Indie Games: Trilby's Notes

Trilby’s Notes is the third game in the Chzo Mythos by Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw. This game follows the main character from the 5 Days a Stranger, the gentleman thief Trilby, after the DeFoe Manor incident. This time the wooden idol from the DeFoe manor has appeared in a hotel in Wales and it seems the curse has not been lifted. Now Trilby must investigate the effects of the curse and try to track down the idol.

The story of the game isn’t amazing. The game is mostly a massive exposition dump that chronicles the curse throughout the centuries. However, whilst the story within the hotel itself is lacking the exposition is great. This is all told extremely well and is incredibly gripping, it’s just a shame that the stuff in the hotel seems like it is there mostly to act as a link between the back story.

Though the hotel isn’t just there for that reason. The hotel parts of the game also feature a Silent Hill style otherworld that serve to create horror. This isn’t your jump scare kind of horror but your atmospheric horror, the stuff that creeps you out as you wander around the hotel. This is extremely effective and builds up the overall tension of the game, especially when the Tall Man (the entity in this game) could, in your head, appear at any time to murder you.

The gameplay of Trilby’s Notes has had a complete overhaul since the previous instalments, opting for the use of a text parser to do actions. This is implemented rather well, though sometimes it can be infuriating trying to figure out what to do at times (especially near the end).

Despite having some flaws, Trilby’s Notes is a good game. Though not as good as its predecessors it has ramped up the horror aspect and added a lot of intrigue for the final instalment in the series. If you’ve played the first two then give it a go as it’s definitely recommended, if only for the brilliant atmosphere.

Stacking

Reviewed Platform: XBLA

Other Platforms: PSN

Dear Lee Petty: you are a genius. When Tim Schafer split Double Fine into four teams during the development of Brütal Legend you came up with the idea for Stacking and here it is. When you saw your daughter playing with those matryoshka dolls and thought “these could be everything needed in an adventure game” you were spot on. Thank you.

As I have just said, Stacking is an adventure game, as well as a puzzle game, based around matryoshka dolls. These dolls have their own little world, set during an industrial revolution filled with steam trains, top hats and zeppelins. You are Charlie Blackmore, the smallest doll in the word, and all of your family have been taken from you by an evil industrialist, The Baron. Now you set forth to set free all of your family and bring down the tyrannical Baron.

Yes, that plot sounds extremely simple and sounds exactly the same as every plot that involved an evil baron, who probably has a twirly moustache, and industrialism. To be honest this is exactly how the plot is. But Double Fine’s trademark humour is placed all over this game, be it high brow subtlety or low brow fart jokes; it’s all over the place. You are guaranteed to laugh. It’s got humour for everyone.

But where the game really comes into its own is in design and gameplay. You solve puzzles by jumping inside, or stacking into, other dolls and controlling them. This brings up all sorts of questions revolving around what happens when you are inside them (Is this normal? Is the doll aware of what is happening to it?) but these questions don’t matter, it’s all whimsy and fun. In doing this you get to use their ability, which allows you to solve puzzles.

These puzzles are solved using a variety of dolls, either in combination with each other or just using one of them. But unlike most adventure games there are many different ways to solve a puzzle. The game encourages you to try different tactics and allows you to retry the puzzle until you have completed all solutions. This makes the game almost obsessive, as you want to complete it in all of the different ways, but it still remains extremely fun.

Everything about this game has a feeling of heart about it. It feels like the game was a labour of love, that the developers had fun making the game and designing every single aspect. The game looks wonderful, set in a world that seems like it is built from what was found in your child’s room and what could be found in a random cupboard somewhere. Every doll has a surprisingly large amount of detail to it, especially so when looking at the faces of dolls.

The cutscenes look fantastic and have fun animation with some funny moments.

But not all of this is fun and whimsy. Yes, it has that exterior, but when you look deeper into the game it is somewhat dark. There’s a constant undertone of not just child labour but child slavery. When we get to the final level things get even darker when all of the children are tricked to go onto a train, which has a sign that initially reads “FUNFERALL” has letters fall off to spell “FUN ERA L” which I honestly found a bit creepy. Then there’s some creepy as hell clown.

The game all comes to an amazing crescendo of puzzle solving and a final battle against The Baron: an epic game of Rock Paper Scissors. Seriously, that’s the endgame. But not any normal game of Rock Paper Scissors. No, you take control of one of three types of doll: one with a rock, one with paper and one with scissors. You use these to destroy the dolls The Baron is in. So, basically you are KILLING THE INNOCENT DOLLS THE BARON IS POSSESSING! What the hell, Double Fine?! But I guess we’re not meant to think of it to that level...

Nonetheless, this game is extremely fun, fairly challenging and a treat to look at. If you do decide to get this game I am certain you will enjoy it and see the love the developers put into creating this game. But I hope you can get past some of the ethical implications of Charlie’s actions. I could... just about... *shudder*

Final Verdict: 9/10