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X-Men: First Day at the Institute Reviews
Author: Captain Cranky Pants2000
Date: 2005
ADRIFT 4.0
What does AIF stand for? Adult Interactive Fiction.
If you likely to
be offended by games with sexual content, you are advised not
to open these
files.
Review by Grimm Sharlak
Basic Plot:
You are a mutant who has only recently acquired your powers. You have been sent
to Professor Xavier's School both for your education and to learn more
about using your
mutant powers. While there, you run into several popular X-Men: Psylocke,
Jubilee, Jean Grey, Storm, Emma Frost and even Mystique, as well as the school's
headmaster,
Professor Xavier, and Jean's husband Scott Summers. You spend time exploring the
school, learning more about how to use your powers, and of course getting down
and
dirty with all the mutants you can!
Overall Thoughts:
There's nothing like some pictures to grab your attention in an AIF game. Couple
it with a famous setting, and you've got quite a good gimmick. Luckily, beneath
the gimmick is
a classic AIF sex romp - what this community is sometimes lauded for but still
what we all enjoy.
Puzzles/Gameplay:
As is the case with many a sex romp, puzzles in FDatI are few and far between.
The ones that do exist are fairly straightforward, although one in particular
had people struggling
with the phrasing. However, I found it was more of a case of how to phrase the
task in a variety of ways when it was an awkward one to describe.
The majority of the gameplay is made up of hunting around the mansion, meeting
the various X-Men, and having sex with them. Outside of Professor Xavier, all
the characters
are female and can be interacted with to some degree. The idea is to simply find
what 'unlocks' each character. A pleasant little diversion to the main plot are
the bonus pictures, secreted around the mansion. This, coupled with the game
having not much plot and an ending that comes only when the player chooses,
shows that this game isn't meant to be a serious, plot-
driven piece of AIF but a fun romp with some dream women.
Sex:
Those who like to rub, lick and screw every body part on the planet or those
that don't like being lead through sex scenes probably won't enjoy the sex on
offer here. What is
here, however, is well written, hot sex. It is somewhat jarring to suddenly have
the game tell you 'now type this' but overall, the sex scenes are well done.
The only downfall with the sex is the lack of personality of the characters.
Storm likes it in the ass. Psylocke likes it rough. Jubilee will do everything
but have sex with you, and that's about it. While there are differences between
the characters, this reviewer cannot help but feel that there is more you could
do with characters with superpowers, especially Mystique, where the
possibilities are endless. However, some may also say that this level of depth
isn't necessary in such a game, and that would be valid also. But ah, the
potential!
Technical:
There are some slight issues with FDatI, but they are more annoyances than
anything else and there are certainly no game-killing bugs. Certainly, if you
stick to simply scoring the
characters rather than the pictures you more than likely will have no issues
whatsoever. The issues themselves are easily fixed ones (double items, vague
descriptions) so perhaps
a little more testing was warranted here.
Intangibles:
The potential of being able to turn invisible in an erotic game is almost
limitless, but is only used twice in the game, and the player cannot manually
choose to use their power.
Of course, the point here is to participate more than watch, but I don't think I
was the only one who started the game and was later disappointed at the small
amount of mutant
powers being thrown around. This harkens back to my comments about the sex, as
well.
Final Thoughts:
Captain Cranky Pants has written an enjoyable sex romp that delivers on all its
own goals; hot sex with some famous comic-book characters, with some eye-candy
to boot.
However, the less than perfect implementation and the wasted potential knock
this down a few notches.
Still, a fun game that is well worth your time.
Rating: B
Reviewed by A. Bomire
Overall Thoughts
As far as I know, this is the second game using the X-Men (the previous being
X-Men Evolution: Jean's Quest for Rogue's Nookie). I always feel these types of
games are risky,
simply because you are using characters with well-established personalities. You
run the risk of completely butchering them for fans of the series (such as
myself), or not defining
them well enough for people who are not fans. (Side note: As a big Marvel comics
fan, I have resigned myself to constant butchering of long beloved characters,
thanks to the
entertainment industry's constant "re-imagining". But I digress.) I think
Captain Cranky Pants has done a decent job of presenting the characters, with
artistic license regarding
their libidos. I think this is because of the limited interaction you have. The
mutant characters basically show up for their scenes, and then disappear into
the ether (or into
locked and inaccessible rooms). This saves Captain Cranky Pants from having to
come up with endless responses to player inquiries, while still providing
necessary interaction
with the characters. I feel it keeps the characters from becoming stale, while
still giving the player a taste of their personalities.
Puzzles/Game play:
The game overall is pretty linear. You solve certain puzzles, which not only
"unlock" characters for sexual interaction but also open the way to explore more
sections of the
game and thus interact with additional characters. For the most part, the
puzzles are not too hard. Some of them are a little difficult not because of the
puzzle, but due to oddly
phrased commands. For example, there is a lever in the game behind a wall of
fire. The puzzle is to figure out how to move the lever without burning yourself
or any objects you
try to use. A decent puzzle, yet you can "push lever" or "pull lever" without
any problems. The game simply responds that this doesn't accomplish anything. I
spent a lot
of time playing with different variations on this command before I realized that
I was on the wrong track. There are a couple of oddities such as this within the
game, but it isn't
too difficult to get through.
For each female character encountered, Captain Cranky Pants has included a
picture of that character. He has also included 20 "bonus" pictures that depict
scenes and encounters
that have nothing to do with the game, other than that they deal with X-Men
characters. Some of these may be copyrighted material, but I'll let the Captain
worry about that.
However, it does explain why the game is as large as it is.
Sex:
Captain Crank Pants uses a non-standard method of writing his sex scenes.
Instead of having every female partner respond to every type of command ("rub
tits", "lick tits",
etc), they only respond to a very small subset of commands. Those commands are
usually listed within the context of the scene. This is not a bad way of doing
it, as every author
(and player) has run into the tedium of repeated descriptions of mundane sexual
encounters. He has concentrated on just a few encounters for each person (with
the
exception of one, who is more fully described). Players looking to try
everything with everybody will be disappointed, but I think he did a good job
with the way it is done.
There is one scene which takes place between yourself and someone who is
confined. Although it is clear from the text that any sexual interaction between
yourself and this
person is mutually enjoyed (thus I rated it as BDSM instead of Torture), some
players may find this sort of interaction distasteful.
Technical:
There are a few technical glitches, such as the one I outlined in the
Puzzles/Game play section. There are a few misspellings and grammar errors, but
not enough to make it
completely unplayable. With the way the sex scenes are done, the actual body
parts available to the player differs from female to female, which is a little
inconsistent. You
sometimes have to just try a sex command to see if it will work. Overall, the
game plays well, and none of the errors are too horrible.
Final Thoughts:
This game has a pretty unique feel to it. It actually reminds me of some of the
older AGT games in its playing style, with its unique commands and varying body
parts. This is
similar to Captain Cranky Pants' previous game, Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach
Sex. Despite the oddity of some of the game play, I think I like the way he has
done this.
Granted, I prefer a more fully implemented sexual encounter, but not if you end
up with 10 carbon-copy descriptions with only the name changed. Overall, I think
most players
will enjoy this short - but interesting - game, if only for the novelty of the
way it is implemented.
Rating: C+
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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