Munstermunch

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....erm. First!

BetsyBee

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Lots of gear. What exactly do I do with it??

SuperHappyJen

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Okay too much stuff and not enough places to use stuff. Managed to:

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and

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SuperHappyJen

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Anyone figure out the rubixcube?

SuperHappyJen

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Did something.


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SuperHappyJen

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Hey! I have an actual gear now.

BetsyBee

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Well done that girl!!

SuperHappyJen

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Got a code

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Numbers don't work in the one place to put a code though. Sigh.

BetsyBee

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I had that problem got bored and gave up!

Picaso

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Do you not just love the Japanese. They create a game with a play area no bigger than a postage stamp, in a language no one understands, with all sorts of obscure bits and bobs no one recognises.

I hope they have the same problem with our English (Hip Hip Hooray & chin up old boy) games.

BioLarzen

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Agree with you guys: way too many objects, way too many of them obscure (no idea what they are, let alone what to use them for...), ugly graphics, rough navigation and item selection, leaves one completely unimpressed and unmotivated in a short time.

Won't even bother to find a walkthrough, because, quite frankly, I don't care about the rest of this game...

bio

Nerdypants

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Holy crap. I have 13 items in my inventory, and all I've done is unlock a cabinet.

SuperHappyJen

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Got bored. Went away. Just wondering if anyone has made any progress?

Nerdypants

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Ugh, giving up.


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There are just way too many items in this game, and too little logic. Not to mention the fact that you have to click to get rid of the text every time you do something. No, this game is not for me.

Sal

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Picaso

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Get the wooden handled saw and


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;)

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walkthrough


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Some d00d

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Haterz gonna hatez...

RSH

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Well I guess this is one of those where pretty much everyone agree that there isn't much use in bothering to play Japanese only games when you know you are missing too much to really get it.

It's not intended to be a slam on the game or the language or the culture or anything... as far as I'm concerned; just that I'm not playing these games to be (unintentionally) bewildered.

Thanks for the heads up, all.

DNP

IsaWP

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The main problem with this game is that you get too many items at once, so that you have no idea which ones you have to use first. There are too many options at once. The second problem is that some items are hard to recognize (or impossible).
Third is that you should never put hints in language. Draw the other side of the cube and make the cube change when we click on it in close view. View the number on the cellphone instead of telling us at the bottom what it is. Show, don't tell. It really has nothing to do with it being Japanese or English. I know I could meet a language barrier if I play a foreign game, but it is quite possible to make a game with a minimum of language (see Neutral, Akarika, Terminal House and a few others). But if you really have to use language, make it so that we can highlight the text and put it in a translation program so we can guess what it could mean.
But yeah, without understanding of the language it's quite impossible to
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and
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.

RSH

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"It really has nothing to do with it being Japanese or English."

Yeah, except taking into account everything else you said which contradicts the very obvious point that it does _absolutely_ make a difference... which is why I bring it up.

IsaWP

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(I'm not English. With foreign I also meant the USA and the UK.) Using English can be just as confusing for people of older generations or people who aren't well versed in it. For someone who is bad at English it doesn't matter if it's not Japanese, because translating the text is not a good solution for a bad puzzle. If you have to tell me what's happening you're doing something wrong, since an escape game is a visual medium.

I personally think escape games should be all about observation and figuring out clues and not about understanding the language. Most of the time I can get around not understanding the language by observing, but I prefer no language at all in my logic/puzzle game. (Sorry for the repeating words.)

Take for example the Neutral games. Maya is terrible at English, but apparently wants everyone to be able to play her games, so her games contain a very minimum of language. People from all over the world play her games - Russia, Egypt, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Iraq, Chili, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, the Netherlands, the list goes on. I consider Maya to be one of the best so comparing to Neutral games may be a ridiculous standard. Yes, she also makes English versions but again, the use of language is minimal. It could have been Swedish and I still could navigate the site and play the games.

From what I've experienced the English are the only people who would give something a low rating because it isn't in their language and I find it rather arrogant.
I'm not defending this game tough, it doesn't deserve it. What I've pointed out was lazy work, it was telling us as opposed to showing us in two cases and that would have been pretty easy to fix (visually, not by translating it). The other one should have been showed better.
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This was just a confusing, badly planned escape game with bad visuals and no logic. I couldn't get around the language barrier with logic or observing because the game wouldn't let me.

... and this I don't mean sarcastic, but who are the good English escape game creators? I can't come up with one. Mateusz could count for 'western' since he's actually Polish, bad example from me though because Submachine is heavy on English.

IsaWP

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Too long didn't read version: If it was in English it would still have been a bad game because it tells us what to do rather than showing us. And I think an escape game should have a minimum of language in it. Play Neutral.

RSH

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"I personally think escape games should be all about observation and figuring out clues and not about understanding the language. Most of the time I can get around not understanding the language by observing, but I prefer no language at all in my logic/puzzle game. (Sorry for the repeating words.) "

Yes, I've understood what you have repeated and I agree in that some of the best games can be entirely visual. And I certainly agree that any narrative _telling_ the player what to do is a huge negative... But I also appreciate that there is merit to a bit (or even a lot) of text to fill out a more elaborate story, though usually this of course makes the game less than "casual". So I can see that we feel basically the same way.

