Utter a Name

I purchased the game because it looked fun. Obra dinn adjacent little pixel mystery puzzle. Mild supernatural elements, strong historical lean. Really a vibe I love. I have played this game for 30 minutes and it has crashed and fully frozen 8 times with no explanation on how to play the game besides WASD to move and E/space to interact. like there is no loading or save screen you are just dropped in the foyer with the movement keys displayed on screen and the butler at the door looking pissed as all hell with "e to interact" above him. Walk over click E and then Dialog box says "utter a name? Yes / no" no matter which option I select the game crashes.. the butlers only dialog to me is "..........." Okay so I avoid the butler and figure out how to get to other rooms. Try to talk to another person upstairs .. again "utter a name? Yes / no" no matter which option I select the game crashes.. okay... avoid talking to "people" until I investigate some clues stick to just clicking on items and doorways.. Clearly the game is crashing because character is stupid and doesn't know anyone at the party.. Get to the kitchen see a list of names on the wall! I now know who the man stationed at the door is! like it didn't let me click on the names but the names and job roles are clearly listed.. I have a list of at least 4 fully named servants about the house I have achieved the tutorial goals! right? walk back to the door man again "utter a name? Yes / no" click yes and the first and last naming mechanic drop down window appears!! clearly getting somewhe- game frozen. crashes again. Game unplayable and unintuitive. Unclear how anyone is leaving positive reviews when this games mechanics are actively working against the player at every step.

This is the kind of game I should enjoy, but didn't. I was swayed by reviews that said this game would be similar to Return of the Obra Dinn or The Roottrees are Dead, two of my all-time favourites. I didn't find this one anywhere near as much fun. I didn't find the deduction really logical. There's a supernatural element that makes deduction very difficult. I could not get into it without a walkthrough.

对于五折还要15块钱的价位而言，内容量比较少，而且说实话故事质量不算高，解完之后气笑了…… [spoiler] 我还以为是那种很复杂的爱恨情仇结果发现其实是小孩哥狂杀全场最后主角（你哪位？）搜打撤成功。幕后黑手Jane的故事线也没有完整，人去哪里了？ [/spoiler]

想讨论一下对于剧情理解~整体来说推理给到7/10。感觉好多细节其实没有交代清楚，都要靠自己脑补。也有些伏笔没有讲清楚。整体还是比较推荐的，一款小巧的解谜推理。 [spoiler] 1）宴会厅里，桌上有三杯酒，Cyrus、Lucas、Jone Taylor分别各一杯。Cyrus和lucas都喝了酒，Cyrus叫Lucas到屋顶透风，讲话磕磕巴巴，能看出他在心虚。 他们应该是到了屋顶后，两人灵魂双双离体，交换了身体。交换身体后，Lucas身体（灵魂Cyrus）把Cyrus身体（Lucas魂）推下了屋顶。 所以在阳台下，是Lucas的魂魄，地上的尸体是Cyrus。（因为尸体边上的字条，明显是Bernard写给Cyrus的密谋小纸条。） 不过要说一下，这里的伏笔也很奇怪，英文写了需要Cyrus交换身体后，tied himself up，don't do anything crazy.但实际上并没有这段剧情。 2）最后大部分尸体凶手是Thomas的原因是，按照The nature of soul的第五条——离体太久的灵魂，再次附身后，会无意识将所有人移为灰烬（类似狂暴砍一切）。 因此按照故事梗概，只有小孩哥Thomas符合这个条件。因为桌上喝了酒的Mr.Taylor、Cyrus、Lucas都是灵魂才刚离体。所以最后是Thomas怒砍了整个house的人. 所以我想这就是为什么，清洁女工 Ella吐槽“Just my luck”，真是倒霉催的。 3）在猜想，最后走出rivenhard house的，可能不是Christine，而是装着Jane的灵魂Christine身体。 氯仿的使用手册提到，把氯仿倒在织物上，掩住患者口鼻吸入后，患者就会陷入无意识昏迷。显然它的作用就是单纯的麻醉剂，而不是毒药。 而氯仿也并没有用在Lucas、Cyrus、Taylor任何一个人身上。显然Jane只用在了Christine身上。这里的线索是绣着J.R的手帕。 应该也是在暗示，Christine的soul不是因为body死亡而离体，而是因为喝了酒，而离魂。房间的地上，也摆着酒杯和那个烈酒瓶。 （这也可以参照the nature of soull的纸条，灵魂只有在死亡，或者离体后，才会离开身体） 而Christine的灵魂交互是，也是说，“Oh,my body”。 细看衣着和立绘会发现，玩家操作的角色，其实就是Christine。 所以这句“oh my body”，可能不是对着凳子上的人，而是是对着玩家操纵着的，她的身体而讲的。 综上推测Jane也许只是把Christine迷晕了，然后进入了她的身体。 动机很可能是，Thelma的信。妹妹Thelma要求姐姐，把传家宝必须交给自己的女儿。 信里那句you are to be，语气态度都比较重。 合理怀疑，可能这封信，是促成Jane先下手为强的契机。毕竟故事结束，Jane是主动杀死了妹妹一家人。（Thelma是她亲手杀的，Christine也是，Lucas是在她帮助Cyrus下死的。Edward算是最后被狂暴小孩哥Thomas清算的，几乎是亲手，把妹妹一家都灭门了。） 游戏设定上，感觉是，body是在哪里死亡的，soul就会停留在哪里。 类比最后小孩哥明明应该在地窖，但随着taylor被vincent打死，也从地窖出现在了二楼走廊。 同理推测，屋子里没有Jane的灵魂，那么说明Jane的灵魂在一具body里。否则Jane死了，在没有身体的情况下，她是不能离开所在区域的。 而故事终章，最后角色拿着传家宝离开的阴暗笑容，也不难怀疑，是不是Jane因为不想失去传家宝，干脆怒kill了妹妹一家，顺带连累了无辜的Catherine一家，最后美美带着传家宝离开。 毕竟Jane如果真的爱儿子，为什么是这么久，才决定复活儿子Thomas，而不是早就复活他呢。 [spoiler]

A short but fun addition to the "Dinn-like" genre. This game represents the core of the main interest points of the genre with "Okay here's everything, figure it out" which is what I love about this style of investigation game. It's definitely worth it's price and doesn't overstay it's welcome for a short game.

I loved this game! I'm not much of a detective but I heard this was an interesting and short game so I wanted to give it a try. I did struggle for a while to wrap my head around all the evidence and memories but once I understood, everything just clicked. The music and atmosphere are unsettling which keeps the experience really fresh.

Wears its ObraDinn-like inspirations proudly. Not the most polished in the genre and quite short but still fun, and totally worth a playthrough. A solid low-dialogue detective/logic game that has flown under the radar.