Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

[Flack]

The Commodore 64 version was a lot of fun to play, but the 16-bit versions (Amiga and Atari ST) and of course the browser version load more quickly and have better graphics. I wasn't able to find what feelies come inside the box, but if it's not too expensive, it would be a good game to own.

[Jizaboz]

Huh I’ll have to check this one out. Never heard of it!

[Flack]

I touched on this in the review, but there's a part in the game where it's pretty obvious you need some holy water. By that point you've found water, found something to put water in, and found the church. So you go to that place with all those things and then the preacher keeps telling you you're not doing things in the right order and it becomes obvious that if you've been to church a lot you might know what to do, and I didn't. The other place I got stuck I might have eventually guessed the right verb, but in the church I don't feel like I ever would have got it. YMMV.

[bryanb]

So I looked into buying the physical version of the Curse of Rabenstein. It seems to only be sold online by a European game store and ships from Germany. The total cost to get it to the US would be in the neighborhood of $40-$45 depending on what version of the game you get (the C64, Amiga, and Atari ST versions are the cheapest, the PC version is two euros more, and the Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum version is the most expensive). The feelies according to the store page include a necklace with a wooden cross, stickers, and a poster. You also get a MicroSD card with disk images of presumably all versions of the game in addition to the physical disks appropriate for your system and an 8 page manual.

I think we could potentially get a Jolt Country promotion going where the person who buys Robb's Atari ST will also receive a complimentary copy of Rabenstein. Hopefully my email to Polyplay will go over better than Flack's attempts to score some free Palo Alto Firefighters hot sauce did.

For now, I've just downloaded the game for free so I can see if I like it first. I could always spot Stefan Vogt a few marks via itch.io at some point even if I decide not to spring for a physical copy.

[bryanb]

So I managed to actually post a new review in the nick of time last night. The one review a month resolution continues! I wish February had more days...

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/01/31/alone-by-paul-michael-winters/

[Roody_Yogurt]

So I managed to actually post a new review in the nick of time last night. The one review a month resolution continues! I wish February had more days...

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/01/31/alone-by-paul-michael-winters/

Entertaining review! Good work!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

So I managed to actually post a new review in the nick of time last night. The one review a month resolution continues! I wish February had more days...

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/01/31/alone-by-paul-michael-winters/

It had been a long week and I was saving this (and saving myself going to Aardvark's web comic thread) for a pick me up. What a wonderful review. You made me want to play the game and your descriptions of it and experiences with it really sold me on it.

Sorry to all that I have not been around. We get into funks and waves round here.

[Roody_Yogurt]

Sorry to all that I have not been around. We get into funks and waves round here.

I definitely understand. Last week was rough for me, too (and me posting at all around here was a small attempt at changing things up). Here's to a sunnier future!

[bryanb]

Thanks Roody and Robb! I haven't gotten much feedback on the new site so your comments mean a lot to me.

I hear you guys on the funks and waves. Neverending Covid is a constant drag on the psyche that just adds on to whatever other problems and obstacles we're facing in life. I was thinking my resolution to write something every day would actually be easy so long as I just kept posting on JC regularly...then somehow I realized I'd let weeks go by without posting anything here. Keep up with the new posting regimen, Roody. The text adventures and Hugo bases need you, dammit. (As do as all the other bases.)

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I received boxed copies of S101 and S201 due to the IF Comp. So while I will need a walkthrough, I will commit to having an article about one of them for March.

[bryanb]

I received boxed copies of S101 and S201 due to the IF Comp. So while I will need a walkthrough, I will commit to having an article about one of them for March.

That will be awesome!

I wrote a new review just in the nick of time tonight to keep my monthly review pledge going. Yes, it's of a one room joke game, but what can I say...February is a short month. I might have mentioned that before. I'm going to really try my best to have a review up before the last day of March because this last minute stuff is starting to feel like college all over again.

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/02/28/amishville-by-jacob-amman-2002/

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I can't wait to read it!

I apologize for letting you down. I don't know where the days go.

[bryanb]

I can't wait to read it!

I apologize for letting you down. I don't know where the days go.

I totally understand. You haven't let me down. Whenever you or Flack write a review it's like Christmas for me, and you know you can't have Christmas every month! I'm happy to see any new content whenever it comes.