Now, if you can see that, at least in my case, I have made it a point to not denigrate the use of Japanese only; and that mine was specifically (and quite explicitly) a comment on the fact that, if there is going to be a lot of narrative and gameplay-dependent description, I obviously need it to be in a language I can understand. Again, as I said before, this observation is not a slam on the game or anything else for that matter.

"It really has nothing to do with it being Japanese or English." is _clearly_ wrong. If the game is going to include a lot of written information, whether it be the kind we both don't
like or the kind I do like, my ability and desire to play it has everything to do with what language it is in...

Also, while we are at it: I've (repeatedly on my own part {and even before your comments}) made it a point to only say that I couldn't play the games in question. I did not rate them or berate them.

"From what I've experienced the English are the only people who would give something a low rating because it isn't in their language and I find it rather arrogant."

That is softly-couched but certainly-solid hypocritical bigotry, and it goes ironically only to prove itself clearly untrue. Any particular "English" is no more likely to be derogatory and arrogant than any other person. Which is the point. Which is why its so ironically hypocritical to assert such things. Your "experience" is colored and bent by your malformed lenses.

RSH

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Oh... I was being so careful to keep my comment there to just a word or two that I forgot to say........

Hi, BetsyBee!

IsaWP

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Yes, I think we are mainly on the same page about most things, but I don't get your arguments sometimes. You say I prove myself wrong/am hypocricital and with that you're right and I'm wrong? I feel you throw words around like they are arguments on themselves. Help me, isn't something hypocritical always ironic? In order to be hypocritical I should have bashed the English language (which I didn't), not the people who grew up with it (which, sadly, I did). Weren't you being a bit superfluous when cursing in expensive words there?

That said, I talked about my experience. I have seen people give a low rating because of language (Pan's Labyrinth for example) and they happened to be English. This does not mean all English are arrogant or short sighted and I didn't meant to imply that, that would be stupid. I do apologise because I imagine people of other languages do the same toward other tongues. Of course which language you speak says little about who you are. Personally I'm all in favour towards German.

"It really has nothing to do with it being Japanese or English."
Of course you can't play a game if you can't understand it's language but you need to. But I meant: 'It would still be a stupid game if it was English, because not everybody reads English well either (like me at one point).' Since I'm the writer and you the reader this misunderstanding might be my fault.

You never have attacked Japan or anything associated with it. You have complimented games from Japan too. But you constant nagging about things that were quite common in escape games (hidden items, Japanese, logic you begin to understand once you 'get' the creator better) began to hit my nerves. Yeah, most of those game were mediocre and some really were unplayable. To me, you sounded like the bigot and I guess I became one too as a counter reaction. I would argue that you made a bad start with me because you came in with high demands on the wrong site and started attacking a game genre I really love. This is more like a fast food place for escape games, not haute cuisine. Learn what you have to skip or bug Graeme about it.

If you only want the best escape games, I happily direct you to Jayisgames. They post an escape games once a week (Wed) and their criteria are a lot higher. They never feature Japanese only. You will seldom be dissapointed by a game they put in the spotlight.
(BetsyBee, I sincerely hope you don't follow this discussion. Holy smokes am I wordy.)

RSH

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"You never have attacked Japan or anything associated with it. You have complimented games from Japan too... To me, you sounded like the bigot and I guess I became one too as a counter reaction."

Right, as you have correctly observed, I have never done or said anything to indicate that I am a bigot. Nope, not at all. Quite the opposite. So, once again, you have simply and foolishly applied self-contradiction to engage your reactionary tendencies. You are going from bad to worse.

"This is more like a fast food place for escape games, not haute cuisine. Learn what you have to skip or bug Graeme about it."

Nah, I think I'll continue to play the games posted here and express my opinion of them as I see fit. I don't feel the need to specifically "bug Graeme" if my criticism is has nothing to do with Graeme.

As for learning: let me suggest a few things you might try and learn:

Learn not to be a bigot.
Learn not to be so incredibly self-contradictory.

IsaWP

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Let's get back to this comment and derive from the name calling:
"Well I guess this is one of those where pretty much everyone agree that there isn't much use in bothering to play Japanese only games when you know you are missing too much to really get it."
It was redundant. Yes, if I don't get it, I can't play it, obviously. What was your point? It just made you sound bad, probably why you put that statement under it.
Because YOU are (good at) English, it would make a difference if it was English or not, but for people who aren't, it isn't. Which is why your statement about me being contradictory is wrong. I wasn't speaking from the perspective of someone who can read English. You assumed that.

If you don't want me to sound like an undecisive mess, don't rip things out of context. When I'm speaking in past tense I 'probably' have changed opinions since then. Don't look for each sentence individually if it agrees with you either.
You don't have to be a racist or nationalistic to be a bigot. Being intolerant does the job just fine. If you say you aren't, fine. But can't you accept an earnest apology? Sheesh.

Early on I found this site featured too many games I didn't like so I searched for another. That way I build up quite a few bookmarks of favourites, only to discover this site checks those too and was faster than I was. So I came back.
(Graeme, this is a lovely site. I should have said so earlier but I honestly like it even when not everything is my cup of cake.)

RSH

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Alright.

Peace.

IsaWP

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Peace

LM

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Tried but I decided the language barrier was too much of a problem. I think I could have finished it if I could have understood what the game was saying to me. Oh well. This one would have been good because there are so many items you can pick up that you feel like you're really getting somewhere even when you're not. :P