The Aching

I personally find this game very fascinating, it's an adventure game, but it seems specifically inspired by the first wave of graphic adventures - after the genre made a leap from the text to the graphics around 1984, but also before it made a full transition to the modern interface, so it feels specifically like a mid-80s adventure. This game does not have a point&click interface, it controls with arrows and text commands, anytime you want to look or interact, you have to type, using correct spelling and with a very small margin of error for the terminology. I find that it's very difficult for developers to make a convincing imitation of an old game, you can copy the coloring and the gameplay to a point, but you just not working with the same technological limitations, so more often than not, they don't actually feel 100% retro, but this game somehow does, the only thing that gave it away was the name, I just never heard of it so I assumed it was new. There are a lot of re-releases of old games on steam, so it would be a shame if this game went unnoticed, it's something that does a really good job having that old-school feel and its limitations, for better or worse. Even though the game is going for those retro vibes, it still has a theme that I don't recognize, the character in this game is getting killed all the time, it's actually very amusing. There are like alien-like creatures, monsters, mages, gruesome deaths, collecting eyeballs, and talking to weird characters, I mean it just has that sense of wonder to it, granted the atmosphere of this game is a little more contentious. I have not beaten this game, it's very hard with no guide, you have to be very specific with the text commands or it will not work, even if you pay attention, the game is not always intuitive. I mean it is kind of part of the charm of those games, sitting at night and trying to grind every possible combination of words you can enter, but in my opinion, I think I would prefer a romanticized version of this game, with a little bit of the safety net for the dialogue, god it takes way too long for me to do anything. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) I think the game has a very strong sense of escapism and also a big mystery that surrounds the character. The combination of uncanny themes and strange characters make it very compelling for me to explore. I imagine some people will find it very redundant, but I do have nostalgia for these games, so for me personally I think it's very enjoyable. (+) While the art is simple, I do think it works very well for this type of experience, the game will animate all kinds of weird actions and close-ups, plus there are many mysterious locations to explore. I know not everyone likes pixel art when it's so basic, but I personally really like the world-building here. (+) I find the game is extremely faithful to what it's trying to do, honestly one of the most convincing retro tributes that I played, it's exactly how I felt playing those old games. [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [u] Music [/u] - so I like the limited OST in this game, it's kinda like a pre-chiptune feel to it, I am not sure if they are trying to emulate the limited space by having less music. But this is one place where I think we could give the game a little freedom, the music does not need to be complex, but I want the music to enhance the locations, it feels like only 20% of the rooms have any sounds. It's a little odd, I find it easier to play with my own ambient collection which is not ideal. [u] Commands feel too convoluted [/u] - again, it's part of the charm, depending on how you look at it. The problem for me is that the game has a strong tendency to double dip into explored interactions, like you have to look at the room, then look at the object, then look at the interaction point, then make sure you spell it exactly the way it wants. You know, the game does not have to be easy, just give me some hints that are not useless like they are most of the time. Here is a good example, I gave some item to the character, and he pretty much said thank you, but WTF did it do lol, he said nothing else, what do I make of it. And that is how I more or less feel so far. [b] Overall Thoughts: Not rating it, it's going to take me a long time to crack it[/b] For myself, I am having a great time, it's like a time capsule that needs to be unlocked, with lots of mysterious events and characters. Maybe not for everyone, if you looking for something like that, I think the game is super chill, and potentially frustrating at the same time. It's a bit similar to a game like Tux and Fanny but with text commands, also a lot less forgiving with the puzzles, more retro, and you have to know exactly what the game wants. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

