The Lands of Dream

This was a game that I wanted to play for a long time: it was mostly because the soundtrack was composed by one of my favorite artists, but also because the game has, as a sort of sequel, an audio drama with music of said artist that I wanted to listen to. That said, I already knew enough of the game on its own to made me really want to play it, so finally, this summer, I decided to start it. Since the very beginning, the game shows its charm. Despite being a simple point and click adventure game, its interface has so much personality: while it is perfectly functional, it has a lot of extra buttons of dubious usefulness, like one that just makes a funny sound, of which I lost count of how many times I pressed it; this abundance of extra interactions is also present in the items collected and in their uses, letting the player experiment with almost always an outcome. Then, the writing is stellar: if it isn't funny, it's deep and heartfelt, but sometimes it even manages to be both. The game has so much text to read and most of it is technically superfluous, but not reading it it's just a loss for the player. Now, the game doesn't mince words: its message is immediately clear. Some might call it propaganda, but only players that are at least a bit sensible to its themes would continue playing it and the game trusts the player to apply their intelligence while reading: it doesn't hide anything, what happens in the story is shown, not only explained, so the player is free to take their own conclusions. After all, the game's characters are just trying to live their life: by playing the game, you are helping them just being able to exist in peace, without hidden intentions. The game is funny, mysterious, at times emotional and what made me interested in the first place, the music, masterfully elevates and reflects those qualities: you might be stuck in the first area of the game for a long time, but its music won't bore you even while reading the descriptions of multiple hundreds of objects. The Sea Will Claim Everything it's not for everyone, but I wish it was. It's the kind of game that leaves a mark on people who experience it; a mark that can only enrich their life.

Знающим английский игрокам однозначно можно порекомендовать этот оригинальный двухмерный юмористически-философский квест. Игроку предстоит, попав через выращенное технодруидом окошко в населенный причудливыми разумными существами мир, похожий на архипелаг средиземноморья, помочь сначала с проблемой живого дома, а потом - и всего архипелага. Игра, вероятно, может претендовать на первое место по количеству объектов на одном экране, имеющих уникальное собственное описание, оригинальное и часто смешное, или заставляющее задуматься. Из минусов - встречающийся пиксель-хантинг.

[h1]Please Play the game on Linux through Proton.[/h1] [h2]Especially if you use 1440p or 4K Monitors.[/h2] For some reason, in Windows 11, Full Screen Mode doesn't go full screen properly, but Linux through Proton environment, it works fine. In Windows 11, you have to be stucked with tiny part of screen. This can be very problematic if you use monitor of 4K/1440p resolution. I'm using Manjaro Linux in KDE Enviroment with X11 (Update: Now It's EndevaourOS. Still KDE and X11), using Proton 9.0.2. Just in case if you're curious. (more detail about my PC setup in my profile) Anyway, the game is fine. Texts are pretty well written, which is expected that Jonas Kyratzes also did The Talos Principle games' writing. Even the text feels bit overwhelming at the time. (Maybe because I'm japanese, so this and Starstruck Vagabond makes me realize that Text-Heavy games on English can be exhausting to me, reading all of those in my 2nd language.) Still haven't finished yet. Maybe I'll add more when I finished. Edit (2024/10/27): I FINALLY MANAGED TO FINISH THE GAME. I fully relied on Walkthrough, 'cos I suck at point-and-clicky adventure, and yet I loved the visual writing, even I couldn't grasp all of them at once. Solid recommend if you can pass the dodgy issue like not working on Windows correctly.

只玩了The Sea Will Claim Everything，文本量大、风格独特的点击冒险游戏，讲述了一个奇幻背景的冒险故事，政治寓意很浓。游戏性很糟，基本只是借了点击冒险游戏这个载体，使整个游戏世界鲜活起来的是量大到甚至有些冗余的文本，例如几乎每个蘑菇都能点，点进去都有一段描述；游戏里能选取不同配方制造药水，只有几个是有用的，但我感觉四百多种配方的结果大部分都是不重复的。总之值得一玩，夸张一点的话可以称为某种小众冷门独游剧情神作。

A truly unique little gem of a game. Charming art, beautiful music, and a well-written, moving story.

I almost didn't play this game... Boy, what would I have missed! I've been a fan of the Point&Click genre forever and played through many of them, and pretty much all of the classics. Well, I truly didn't expect this, but this one is my favourite! Simply Bravo!

This little indie game really surprised me! Obviously this is ultra indie, more than a few devs studio kind of thing, this is the game of a man who could have written a quirky fantasy novel but instead chose to design a little video game drawn by hand. And in that it is alright, it works, but of course it is not the best game. Gameplay is fine, hidden object / visual novel kind of thing. Hand drawing is clumsy but pleasant and colorful. It's as if it was a style exercise, like "make a game on a block of post-its!". But even this is alright! Because if you are in this game for something, it is mostly the story and the atmosphere: very reminiscent of quirky fantasy that some geniuses write, ala Pratchett and the like. Also, the dev was very generous in funny comments, crunchy dialogues and hidden lore elements. Sometimes, a single image can hide a hundred hidden notes that you have to find, click, and enjoy reading. Crazy! Though it's the work of art of a single dev - there was tons of efforts and heart put into it - the full price is a bit steep, but on sale? a good dozen of hours of dreamy, absurd indie adventure.

I do not think there is a better point & click game creator than Jonas Kyratzes.