🚀 go-pugleaf

On Thursday, November 13, 2014 10:10:48 AM UTC-7, Rudi wrote:
> 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 Save system was outdated, completely manual via main menu.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.

Nice review!  I would have rated it a bit different but I can appreciate what you had to say.  Quite a steal at $1.99!  Still, at any price, I wouldn'