An IFComp 2021 game, IFDB. I just didn't particularly enjoy this one. Although it's got more of a classic parser-game design, it felt like there were lots of red herrings in room descriptions, but then not enough hinting about how to engage with the game. After reading the walkthrough to even make it to a bad ending, I'm not interested in playing again. Definitely more effort in the worldbuilding here and the libretto scene was neat, but very rough edges.

I rated it 4 of 10.

+1 No distracting bugs
+1 Effective prose
+1 Well-sketched setting
+1 Memorable character(s)

I wrote on intfiction.org:

Multitudes starts as a murder mystery and gradually turns into more of a ghost story. There’s a great idea at the heart (sorry) of this story, a horrorpunk twist that is my favorite bit of worldbuilding in the game, and might be right at home in Fallen London.

Unfortunately I didn’t find the trip to that twist very engaging. To be honest, I’m a little puzzled by this. On its surface Multitudes has things I want from a parser game: A good-sized map over a coherent setting; several distinctive characters that move around as the story progresses, even a game-specific verb (the masks) that’s used throughout. There’s even a nice automap to help with navigation. So why did I bounce off of this?

For one thing, I found it a bit overwhelming. Is this an unfair complaint? Lots of classic games are overwhelming, and to some degree this is probably the author’s intent. You are set loose with access to most of the map from the start, with a directive to find other passengers, and I love the freedom. But for some reason I found the world difficult to digest as a player. For example, a room description from early in the game:

You are in Mid Deck.
You can see Charlotte Wistemmen.
You can go down, up, south, southwest, west, east or southeast.

The mid deck is swathed in the most opulent materials, as many of the illustrious passengers spend their recreational time here. The walls are covered in gilded boiserie and thick crimson carpet cushions the linoleum hallways. Windows covered by velvet curtains look out onto the sea, and above the staircase leading to the upper decks hangs a grand portrait of the Prizessin Anna Alexia herself, the girl after whom the ship is named.

Going up or down will lead to the upper and lower decks, respectively. To the west is the Library, while the Dark Room for guests to develop photographs sits in the south west. To the east is gymnasium, and the game parlor occupies a room off the south east corridor. Finally, the rooms of the ship’s staff such as the maids, the chefs, and so on, is located to the south.

This could be the third room you see. There are a lot of exits, and this isn’t unusual; the rooms above and below this one also have exits in many directions. You’ll be moving through these spaces a lot, and getting your bearings is a demanding challenge; I found myself repeatedly walking into the wrong room and back out to the atria, and subsequently wishing for a “go to” verb. There’s also a density of information on our first visit. The ship being named after Anna is important; so is the dark room. Not so much the carpet or curtains, or even the sea. In retrospect, I’d have liked it if the game hid some of these details from the room description until I explored them myself: Charlotte’s name, the subject of the portrait, perhaps where some of the exits lead. It’s in-fiction that my character knows these things, but as a player it might have helped me keep track of what I still need to explore.

Later I found myself confused about what order I had to talk to the characters in, having a hard time finding key items because I didn’t “look under” things, and I seemed to lock myself into a “bad” ending without realizing it. Maybe I missed something really important? Looking at the walkthrough later I don’t recall anything in the game that would have hinted at cutting out the tongue’s corpse; what would I use it for? The masks didn’t seem to have as much influence on characters as I expected, either.

So maybe this comes down to taste, but I wanted the game to more actively nudge me towards the best bits. That indirect-control part of game design is often invisible when it’s done well, but when it’s missing the player starts bumping into the “flat” parts of the scenery.

As a parting note, I loved performing the duet - that was my favorite scene, even though I didn’t read the libretto ahead of time. It was a memorable moment and a really strong narrative beat. Also I want to know more about this world of ships powered by stolen hearts. Thanks Wongalot!