This is an adventure game where you travel in a fixed perspective from screen to screen. Right at the start you're made aware that you, the character, aren't part of this world (the Land of Dreams) but instead get to see it through a screen. Therefore, the player-character doesn't have a personality, as you never ask questions directly, but choose answers from a list of topics as you talk to the dozens upon dozens of characters. The art-style, like in Kiratzkes earlier works is all hand-made drawings. It may not be to everyone's liking, but the sheer oddity and distinctiveness of it all, the bold use of colours you seldom get to see in games, make it a really original experience.
As for the gameplay, one can say it revolves almost, if not entirely around fetchquests. Of course you still have to think where you might find, or whom you might ask for certain items, and some of them will take a bit of time and skill to decipher. Later on there's also potion-crafting. The game is never hard as even though you rack up a really big number of things to do, they're all noted down on your journal so you don't forget it.
The big thing about the game though, is the sheer quantity of text you can go through, as every character (and there are really dozens of them) has a lot to say, painting you a very vivid picture of the world you're looking at. While talking to so many, and visiting so many places (later on you get a boat and get to go to various islands, all of them unique), the one trouble is sometimes remembering the names of the characters or what they wanted, but that ends up being a smaller detail.
The writing per se, is also surprisingly good, considering this is an indie game with a very short staff. In the hundreds of pages of text the game probably has I did not note any sort of grammatical mistake or miswording. Furthermore the game is peppered with little nods to literature, current events and (of course) Monty Python, but all in the subtlest of manners.
Finally, the music combines greatly with the settings. Even though it's basically the same in every area, it never feels grating (because there are a lot of different areas, and because hearing a new song is a big part of the feeling of discovery when you reach a new area).
The story is revealed gradually but its merits lie in the fact that, while the environment and characters are so otherwordly, the story isn't. In fact, it's the most current story I've read this year, and ends with a very positive message, which games seldom do.
It's also a very decent length for an independent adventure, and one who's going for $5 at that...
A demo is avaiable here: http://landsofdream.net/games/the-sea-w ... hing/demo/
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