Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Slender Threads
Website: https://slenderthreadsgame.com/
Price: $19 GOG & Steam
Blurb: “In this paranormal point-and-click adventure, a traveling (sic) salesman races to stop a string of horrific deaths in a quiet seaside town—before he’s next.“
Yes, I know, another point-and-click, but I could not help myself when I read the synopsis, described as “Lovecraftian”. “Discover scenic Villa Ventana, the hillside community of empty stores and emptier people.” Not the ideal backdrop for a best-selling novel, but as every writer knows, inspiration can strike in the unlikeliest of places. Within hours of Harvey Green's arrival, that inspiration takes the form of foreboding dreams, impossible coincidences, and hidden motives that set Harvey on the path to uncovering a chilling, fateful truth.”
Installation:
This is standard fare GOG install, so I do not need to tell you that it went swimmingly. It created my menu shortcut and my desktop shortcut for me, even if it is of a guy with a long face like a horse, heh.
Graphics:
Though the art style has that ugly French cartoon thing going for it on the characters, the world they inhabit is actually well done (World building?). Simplistic, yes, but the extra touches make it sparkle. For instance, when your player character enters an abandoned shop after he hears his name, the light coming through the window has been given the corpuscular ray treatment, yet keeping with the dark and foreboding atmosphere. The mouse cursor is extra large and yellow, so you cannot lose it.
I need to make a slight detour here, while I am talking about the rather large mouse cursor. The sensitivity on the mouse is turned all the way down, and there is nowhere to adjust it. My entire trackpad or mouse and mouse pad, end-to-end, only covers the length of the bed in the player characters room, so about a quarter of the screen. I really had thought the days of picking up your mouse and reseating it to move again was in the past, but no… (Also did it need to be that big? Can’t I have a chat with the guy who keeps losing the damned thing?)
Anyway, the subtle animations don’t distract from the game, they add to it. Bugs will buzz and tree limbs move, here and there, but for the most part (thankfully) the scenes are static with some charm to them. What I mean by this is that the background is so busy, it distracts from the game play, like the previous game I tried – with things wiggling everywhere. When you walk about the town, the background scrolls by in parallax mode making the 2D hand-crafted scenes feel “real” and it is pretty on top of that. The character design put me off, I’m sorry to say, yet others loved it. To me, everyone looked blind, with white, milky marbles for eyes, but in hindsight it added to the bizarre nature of the game as you explore the “weirding” and it is supposed to make you feel uneasy.
Sounds and Music:
The music was hidden away on my laptop, it wasn’t until I plugged in my headphones and I went through the menu again, to see if I missed anything, that it hit me. As the music built to a crescendo, I was saddened that this had no OST with it. (https://www.instagram.com/alexwalkersmith/reel/CYDOUZkJJjD/ - was all I could find!) I immediately left the game on the menu, and closed my eyes to just listen. Big orchestra vibes in a small game! There is no music in the game, to speak of, though here and there there will be a snippet. Instead it is ruled by sound effects of crickets, and birds, etcetera. The voice acting is good throughout, and it is a pity that the dialogue is so monotonous for the times when you cannot do something. Like, say you have an idea to wake the drunk and think it is clever, if the peg does not fit the hole, all Harvey says is: “Why would I want to do that?” plus another forgettable phrase. It needs a lot more variety. This is not to say any of the other dialogue is the same, in fact it is top notch!
Gameplay:
The game is as eccentric as the characters, and the bizarre nightmares become reality for Harvey Green, a poor book salesman. Drums please, cue intro: The game starts out quite serious and drab. I mean the player character has holes in his clothing and his collar is frayed, while the guest in the hotel’s clothing is also fraying. The hotel’s curtains and wallpaper leave a lot to be desired and the panelling and floors have seen better days. You walk to the left, and, if you Alice-in-wonderland-it after the white rabbit, you will get a Friday the thirteenth jump scare. So it was rather hilarious trying to cross the road in the one horse (or is that bicycle) town, and to be almost knocked over, every… single… time… In the beginning it does feel very linear (and you are also very constrained), and there are things to interact with that have no purpose. (If it has, let the player know.) This is usually a killer of point-and-click games as it creates player boredom. However, that is only the first part, the game kicks into high gear once you get to the radio locked in the roll-top desk, with visions or acid trips and nightmares. I tried to get a screenshot of the claw, but for some reason, the screenshot tool caused the menu to appear and after six failed attempts, I gave it a rest. “Trust me bro”, it’s there!
The puzzles are not moon puzzles, thankfully! The first puzzle is of the nature of putting shapes onto a crossword, that spell out something to get the key to the roll-top desk, the rest is pretty standard fare. Things like getting a key to the laundry room by summoning the cleaning service and getting a bobby to leave his post, by causing a horrific accident. I’m not usually a fan of mini-games, unless they add to the game.
Requirements:
A potato with 4GB of memory. Though I’m testing this on my dropped laptop, it does not require much. It is 3D on 2D, so it’s not ‘nothing’. My CPU and memory sit at about 25% usage, for a first-gen i5 and 8GB memory. The resolution is 1080p and there is no flicker or obvious scaling. This is not a normal flip screen point-and-click, there is smooth scrolling as you walk around town. This really perplexed me, as I saw Unity player being installed. It is either well optimised or my laptop’s CPU is better than I thought.
Overall:
You may come for the graphics or sound, but you will stay for the weird story. The story did not immerse me immediately, but once the radio flashback, acid trip, or whatever triggered, I was in. You get around town on foot and it is not too large or too small. I love a story with a plot twist (even movies, like, the usual suspects), any plot twist, it makes the story more memorable! The simplicity of the interface was a new one for me, you only have to look, take, and talk, when you right-click the mouse. I would have liked some of the scenes to be fleshed out more, but it is out of early access so it won’t be. If you are into macabre, this is for you.