GAME REVIEW: Grace's Diary

Grace's Diary is an interactive visual novel by Hima that follows a young girl by the name of Grace as she attempts to save her friend, Natalie, from what appears to be a very abusive relationship with a young man named Ken.

During the game the player is given the opportunity to explore Grace's room, pointing and clicking on different items in an effort to stir up memories and collect information necessary to aid Grace in reaching out to and helping her friend.

The items collected directly influence the end results as well as educating the player as to the warning signs to look out for if you suspect someone you know may be in an abusive relationship as well as the steps that can be taken to try to help someone unfortunate enough to end up in an abusive relationship.

After a quick play-through I can honestly see why this game won first prize in the 2010 Life. Love. Game Design Challenge. It's elegant in its simplicity, educational, relatable and absolutely beautiful. The art and the music used within the game are just beyond words. I truly could not be more in love with this game if I tried.

I'd recommend everybody try it at least once - it's nowhere near time consuming and it's definitely getting across a message that I, as a survivor of domestic violence, believe really needs to be heard by the younger generation.

To play this wonderful game click here: http://jenniferann.org.p8.hostingprod.com/2010-game-first-place.htm
Alternatively you can preview the game play in the YouTube video below:

WALKTHROUGH: One Night 2: The Beyond (No Spoilers!)

Download this free game @ : http://rpgmaker.net/games/1144/

Note: I have not included any spoilers or mentions of jump-scares within this walkthrough because, let's face it, this is a horror game and what is a horror game without surprises? Also, if you're looking for a certain item or key feel free to ctrl + f with the name of the item to skip any unnecessary stuff. 

You'll begin the game in the front-most section of the mansion. Having realised that the front door has locked behind them your character will endeavour to find another way out. Pick up the tonic on the desk to your right - items in this game tend to sparkle so it's literally almost impossible to miss - and then proceed to try the only other door in the room. 

After a quick explanation of your character's "strength" feature you can choose to break down this door and proceed into the main area of the mansion. 

There is a "hasty note" on a table to the right. This is not essential for gameplay but, as with a few documents in this game, does add to the overall experience of gameplay so I'd suggest giving it a once over if you want to get a better idea of what's been happening in the mansion prior to your characters arrival. 

Now enter the first door on your left which will lead you into a hallway. Enter the first door on your left and pick up the "Red Journal". This will inform you that the key for the closet in the room further along is, in fact, in the piano room. 

To get to the piano room exit the room and then head straight back out and into the main area. Walk north and you'll find a set of double-doors that you can break through. Do so to enter the piano room where you will find the "closet key" on the red sofa to one side of the piano. The piano stool will sparkle but it is not necessary to collect anything else from this room yet so head back down into the main area and back into the first hallway on your left upon entering. Head to the second room along the hall.

In this room you will find a closet and a bed with a small teddy bear atop it. Use the "closet key" on the closet and retrieve the "backroom key". Upon attempting to exit you will be attacked by the teddy bear. Defeat it and then head back into the main area. 

This is where you will bump into your character counterpart - John or Sara - depending on which character you're playing as. Finish chatting with them and then head straight up and back into the piano room. Towards the back of the room you'll notice a "tonic" in a cupboard. Pick that up and then use the "backroom key" on the locked door to one side of it and proceed into the backroom. 

In this room you'll find a "medical kit" in one of the open crates and a "mixing list" on the bench on the right-hand side. Proceed into the next room and head as far left as you are able until you see an item sparkle, collect the item - "Shadow Tome 1" - and then head back towards the exit and into the first room on your right to solve your first riddle.

The chest in this room needs a combination and everything you need to figure our said combination is included in the "mixing list" you picked up earlier. The number of serves in the three different drink recipes signify the order in which the code is to be entered - serves 1 being the first, serves 2 the second and serves 3 the third. Towards the bottom of the recipes you'll notice there are two amounts to be added together. The sum of these two amounts is your code. 

Puzzle Solution: 
The codes are 359, 503 & 437

You will collect the "heart key" from the chest having solved the puzzle. Return to the main area and use the "heart key" on the door down the stairs and to the right-hand side. Proceed down the hall, stopping only to pick up a "medical kit" from the shelf on your left before heading into the next room. 

