Jeff, Jason and Orie — I just want say thank you for this fantastic game. I grew up playing Shadowgate, Uninvited, Deja Vu, as well as countless other point-and-click adventure games. Nothing has haunted me (in a lasting, good way) more than my experiences with Shadowgate. I stumbled upon INFESTED when checking on updates for some horror games I was following. I immediately downloaded and installed INFESTED when I saw the KEMCO influence. I don't like reading about a game's contents or reviews if I can help it — so what followed was a completely blind (no commentary) playthrough of the game:
INFESTED absolutely nails tribute to those NES era games in design, graphics, audio and presentation. To top it all off, it takes place in a unique setting that those games never occupied — unless you include beyond a certain mirror). I felt that same horrifying dread from decades ago return as I stepped into new rooms, never sure when I was safe from harm. Lastly, the music is outstanding and completely nails the "macabre whimsy" that the NES-era games had. If INFESTED is any indication of quality, I know SPECTACLE is going to be quite an experience. I will be doing a blind playthrough of SPECTACLE soon.
I have read every single comment on this page as of this post and it seems everyone shares the same sentiment. If I had any additional criticisms, it'd have to be the following:
- The game's setting/atmosphere was so engrossing that the rare typos momentarily took me out of the experience. I'm sure you've moved onto SPECTACLE updates and other projects, but if you are interested, I'd be more than happy to do another thorough pass of INFESTED to grab all the typos I could find if you ever feel like correcting them.
- As you can see in my blind playthrough above (at 12:50), I tossed the "BLOOD PACK" at the slime creature but then spent the entirety of my playthrough worrying if there was a hidden time limit. This is because of the one bit of text that says, "It is very focused on the bloodpack, for the moment." The "for the moment" led me to believe that the slime creature was only temporarily distracted ("How many screen transitions or actions can I take until it eats the blood and finds me or kills me when I pass it?"), when in reality, it was in a permanent state of 'occupied until disturbed'. I felt like my time limit worries were justified because, in addition to the above, my suspension of disbelief could only stretch so far: This thing rips me apart and devours me whole — with that kind of ferocious hunger, a "BLOOD PACK" shouldn't last that long! It would have been really helpful if after tossing the "BLOOD PACK" at the slime creature that the text said something like, "Satiated, it seems to have stopped moving. Better not get too close." (I wouldn't dare suggest an additional sprite of the slime creature with its eyes closed, though that would be amazing.) That way, if a player does any of the wrong things the game currently has programmed, it can 'wake up' per usual and attack the player when 'disturbed' from eating the "BLOOD PACK".
- As you can see in my blind playthrough above (at 18:06), I end up tossing in "CHEM.A" before I even knew there was a mixture that would need to be made — I especially didn't know that there was a specific formula. To top it off, I didn't even know why I was putting "CHEM.A" in there, just that I thought I could maybe kill the man-eater plant in the vent that I found in the beginning. My point is, I hadn't even seen the actual roots in the Lab yet, nor that there was a sprinkler in there. I feel as though there isn't a logical reason that the player's character would think to dump chemicals in there so soon (and arguably even less-so for players themselves). I think it would be more effective if the player said, "I think it's best not to mess with this yet," when attempting to OPEN or USE the nutrient injector — or at the very least, when they are trying to put things into it. Then, when the player investigates the "SLIME SLIDE" and the formula is revealed, they could then be able to USE the nutrient injector or put things into it. I know that this adds a few mandatory steps in order to complete the game but this would only affect speedrunners as a new player would need to find out the formula anyways. Ever since I put in that first "CHEM.A", I spent the entirety of my playthrough, up until I finally killed the plants, worrying if I had broken the game or created a "walking dead" scenario.
I know these suggestions add a lot more work to the game (especially the last two), but they had a profound impact on the game's feel for me. While my criticisms take up more than half of my post, it's only because I wanted to be as descriptive and thorough as possible. This game is absolutely phenomenal, and like others have stated, I would gladly pay money for continued games of this genre & caliber.
Thank you for your hard work, dedication and passion. You've made such a phenomenal creation.