I honestly like this way of visualizing the story. It's atmospheric, and considering a lot of people struggle with HPL's writing on the page, this style might just be the trick to getting folks to actually diving into the stories as they are.

The trivia bits are a great touch, too. I love that the team has obviously spent time researching HPL's life and literature, and references other third party literature on him.

Lovecraft, in my opinion, gets a really bad reputation in the modern times because of how much of his writing and themes get taken out of context - or not even that, just how ignorant most people today are of the state of the times when he told his stories. His body of work spans decades, and many changes can be observed throughout, often related to changes in his personal life and environments.

Having these trivia bits really helps giving the player an insight into the wider socio-political state of the world and the author's perspective. It's a great choice.

I'd be confident in calling this game a "Virtual Installation", a term TotalBiscuit tried to coin way back in the day when games like Dear Esther and Gone Home were rising up. It's kind of like a guided museum tour - and in this case, I'm all for it. Illustrating these stories and conveying their atmosphere is one of the major points I look for in Mythos adaptations, and often, arbitrary gameplay loops just get in the way of the tension.

It won't work for everyone - but that is to be expected. Hells, Lovecraft's stories don't work for everyone either. On the flipside, the short duration of the narrative should lend itself well towards catching the interest of new readers, without losing them halfway. Dagon is easily "beatable" (as silly as the term is in this instance) in under an hour, even at a leisurely pace. And since the title is free (as is the bulk of HPL's work; you can read most of his stories on Wikisource, for example), there's honestly no reason not to dive in.

I will, however, present this caveat: You need to be in the right mindset to absorb the narrative and atmosphere. Rushing through it, or outside distractions, might take you out of the experience. Make sure to set aside a quiet hour, preferably in the evening or night when things quiet down outside, put on some headphones and lean back in your chair. Best to also turn off any secondary displays. Tunnel-vision on the experience for the greatest mileage, and maybe put aside the Trivia achievement hunt for a second playthrough, so as not to interrupt the story's flow too much by way of searching the environment.

Either way, though, I'm glad Dagon exists in this format, and hope the developers will find a worthwhile niche in this style of narrative experience - I'd certainly love to see more of this!

I honestly like this way of visualizing the story. It's atmospheric, and considering a lot of people struggle with HPL's writing on the page, this style might just be the trick to getting folks to actually diving into the stories as they are. The trivia bits are a great touch, too. I love that the team has obviously spent time researching HPL's life and literature, and references other third party literature on him. Lovecraft, in my opinion, gets a really bad reputation in the modern times because of how much of his writing and themes get taken out of context - or not even that, just how ignorant most people today are of the state of the times when he told his stories. His body of work spans decades, and many changes can be observed throughout, often related to changes in his personal life and environments. Having these trivia bits really helps giving the player an insight into the wider socio-political state of the world and the author's perspective. It's a great choice. I'd be confident in calling this game a "Virtual Installation", a term TotalBiscuit tried to coin way back in the day when games like Dear Esther and Gone Home were rising up. It's kind of like a guided museum tour - and in this case, I'm all for it. Illustrating these stories and conveying their atmosphere is one of the major points I look for in Mythos adaptations, and often, arbitrary gameplay loops just get in the way of the tension. It won't work for everyone - but that is to be expected. Hells, Lovecraft's stories don't work for everyone either. On the flipside, the short duration of the narrative should lend itself well towards catching the interest of new readers, without losing them halfway. Dagon is easily "beatable" (as silly as the term is in this instance) in under an hour, even at a leisurely pace. And since the title is free (as is the bulk of HPL's work; you can read most of his stories on Wikisource, for example), there's honestly no reason not to dive in. I will, however, present this caveat: You need to be in the right mindset to absorb the narrative and atmosphere. Rushing through it, or outside distractions, might take you out of the experience. Make sure to set aside a quiet hour, preferably in the evening or night when things quiet down outside, put on some headphones and lean back in your chair. Best to also turn off any secondary displays. Tunnel-vision on the experience for the greatest mileage, and [i]maybe[/i] put aside the Trivia achievement hunt for a second playthrough, so as not to interrupt the story's flow too much by way of searching the environment. Either way, though, I'm glad Dagon exists in this format, and hope the developers will find a worthwhile niche in this style of narrative experience - I'd certainly love to see more of this!