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Bringing the Rain Reviews
Author: Lumin
Date: 2009
ADRIFT 4.0

Reviewed by Rob Roy

SCORING: 79.69% (out of 100)

Did you finish the game? Why or why not?

Yes.

WRITING: Score (out of 5 each) (Weight/Relevance)
4.5 (Three-Quarters' Weight)
flow / quality / quantity

Technical Aspects: 5 (Quarter-Weight)
spelling / grammar

Writing, Overall: 4.75 (Relevant)

Do you have any comments about the writing (flow, quantity, style, technical aspects, etc...)?

Fantastic decriptions.

GAMEPLAY: Score (out of 5 each) (Weight/Relevance)
Puzzles: 3.5 (Half-Weight)
fair / interesting / etc.

Enjoyment Level: 4 (Half-Weight)
fun? gripping? etc.

Gameplay, Overall: 3.75 (Relevant)

Any comments about the gameplay (puzzles, enjoyment level, interest level, etc…)?

I felt engaged by the story and wanted to see how it ended. I would have liked to see some kind of actual confrontation with the witch in order to free Rain.

SETUP: Score (out of 5 each) (Weight/Relevance)
Completeness: 2.5 (Half-Weight)
descs / cmnds covered

Presentation: 2.5 (Half-Weight)
setup / style / graphics

Setup, Overall: 2.5 (Relevant)

Setup comments (descriptions, commands covered, presentation, etc…) or other comments?

Lots of items mentioned in room description with no interactivity, not even an examine. I ran into a glitch in the cellar, one that was a game-stopper. Only by accident did I knock on the front door, but I was in the cellar and thought I was knocking on the cellar door at the top of the stairs. When I went back and tried to knock on the front door the normal way, I found no way of actually getting to the front door.

OTHER: Score (out of 5 each) (Weight/Relevance)

Competition (If Applicable): 5 (Full Weight)
kept rules / spirit of comp

Other, Overall: 5 (Relevant)

What did you most dislike about the game, and how could this be improved?

Gotta have descriptions for anything the player can interact with.

What did you like best about the game?

The story was mythical. It set up a legendary-style journey.

Any other comments?

None.
Reviewed by Anonymous

1. What was your initial impression of the game, when you first opened it up, and how did the game compare?

Well written. The game compared well, as the rest of it is well written too.

2. How did the author do within the restrictions?

The lack of implimentation detracts from the writing. The lovely writing isn't supported by objects, which (a) kept jerking me out of the game and (b) made it harder to complete simply because it was harder to work out what to interact with. There was a lot more trial and error.

This was ultimately caused by the restrictions, but the author didn't help and it makes the game feel like it is a bigger game curtailed by the limitations of the competition, rather than a game made within the parameters of the competition.

3. How were the puzzles and/or storyline?

Storyline good; puzzles suffered from some GTV and aforementioned which-object-should-I-be-interacting-with confusion.

4. What did you like best about the game?

The writing.

5. What did you like least about the game, and how could this be fixed?

Impliment more objects; fix the gtv for the tasks - for example, the symbols are called symbols up until the point when you walk on them when they become runes.

6. What stood out most to you from/about this game?

cf. 4

7. How did this game compare with the others in the competition and/or what set it apart?

It was at least as well written as attack of the stupid name, and plays better than perspectives.

Any other comments?

No thank-you.
Reviewed by Abbi Park

1. What was your initial impression of the game, when you first opened it up, and how did the game compare?
I expected a good, small story in which the main character would have to find a way to bring the rain back. Yep!

2. How did the author do within the restrictions?
Pretty well. Some unimplemented objects could've been handled better, but otherwise good. The mountain path all being in one room was interesting, and I was wondering about it at first, but it worked, so, hey. No problem.

3. How were the puzzles and/or storyline?
Good. At one point, I had to look in the generator just because I hadn't realized a certain thing had actually been implemented (which is one problem with having so many unimplemented objects). But that wasn't the author's fault. It was small, and good.

4. What did you like best about the game?
I found the most interesting part to be the characters at the top of the mountain. And I liked the story.

5. What did you like least about the game, and how could this be fixed?
A few typos... could be fixed easily; nothing major on that count. I got a bit confused in the house, since I had the map turned on, but maybe that was just me. Some guess-the-verb, but not too bad since I figured it out fairly quickly.

6. What stood out most to you from/about this game?
The story, and the aforementioned characters.

7. How did this game compare with the others in the competition and/or what set it apart?
It felt the... nicest. Just, all around, nice. Could only say that for certain parts of the others, but here, you're trying to help throughout. And it's a nice story, too.

Any other comments?
Not really. I could say "nice" again, but I think that would be considered overly redundant.

 Reviewed by Sam Kabo Ashwell
Bringing the Rain was written under the narrow coding restraints of the ADRIFT EvenComp. (In this case, 8 rooms, 12 objects, 14 tasks, 2 events and 4 characters.) It tackles these restraints with a heavily linear structure and essentials-only approach to scenery, thus managing to get in a rather longer plot than the constraints would normally support. 

It's a fantasy quest minus the swords, a third-son kind of story. Your town is suffering a prolonged drought, the witch Melda is holding the town to ransom, and you need to bring the rain back. 

At its outset, the game presents you with two courses of action: investigating Melda, or going straight to Feather Mountain. If you go to Feather Mountain first, the story assumes that you've already taken the other path and found an important item. The bug isn't fatal, but it is pretty disruptive. Travel is often described in static room descriptions, and room descriptions don't reflect things you've taken or destroyed. Scenery implementation is very limited; this is largely due to the comp constraints, but it does make for a moderate amount of pointless frustration. Apart from this, the correct action is usually obvious and the story flows easily. 

The writing is competent but not striking, and the story feels much the same way. It's a very basic plot; that isn't inherently a bad thing, but I came away feeling unsatisfied. Having conceived of its basic story, Bringing the Rain doesn't really add anything to it; the wicked witch is as wicked as you'd expect, the protagonist is thinly characterised, the challenges are unchallenging. I began to be a little irritated with the wicked-witch-is-wicked plot, but it's fairly clear that the story isn't interested in trying to make any kind of ethical point. Everything feels adequate and un-elaborated, which is acceptable in individual elements as long as they're in service to something. In this case, I think the author's interest lies in big dramatic spectacle: the great avalanche, the exhilaration of flight, the elemental power and beauty of the gryphons. This is a difficult kind of effect to render in a non-graphical format, particularly an interactive one; if the most interesting elements of an IF piece are in the cut scenes, it's worth considering whether it needs to be IF.

Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.

 

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