None of it was used! The real solution was much more personal and meaningful, albeit somewhat more shocking. I became convinced that the solution was going to be to spike his drink, because not only was he prominently and loudly drinking on a regular basis, but there was the means to do it in the room, and I'd found a guide book to local flora that mentioned a flower that works as a diuretic. Without giving too much away, there's a fairly standard puzzle where you need to distract someone from their post. It's also a nonchalantly progressive and inclusive game, again without any trumpets or flags, which in a genre recently prone to the opposite is quite a treat.Ī good example of this exists in the middle act. And thank goodness it does this without any virtue signalling - it only stands out because of the realisation of how frequently adventures default to the opposite. Which makes UI even more refreshing as it keeps avoiding this, instead having you inadvertently help the more vulnerable characters, rather than exploit them. Someone's scared of something, you automatically assume you need to go find it and scare them. It feels dramatically out of place when the solution to one puzzle is to trick a friend into thinking he's watching something he isn't.Īnother repeated theme of adventures is to find someone's weakness and exploit it. In fact, mostly they're lifelong friends. The hick-accented guy who works in the scrapyard, the love-lorn guy who works on the dingy hotel's reception - they're not pastiches here, not lowly figures to mock. Something that stands out in this regard, which I hadn't given much thought to before, is that its many working class NPCs aren't depicted as simpletons or conniving or less-than the protagonist, but rather his contemporaries and friends. He's daft, sometimes, but not arrogant, over-confident, none of the traits that plague this format. Gosh it makes a big difference when your lead character isn't a douchebag. It does pathos well, too, and I ended up really liking a lot of the characters. I can't speak to the German version, as I've only played the English, but I've laughed out loud so many times, which is a rare thing indeed in gaming. This is an exquisitely good idea - even the best German adventures can suffer via straight translations, but here we end up with a game that feels absolutely free of that awkward presence of translation. Beckett-King, a stand-up comic, also gave us the wonderful Nelly Cootalot games. Writing duties were split between the game's lead, German Marcus Bäumer, and Brit Alasdair Beckett-King, with each tailoring their own language version. This is a game created by a German developer, Backwoods Entertainment, but the script has been created in a very interesting way. This is an extremely traditional point-and-clicker, with inventory puzzles, ludicrously convoluted chains of requests in order to borrow items from curmudgeonly strangers, and churning through excellent dialogue options to squeeze out every last gag. That's the catalyst he needs to want to help do something about it, before tumbling into a tale of conspiracy, secret woodlands hideouts, and spiked coffees.ĭespite that seemingly heavy setup, the game is a predominantly light-hearted affair, with Harper delivering a splendid barrage of dry one-liners, observational quips, and heartfelt attempts to be brave within his own fear. When fixing a broken laptop for a scientist friend, he learns how serious the disease is, then sees someone dying in the streets, blood coming from their eyes, nose and mouth. Odd-job handyman Harper Pendrell starts seeing posters going up all over town, warning of a dangerous new plague-like disease, imploring people to call a mysterious corporation. Something strange is going on in Yelltown. Ladies, gentlemen, humans of Earth, I have for you a really good point-and-click adventure game! It's Unforeseen Incidents, and here's wot I think:Īnd trust me, I don't mean, "Good considering how bad they usually are." I mean, "Actually really good." Unforeseen Incidents, despite its astoundingly terrible name, is a sharp, smart, witty and superbly constructed adventure, with stellar voice acting, superb music, and some of the most splendid hand-drawn art I've seen in forever.
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