Collect "tonic" from fridge. Break down the door opposite, head down the stairs in the next room and collect the "Shadow Tome 2" from the crate at the bottom before breaking down the next door and continuing on. In this room you will find a "medical kit" in an open crate to the left-hand side and a rope sitting beneath the hanged man on the right-hand side.

As soon as you've picked up the rope and moved away you will be attacked by the hanged man. Defeat him and pick up the "Suicide Note" he drops. 

Leave this room, head back up the stairs and straight through the door next to the fridge. This will lead into a dining room. Proceed passed the dining table and through the door north of it. In this room you will see a basin of water. Splash your face and restore your life/strength points. Save if need be. 

Note: To get the "Good" ending you can only save a maximum of 3 times so choose when/where to save very carefully because it is a relatively long game and depending on which character you've decided to play as it can be relatively easy to die.

Leave this room now, head back down through the dining room and back into the room with the fridge. Now head back into the hallway you first came in from, head down it and then turn right and enter the first room on your right. You will notice that there's a hole in the floor. Walk up to it and use your "rope" to collect a "golden locket". 

Upon exiting you'll notice that there's a room right next to the one you've just come out at - at the very end of the hall - break the door down and enter. Then force the draw and retrieve the revolver. This will come in handy when you have the "library key". Leave the room and go straight back to the room with the basin/save point. You'll notice a statue sparkling in the far right room. 

Use the "golden locket" on it and this will open the trapdoor above the ladder. Head up the ladder for your next puzzle. Collect the "maths book" from the wardrobe and read through it for your next puzzle. 

Puzzle Solution:
Jack is 8 and Diane is 6.

Enter the combination into the chest and receive the "sphere key". Exit this section back into the main area and head back into the corridor opposite. Follow it along until you reach the locked door at the very end of the corridor and use the "sphere key". Proceed through the next room, into the garden and follow the blood-splattered trail until you reach the guest cottage. Break down the door to enter. 

Head into the room on the far left and pick up the "scripture" on the right-hand side of the room for your next puzzle. Read the "scripture". The first section tells to you that "up" and "down" will lead you to the answers you're looking for. This is literal. You're looking for the words within the "scripture" that are directly above the word "up" and below the word "down".

Puzzle Solution:
ones, the, those, sky

After solving this puzzle you'll receive a "music sheet". Defeat the two enemies that jump out and head out of this room for a brief scene with your character counterpart. Once this is finished head to the room on the right-hand side and break down the door. In this room you'll find a "notebook" next to a corpse and a "bullet" in a drawer. Upon collecting these two head back into the house and back to the piano room. 

Use the "music sheet" on the piano and receive the "library key". Head back into the main area, down the stairs and into the door on the right-hand side. The library will be the first room you hit along that hallway so use the "library key" on the door to enter. Collect the "tonic" and "clipping" and then head towards the next room. The door is locked with a padlock. Use the "bullet" in your item menu and then use the "revolver" to shoot of the padlock and enter the next room.

Collect the "History Book". Force the drawer and collect the "wrench". Head back out into the garden, find the well and use the "wrench" on it. This will allow you to climb into the well where you'll find a basin to restore your health/strength. Continue on through the well until you reach a door. Break it open and continue into the next room. Collect a "business card" on the far right-hand side and cross the bridge. Break open the door, head into the room and collect the "tonic" and "medical kit". Now have a look at the "business card" and solve the algorithm on it to get your next code. 

Puzzle Solution:
21

You now have the "skull key". Upon leaving this room you will face another enemy. Defeat him. Leave the well and head to the main area of the house again. The "skull key" unlocked both doors in the top section. Head through the left one first, follow the corridor around the corner and collect the "dormitory key" from the shelf near the corridors end. Turn around and head into the first room on your right - it'll be the only one of the two in the corridor accessible - to collect the "screwdriver" and "Shadow Tome 4". 

Head back into the main area and unlock the corridor opposite with the "skull key". Head north and collect the "medical kit" before breaking open the door opposite. Use the "screwdriver" on the stone plaque in the centre of the north wall to receive "debris". Three enemies will appear when you try to leave. Defeat them and then  head back to the guest cabin in the garden. Use the "dormitory key" on the door on the northern most wall. Proceed straight into the room adjoining and collect the "pamphlet". Slide the chest near the broken blue lines on the left-hand wall north to collect the "greenhouse key" before returning to the garden. 

