Spigot
02-08-2009, 12:18 PM
Amnesia. It is a blight upon the gaming landscape. An unseen epidemic that sweeps across genres, striking hero and villain with equal measure. It is up to us to help free our protagonists from this accursed fate with this week's entry in Turning The Spigot.
Today's entry is a game so obscure, even I hadn't heard of it until several months after it had come out. Yes, I'm talking about one of the most hidden of hidden gems of 2008...
Theresia
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3262487275_c32409c82b.jpg?v=0
Year: 2008
Platform: DS
Rating: Pointed
# of Players: 1
Theresia is a point and click adventure game on the DS. In this very dark survival horror take on the genre, you play as an amnesiac teenager who wakes to find herself trapped in a room in the bowels of a mysterious, maze-like building. That is about as much as I can say about the story as a large part of the charm of Theresia is unravelling the mysteries of the characters and environments that you find yourself thrust into.
The best way to describe Theresia is as an unholy cross between Shadowgate and Etrian Odyssey with a dash of Silent Hill 2 thrown in for good measure. You will wander through 3D hallways where horrible atrocities have happened in the past. At times, you can find icons to click on which will bring up a 2D scene that can be investigated in a traditional point and click adventure style.
Beware: This is not a 'My First Adventure' game, in either content or difficulty. You will get hurt and die a lot. As you make your way through the maze, you will develop an almost pathological aversion to touching anything in the environment as almost every inanimate object you come across has the potential to harm you.
Found a book on the shelf? Watch out! It's full of needles!
See that button on the wall? Don't press it! You'll get electrocuted!
Have to move that chair out of the way? I hope your insurance covers random arrow strikes!
All of these caveats aside, most of the harmful things in the game can be avoided if you take your time to investigate each and every nook and cranny you come across. Most traps have a hint that will reveal itself if you keep your eyes peeled. Plus it's always kind of fun to see what kind of random implement of death awaits you at every turn.
Theresia doesn't pull its punches in the gore department either. Right from the beginning of the game, you'll come across crucified prisoners rotting away behind crumbling brick walls, strange bloodstains on desks and other horrific scenes that really serve to illustrate that something nasty went down sometime before the game began.
There are about 35 hours worth of content in the 'dear emile' section of the game. Once the first adventure is completed, a second scenario opens up with an entirely new character who will help answer a lot of questions from the first scenario and pose several new ones. This is no slouch of a game...
Except that it is a little clunky in the control department and the 3D hallways look like they were lifted from Doom. The controls work well enough that it doesn't take very long to learn their quirks and the bulk of the game is spent in the 2D point and click portion of the game as opposed to the 3D hallways. There is also a certain 'Spoony Bard' quality to the translation as well, though the localization is pretty decent for the most part. That said, this is a game where the atmosphere and story take a precedence over technical wizardry and once it gets its hooks (and needles... and axes) into you, it's very hard to put Theresia down.
Here is the trailer for the game to give you a taste of the horrors in store.
SF2sXl-2wz4
Theresia is available at most gaming retailers for $29.99 or less. That said, it IS pretty rare to find a copy on the shelves, so grab it while you can!
Today's entry is a game so obscure, even I hadn't heard of it until several months after it had come out. Yes, I'm talking about one of the most hidden of hidden gems of 2008...
Theresia
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3262487275_c32409c82b.jpg?v=0
Year: 2008
Platform: DS
Rating: Pointed
# of Players: 1
Theresia is a point and click adventure game on the DS. In this very dark survival horror take on the genre, you play as an amnesiac teenager who wakes to find herself trapped in a room in the bowels of a mysterious, maze-like building. That is about as much as I can say about the story as a large part of the charm of Theresia is unravelling the mysteries of the characters and environments that you find yourself thrust into.
The best way to describe Theresia is as an unholy cross between Shadowgate and Etrian Odyssey with a dash of Silent Hill 2 thrown in for good measure. You will wander through 3D hallways where horrible atrocities have happened in the past. At times, you can find icons to click on which will bring up a 2D scene that can be investigated in a traditional point and click adventure style.
Beware: This is not a 'My First Adventure' game, in either content or difficulty. You will get hurt and die a lot. As you make your way through the maze, you will develop an almost pathological aversion to touching anything in the environment as almost every inanimate object you come across has the potential to harm you.
Found a book on the shelf? Watch out! It's full of needles!
See that button on the wall? Don't press it! You'll get electrocuted!
Have to move that chair out of the way? I hope your insurance covers random arrow strikes!
All of these caveats aside, most of the harmful things in the game can be avoided if you take your time to investigate each and every nook and cranny you come across. Most traps have a hint that will reveal itself if you keep your eyes peeled. Plus it's always kind of fun to see what kind of random implement of death awaits you at every turn.
Theresia doesn't pull its punches in the gore department either. Right from the beginning of the game, you'll come across crucified prisoners rotting away behind crumbling brick walls, strange bloodstains on desks and other horrific scenes that really serve to illustrate that something nasty went down sometime before the game began.
There are about 35 hours worth of content in the 'dear emile' section of the game. Once the first adventure is completed, a second scenario opens up with an entirely new character who will help answer a lot of questions from the first scenario and pose several new ones. This is no slouch of a game...
Except that it is a little clunky in the control department and the 3D hallways look like they were lifted from Doom. The controls work well enough that it doesn't take very long to learn their quirks and the bulk of the game is spent in the 2D point and click portion of the game as opposed to the 3D hallways. There is also a certain 'Spoony Bard' quality to the translation as well, though the localization is pretty decent for the most part. That said, this is a game where the atmosphere and story take a precedence over technical wizardry and once it gets its hooks (and needles... and axes) into you, it's very hard to put Theresia down.
Here is the trailer for the game to give you a taste of the horrors in store.
SF2sXl-2wz4
Theresia is available at most gaming retailers for $29.99 or less. That said, it IS pretty rare to find a copy on the shelves, so grab it while you can!