The first time I played through the game, I was completely immersed. The soundtrack, the noises, the little twinkling lights, the color schemes, the amazing background artwork...it all melded together into a gaming experience the likes of which I have seldom seen.
The soundtrack and color schemes set the main ambiance, since they pervade the entire game. The general feeling was strong enough for me to ignore any minor problems I had (such as Sellie completely not sounding like a guy who's never fought suddenly coming to a city where there's a body of a dead guy right in front of him) - all potential flowbreakers disappeared before the majesty of the sheer EXPERIENCE. I beat the demons, got the gir- demon-ish thing, and saved the world. All well and good, and solid gameplay throughout. Zippy is The Mentor That Betrays you, oh gosh I totally did not foresee that at all what with him not bearing any resemblance to Loki whatsoever, but the voice acting actually managed to sell Sellie as surprised, and kind of sad, kind of like a child finding his pet bunny had posted embarrassing pictures of him on Facebook. And this completely fits in with Sellie's naive character, which undergoes some actual CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT during the story, and not in the direction I expected, either. Altogether amazing, and better than almost all major budget games I have played (story-wise, not gameplay-wise). The clumsy control of the crossbow actually accentuates the fact that Sellie is kind of new to this and got the crap end of the stick as weapons go, and although I don't know if this is intentional, seeing as all other pieces of the game are masterfully crafted I don't doubt that this is so (the no-shooting-while-jumping was a good indicator of the clumsiness attempting to convey realism and background rather than easy gameplay, although I may be reading into it too much).
The second time I played through it was to examine it as a game. I passed by Zippy completely at the beginning without attacking him, and he gave me the lantern - loved that that was an option! Choices through gameplay FTW!
I noticed the moving upstairs panel in the library, and it struck me how rare it is in a game to have a room dedicated only to character interactions and atmosphere that isn't a Safe Spot - you don't know what you may encounter, which makes it a stressed situation, and gives the interactions that extra oomph of people (or whatever) opening up in danger.
Based on the final credits lines, I decided to do nothing in the fight with Zippy, and was thrilled when he doesn't kill you but leaves you at 1 life (like he said!) but was rather disappointed that the only option was, at that point, to use the lantern. If you use it and cut it off, though, you can move around and jump onto him and nothing happens until you use it again.
When he's trapped, if you go off to the sides, you get stuck in a loop (I shot a bolt and came across it again soon), and you need to restart - Mmm.
LOVED his dying 'woe is me, I am slain' act - I thought it was overdone the first time, and the medal name slightly gave it away, but after not fighting him at all it's so much better =)
I tried to get past the big black sluggy thing without shooting it, but couldn't - ah well, it makes sense I guess, not a problem. My problem is with what came later. The big black ghost chases you, oh noes must run away...but if you don't, it damages you a bit and then waits for you to get up again.
...Wat.
I think it would be a better idea to have you die immediately if it catches you. From both a gameplay perspective, an immersion perspective and just plain common sense. I walked right into the jaws of death (literally, perhaps) and get "a little bit hurt"? Erk.
All in all, though, one of the best interactive storytelling experiences I've ever played. Fantastic job, everyone involved! Onwards!
Reviews for "Salem"
Loved this game! Definitely original and greatly entertaining!
I thought the voice acting was rather well done and the voices fit their characters quite well. The story was/is interesting and Anselm's character development really intrigued me. As far as gameplay goes, I thought everything was perfect. You didn't waste massive amount of time on the generally pointless slaying of minor enemies, which you don't often find in many games. Your use of bosses as the main enemies really made me happy, and made me want to keep playing. It was just difficult enough to be a challenge, but not so difficult that it was frustrating.
Overall, I commend you for a job damn well done! I most anxiously await the next installment to the series! Best of Luck!!
this has got to be one of my favourite games here! it is short, but i love the concept, art, and story. awesome game! cant wait for the next one :D
i can't wait to see the second one :") great game dude :)
I played this last year an I loved it. I remembered this game and I decided to search to see if a sequel was ever made. I really want a sequel!