I had fun after I read the manual. READ THE MANUAL. There are two endings that I know of, and no I do not know how to reach the full 130 points. Game is about 2 hours long if you don't get stuck. Once you know what you're doing each additional playthrough takes very little time. I do not know whether your deaths affect your score, but at least one of the deaths is avoidable. Things I liked: The art and atmosphere are great and really nail down the 80s aesthetic. Character art is detailed and nice to look at. Some of the flavor text like the books are nice. The gameplay being a mix of text adventure and arrow keys was pretty interesting. Things I did not like: The story barely exists. There are some brief allusions made to a wider world but nothing major. The soundtrack is very limited, with only some screens having sounds. I'm not sure if this is a bug or not because they seemed inconsistent. The text parser is poorly implemented. I'm going to explain the text parser issues in greater detail as they are the main issues with the game. As far as I can tell the game uses a basic verb noun system and doesn't interpret most prepositions. A list of verbs is included in the manual, and no I have not found a use for every verb listed. I did get pretty close to the 130 points so I assume some of the verbs are redundant. However, not all verbs are implemented for certain interactions. The first big problem is the nouns. If you 'look' in a room, you get the description of the room. However, in some rooms there are objects that may be interactive which are either not mentioned in this description, or are mentioned [b]but not with the correct noun[/b]. An example of this is a chest of drawers you find in a house. It is referred to by the game text as "a chest of drawers rests against the back wall"; however, if you "look chest of drawers" nothing will happen. Same for "look chest," "look drawer," "examine chest of drawers" etc etc. Neither can you open a specific drawer; "open top drawer" and "open bottom drawer" do nothing, as does "open drawers" or "open chest." You have to "look top drawer" or "look bottom drawer." [b]This is not the only object in the game like this.[/b] The game uses keywords when describing objects to you that it then does not recognize. I don't think I need to explain that further. The second major issue with the parser is that the game doesn't have much if any text for failed actions. You can't kill yourself or fail to use an item, but there's also no special dialogue for trying to do something unintended. This is no Shadowgate; you can't taste something and kill yourself, or just get additional flavor text. The game is really straightforward in this sense. It's not a bad thing necessarily as it keeps you from veering too far off course, but it does lead to becoming more easily frustrated when the parser keeps telling you it doesn't understand your commands when you're using nouns and verbs that are in the game's dictionary and the developers just didn't write anything for the specific action you're trying to do. So in summary, yes I enjoyed the game despite my issues with the text parser. I loved the art and the atmosphere while exploring. It absolutely nailed the aesthetic it was going for. I don't regret the purchase, but be aware of what you're signing up for when purchasing. I look forward to the next game if it gets made, but I implore the developer to bring the nouns closer in line with the writing and implement additional incorrect options for the parser.

What a wonderful blast back to the past of classic DOS parser adventure games! Brings memories of Sierra On-lines games or Zork, Kings Quest, and The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy back in '84.. The retro styling, sound design, and play style are wonderful and smooth and are exactly how you would have experienced it on a Tandy computer. Let the nostalgia begin!

Style: Interactive Fiction Theme: Gruesome verbiage/grimdark Buttoning: keypad and typing commands So, in an effort of transparency, I bought this because I know a creator of this game. (Friend code is not to ask for free art.) I bought this game and get to feed my friend's cheezit addiction. Win-win. Am an old, so I grew up with Commodore 64 and would spend annoying amounts of time trying to figure through games like Ocean's The Never Ending Story and Infocom's Suspect and truthfully our runs never successful. But The Aching brought back some of those memories of me and my brother trying new things until we youthful impatience got the better of us and we moved on to Progressive Peripherals & Software's Wizard. For those who were not there, great era of gaming. Equipped with adult patience, I realized my brain spiders are now the problem. I will see a bookshelf, walk my sperm-hat avatar up to it and try, "access." Nope. "scan" wrong again. "Browse. Peruse? Cruise? Thumb? Digest literature..." Still stuck. "Read" grrrdiminit. Hopefully your brain spiders are much more organized and mainstream with their attempts. The game runs well and if there is a glitch, the game is indie so the developers are responsive unlike those AAA monsters that do not patch up after they press on to the next product. Give a life meaning, buy indie. Tips: Getting killed is part of the game so don't avoid the golden hoobybooby lady. You can be a part of chopped up decaying body piles but it is a bridge to far to sleep in a rando's bed. The game is classy like that. If you are newish to the genre or gaming in general, touch every wall so you don't miss any passages. Know the principles of a Geiger counter. Have friends to backseat can help the stray brain spiders. Look.

Dos Game Club represent!

This is a solid effort at recreating the feel of the old Sierra-era adventures! Including the insufferable difficulty I still haven't worked past! To be fair, I'm at a solid 85 of 130 at the moment but horrendously stuck at the logic I'm supposed to follow to solve the next bit... in short, 100% accurate for Sierra-era adventures! (except that you don't actually die, game over, hope you saved else you lost all your progress to date... that's a major improvement from those games) The one significant gripe I have is the number of rooms to usefully interactive areas seems a bit high, and there aren't many words in the parser (but I understand that's hard). Definite recommend if you love the challenge, "maybe" recommend if you want some nostalgia, pass if you can't beat anything without like fifty guides on hand (though I'm sure someone will write one soon enough). Didn't want to wait to finish the game before writing the review as per usual, to show support for the developers! Edit: Now there are more ways to play the game, including a (rather hard to find) way to win without getting hurt!