I'm worse off than you because I've kind of built a whole lifestyle around not having enough time to do anything unfortunately. Yesterday I took a long, hard look around the ol' living quarters and I wondered to myself just how everything had gotten so messy and dirty without me even noticing. Then it dawned on me. There was a pandemic so I no longer had any guests to welcome and at the exact same time I also suddenly stopped having enough time to do much cleaning. New goal: Clean in 2022!

[Roody_Yogurt]

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/02/28/amishville-by-jacob-amman-2002/

Great review! That Proud Boys comparison was brilliant. Man, I had forgotten all about that Amissville stuff.

[Tdarcos]

I totally understand. You haven't let me down. Whenever you or Flack write a review it's like Christmas for me, and you know you can't have Christmas every month!

"Sometimes I think you're just too good for me
Every day is Christmas and every night is New Year's Eve."
- Sade, The Sweetest Taboo

[bryanb]

I'm going to really try my best to have a review up before the last day of March because this last minute stuff is starting to feel like college all over again.

My best apparently wasn't good enough because I ended up having to post my review on the last day of the month again. The important thing is we've got a new review up! Albeit one I ran out of time to edit. Nonetheless, a new review!

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/03/31/a-rope-of-chalk-by-ryan-veeder-2020/

[Roody_Yogurt]

Nice review. With the exception of "Taco Fiction" (the humor didn't quite click with me. maybe I was not just yet ready for Veeder zaniness?), everything I've played by him has impressed me greatly, accomplishing things I never would have expected. The only reason I am not as voracious in playing his games as he is writing them is that I'm not specifically looking to have my mind blown on any given day. Unbelievable talent, though.

[bryanb]

Yeah Roody, I totally get why you might not want to play a Ryan Veeder game every week or month. They're definitely an experience. I'm probably going to finish all the 2020 IF Comp reviews I wanted to write by June so I recently decided to download a bunch of Veeder games I hadn't played yet onto an XP laptop that probably shouldn't still be connected to the Internet but nonetheless is. I started playing one and then had to stop myself. "Am I really ready to venture back into the Veederverse this soon?" queried I. Ultimately, I decided it was just too soon. My mind needed to rest and recuperate first before it could be blown again. Project RetroVeederBox is still a go, but I'm moving it to later in the year.

Veeder is definitely one of the most talented IF writers around and unbelievably prolific. I'm glad RFTK is a group project because we'll definitely need to combine our efforts just to keep up with him. I haven't had a primarily negative reaction to any of his games that I've played. They're all been interesting and memorable in some way. The thing is I don't think he's someone who is trying to write the perfect game. He aims for uniqueness above all else, even if that might make the game worse as a game or alienate portions of the audience. I'm not sure I'll ever give a Veeder game a 10, but it wouldn't surprise if he ends up with more 7s and 8s from me that any other IF writer I review which is still pretty damn good.

As a community, I think we often feel a sense of impending doom about our hobby. We were afraid no one would want to play games without graphics after Infocom collapsed. We were afraid no one would want to save the old games and create new games using parsers. Now we're afraid CYOA is going to sweep everything parser away and rewrite the understanding of what IF is even within our own community. What playing Paul Michael Winters and Ryan Veeder games recently has reminded me is that there are still young writers doing exciting work with parsers. The kids are alright, and it's going to be really interesting to see what they're going to come up with next. The hobby will probably be just fine even as it changes. Parsers and the people who love them will find a way to survive.

[bryanb]

I wrote a new review yesterday!

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/04/30/jay-schillings-edge-of-chaos-by-robb-sherwin-and-mike-sousa-2020-2/

This marks the first time two Trotting Krips have reviewed the same game on the new site (Flack reviewed Edge of Chaos last year) so this is a milestone. This also means that it's now officially Ben's turn to journey to the edge of...CHAOS!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

It has been a difficult year so far and I just wanted to say how truly thankful I am that you took the time to do that, Bryan. Man. What a nice thing to do. I have read it many times. All I've wanted with these things was to make people laugh and help people have a good impression towards a genre of game that meant and means a lot to me.

You have greatly improved my life this week with this. THANK YOU!