🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi Guys

Was finally (and already) able to complete Gray Matter by Jane Jensen.
Quick reminder, I bought it blind from GOG for only 1.99$, only based
on price and JJ:s previous track record, most notably Gabriel Knights.
so I had really no expectations for or against the game to begin with.

That proved to be a good thing, because as kind of an executive
summary, I must conclude that most of the criticism is indeed well
deserved.
I will break it down to several  chapters below for easier reading.


Technical issues:
>>From purely technical standpoint, the game was flawless. Obviously
in an adventure game, computer raw power plays no part, so I, 
and most likely everybody who plays the game, has everything in 
graphics options maxed out.
Game didn't crash one single time, nor were there any noticeable
slowdowns or timeouts anywhere. Naturally at a scene change it
took a while for a new one to load, but the waiting times were 
always consistent and solid. 

Sound was top notch, although some sound effects seemed a 
bit rushed, or more likely, forceably thrown in. Music, by Bob
Holmes, was extremely good as expected, and surprisingly close
to GK series in mood and tone. Could somebody please go and show
that his keyboard may have also other emulations than that of 
an electric organ :):) OK, don't go, works perfect as is :)

Save system was outdated, completely manual via main menu.
I would have liked to have more autosave triggers,
and /or automatic save on exiting the game. 

Gameplay:
Biggest shortcoming of the game falls into this category. 
Jane Jensen decided to go with one-click game mechanism
in this title. RMB is used only to select and ready an item from
inventory, and  nothing else. All environment interaction, be
it characters, objects or movement, was controlled via LMB
single clicks. That led to quite nauseating loops in gameplay -
you had to click on everything at least two times, or more- once to
get a description, second time to get more detail and perhaps
once more to make or do something with or to the object.

In a sort of pseudo Infocom notation, one example sequence was
something like this:

-look tower
tower is delapitated
-look tower
there is a statue near door
-look statue
statue sits by door
-look door
door is locked
-open door
door is locked

(after scratching head for a while)
-look statue
you find a key
-look door
(door is automatically unlocked and you enter).

All this with only single clicks with LMB and without 
any hint of logic to the sequence before it unfolds !!

Add to this nonsence also the fact, that while there is very
limited number of sites, 5-6 major sites with some having
only one screenful, some, like the house and the dorm,
maybe ten or so, things would either appear out of thin 
air after certain trigger somewhere, or which is even 
more annoying, could "shift status" from only a viewable 
static object to pickable/workable vital piece of game, without
any hint how and where it happened. You just had to revisit the room
and reclick on the object, and see for yourself if action changed
from what it was before.

And the final puzzle "Game of Life" was maddeningly
disgusting in its arbitrariness. I hate, repeat *hate*,
mazes which have fake exits, only to throw you back
into different part of the maze (and in one case, even
out of the maze = restart the whole thing from the beginning).


Story/ character interaction /behavior

Last but not least, the story. In an adventure game, it is what
makes or breaks the game. In this instance, it really did both.

Before the spoiler section, let me however conclude this general
section with quite a bash: characters were not likeable, nor
believable. There was not a single character that I would be
thinking "I am saving your *** here" or that even I would
like to see something happen between any of the characters.
Compared with Gabriel /Grace interaction, which really had
sparks, this dialogue is bland, unintelligent and uninteresting.
Characters' behaviour is childish, obnoxious and short-tempered.

Now the plot. Basic premise is that a brilliant Oxford professor
has lost his very loving wife in a horrible car accident. His
mental health is compromised, and he looks into supernatural
to communicate, or even bring back his wife. 
The female protagonist is an outsider, literally accidentally
bumping to the professor, and thereafter becoming  his
hired research assistant. However the girl soon realizes
everything is really not normal.


MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD


(SECURE SPACE)


In the end, the strange events in the game are shown *not* to be
supernatural,  but works of an another mentally challenged 
individual, one of the professor's students. Very nicely wrapped
up story, and to be honest, rather surprising conclusion, after huge
hinting and pushing towards the more unconventional direction.

All magic throughout the game is revealed to be of street
magic variety, all trickery and illusions, although one single 
happening of supernatural background is left open intentionally.

The professor tries  to bring his wife back by using powers of
memory, triggered by different sensory clues from their former
shared life. A rolling wheel starts to type out a message which is 
pivotal to the solution, however it is never shown where 
the message originates, or if it is even coincidental. The
game ends with the professor deciding for more research-
'much more research' so it is really left for the player to make
own conclusions if there was something spooky about it or nor.


SPOILER ENDS.


Ratings:
Tech: 5 stars
Gameplay: 1 star
Story 4 stars
Characters 2½ stars

Overall verdict: uninstall, not likely to replay.

Cheers !!
R.