Find the well again and head north to locate the greenhouse. Collect the "medical kit" from the barrel to one side of the entrance and then use the "greenhouse key" to enter. Collect the "hatchet" and exit back into the garden, heading east until you hit a big gnarled-looking tree. Use the "hatchet" and proceed into the next area where you will be asked to find different plaques and take note of the words within them to solve a puzzle further into the labyrinth. 

Puzzle Solution: 
evil, creatures, devour, souls

Collect the "sitting room key" and enter the house. You're headed for the top-left corridor in the main area and you want to unlock the door opposite to the room in which you found the man who appeared to have shot himself and the "screwdriver". Upon entry collect the "ancient lore scroll" and use the "debris" to open the drawer and collect the "ornate key". Head back out to get yet another scene with your counterpart before using the "ornate key" to unlock the control room from which they appear to have just exited. 

Collect "Mairstone's Diary". Use the console on the left-hand side and select the "Forgot my password" option to receive your next puzzle which is pretty straight-forward.

Puzzle Solution:
6389

Now head to the basement - the room in which you encountered the hanged man and found the "rope" - and through the now open trap door. You're getting pretty far into the game so if you haven't saved yet this is probably where I'd recommend you do. Follow the mines south until you reach a door blocked by debris. Move the debris to access the next area. Collect "Jim's note" and proceed into the next area. Enter the first door on your left and use the "screwdriver" on the cabinet to retrieve the "freight key".

Exit the room and follow the hallway to the end, entering the last door on your right and using the "freight key" on the control panel on the far right-hand side of the top section of this room. Collect the "stairwell key" from the lower section of the room and exit back into the hall. Use the "stairwell key" to unlock the door at the very end of the hall. Collect the "tonic" and then follow the hallway through until you reach a laboratory with a skeleton in it. On the northern side of the right-hand corner of the room you'll find a list of three possible codes if you investigate. Exit back into the hall and use one of these codes on the control panel to the side of the door on your right. 

Puzzle Solution: 
7813

Enter this room and begin to push the big metal chest out of this room, across the hall and into the room opposite. Enter the room after it and push it into the lower section of the room via the stairs before pushing it all the way to the left and onto the yellow and black stripes. Head back to the control panel where we used the "freight key" and push the button. You will now be able to walk passed the yellow and black lines into the next area to retrieve the "gallery key". Once you have this key try to exit and you'll be confronted with another enemy. Defeat it and head back to the main area of the mansion. 

To get to the gallery choose the right-hand corridor on the top section of the main area, enter and it's the second room up. Unlock it using the key and read the plaque within for your next puzzle.

Puzzle Solution: 
19031919

Collect the "gemstone" from within the briefcase using your code and exit into the main area. You'll have two more enemies to face. Kill them and head back into the basement. You're not very far from the end so I recommend restoring your health/strength and saving your game before heading down. 

Once you're back in the mines follow the path east until you end up in front of an elevator with a control panel to one side. Insert the "gemstone" into the control panel and enter. You'll be able to collect the final Shadow Tome "Shadow Tome 5" and proceed down. 

Note: Once you're down there is no coming back so make sure you're prepared!

Once you're out of the elevator follow the mines down and to the west until you find a statue. Check the Shadow Tomes you've collected as each one is actually a riddle to be solved and this is the guy you need to give the answer to. Keep in mind that a wrong answer to any one of the five riddles is an instant game over. 

Puzzle Solutions:
Assassin, Witch, The Letter "D", Ghost & Time. 

Once you've answered these correctly you'll receive a "Shadow Pendant" which is necessary to receive a "Good" ending. Head east now and just follow the path along until you find a door. Inside you'll have a scene  with a character you've not yet met and then somewhat of a boss fight. Defeat the big bad and you're done!

Congrats! You made it!

In way of endings there is a "Good" and a "Bad" ending. You don't really need to go out of your way to get the bad ending but to ensure that you get the good ending you need to ensure the following:

1. Complete the game using less than 4 saves, 3 being the maximum.
2. Complete the game having used less than 3 first aid kits, 2 being the maximum.
3. You must have found the Shadow Pendant before completing the game. 

