the soundscape is an excellent companion. That said, the game's narrative didn't grab me, and in general I didn't feel any hook at all. I imagine I'm just not the target audience, which is surprising considering I like reading, writing, and text-heavy games. Maybe I just didn't get to the good part - but the start lost me quite quickly. I'm leaving a negative review to say: hey, even though you might think this game is for you, pay attention to the aesthetic. Do you like it? If yes, then by all means, get this game. I tend to look past the aesthetic to get to the core of the game, and it turns out the aesthetic here is a good indicator of the general colour and flavour of the story, so to speak - as such, I should've paid more attention. Cheers to the dev(s) for such a creative way of playing it words!

I unfortunately found it to be very buggy (I had to uninstall and reinstall to even play it) but it's a short game, very evocative. Many trigger warnings, though. [spoiler]Sexual assault, child sickness, child murder.[/spoiler]

A short game with great narrative and writing, beautiful aesthetics, amazing game feel and sound. The narrative is the main focus of this game, but not the only driving force, as the typing mechanic and gameplay keep you wanting more. The characters you meet are interesting in different ways and you are often introduced to information that will make you wonder which path to take, when writing the letters. A perfect example of how a short game with relatively simple gameplay should be done, as every moment of this game feels so well polished. If you are into games with focus on great narrative told in a unique way, I strongly recommend Inkslinger.

Full article with images and proper formatting: https://thelastreturn.medium.com/inkslinger-f4bd2a7743d Tldr; I really had a lot of fun while playing Inkslinger. You don’t often see a game which not only has an interesting story, but also a great graphical style and unique gameplay. It is really a hidden diamond amongst indie games. Though I’m fully aware that this game will not be a good fit for the average gamer, if you don’t mind a slower paced story-driven game, definitely give it a try. The only downside of the game is that it’s very short. For my first playthrough it took me only about 50 minutes to complete the entire game, and that was with carefully reading everything and trying out different options as answers. The game does encourage you to play through it multiple times, but it would have been nice to see the story being altered a bit depending on the choices the player makes.

Great, really unique game. Some mechanics could be explained better, and the need for pure perfection (without ease of skipping through to see all the endings does make it a bit inconvenient after the first playthrough) is a bit annoying. However, those are just small points against what is otherwise a wonderfully made, beautiful, and well-written game.