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Job McBadass
Douche (Retired)
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 920
Location: In the Moment
Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:34 pm |
 Post subject: The Chzo Mythos |
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I should really just put this in the freeware games topic, but since I happen to have written a review on it, I might as well make a separate thread.
The Chzo Mythos is a four-game epic (or quadrilogy for all of you who adore made-up words) spanning 392 years of contextual history, evoking such psychological elements of intuitive befuddlement and penis-imploding terror. A horror game right down to the bloody gristle, the Mythos manages to nod and re-invent the point-and-click adventure genre by way of implementing horror not in the all-too-familiar (read: plebian) manner of shock tactics and grotesque monster designs; not in the orchestrated string quartet playing a dissonant piece meant to inspire surmounting terror; not even in the psychological tendrils the ethereal assailants weave in the mind of the protagonist, your intermediary.
Though it does implement them from time to time, albeit in a less advanced manner considering the limited pixel palette and midi files, the Chzo Mythos' ball-shrinking strength lies in its ability to affect YOU, the player, by creating a genuine sense of fear and confusion, with a vague idea of what to do next, while an implacable machete-wielding giant, a featureless elemental of pain and torture and your own feelings of inadequacy, growing insanity, and moral failings careen haphazardly in your direction.
All in real-time.
Ever tried picking a lock while Jason Voorhess shambles like a determined careless whisper in your direction? Ever tried walking along the corridors of an abandoned hotel while reality randomly shifts and distorts, and every time you enter a room, you get feasted to a prolapse-provoking vision of your gestating psychopathy? Ever tried looking for your shipmates in a 10-room, space-faring vessel while an unkillable zombie stalks the halls?
Did I mention these are point-and-click adventures? With cartoonish pixels?
5 Days a Stranger
5 Days a Stranger tells the story of one Trilby, famous catburglar and dapper fashionista. While on a simple grab-and-go operation, he quickly realizes that the location of his mark, the Defoe Manor, is not what it initially seems. Well, for one, the mansion doesn't seem to want to release him. Together with 4 strangers, they must uncover the secret of the manor, the cause of the invisible force preventing them from escape and the masked individual who haunts their dreams.
The first game falls prey to the problem most adventure games have: it's pretty damn slow. The first day (of the eponymous 5) doesn't do well in presenting the addicting aspects the Chzo Mythos is characterized for. The puzzles, on the other hand, are brilliantly done. Not too hard to make you reach for the walkthrough, but not too easy to make you laugh out loud and question the programmer's understanding of logical reasoning and human nature. After the first day, however, it experiences a rude (yet very welcome, in the player's POV) awakening that will hook any gamer with half a brain and a moderate amount of patience.
Screens:
{SPOILERS}
As the following games are part of the continuity, my short blurbs may contain minor spoilers for the previous game in the list. I highly recommend downloading and playing them first.
7 Days a Skeptic
7 Days a Skeptic occurs nearly 400 years after the Defoe Manor incident. It tells the story of the crew of the Mephistopheles, a retrofitted scout ship mapping the Caracus Galaxy, when they uncover a centuries-old artifact floating in the void of space: an ancient metal locker. Despite being warned by a smarmy letter and the advice of Federation protocol, the captain lifts the lid...
While this time warp may jar some sensibilities, the game itself and the environments are so different from the first game, you'd think a different person wrote it. Try to imagine the neurotic offspring of Star Trek and Alien, combining the scientific grandeur of the former and the claustrophobic panic of the latter in a pants-wetting stew sprinkled with the blood of innocents.
Screens:
Trilby's Notes
Four years after the Defoe Manor incident, Trilby is still haunted by the horrific occurrences he had experienced. True enough, the mansion still exercised its hold on all who set foot in it, claiming another victim. Wanting to finish what he started, Trilby's Notes chronicle his desperate crusade to find the source of this inexhaustible evil and see it destroyed... before IT destroys him.
Departing from the point-and-click structure of the first two games, Trilby's Notes is a graphical text-based adventure in the tradition of Leisure Suit Larry, where instead of having sex with several men and women, you get to play grab-ass with Cthulu in Silent Hill, while s/he tickles the open sores in your neck with an unnecessarily slimy tendril. Also, it's the most graphically violent of all four games, conjuring up the isolation of the SH series with dessicated limbs thrown in for good measure.
Screens:
6 Days a Sacrifice
Set 196 years after the Defoe Manor Incident and 196 years before the Mephistopheles Massacre, 6 Days a Sacrifice recounts the fate of Theodore DaCabe, a surveying officer running a routine safety check on the Optimology building, the headquarters of a celebrity religion not unlike Scientology. Literally stumbling upon the infernal connections of the religion, Theo becomes entrenched in the machinations of destiny, and a plot that has simmered for two centuries...
Staggering amount of lore in this installment. Wanting to tie up all the major plot points, 6 Days is, understandably enough, impossible to comprehend without playing the first three games. All your hard work gets paid off as the 6 Days answers all your questions, while still making you defaecate whole granite bricks in fear.
Screens:
P.S. There's also a series of short text-based adventures that supplements the plot of the Chzo Mythos, but let's not get into that just yet.
That's everything. If you want to discuss the games, or if you're stuck and just want an obscure hint that does not insult your intelligence, post away.
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Job McBadass
Douche (Retired)
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 920
Location: In the Moment
Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:56 am |
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Bumping my own thread since I'm so careless whisper shameless.
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Sir Pepoy Josepito
Super Special Awesome
Joined: 02 Dec 2008
Posts: 603
Location: in sanity
Sun Apr 25, 2010 3:36 am |
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I JUST STARTED 5 DAYS A STRANGER
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS RIGHT NOW?
I AM LITERALLY SHAKING IN FEAR BECAUSE OF PIXELATED SUSPENSE (no, not really shaking)
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Job McBadass
Douche (Retired)
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 920
Location: In the Moment
Sun May 02, 2010 6:33 pm |
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OH LAWDEE 3:36 AM? Are you mental? I played 5 Days by dawn's early light on Sunday, while televised mass played on the teevee just to drown out the voices. What do you mean "what voices?"?! Don't you feel them scratching at the edges of your hearing? Don't you hear them whispering thoughts both sinister and wise at the core of your soul?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT VOICES
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NakoZonbineko
One
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Posts: 210
Fri Jun 25, 2010 8:49 pm |
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I just finished playing 5 Days A Stranger...
The second nightmare scene really rocked my socks! And gosh, AJ's death sprite was really gory, although it shouldn't have fresh blood on it...since he was underwater and stuff.
I am looking forward to playing 7 Days A Skeptic.
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Sir Pepoy Josepito
Super Special Awesome
Joined: 02 Dec 2008
Posts: 603
Location: in sanity
Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:47 pm |
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awesome
another follower
prove yourself to be more a man than i am by finishing everything without resorting to guides!
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Job McBadass
Douche (Retired)
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 920
Location: In the Moment
Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:41 pm |
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The special editions are free now! I'm downloading them for the commentary and possible Easter eggs.
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NakoZonbineko
One
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Posts: 210
Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:42 pm |
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| Sir Pepoy Josepito wrote: | awesome
another follower
prove yourself to be more a man than i am by finishing everything without resorting to guides! |
I guess I read this too late. I already got a guide for 5 Days a Stranger... I suck.
I also got the guide for 7 Days a Skeptic, cause I suck even more... (and I got stuck in the part when Serena went missing.)
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