a Museum of Dubious Splendors, is a storybook from the world of Somewhere. A quiet game about prosaic objects and spurious histories, it is an irreverent rumination on the nature of an archive and forms of recollection.
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Me ha parecido un juego súper chulo y creativo. Al principio asusta mucho la cantidad de texto que hay (además puesto así sin más, de una manera un poco cutre, como si fuera un libro), pero le di un try y me recompensó completamente. Es una sensación muy única la de estar leyendo la historia e ir pensando cual será el objeto que te mostrarán, para luego siempre quedar sorprendido.
Me encantaría jugar a esto otra vez pero más currado y que dure mucho más, seguro que le pondría mucha más nota.
Me encantaría jugar a esto otra vez pero más currado y que dure mucho más, seguro que le pondría mucha más nota.
This was a weird one. Probably my lack of experience with games is at fault here, since I hadn't played any game of this kind. Anything I critique would probably be a critique of the overall genre of this game, which just ties into me not being the main audience for it.
In this game, you open numerous doors, each door leads to a room of a museum which houses an artifact of legends - may it be a creation of a famous blacksmith or something from the ages of gods and demons. The stories of each item, which are like probably around 600 word long infodump, are interesting, but it feels something which would be more proper in a book form or a manga. Probably book would be suitable cuz the look of the items were severely underwhelming compared to the story regarding them, which, now that I think of it, might have been the intended effect. But it leads to a underwhelming experience.
The structure of the museum itself is pretty damn weird. It just seems to randomly connect multiple rooms with each other than follow a proper room layout. But maybe I am wrong and a replay of it could show me that. But I didn't like the game enough to do that.
But I have some positive things to say about this too, otherwise the 2.5 stars would feel weird. The visuals of the game does have it's own style, which is striking enough to get me to sit through the game. The music isn't anything to write home about, but it does create a fun atmosphere to have you want to explore the game. The lore of each items were fun to read, and it did show me something new that I didn't know has been done in games.
Since it takes less than an hour to play the entirety of it, I would still consider it worth it. Probably worth it for people who want "experimental stuff" too.
In this game, you open numerous doors, each door leads to a room of a museum which houses an artifact of legends - may it be a creation of a famous blacksmith or something from the ages of gods and demons. The stories of each item, which are like probably around 600 word long infodump, are interesting, but it feels something which would be more proper in a book form or a manga. Probably book would be suitable cuz the look of the items were severely underwhelming compared to the story regarding them, which, now that I think of it, might have been the intended effect. But it leads to a underwhelming experience.
The structure of the museum itself is pretty damn weird. It just seems to randomly connect multiple rooms with each other than follow a proper room layout. But maybe I am wrong and a replay of it could show me that. But I didn't like the game enough to do that.
But I have some positive things to say about this too, otherwise the 2.5 stars would feel weird. The visuals of the game does have it's own style, which is striking enough to get me to sit through the game. The music isn't anything to write home about, but it does create a fun atmosphere to have you want to explore the game. The lore of each items were fun to read, and it did show me something new that I didn't know has been done in games.
Since it takes less than an hour to play the entirety of it, I would still consider it worth it. Probably worth it for people who want "experimental stuff" too.
This is the embodiment of the phrase "It's hardly a game". I like that the game exist to prevent these tales (Which are good) to be lost to time, but I don't like that this could be an illustrated book, and it won't make any difference, and I don't say that as a hyperbole, the gameplay is a tale (A screen with text), you see a statue, and then you move to another door where other tale will appear.
Honestly, I'm sad, this could be a great opportunity to use the medium for something interesting. Hell, even putting the tales in a book IN GAME would be better, but the feeling I got was that they didn't even try to make something with the medium.
Honestly, I'm sad, this could be a great opportunity to use the medium for something interesting. Hell, even putting the tales in a book IN GAME would be better, but the feeling I got was that they didn't even try to make something with the medium.
A funny little walk-and-read about colonial gaze that doesn't do a lot to bring a player into the conversation sympathetically on a first play. Really love the sense of space here (I can not believe how large the first room is) but I think the entire frame could use more space/time where there isn't physical space allowing me to chew on what I've last read.
Delightful and cheeky. This has such an unusual sense of humor, capturing the distanced awe and confusion inherent in so much preservation work but without the arrogance that so often accompanies those jokes. There is a real sincerity in these stories of deified objects. I am bought into their history even as I'm laughing at the 10ft tube of Colgate preserved in a hall of its own.
Fascinating enviroments, but sadly not much more, at least for me!