Feedback from a 16 year old casual gamer

[Redeemer]

***WARNING: THIS THREAD CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Hi,

I don't play games much anymore. While I like keeping up with the latest releases, I'm more interested in the inner workings of the industry and the development of VR technology than anything else. Nonetheless I had seen Game Informer's review on this game, and they praised the atmosphere while stressing the fact that the game is very simple and Myst-like at its core. I was intrigued, and when my older brother went to a local Walmart I asked him to pick up a copy of the game for me.

I didn't regret that decision. This game is amazing. The controls are natural, the graphics are beautiful, and the sound effects and story make the atmosphere intense and unnerving. I found myself abusing the pause key to catch my breath and choose a course of action safely on more than one occasion. The Choir and the Storage areas stand out in my mind as some of the most frightening scenes I've ever seen in any video game.

So, I finished the game a couple of days ago, and I have only a few complaints about it overall: first off, the ending was rather anticlimactic. By the time I got to Alexander's chamber, I had brewed the tonic for Agrippa and cut off his head, so when the portal open I put Agrippa's head through it and got the "good" ending. But I was rather disappointed when I found out that that's all there is to it. I mean, really; all I have to do to win the game is put a (nearly) dead guy's head through Alexander's portal?

I realize this suggestion is much too late to include in this game, but this is how I would've envisioned the boss fight: first of all, the orb chamber would be much bigger, and there would be many more pedestals. The portal would be out of reach, so you can't put Agrippa's head through it. Instead, you would have to knock down all of the pedestals to disrupt the portal Alexander is creating. Then, when his portal fails, the Shadow begins to enter the room and flesh starts growing out of the walls. A hole behind Alexander opens up and he is taken away by the Shadow.

To escape then, you have to raise all of the pedestals back up and begin reopening the portal. Alexander has dropped his orb, so once all of the pillars are raised up, Agrippa helps you activate its magic and it begins opening the portal, your only escape. While the portal is opening, more flesh grows out of the walls until the room is tinted red and pulsing. Suddenly the portal opens and you have only a few seconds to enter the room before the shadow engulfs you.

Now THAT would've been a good "boss fight".

Now my other complaint is that it was rather obvious that the monsters were scripted. The game is still frightening because you don't know when the monsters will show up, but it's made less frightening when you figure out that the monsters don't really hunt you, they just appear when the developers think the player's situation would be a great "scare moment" and they disappear when the player hides from them. I started using the music track as my queue: as long as it's in "scary mode" there's still a monster in the level. Once it goes back to normal, I know I'm safe.

.. Anyway, despite these few flaws, the game is really the best game I've seen in the last few years. Thank You Frictional Games for putting together what is certainly one of the best games I've ever played!