Comments on MEL5
This episode has about as many bookmarks as the last two episodes, and is done with the unbeatable graphics that CLVG is known for. I went slow, took about 7 hours to finish, and enjoyed it all. In this episode there are at least three bookmarks that require 10 hits to score, and there is also one more action to be taken when there are no FC's present in a location; specifically, besides the cooking and laundry in the kitchen, the MC has to get his blanket from FC2's room when it is empty, specifically at 1100, as the dialog tells you.
There is a player's dilemma in that finished bookmarks do not go away, and so if you keep returning to their time and place, you will get repetition of the last actions for that bookmark. This is what some players call “grind”. You do have to do repetitions of hits on bookmarks requiring multiple hits, and you can tell the difference because the bookmark counter won't advance when more hits are required, and usually, the string of scenes gets longer. Some of the length changes are tricky to catch, however. Maybe it is best to keep an eye on the bookmark counter for every hit.
CLVG has introduced a sort of hints section where they show the events that have not been triggered, and the final location needed to trigger them. I played a second time using these hints to control the game, and the player experience is definitely much worse. And also, you can get near the end of the episode, with a few bookmarks left, and no hints to tell you the non-final time/place to go to trigger the current step of the bookmarks you missed. These hints are great if you go through the game normally, reading the dialog, and then if you wind up with a few missing bookmarks, you probably are near the final stage of them and don't have to try and guess what the missing middle steps were. Just my opinion.
There are no significant bugs in this episode, that I was able to notice, with just a few minor details like a second FC portrait where it doesn't belong. Makes no difference in the play.
This episode involves the grocery FC a tiny bit, but other than that there are no new FC's and no new sandbox locations. Corruption slowly continues, which is the signature of a CLVG game.
While I was playing, I was trying to notice what makes CLVG graphics better than virtually all other dev's. One, darkness is done well, so you can see everything you should; this is a technical illusion. Two, the backgrounds have incredible detail, including filmy curtains, water in the pool and from the waterguns, and semi-opaque glass. Three, the details of the FC's and other characters are really great, and clothing is modeled in a very realistic way, with hanging pieces fitting very well. Four, the kinetic positions of the FCs and MC are quite widely varied, and look like they were done with a great deal of attention. This might be the key element that makes CLVG games so much better looking. Five, the interaction of the FC's, in various positions, with furniture is done very well: no floating or gaps or any other flaws. Six, CLVG understands what makes a graphic sequence interesting, and uses that knowledge to make playing very enjoyable. Unbeatable.
This episode has about as many bookmarks as the last two episodes, and is done with the unbeatable graphics that CLVG is known for. I went slow, took about 7 hours to finish, and enjoyed it all. In this episode there are at least three bookmarks that require 10 hits to score, and there is also one more action to be taken when there are no FC's present in a location; specifically, besides the cooking and laundry in the kitchen, the MC has to get his blanket from FC2's room when it is empty, specifically at 1100, as the dialog tells you.
There is a player's dilemma in that finished bookmarks do not go away, and so if you keep returning to their time and place, you will get repetition of the last actions for that bookmark. This is what some players call “grind”. You do have to do repetitions of hits on bookmarks requiring multiple hits, and you can tell the difference because the bookmark counter won't advance when more hits are required, and usually, the string of scenes gets longer. Some of the length changes are tricky to catch, however. Maybe it is best to keep an eye on the bookmark counter for every hit.
CLVG has introduced a sort of hints section where they show the events that have not been triggered, and the final location needed to trigger them. I played a second time using these hints to control the game, and the player experience is definitely much worse. And also, you can get near the end of the episode, with a few bookmarks left, and no hints to tell you the non-final time/place to go to trigger the current step of the bookmarks you missed. These hints are great if you go through the game normally, reading the dialog, and then if you wind up with a few missing bookmarks, you probably are near the final stage of them and don't have to try and guess what the missing middle steps were. Just my opinion.
There are no significant bugs in this episode, that I was able to notice, with just a few minor details like a second FC portrait where it doesn't belong. Makes no difference in the play.
This episode involves the grocery FC a tiny bit, but other than that there are no new FC's and no new sandbox locations. Corruption slowly continues, which is the signature of a CLVG game.
While I was playing, I was trying to notice what makes CLVG graphics better than virtually all other dev's. One, darkness is done well, so you can see everything you should; this is a technical illusion. Two, the backgrounds have incredible detail, including filmy curtains, water in the pool and from the waterguns, and semi-opaque glass. Three, the details of the FC's and other characters are really great, and clothing is modeled in a very realistic way, with hanging pieces fitting very well. Four, the kinetic positions of the FCs and MC are quite widely varied, and look like they were done with a great deal of attention. This might be the key element that makes CLVG games so much better looking. Five, the interaction of the FC's, in various positions, with furniture is done very well: no floating or gaps or any other flaws. Six, CLVG understands what makes a graphic sequence interesting, and uses that knowledge to make playing very enjoyable. Unbeatable.
