Celestianpower's review: Fox, Fowl and Feed

OK, so reading the relevant discussion, people don’t seem against having reviews here in theory, so I thought I’d start, and see what people think in practice. Spoilers will undoubtedly follow, so if you’re yet to play this game, please don’t read past this point.

I’ve XX’d the score, because that might change once I’ve played all of the games. Kind regards,
CP

I had no real problems with the implementation; most of what I tried worked well enough. There’s something to be said for keeping things simple, for not biting off more than you want to chew; were there an award for competent coding this would get a very nice score indeed. We’ve even got a pretty cute little xyzzy:

This is, in fact, the only game I’ve played so far (out of four zcode games) that I’ve actually enjoyed to any real degree. On the other hand, the main puzzle itself is worn and cliché, which Emily Short has expounded on quite negatively:

I’m afraid I agree. I can’t give this a low score because—frankly—it’s not by any means bad; it’s just there, hanging out, only worth playing at all because it takes less time and thought than watching the same Seinfeld rerun for the twentieth time.

Hmm, I guess you’re right. It’s just that I’m just used to obsessively coding literally everything I can possibly think of. I realise that’s ridiculous, but a few things like the rope-tye-ing could have been more elgant and less repetitive.

Well, I must say I disagree. If the “get the stuff accross the river” were one puzzle, that’s a different matter, but as it is, I think it works. That puzzle isn’t what makes the game fun and challenging, it’s just the premise.

Regards,
CP

Finally, I can read this post that’s been here almost from the beginning! :slight_smile:

I felt the way about this that I did about Wish, although this one is marginally more fun. It’s well constructed and a pleasure to play, so it deserves high marks. Yet it’s pretty short (even by the standards set forth) and not overly ambitious, so it doesn’t deserve marks as high as some of its peers. So, I ended up with a “pretty good” score – above average, but not rising to excellence.

CP, why no more reviews? I had hoped that you (and others) would post more here as the comp progressed.

Sorry, I was busy elsewhere. Apparently, I’ve only reviewed 5 games (though with beta-testing, games I couldn’t play or put down instantly, I got through about half).

CP