I highly recommend this EGA, horror adventure gem! The chunky graphics are right up my alley and I was quite impressed with this bleak, strange world. On this journey, you will encounter several grotesque, yet hauntingly beautiful, creatures while searching each region of the island. Additionally, this world has a lot of really intriguing lore/world building details to discover, many are hidden until the player utilizes the parser to ask important "key words" to other characters. Two welcome improvements that The Aching has over other EGA adventure games from the 80s are --- 1. The main character can't die (and there is a clever, in universe reason why that is) during the adventure. --- 2. Every inventory item can be examined "up close" and is draw in glorious pixels to reveal hidden details (some which are quite important) of that item. In conclusion, if you are fan of this specific type of EGA, Sierra style adventure game -- definitely pick up The Aching! The team did an excellent job with the total package on this one, especially with the game's horror setting, EGA art and by also including a PDF manual (A nod to classic adventure games, that would always include a helpful and cool game manual in the physical box). An awesome experience, check this one out!!

[h3]Gameplay Experience[/h3] Finished the game around [i]two hours[/i] on a [i]Steam Deck[/i] with a keyboard. [h3]Notes and Thoughts[/h3] Let me state I have not played any games of this kind, so I have no nostalgia for this style of game although I am interested in exploring and playing older styles. Since I have no prior experience, I will not be judging references but mainly the content as an adventure game. Sadly, I am not recommending this game primarily because it is lacking content given its price as a standalone product. It feels the game is incomplete where the intriguing setup is not really developed or expanded as if it is a hook in a series of games. In terms of puzzles or challenge, not much beyond the genre's inherent difficulty like which verbs and nouns to use and guessing which fantasy items works. It just did not feel satisfying as an experience after finishing the game. As an adventure game, I have some minor feedback and issues: [list] [*] [b]Unnecessary repetition.[/b] One NPC, [spoiler]Creature[/spoiler], requires multiple repeated interactions (and backtracking) for progress. I understand doing it once but twice can lead to confusion and annoyance. [*] [b]Unknown item.[/b] I am not sure how one knows the item, [spoiler]Compass[/spoiler], exists much less ask without external sources. [*] [b]Unnecessary backtracking.[/b] Acquiring one item, [spoiler]Compass[/spoiler], requires some tedious backtracking. I think it could have been reworked so that it flows better [*] [b]Missing inventory feedback.[/b] One item, [spoiler]Geode[/spoiler], when it transforms and leaves the inventory, does not have a message or feedback. [*] [b]Unused item.[/b] I do not know what to do with one item, [spoiler]Blood Reeds[/spoiler], which I hope is not a red herring. [*] [b]Verb popup erases on-screen text.[/b] While talking to NPCs, I tended to open the available verbs to check if I forgot some options and it causes this effect. [/list] My only suggestion is maybe a noun hint system like with the available verbs and make it screen and progress dependent. As a newbie, I found it hard trying to describe objects specially in a fantasy setting. To be fair, most nouns are straightforward, but I could not tell which objects I can meaningfully interact with. Although I am not sure if this is an genre staple, this would have made my experience far smoother without ruining the intended experience. Again, I am not sure if my points are valid or useful nor do I want to discourage the developer to produce works for a niche market. I am willing to see another game, but hopefully more fleshed out.

I like what game there is, the world is interesting and it's characters are very imaginative, but for me there just isn't enough of it. For the price being charged I would expect a complete beginning, middle and end with some questions being answered. It all feels like a demo or a teaser to a larger work. If that larger work ever gets made I would be very interested in playing it! Right now, the text parser is a bit overly specific. There aren't any additional descriptions or conservation topics other than the bare minimum needed to progress the game. This leads to a lot of "I don't understand" when you're inputting seemingly reasonable words. The wizard is in a laboratory, but I can't "ask wizard about laboratory" for example. Still giving a thumbs up though, because I liked it.

Playing this game was like stepping back into my childhood. When I played games like Space Quest and Loom. Games that you needed to think about what you can and can't do. There are a lot of prompts when you first start that are "I don't understand" because that is how those games were created back then. Limited options due to limited space and tech. It has been a wonderful journey so far and I can't wait to play more!