As I mentioned in my last post on Future Boy!, I was looking to play Finding Martin. I played it, and while I always get overwhelmed by vast games, I had a very favorable impression.
This game is very similar to Mulldoon Legacy, but not derivative of it. However, Mulldoon Legacy is 7 years older, and has 27 ratings, while Finding Martin had 1 rating until tonight.
Why did it get less coverage? Was something odd going on when it was released? It has a full walkthrough available on the author’s website (now archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20080516223332/http://www.qrivy.net/~gayla/fm_walk.txt). It was nominated for an XYZZY award. It just doesn’t make sense.
Especially because it does a couple of things so well: it handles time travel with multiple previous copies of yourself moving around; it has several coherent magic/tech systems, including one based on flavors; it has a strong plotline and strong puzzles, which is unusual; and it has a lot of in-game hint systems.
The main reason I could see it not being popular is player fatigue. I was following someone (maybe Peter P.?) who was playing through Mulldoon Legacy really eagerly, only to see them get worn down by huge swarms of puzzles. This game is pretty similar.
Anyways, I think a lot of these big puzzle fests need more recognition. Another one is Lydia’s Heart, which is a Lovecraftian game by a great author, and is about 2-3 times longer than Anchorhead, and much harder.