The Mysteries of Baroque

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 652: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) [i]The Mysteries of Baroque[/i] (“[i]Baroque[/i]”) is probably one of the better Choice of Games I've played, and almost entirely because William Brown knows how to build a world. [i]Baroque[/i] is a strange, beautiful fusion of gothic horror, gaslamp fantasy, Lovecraftian weirdness, and alternate-history Paris, and it manages to feel considerably larger than the 200,000 words would suggest. There are factions, cults, hidden gods, body horror, strange creatures, a bizarre city, literary references everywhere, and enough unanswered questions to make the setting feel like it existed before you arrived and will continue existing after you leave. The writing itself is some of the best—a feast for the eyes, really—with a particularly strong atmospheric quality. Still, I have to admit that most of the criticisms I've seen of [i]The Mysteries of Baroque[/i] are completely fair. Yes, the characters are thin. Yes, the pacing gets a little wild toward the end. Yes, I desperately wanted another 200,000 words to explore this setting. I just ... didn't care very much while I was playing it. I was having…

Really good game for fans of text rpgs. The setting and worldbuilding are super fun, all the gothic horror elements come together in really neat ways, and its great the way you really feel like your character is a part of the world. Im really impressed how all these different elements are strung together pretty coherently throughout the whole game, nothing feels shoved in or too awkward and its pretty well paced. My biggest criticism is that it does feel like you are a bit pigeon holed into a single path, you have to play to your strengths and pursue one goal each playthrough to get a satisfying ending, its not terrible and it gives a lot of replayability but it feels like you arent getting the whole experience.

i really enjoyed playing this work thoughts about the story so seeing the how life is for a newly made monster and coming to terms with ones mortality after all it only takes a second to depart do you hang on to your previous human desires and goals or change and adapt to your new sate of being? i mean without who you used to be what can you be? do you fear the new possibilities or welcome them? will you spend your second chance on harboring anger and hatred or chose to do something even more impactful like for example saving the world from what you can be do you give in to some alien desire or hang on to the new revelations that you conquered what does it really mean to be alive how should you feel regarding the inevitable effect that you will incur through simply existing i genuinely loved with the description of this fictional city the levels and differences and complexity of it makes it real in a novel way like the more details and lack of control the more real it feels like it has a real possibility of existing also what about life's sustainability because if the hidden gods really cared about their food source then they must have thought about sustainability of …

"The Mysteries of Baroque" was merely passable overall, but that’s not to say it didn’t have great or even excellent parts. The story was sometimes thrilling and the writing creative, but at the same time, I never felt like I had enough time to get to know any of the characters, and certainly not enough to feel any sort of connection with them. By the end of the game, the narrative derailed a bit, and I wasn’t pleased with how the story ended, not in either of my two playthroughs. The game could’ve been a great read if more time had been spent developing the characters, personalities, and relationships, but as it stands, it deserves a neutral review. (5/10)

A well-conceived interactive novel that, after having replayed twice, remains engaging enough to be diverting, and intriguing enough to be thoroughly enjoyable. My quibbles are entirely ones of personal taste, revolving as to the ultimate direction and resolution of the story. Absolutely a lot of fun, and well worth the time. I have marked that the game was received for free, which isn't ENTIRELY correct; it was given to me as a birthday gift, and I am quite delighted to have received it :)

It was... okay. It's the best story I have read of its kind in this format, but sadly that is not much to boast about. The one thing I have to praise it for is the rather masterful world-building of the author. For such a short story - because it isn't overly long - the world-building was phenomenal. The options are there and they change surprisingly plenty depending on which path one decides to take, which is a fresh of breath air when paired together with the permission to be rather amoral if you had your mind to be. There are some points where what the MC was thinking didn't quite align with the choices I had made, but nothing major. All in all, I liked the story for what it was, and what became a rather obvious rip-off of Frankenstein's monster's story quickly took a life of its own and had a much bigger story to tell.