I have a lot of thoughts about this game, some negative and some positive, but overall I have to say that it is very rare to see games that have this level of passion, creativity, and artistry. I haven't played too many games that I consider ART (Dark Souls, Shadow of the Colossus come to mind), but this definitely should be considered art.

And by art I dont just mean the artstyle, although that is certainly magnificent and one of the highlights of this game. But also the immersion through worldbuilding and historical accuracy, which is surely unparalleled in the medium of gaming. And also the plot. I was sceptical of them wrapping up the plot adequately by the third act, but they exceeded my expectations.

I will say, this game owes a LOT to the novel 'the Name of the Rose', which is coincidentally my favorite novel of all time. In plot, characters, and setting, it borrows heavily from Eco, but I think thats fine. It diverges enough to be its own unique story, and in any case games shoul seek inspiration from high quality literature to lift this medium to reach the quality of classic literature.

Now I do have some gripes with this game. First of all, some of the dialogue is definitely far too long winded and doesn't really build the characters, the world, or advance the plot. It doesnt really seem to add anything and it discourages me from attempting a second playthrough....

...Although I'm not particularly keen on starting a second playthrough anyway because I think this game, like many other 'choices matter games' kind of suffer from an 'illusion of choice' issue. Many 'choices matter' games only allow for some minor divergences or separate paths to solve the same problem. It is understandable because developers do not have the time to implement a branching storyline with multiple forks. But at the end of the day, playing as a hedonist or a bookworm in this game doesn't make a huge difference in gameplay, and as far as I could tell, there weren't that many decisions that made a huge impact on the plot.

Overall I give this a 7/10

I have a lot of thoughts about this game, some negative and some positive, but overall I have to say that it is very rare to see games that have this level of passion, creativity, and artistry. I haven't played too many games that I consider ART (Dark Souls, Shadow of the Colossus come to mind), but this definitely should be considered art. And by art I dont just mean the artstyle, although that is certainly magnificent and one of the highlights of this game. But also the immersion through worldbuilding and historical accuracy, which is surely unparalleled in the medium of gaming. And also the plot. I was sceptical of them wrapping up the plot adequately by the third act, but they exceeded my expectations. I will say, this game owes a LOT to the novel 'the Name of the Rose', which is coincidentally my favorite novel of all time. In plot, characters, and setting, it borrows heavily from Eco, but I think thats fine. It diverges enough to be its own unique story, and in any case games shoul seek inspiration from high quality literature to lift this medium to reach the quality of classic literature. Now I do have some gripes with this game. First of all, some of the dialogue is definitely far too long winded and doesn't really build the characters, the world, or advance the plot. It doesnt really seem to add anything and it discourages me from attempting a second playthrough.... ...Although I'm not particularly keen on starting a second playthrough anyway because I think this game, like many other 'choices matter games' kind of suffer from an 'illusion of choice' issue. Many 'choices matter' games only allow for some minor divergences or separate paths to solve the same problem. It is understandable because developers do not have the time to implement a branching storyline with multiple forks. But at the end of the day, playing as a hedonist or a bookworm in this game doesn't make a huge difference in gameplay, and as far as I could tell, there weren't that many decisions that made a huge impact on the plot. Overall I give this a 7/10