Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

bryanb wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 9:29 am 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!
Also, I had no idea that Dr. Doolittle was about a guy that could speak to pets! I was not under any illusion that we invented that - I am sure it is a poorly written article on tvtropes.org - but I also didn't know that Eddie Murphy was talking to pets in movies. Huh!
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Flack »

God, I probably saw the original (1967) version of Dr. Doolittle a hundred times. It was on one of the first three or four VHS tapes we owned along with Pete's Dragon, Willy Wonka, and the Apple Dumpling Gang. The original Dr. Doolittle was about a guy who actually learned every animal language. It was also a musical. In the Eddie Murphy remake, I think he was born with a special gift or something. I did not see the most recent (Robert Downey Jr.) remake so I don't know which backstory it used. Based on the trailer, if you like talking CGI animals, yo gonna luv it!
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Also, since Bryan has made it now 4 or 5 months in a row with an update, it is my job to do a review on 5/15. I will say this, I am struggling to have things to say about games:

- Started Taco Fiction. It is delightful! I got stuck. I didn't consult hints yet.
- I started Varicella, the Adam Cadre game I have been "saving" forever because I had an idea he wouldn't keep making them forever. The presentation is incredible. He says more about manicures in the first three moves than most games say about anything. Then somehow Winfrotz died on me.
- I started Spellcasting 101 with the idea of finishing it, but got wind of the middle section of the game which MIGHT sound tedious.

I dunno. I genuinely like these games but I feel a responsibility to finish them. Maybe I just get a walkthrough. I don't finish any games, really, so this is not something unique to IF.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by pinback »

I played So Far twice, and got to the same place both times and got stuck both times and gave up both times. I think walkthroughs are the way to do this.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

pinback wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 8:54 am I played So Far twice, and got to the same place both times and got stuck both times and gave up both times. I think walkthroughs are the way to do this.
The 50 Years of Text Games articles by Aaron Reed also makes me really want to play Plundered Hearts. I genuinely want to play these games.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Jizaboz »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 2:46 pm
pinback wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 8:54 am I played So Far twice, and got to the same place both times and got stuck both times and gave up both times. I think walkthroughs are the way to do this.
The 50 Years of Text Games articles by Aaron Reed also makes me really want to play Plundered Hearts. I genuinely want to play these games.
Plundered Hearts I played over Club Floyd one evening. Not my favorite Infocom game, but still cool. Then again, I like most anything with pirates.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by bryanb »

My advice for getting reviews done (relatively) quickly is to pick games that are relatively easy and short. The Comp always has some like that each year. I've always struggled to write reviews of bigger games even though my favorite games mostly fall into that category. To adequately cover one of the behemoths of our genre, you have to really be able to condense your thoughts and experiences and focus on the big picture which isn't really my forte. Hopefully I'll get better at it because I still want to review at least one Infocom game this year.

It might even turn out to be Plundered Hearts! I still feel guilty over some of the misogynistic stuff I've said about that game over the years and feel the need to make some form of penance to make up for it like actually playing the game from beginning to end for once. Hopefully the game in practice won't actually involve as much pirate cock as I've always feared it would. Bigger is definitely not always better when it comes to certain kinds of adventures.

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

I read the Dr. Dolittle book when I was a kid. The only thing I remember about it is that snuff tobacco was mentioned a lot, and it's always kind of funny when children's literature has some vice at the heart of it.

I'm also in the pro-walkthrough camp and resort to them in most cases.

I like Plundered Hearts a lot, and there's a decent chance that you'll be able to beat it without a walkthrough (I can't remember if I did, but if I didn't, it was still very close). You'll definitely need to keep the game's documentation/feelies on hand, though, for some important information.

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I know I have made promises that I haven't been able to keep. But Bryan if you are able to covert the end of this month I promise I won't let you down and I'll have an article ready for mid-next-month, June 15th. I look forward to these every month my friend.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

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Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 12:07 pm I know I have made promises that I haven't been able to keep. But Bryan if you are able to covert the end of this month I promise I won't let you down and I'll have an article ready for mid-next-month, June 15th. I look forward to these every month my friend.
No worries, I''m already working on this month's review which should be finished shortly. I think my resolution means I have to post a review every month even if another Trotting Krip writes a review so I never even considered skipping the month...well, OK, I did think about it briefly, but I'm refocused, recharged, and generally back on track now. This means we'll actually be deluging readers with content in June! Planet-IF may never be the same again.