So that's my walkthrough. If you you have corrections or additions feel free to leave me a comment but otherwise I hope that this has helped you out and I hope you've enjoyed playing this awesome little gem of a game with me today! Ciao ~ ♥

One Perfect Day

This morning I awoke at a decent hour, had a plumber stop by to fix the kitchen tap, washed every god-damn dish in the house and did my laundry. Then I downloaded the Mass Effect 3 "Omega" DLC and played through that and, finally, I sat down to write this blog entry. 

For any other person this might seem just an ordinary, uneventful and, frankly, rather boring day in the life but for me this was a huge breakthrough. You can not even to begin to imagine how happy today made me. 

Why? 

Because for the first time in almost a year I felt like a fully-functional human being. I got out of bed without feeling as if I was dead on my feet, or wishing I were dead or lamenting my existence. I didn't feel dizzy or nauseated. There was no weight on my chest. Nothing. I detest the use of the word normal - for I never want to be normal - but today was probably the closest I've been to normal in a very long time. 

No, scratch that. I didn't feel normal. I felt okay.

Even though I am overweight, in debt, without purpose and falling behind in my own personal goals I could smile. It didn't feel as if the world was crashing down around me nor did I struggle to breathe at the thought of the many obstacles I'm yet to face. There was a brief acknowledgement of their existence but that was it. 

The rest of the day was mine. 

I won't hold my breath waiting for another day like today. I know that with my condition even the meds won't be enough to make every day perfect but perhaps it's better that way? 

What's a perfect day if not unique? Just another day. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write something fictional and thoroughly enjoy myself in the process!

Au Revoir ~ ♥

GAME REVIEW: The Walking Dead Game

Having spent the passed few days recovering from a mixture of video-game related feels and general anxiety I decided that I'm going to shake things up a little. I'm going to go into reviewer mode. 

I'll bet you weren't expecting that from me. 

In the past my blogs have been dominated by and limited to keeping a record of my emotional state. This, whilst helpful, isn't all that appealing to me any more. I want to be productive, to write of a million things and to improve upon myself in a trillion different ways - and that means that I need a little variety in my life.

That means that you'll get posts like this. 

So, without further ado, my first ever and likely somewhat ridiculous game review!

"The Walking Dead" is an episodic role-playing game from Telltale Games based on Robert Kirkman's graphic novel series of the same name. Season one follows convicted felon Lee Everett and Clementine, an eight-year-old girl he takes under his wing not long into the first episode, as they struggle to survive the zombie apocalypse with both honour and innocence in-tact. 

Whilst the story itself does not revolve around characters from the graphic novels or the ever-popular television series it does feature a few - including  Glenn, Hershel Greene and Lilly Caul - and, as such, can be a remarkably interesting play for those already familiar with the "Walking Dead" universe. 

This is pretty much the game I was praying "Dead Island" would be. Remember all the hype surrounding the trailer? That beautiful trailer that gave us the impression that this would be the post-apocalyptic survival horror we'd been hoping and praying for?

A zombie survival game with believable characters and scenarios? With children not just present but just as vulnerable, if not more so, than the adults? That kind of realism in games is a rare thing. Dead Island, as you may have guessed, did not deliver. 

The Walking Dead, however, is more or less everything this trailer made me believe that Dead Island would be. It's a realistic post-apocalyptic survival horror role-playing game with depth. Being an avid fan of both the "zombie apocalypse" and "survival horror" genres I can tell you now that after just one episode I honestly felt as though all my Christmas' had come at once. 

Unlike other games lumped into the survival horror genre - such as those of the Resident Evil franchise - the Walking Dead does not make weaponry and ammo readily available. Not every problem can be solved by employing violence which means that this game won't be everyone's cup of tea. There's a lot of thinking, alliance forming and investigating to be done. Yay! Thinking!

Given the realism of the game it's also not one I'd recommend for the faint of heart. There are difficult decisions to be made, life or death scenarios, death (though, really, this is pretty much to be expected given it's a horror game) and some really disturbing plot twists. I mean really disturbing.

It's also got lots of feels - why yes, that is the technical term I'm going to use here - and makes you really sympathise for the characters woven into it, even the characters you're determined to hate! That, to me, indicates some pretty awesome writers. 

Just sayin'. 

