Open Sorcery: Sea++

An absolute gem of a game. Blows me away on so many different levels. Sea++ is one of my favourite games of all time.

Playing with a guide because this game is WAY too smart for someone like me I have a pet octopus and I named him Goony :)

(minor spoilers ahead) This was one of the most narratively interesting and emotionally compelling pieces of media I've engaged with in recent years, let alone in gaming specifically. Never before have I encounter a game that let me have a philosophical debate with an angel, play at being an investigator solving a crime where Everyone wants to be the culprit, and pilot a steam powered ship by playing video games, all wrapped up in one of the most fascinating settings I've ever read. I love everything about it. The mechanisms and interweaving of coding and spellcasting, the dedication to figures like Ada Lovelace. It's just fantastic, in every sense. With an emotional core that often left me feeling so deeply with the protagonist and the side characters, I cannot recommend this game enough. The innovation the developer has done with Twine is nothing short of remarkable as well.

This game was incredible. It confounded and surpassed my expectations from beginning to end, and after finally finishing my first go-round, I find myself eager to give it another go. A phenomenal accomplishment, and quite possibly the best Twine game I have ever played.

I chose to lay down and die and then I did so.

Me esperaba una historia llena de hechicería y de introspección loca, y me he encontrado con un point and click submarino muy genérico, usando una interfaz incómoda y dependiendo de puzzles de... sopas de letras.

One of the best text-adventures I've ever played. The story is really intriguing and there are some creative solutions to puzzles. Also, it's loaded with puns, which is a plus for me. After 28 hours of gameplay, I completed my first playthrough. The story is really extensive and there were a lot of paths I did not take. I feel a bit exhausted after finishing all of that and probably wont return soon. But all in all this was a magnificient experience.

Very interesting text adventure that doesn't even feel like a game, more like an excursion into the author's mind. It's original, unconventional and clever. I have to say I really enjoyed it. At first, I thought that the first underwater area would be pretty much it but the game has so much content, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. There are several puzzles, riddles, word searches and everything seems to have more than one solution. And your choice of the solution does have some consequences. I never played the first game but now I feel I really should at some point. The music is great and perfectly matched to respective areas. It's relaxing, smooth, does not disturb the reader, just perfect. I especially liked the electric guitar one in Hell location. Top notch. Now for the negatives. At some point I have encountered a character stuck in some cave. The game told me that if I want to save them, I should be properly prepared - I basically had only one chance from what I understood. So I went on with my business, gathered resources and spells and at one point, I felt ready. I went back to the cave only to find the character is no longer there... so that sucked. I probably missed a whole lot of content so thanks for that useless warning, game. I also wouldn't mind having a map of some sort. Even though the locations are not that big, they are not small either. And there is one location where instead of the regular north/south/west/east you could also go up and down and the paths are mostly blocked, it's a mess and I got lost there several times. I don't know if it's because of my original expectations of something short but the game goes on for way too long. It gets really repetitive near the end and starts to feel more like a chore. And at one point, I just got stuck and had to use a guide only to find out that I missed an entire location. I don't know if its existence was hinted somewhere and I was too tired reading all the text but it was not (and still isn't) clear to me how I was supposed to discover it. Maybe some less subtle hint would help. At the end, it was very obvious that I was missing several things, I could not complete one of the final "rooms" because I did not have enough dreams and I had no idea where to get them. It was optional of course, you don't need to complete everything to finish the game, but it really felt like I was being punished for my choices and apparently a lack of exploration (even though I though I was very thorough). The ending left a bittersweet taste because of this. Overall, it was a great adventure regardless. And even though I don't usually play text adventures at all, I have to say that this one was something else entirely.

I love this game. I cried many times, and I always felt better off for that. [spoiler] At one point I found myself unable to hurt a dream of a character you only know through the thoughts and feelings of the player character. [/spoiler] I cried at the idea of doing that to them, those small glimpses at this person through the memories of them, and feelings about them. They paint a much bigger picture, and like many things in this game it was one that rang as intensely true in my heart. This game has made me feel less alone. Although it is a game, there is still a truth in what it says that helps me feel I'm not the only one who has or is experiencing things i have experienced and have experienced which aren't talked about enough. And which are hard to talk about. Those words do very much come from people. I may not be able to talk to them, but they've been brave enough to talk to me and everyone else playing this game. Hoping someone hears them, I imagine. One experience of mine in particular, has been hard to even understand. But I looked at the screen, and there were words that vocalised what I have gone through in a way I haven't figured out how to myself yet. And that's why I talk so much about emotions, they're the most important part of this for me. The game does have other parts I love though. I love love love puzzles. some of these are very hard and sometimes i used a walkthrough, which i think if fully worth it for the experience. im sure this is also an amazing experience for people who love making notes, drawing maps, looking for clues outside of the game (I did googling for stuff like that a fair few times) A lot of the more challenging stuff is only there if you're inclined to look for it and figure it out, how far you want to dive into this ocean. Even if I'm not the best swimmer I seemed to have gone quite deep so my perspective is from encountering that much higher difficulty. Every puzzle I came across impressed me, fascinated me. Even if I couldn't solve one I loved it. And things can fit together in lots of fun ways. Stuff that makes you smile and go "that works??!!". the way everything fits together and offers multiple questions and answers. And as a huge dork for hypertext, interactive fiction and all that jazz; I cannot name a better example. Top tier "clicking on blue words to expand the ways of conveying meaning in the text medium". The way it plays with space, with conflicting feeling, with the multiple meanings that can be present. It enrichens the character of Pisces and knows how to tell a joke too. Its gorgeous and brilliant and inspiring. I love this game and its story and its everything.

A wonderful text-based adventure game with a plethora of puzzles all set in Abigail's fascinating world of magic and computing. It's all wrapped up in the story of a fascinating protagonist that feels like a real person who has lived a very difficult and painful life. The writing and delivery of the material is excellent; there are moments of true sadness and joy mixed in with the magic and wonder as you piece together the protagonist's memories.