Simplicity has beauty. I love the game of pushing it to my limits, but sometimes it’s all I need to do with hot chocolate (pumpkin spices at this time of year, of course) and playing old-fashioned visual novels. I recently delved back into the dark world with the vampire: Masquerade – New York calculus followed by a short brewed hot drink with coffee talk. However, all of these were in preparation Strange ancient timesThe highly anticipated follow-up to the Bad Viking puzzle game has turned into a detective story, a strange gardening. It’s been three years since we last cats and Pet Jupiter and tinkered with the potentially deadly leaf oddity.
But the strange ancient times are more than just strange gardening. Putting aside the obvious differences between artifacts and plants, it feels like a fully realized version of its predecessor. Currently, there is an index full of scientific terms (I think so?), experts to consult, more ways to interact with objects, the ability to “feel” an aura of something.
The game’s map collection has also been expanded, and if of course you’re smart enough to put together clues, you can visit every corner of the Undermare and Cranny to collect new artifacts. When you discover something new, dopamine hits. Clicking on the desk can lead to a hidden drawer. Or the expedition to the seller could end up with a new acquisition of stores. Despite the relatively simplicity of the game, it’s enough to keep you moving at all times.
We ask Viking duo John and Rob Donkin why they chose to make a sequel when the original was such a tight, sharp and complete experience. “To be honest, that’s because people wanted that more!” Rob says with a laugh. “(Horticulture) is a rather short game and I think people ended it and pitched it about places where they loved it and wanted more. I thought we closed the book with the Plants chapter, but we decided to open a new chapter and do something a little different, but we decided to keep it in the same world with the same style of game prai.”
“We basically wanted to expand the ‘strange’ universe,” John continues. “The bone qu items were pretty high on the list and felt like a natural advancement in the game. Another reason is that it’s very difficult in this industry to create new IPs and succeed. We succeeded in odd gardening. People loved exploring maps.
Speaking of detectives, I feel that Kokonoki has more detective jobs. Chongky indexes and specialist books have been added, and you will need to flick back and forth to identify the item. Often, your patrons use colloquial terms for the judiciary of their choice, or they simply don’t know the name at all, so you need to rifle all your ancient texts and solve what they are looking for. It includes more deductions, and the ability to closely inspect items that meticulously add another layer of complexity to the visual identification of most horticulturals. I ask the brothers why they chose to dig deeper into this particular element of gameplay.
Rob describes the system as more “intentional.” You have to go and find something that the clues tell you. The information is not given to you.” “There’s more details there,” John agrees. “I think we’re also really amplifying the work of detectives. In strange gardening, most of the time, we gave you the name of the plant. Then you go to your book and find what you’re looking for.
“When we made some strange gardening, we didn’t know we were making detective games,” the pair say almost in agreement. “Rob came (here and there), and “I was thinking of this idea for a game. I saw an ad for a gardening company, so the strange horticulture is running an occult plant store,” recalls John. “We pulled a bit from an old project we were creating. A board game map and a point-and-click adventure game setting – it was Undermere. So we made that game.
As so many people in her #Tectiveera, the strange ancients are exactly what I wanted from a sequel to gardening. Everything the original worked is necessary, and it expands on it, sometimes forced to make suspicious decisions, entertaining the dopamine rush of successfully identifying objects for every object. With the eerie seasons getting closer and closer, I can’t fully recommend the strange bone qui item – it’s literally The perfect game For a cold autumn night with candlelight.
Strange Antiquities is currently available on Steam, so book your tickets at the Undermare and get ready to spend your days of poor (and identifying) Jupiter. However, make sure you dodge all crows. I’ve heard there are a lot in town these days.