The game can be played on a number of different platforms - including iOS, which I found particularly impressive given the scale of the game in question. I, personally, played through all five episodes on Steam having bought a season pass back in September after watching a "Let's Play" of the first episode on YouTuber Pewdiepie's channel. 

Given that I have only managed to play through on a single platform to date I don't think I can offer much in way of a comparison game-play wise, though I've heard it said that some platforms - specifically the iOS version - have more issues than others. PC wise I found the controls were pretty simple, easy to understand and consistent throughout all five episodes, which I liked.

You will occasionally have the scenes in which your mouse sensitivity, or apparent complete and utter lack thereof, will lead to a "Game Over" screen in spite of your best efforts but let's be honest - you're probably playing with a run-of-the-mill mouse. They're not exactly designed for these kind of games so the best advice I can offer in this regard is to be patient.

It's not a huge problem. In fact I think I only had like one or two instances throughout all five episodes in which it was even an issue, so stick with it because it's do-able and if you can't then I'd recommend trying it on console first. 

What else? Ha! I'm so professional, aren't I? Well, in summary this is pretty much one of the most awesome games I've ever played in the survival horror genre and - even though it has more or less broken my tiny little heart - I can't bloody wait for season two! 

I could go on for hours praising this game but this post is already far too long so I'll end this spoiler-free! 

Rating: 10/10

We're Chasing Rabbits

November 19th, 2012. 

I am twenty-four years of age, have accomplished next to nothing in my life and find myself powerless to face the realities of the world outside my bedroom without the aid of a plethora of medically-prescribed anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications. This is not the life I envisioned for myself as a youth but, then, how many can honestly say they spent their childhood expecting to be diagnosed with a mental illness? 

I feel like I've been chasing rabbits. 

Running so fast, so far, tumbling down the rabbit-hole with no idea why and no real plan as to what I'll do when I hit the ground. The first nineteen years of my life were about survival. It didn't matter what happened, where I was or who I was with as long as I was alive. Things were simple back then, not necessarily easy but far from complicated. 

I had only two primary concerns - shelter and sustenance. 

Now there are so many options. To socialise or remain isolated? To seek help or bottle everything up inside and take the world down with me when it all gets too much to handle? What can I do for a living? Who do I want to be? There's no end to the possibilities and though once the idea of such freedom might have excited me, today it is terrifying. Debilitating. Maddening even. 

I find difficulty in even the most mundane of decisions, such as what to have for dinner or where to go on the weekend. My memory is shot. I forget names, places, events and appointments. Everything I do has to be written somewhere - carefully planned with alarms set in place as to keep me on time and on track - lest I become a complete and utter wreck amidst the chaos of it all or, rather, more of a wreck than I usually am. 

People who can comprehend and accept who and what I am are few and far between. They do exist though. I've been fortunate enough to befriend some, and fortunate in that I am able to appreciate how very rare and precious they truly are - even when they themselves cannot. I find solace in the openly imperfect, those who are quite content in that they will never become whatever it is that the bulk of society believes they ought to be and those who, whilst not striving for perfection, push on in the hopes of improvement and/or change.

I take solace in the creative crowd. I adore the writers, poets, artists and the dreamers of the world because only they have some hope of seeing the world surrounding as I see it. Only they could see counting the shades of green in one tree or creating fictional back-stories for unsuspecting bystanders as a productive use of one's time. 

Only they can understand the frustration and the joy to be found in pursuing unrealistic endeavours with boundless enthusiasm and no real expectation of success.

Chasing rabbits.

But I fear that this is it, this is the point in my life in which I must stop simply chasing rabbits and aim to catch one - claim one as my own - before I'm too old to appreciate the beauty in the chase and grow bitter, before I learn to resent such fanciful and fruitless endeavours. Many claim it will never happen to them, that they'll never lose that spark - that magic - but I'm not willing to sit back and risk losing everything about me that makes me the person I am today. 

I don't want to ever be boring or, worse, normal.

So this is me, hanging by a thread and struggling to keep myself sane. This is me trying to get my life back on track and actively start living the life I want to be living and succeeding in spite of my self-doubt. This is my record of a life that means very little in the larger scheme of things, that is insignificant to the world surrounding but precious enough for me to have allowed it to continue for as long as it has. 

This is me chasing rabbits.