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DELRON
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Malaise Reviews
Author:
A. Ninny
Date: 2006
TADS
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.
Reviewed by Grimm Sharlak
Basic Plot:
This sequel to the classic Moist finds the player returning to the Queen
Morghana’s castle, this time by invitation, to attempt to lift a curse that has
befallen it’s inhabitants. Ever since the earthquake that occurred at the
beginning of Moist, there have been no further visitors, and the four ladies
therein are trapped, unless you can put a stop to the decay and give the ladies
something they haven’t had in a long time…
Overall Thoughts:
Moist is a classic in the AIF genre, and as such A. Ninny is taking on quite a
challenge. While he has full permission from the original author, Scarlet
Herring, the real question is will this game live up to the original in the eyes
of the AIF community, especially considering that the first game came out over a
decade ago.
Puzzles/Gameplay:
When you first enter the castle, you find an empire that has fallen. Dust coats
every surface, the women you can find are either lackadaisical, neurotic or in
the case of the maid, practically
zombies. Your task seems quite daunting at first; even the Queen herself can
barely give you any hints, unable to get out of bed.
The structure of the game is fairly straightforward; solve the problems of each
of the Queen’s retainers and pleasure them so they can recommend you to the
Queen, just like the first Moist.
However, in this case you’re freeing each from their own problems, rather than
just trying to impress the Queen, giving each puzzle a little more weight. That
each character is an old favourite
to someone encourages the player even more.
The puzzles are never too taxing, with logical steps and logical outcomes. The
only area I truly had trouble with was Kim’s craps game, but that was more due
to me diving in headfirst rather than looking things over. They may have to take
away my AIF Game Reviewer badge when they found out that prodigious abuse of the
UNDO command got me through that one…
However, this ease of the puzzles mean that the game time is short, which is in
keeping with the original game.
Sex:
The sex in Malaise is an interesting experience, while it mostly takes the form
of straight up male-female scenes you’d see in most AIF, A. Ninny has programmed
the player with a dildo and
vibrator from the outset, adding some extra options to each scene. Not to
mention the scenes with Ilsa, the Queen’s bodyguard!
Speaking of Ilsa, the only gripe with the sex scenes comes from the occasional
lack of interactivity. At certain points with the Queen, and definitely with
Ilsa, the player loses all control of the
situation and it becomes more like reading erotic fiction than playing a game,
especially after the fifth time in a row that you’re told that your input is
ignored. This may irk some players whose main attraction to AIF is to direct the
scene, but that’s not to say these scenes aren’t well written or enjoyable.
Technical:
Over the course of reviewing this course, I had the opportunity to play both the
pre-release version and all subsequent release versions. Needless to say, every
time I came across a bug, it was
resolved in short order. In the end, while the pre-release version still had the
occasional bug (none that were game-stopping) version 1.2 is practically bug
free.
Intangibles:
I would recommend that if you have not played Moist in a while, or have a memory
as terrible as mine, to play the two games back-to-back. A lot of Malaise’s
appeal comes from recognisable
characters and settings, so playing them one after another will not only help
this, but may aid you in a puzzle or two as well.
Speaking of puzzles, the hint system is similar to Moist’s in that each hint is
encrypted. While this may frustrate the impatient player, the encryption is
quite simple, and after a little while you should be able to recognize certain
common letters easily.
Final Thoughts:
In the end, Malaise is a worthy sequel to Moist. It’s certainly not trying to
break the mould, both in regards to the original game and AIF in general, but
everything it attempts it does well. An
enjoyable game that’s highly recommended for both those who have played the
original and those that haven’t.
Rating: A
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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