Browser Game Pick: Alchemia (Springtail Studio)
Alchemia is the beautifully strange tale of a man on a quest to replace the robotic body of a rather odd being. It plays out as a point-and-click style affair in a gorgeously detailed world.
I was initially put off by the very first puzzle, but I'm glad I stuck at it, as there are some lovely sights on show here, and the rest of the puzzles aren't too shabby either. Lasting around half an hour, the fantasy locations are bound to be compared to Amanita Design's Samorost (as they were back in April). There will apparently be a second part, but this will not be free and Springtail hope those who liked this part will want to come back for more.
Definitely worth a playthrough - if you get stuck, there's a handy walkthrough too. Play it over at Alchemiagame.com.
Comments
It seems a nice enough game so far, but the superflous dialogue doesn't do it any favours.
Posted by: Dan | September 8, 2009 1:17 AM
Pretty nice game, aside from some bad stock sound effects, it's nice & poetic.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 8, 2009 5:17 AM
That was really good actually, though I agree with Dan they should have cut out a lot of the dialogue and shortened some of the animations where you couldn't do anything (I sat there clicking like crazy at the machine where the gear turns and there's nothing for you to do.)
Posted by: vanarbulax | September 8, 2009 7:26 AM
I rarely saw an intriguing game like this. The graphics are beautiful and the music and sounds fit perfectly with everything. On top of that, no registration or login is required to play the game. A small suggestion is that you could add a message when the player is able to move outside of the cutscenes. Nicely done!
Posted by: Nick Janssen | September 8, 2009 8:43 AM
Unfortunately, Alchemia is not even in the same league as Samorost given the fact that it has dialogues. And that, in itself, makes it just another (unusually beautiful and intriguing) browser game adventure.
Strange how an apparently small detail such as that can change the experience provided by the game.
Which reminds me, what was the name of that "under the sea" browser adventure where you had characters communicate with icons and images? It's fairly recent, I'm sure...
Posted by: dieubussy | September 8, 2009 9:26 AM
I don't think the problem is the fact that it has dialogues, but the dialogues themselves. They're not poetic like the rest of the game, it's usual language where you'd expect I don't know, old & twisted english maybe.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 8, 2009 12:25 PM
The dialogue could have been better, but I still really enjoyed it. Cool game.
Posted by: cactus | September 8, 2009 2:11 PM
dieubussy: Are you thinking of Scarygirl?
Posted by: Dan | September 8, 2009 3:49 PM
I like the puzzles in this more than Samorost because they make a certain amount of sense and take some thought, whereas Samorost you basically are forced to just click stuff randomly most of the time.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 8, 2009 7:16 PM
Cool graphics, but main hero isn't very cute...
Posted by: Monko | September 12, 2009 11:48 AM