Innsmouth 22

Alright. [i]Innsmouth 22[/i] is done and dusted. This is listed as being in early access after officially releasing today, but actually, you will be playing version 1.0. Not sure what's up with all that other than maybe they had it listed as early access while making a demo available and simply forgot to remove the early access stuff today, but from my perspective, this current 1.0 version is the full release. As implied by it being version 1.0. That said, there are still some things that can be improved upon, so who knows? https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354543616 Innsmouth 22 is a fairly barebones visual novel focusing on Lovecraft's Dagon lore. And in fact, you do briefly play as Lovecraft, and the game offers a hypothesis as to how Lovecraft came up with the various topics he is famous for. So, I think I want to start with discussing the writing and the English translation. The actual story was a fun take on the madness multiverse, how devious the efforts by multidimensional horrors are to gain dominion over our world, and how delicate the balance is between preventing catastrophe and welcoming it. You might think you are helping when in reality you are causing harm. Or the opposite. I guess you never know until you try, lol. I enjoyed the overall story as well as some of the nuance in the storytelling. The writing however, at least via the English translation, is not great. It's not particularly bad either. What it really is, is clunky. All the ideas presented come across in understandable ways, but I was left wishing it had been written with a bit more of a technically proficient style. This is I think where the translation doesn't do the writing justice. Additionally, not every page actually has been translated. Most have, but some pages were still in Italian (?). I really just skipped over those pages and didn't actually pay attention to what language it definitely was, so I might be wrong here. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354543842 Additionally, most of the game happens in The States, where you, an Italian professor by the name of Lorenzo, has been invited as a guest speaker for a conference in Boston. However, this is an America presented via the lens of a writer (or writers) who isn't American, and so you get some things that are mildly comical as a result. For example, Lorenzo at one point sits down to have "An American Breakfast" of eggs, ham, and coffee. Which I would characterize as an uncommon "American Breakfast" based on my experience as an American, lol. I always find the way people view Americans, down to trivial things like that, to be fairly interesting and often amusing. And I'm sure the same can be said of anybody listening to or reading about other peoples' views of their country and culture that they find to be off base. Visually, this game was all made using A.I., and I think that while there is nothing wrong with the visual style presented, I also think anybody with even a passing skill in art could have done better. AND, you can really tell that it's A.I. generated content, seemingly using a lot of the same keywords/parameters and such and getting in return a lot of similar imagery. I definitely understand how single devs with limited budgets have started using A.I. generated artwork and music to help control the cost of development and such, but it does come across as trite at best. Some of it looks cool, but I would definitely prefer originality here. The audio was not particularly noteworthy, and for largely the same reason. The music was more of a background feature, however, and was easy to ignore. The ambient sounds did serve to breathe a splash of life into the game though. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354620673 Gameplay is standard and basic VN fare. You will click through dialogue. I really appreciated the ability to go back to previous pages. That was handy where I thought maybe I'd missed context or simply accidentally clicked past a page. There are a few decisions to be made. I'm not sure how much altering your decision really changes anything though. I did check with the final decision, and that did alter the ending significantly, but the previous ones seemed like they would be less impactful. Speaking of the endings, I did enjoy both, and while one ending was expected, the other was a bit more of a surprise in the context of how Lovecraftian stories are typically handled, and I thought it was a cool alternative to standard Lovecraftian storytelling. All in all, it took me about two and a half hours to complete the game, which was the perfect length in my opinion, and I think the $9.99 retail price is fair. The game currently does not have achievements and I'm not sure why it would need them being a pretty straightforward story, but I did read that it is one of the features the devs intend to add, so maybe they'll exist at some point. Did I have fun with Innsmouth 22? Yes. Did I think it was an exceptional game? No. I think a better and more complete English translation would add some character to the game (although perhaps it reads better in the author's preferred language). As it stands though, it's a slightly above average experience in my opinion. [b]I received this license via our IndieGems Curator program.[/b] [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co I want to start this review by saying...I love Lovecraft. As a New Englander myself i really enjoy his works. So the concept here was sound. But... I don't think this game lands well. The AI art is jarring for starters. There's often areas that look like you are in the Caribbean, and then different landscapes that give very different vibes. I understand this was created with AI art, but, I feel like a few better attempts could have been made. The music is stock and generally does not fit the mood. So much so I turned it off in the first hour cause I was getting tired of hearing the emotional climax music when I was eating at a restaurant. The characters are, again not great. Some of them have janky pictures (again the ai arts fault) and they are not written well. So much so that there's two characters with the exact same name. By the end of the game there's so many new characters getting thrown at you...you're just done and don't want to meet anyone else. The writing I think is the biggest let down. I believe the default language for this is Italian, because you need to change it to English on booting the game. Also, there's just parts of the game that aren't translated. ALSO ALSO, the translation is...not good. Several things come across as weird and the text sounds just slightly off, like its not how a human would speak. A HUGE issue is how the MC just does not freak out about lovecraftian things, and doesn't respond to situations accordingly, even when he outright knows people are lying to him. Characters will sometimes ask three times in the course of one day, what the plans are for the MC tomorrow, after you've already told them. And! I don't consider this a spoiler cause someone also mentioned it below...you get to play as Lovecraft for like 15 minutes. That itself is pretty neat, BUT, again, slight spoilers, Lovecraft is done very poorly because it straight up says he predicted the moon landing, WWII, and 9/11..Yes, you read that right, there's 9/11 in a Lovecraft game. Besides some funny laughs at some lines... I cant recommend this game, especially for the price point its at. This game truly excels at one thing...making you feel like you're going mad. Buy it if you want to lose your sanity.

