Omen Exitio: Hunger

I find it very difficult to play this sort of game; I often find the dialogue and storylines rather unengaging, or the choices uninspired. I gave *Omen exitio* a go and loved it – I finished it in two sessions. It isn’t a book that’s been turned into a game. The writing has been tailored to the medium – concise yet detailed enough to complement the meticulous art direction. The choices never feel like you’re being steered down pre-determined paths. You never make ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ choices; they all always seem credible and consistent. You gradually realise the importance of your choices, but it’s only implied – everything is cleverly woven in. Even when the story doesn’t end as you might have hoped, you accept it because there’s no betrayal or inconsistency. The theme of the Great Old Ones has also been handled very well; it’s there but isn’t shoved in your face. It stays very true to the way Lovecraft wrote his short stories – they aren’t a subject, they’re a backdrop. I can’t wait to play it again once my mind has forgotten the storyline.

This is an interesting game, which creates a lively atmosphere, mainly due to the really detailed background noise, which really helps with immersion. The story is good too, standard Lovecraftian fare. The one thing I would say is that it misses a trick to be just a little more engaging - the clues and dramatis personae etc are all spelled out in lists, but some sort of 'corkboard' showing their connections would not only be visually entertaining, it would also help to elucidate the connections in this complex mystery. However I still recommend it as a visual novel - I'm not sure how much plot variation there is on replays, but I didn't spend loads on this so it feels good value.

So far this feels like a well made adventure game. So will give a positive for now will see how the rest of the game goes.

No Sir, I didn't like it.

Good interactive fiction. Not great, but alright. The writing is ok. Occasionally it drops to a bit amateurish feeling, but generally it rhymes pretty well with Lovecraft's style. Most characters have their own distinctive "voice". The whole story is set very neatly into historical period and Lovecraftian mythos, while building on the mythos without just repeating it. Main character's surname is Pickman, IYKYK. Probably my biggest gripe with it — as far as I understand, there is no way to get killed or end the story prematurely some other way. Whatever you do, you'll get to the epilogue. On the other aspects, illustrations are at least as good as they seem by the store page. Sound design (both music and SFX) is not perfect, but surprisingly good for such a product.

More please. This is such a great game and its so well made, that we need more adventure games like this. It's a great blend of choose your own adventure books, visual novels and point and click adventure games. Can't wait to see what comes next from the devs.