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Today, I'm going to start playing "Metamorphosis", by Emily Short. It's in my queue of games to play, but I don't remember why I put it there. Usually, I like Short's games, but they can be on the long side, so there's a good chance I won't finish today.
First, I'll turn on IF Mapper (Garamundo, Gonzalo) because I don't enjoy mapping out mazes. In real life, people are very good at navigating and we don't have to constantly draw maps, so I figure interactive fiction shouldn't force us to do that either.
IFMapper, by Gonzalo Garamundo
These mapping programs are actually how I found out about the [tran]script function.
The first thing that stands out for me is that the old "humors" are listed in the header (sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic). It looks like they might be counters that describe your (changing) mood. Short is always keen on pushing the limits of character on these platforms. (see Galatea for an early example of her interest in character interaction)
Find the elements. Bring them to me
It seems that we are not in an 'Earthly world'... some sort of dream world, perhaps? A mirror seems to exist to return to the 'master'. I'm guessing we have to find the 'elements' first and then return through the mirror.
Oh crap, this is one of those games that gives you random quotes from books and what not. I hate that; so intrusive. I don't like starting book chapters with tenuously-related quotes either. I know there's a way to turn these off, but I don't remember how. The help menu doesn't contain hints about that.
Ah, I've summoned a gondola on the black lake... now this is starting to sound like the underworld of Greek myths. If this is related to Ovid's work, that would explain the title of 'Metamorphosis'. I'm expecting this to be Charon, but I don't think I have any coins for him.
A scroll tells us that there is a fifth element that can set us free or something.
OK, something weird happened when I took a certain object and "sanguine" disappeared from header. I now have sort of a tattoo with the air symbol. I guess this is how you get the elements.
One nice thing is that so far, the puzzles all seem solvable with stuff that's nearby. So you don't have to go exploring a vast world collecting tons of crap because some of that crap might just be useful somewhere else. This is kind of nice in a game because it limits the possibilities and make solving the puzzles easier.
Then again, that could just be because so far, the world of this game is pretty small.
I read that several of the puzzles can be solved multiple ways. That was a feature of Counterfeit Monkey (another of Short's games).
Argh... the button on the staircase-expander is tricky. When you first press it, you get burnt. You might waste time looking for a glove or something, but it looks like you just need to try again until you force the character to press the button and ignore the pain. Or, there may be another way... I could maybe have tried using the needle after making it the right size.
Ah... finished the game and found a few different endings. I did use the walkthrough, but not too much. A short enjoyable game. This is good for when you don't want to go beyond a single afternoon or so. It felt a little heavy on the puzzle side; not much of a story compared to other works by Short.
I have an idea of something to try to find possibly another ending, but maybe another time.
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✍️ Last Updated: 2021-11-18