Отличная визуальная новелла по Лавкрафту. Решения с последствиями Недостатки: -Перевода не хватает на другие языки (русский, украинский). Не всё переведено на английский. -Нет достижений. Innsmouth 22 (Early Access) полное прохождение https://youtu.be/_EKdAaWnzaU I received a free review copy of this product from keymailer В этом визуальном романе главный герой, Лоренцо Риги, итальянский профессор, приглашен на встречу историков, проводимую в Бостоне. Взволнованный и польщенный приглашением, он обнаруживает, что его ждет что-то еще, скрытое и таинственное. Этот роман вдохновлен работами Г. Ф. Лавкрафта. Сюжет оригинальный, но поклонники Лавкрафта найдут отсылки и обстановку, описанную американским писателем в 1920-х и 1930-х годах.

Just make a text adventure next time, The writing feels like it had effort put in, and was actually an enjoyable read, but that's all wasted with this AI slop fest, for 10 euro, a VISUAL novel where no visuals are noteworthy, is no good

I didn't read in the description about the AI art and noticed it quickly. It is disturbing, not parallel lines, illogical shapes, since the game is quite all about the background illustration, it makes it unplayable, I can't immerse myself in an AI full of errors piece of art. Music is generic and the loop is too short. The game could be good, with proper human made art which makes sense, better music, and a better GUI, not the Renpy standard one.

Un juego de novelas visuales con decisiones bastante entretenido y perfecto para los amantes del terror, mitos y leyendas estilo Lovecraft.

Innsmouthn22 è una visual novel breve ma affascinante, ispirata liberamente all’universo di Lovecraft. Fin dalle prime schermate si viene immersi in un’atmosfera surreale e inquietante, accompagnata da una colonna sonora davvero ben curata, capace di sottolineare i momenti più intensi e misteriosi della narrazione. Uno degli aspetti più interessanti del gioco è sicuramente la componente grafica: tutte le immagini sono state generate tramite intelligenza artificiale, come specificato nella descrizione. Il risultato è sorprendente e contribuisce a creare un’estetica unica, perfettamente in linea con i toni stranianti e oscuri della storia. La trama parte in modo piuttosto solido, con un buon ritmo e una narrazione che incuriosisce. Tuttavia, ho avuto la netta sensazione che, superata la metà, la vicenda acceleri bruscamente: gli eventi si susseguono troppo rapidamente, e alcuni passaggi che avrebbero meritato maggiore approfondimento vengono liquidati in poche battute. Questo toglie un po’ di forza alla parte finale, che appare affrettata rispetto all’inizio più riflessivo e ben costruito. Nonostante questo difetto strutturale, Innsmouthn22 resta un’esperienza piacevole per chi ama le visual novel brevi, le atmosfere horror e le sperimentazioni artistiche con l’AI. Lo consiglio, soprattutto se trovato in sconto: non rivoluziona il genere, ma offre un’oretta abbondante di immersione in un mondo alienante e misterioso.

Baseado nas obras de H.P Lovecraf, trás uma rica mitologia, linda arte e trilha sonora envolvente. Muito bom para quem quer uma novel jogavel de mistério, supense e terror, mas, infelizmente, não está disponível em português, então precisa saber inglês, italiano, francês ou alemão.

Das Spiel ist derzeit noch im Early-Access-Status und dementsprechend sind natürlich auch einige Unwägbarkeiten zu erwarten. Diese Unwägbarkeiten können allerdings nicht alleine für jedes Defizit verantwortlich gemacht werden. Die Geschichte ist soweit passabel und eine standardmäßige Neuinterpretation von Lovecrafts Vorlage. Die Graphiken deuten leider immer wieder darauf hin, dass diese mit KI erstellt wurden. Zumindest finden sich in den Grafiken Fehler, die absolut typisch für KI-generierte Bilder sind und diese Fehler lassen sich regelmäßig in den Graphiken aufspüren. Schade ist auch, dass die Charaktere immer nur durch ein einziges Bild repräsentiert werden und keine an die Szenen angepassten Bilder in dem Spiel genutzt werden. Sehr viel irritierender ist, dass gegen Ende des Spiels an einer Stelle Graphiken genutzt werden, die stilistisch eindeutig von Comics inspiriert sind und sich entsprechend überraschend von den Graphiken des bisherigen Spiels absetzen. Sehr viel kurioser ist die Beharrlichkeit der Sprachauswahl, die selbst, wenn man Deutsch gewählt hat, einen immer wieder unaufgefordert mit Italienisch konfrontiert, so dass manch kürzerer oder längerer Teil dann doch in Englisch durchgespielt werden muss, wo nur einzelne Textblöcke in Italienisch die eigentliche Sprachauswahl durchbrechen. Auch dort, wo die Sprachauswahl ins Deutsche funktioniert, tun sich neue Tücken auf. Die deutsche Textversion ist erkennbar mit einem Übersetzungstool erstellt worden und nicht ernsthaft überprüft worden. Viele Formulierungen sind Schriftdeutsch, ohne angepasst worden zu sein und andere Formulierungen sind schlicht verwirrend in ihrer verschrobenen Abstraktheit. Letztlich ist die Geschichte von "Innsmouth 22" nichts weiter als eine in sich uninteressante Aktualisierung von Lovecrafts Geschichte und leider deutlich erkennbar mit genauso wenig Mühe mit Werkzeugen aus dem Internet zusammengeklobt worden. Für sich genommen ein Spiel, welches keine Gründe liefert es zu spielen.

Really enjoying the story, will be looking forward for your future games, after finishing it i can say i enjoyed it more well done