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

This is a promise I really want to keep. Right now the contenders are Varicella and the new game Tristam Island.

This is the itch.io page for Tristam: https://hlabrande.itch.io/tristam-island

That one at least gets me on the MiSTer device.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by bryanb »

Both options would be really cool. I feel like I was more critical of Varicella when it came out than most people, but it was still a good game that I still have distinct memories of playing even though I haven't touched it in 20 years. It was a genuinely exciting thing when a new Adam Cadre game came out back in the day. You knew you had to play it because those were the games that could define and had the power to change the medium. I haven't played or heard of Tristam Island before, but it sounds really cool too. Despite being the guy who literally invented Commercial Text Adventures Month, I don't do a good job of keeping up with the itch.io releases and that needs to change. Itch is quickly becoming a hub for commercial and free IF.

My one critique of Tristam Island's presentation is I wish the author wouldn't compare the game to Infocom right off the bat. We've all been burned by games that claimed they were Infocom-level but turned out to be a little lacking. The other thing that annoys me is that just about any game with mild horror themes immediately gets compared to Anchorhead. I'm now mentally prepared that any game that gets compared to Anchorhead will end up being nothing like it. You could at least throw in a tentacle or two, guys.

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by bryanb »

I've initiated RFTK's coverage of Spring Thing 2021 with a new review!

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/ ... ella-2021/

I'll have some more things to say about Spring Thing games in the thread Jizaboz started and hopefully in future reviews as well. ParserComp starts in a month!

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I am so sorry.

I am in the process of escaping depression.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by bryanb »

No problem...your mental health is definitely more important. Ideally I want RFTK to be something that's good for our respective mental states so let's not put too much pressure on ourselves and make something that should be fun into an unpaid job. Come to think of it, we were always really bad at meeting deadlines. With RFTK 1.0, slapping a date on some future content meant Robb and I would be at least a month late to come up with something and Ben would end up not writing anything at all. It's tradition! (By the way, I'm totally looking forward to Ben's Lurking Horror review on August 8th.)

I'm in a semi-panic myself at the moment because I have no idea what game I'm going to write about this month. It might have to be another one room joke game unfortunately, but I'm not even sure which one of those I should cover next.

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by pinback »

I have been in the process of escaping depression for 35+ years. Shouldn't be long now, though! Lemme just get the store security tag off these new sneakers and I'll be ready to go.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by bryanb »

Reading about Robb and Ben's experiences with depression has inspired me to start work on a new RFTK essay tentatively entitled, "Text Adventures That Keep Me From Ending It All."

Seriously though, guys, if either of you ever feel like reaching out you've both got my email -- RetroRomper made damn sure of that. We'll kick depression's shapely little ass TOGETHER!

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

bryanb wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:15 pm Reading about Robb and Ben's experiences with depression has inspired me to start work on a new RFTK essay tentatively entitled, "Text Adventures That Keep Me From Ending It All."

Seriously though, guys, if either of you ever feel like reaching out you've both got my email -- RetroRomper made damn sure of that. We'll kick depression's shapely little ass TOGETHER!
I am happy to report my depression is CURED and all it took was not working tons of extra hours and worrying about work for a couple weeks.

Thank-you all for your support on my journey through this. I am good now.
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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

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Well, I managed to get a June review done in the nick of time. I did end up reviewing another one room game, but at least it's not a one room joke game. I'm hoping this will be my last last minute review for the year because we've got ParserComp starting this month and IF Comp starting in October. Also, I only ended up playing like two Spring Thing games so I hope to go back and check more of those out at some point.

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/ ... inen-1998/

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Re: Reviews From Trotting Krips -- The Official Unofficial Relaunch

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

There's fresh Krips from Bryan B!!!

http://trottingkrips.caltrops.com/2021/ ... ooke-2021/
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