City of Secrets
Emily Short
Platform: Glulx?
Rating: 8.1
Total Votes: 31
Std. Dev.: +- 1.2
Average Playtime: Between 2 and 6 hours
Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction / Espionage / Surreal / Literary / Mystery / Conversational
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Audience Comments:2/28/08 10:05 PM
Rating:10
10/31/06 08:34 AM
Rating:9
7/30/06 09:06 AM
As you'd expect, great game design and implementation, with polished writing. However, I found the setting and story, generic and uninteresting. Despite their detail the characters failed to come alive, and evoke any kind of emotional response - be it affection or disdain.
Rating:8
5/15/06 09:31 PM
Rating:7
9/07/05 02:14 PM
Beautiful designed game where lots of attention was placed on creating an intersting story line as well as making a city look alive.
Sadly, the game does loose some interest and seems a tad rushed on the last two segments. Excellent innovations to the genre including the conversation system, THINK ABOUT and SUMMARY commands.
Puzzles are relatively simple but still challenging.
Rating:9
1/16/05 01:26 AM
Rating:7
8/24/04 04:07 AM
Rating:7
9/14/04 04:42 AM
Rating:9
5/23/04 11:02 PM
This game is incredibly rich in atmosphere, in setting and backstory, in NPCs and dialogue. The graphics are a nice touch, too. The game suffers from a a certain rigidity of structure in the middle (go to this store/building/establishment; interview this NPC; lather, rinse, repeat) and a bit too much melodrama at the end. Still, the game is well worth playing for its vividness. I was particularly struck by the readings that were ostensibly about magic but seemed really to be about having a vision (a goal, a dream), and the price you pay for trying to realize that vision (meet that goal, make the dream come true).
Rating:8
2/26/04 02:14 AM
Rating:9
2/08/04 09:45 PM
Extremely well implemented but the conversation system has some definite quirks. The story is odd, and I didn't entirely understand it when I completed it. The setting is beautiful and it was a lot of fun to play.
Rating:8
10/29/03 07:27 AM
To begin with the positive I enjoyed the conversation system and the effort made for the game to be friendly to new players. On the other hand the storyline seemed a little off, especially in the final sections, and the npcs were somewhat lacking in personality (with the exception of a couple of supporting characters). Unfortunately the game is marred by many minor bugs. Overall though a good game and one I recommend.
Rating:7
9/15/03 08:15 AM
Well, this was worth the wait. A simple engrossing story, and lots and lots of people to talk to, and situations that teased at my mind. A few bugs and a somewhat small city keep this from being a ten.
Rating:8
9/10/03 08:39 AM
Okay, I have just discovered what is a "conversational" IF, and it is not for me. However, the technical aspects are very interesting (discussion interface, compass directions, map and graphics). With less discussions and more puzzles, it would have been really better for me. Did not finish.
Rating:6
9/08/03 04:58 AM
Someone else said "excellent five-act structure", but the last two or three sections seemed to me more rushed and less interactive as the corny storyline took over. I'm probably being harsh because it's a Short game and I expected perfection after the long wait. It is an impressively thoroughly-imagined world, but you can find less repetitive conversation in Galatea and better puzzles in Savoir Faire.
Rating:7
8/25/03 10:12 AM
Great atmosphere, great story, great npcs. A perfect conversational interface, and the glulxe platform used at its best. And a lot of fun to play. This is the future of I.F.
Rating:10
6/25/05 12:37 PM
Positives: Graphics and Glulx niceties, compass orientation, commands like SUMMARY, THINK, and THINK ABOUT, influence of The Prisoner and Dark City, and some wonderful writing such as the atmospheric Sheherazde scene. Negatives: Bugs prevented completion, melodramatic turn near the end (see dialogue between male and female heroes), and a peculiar emphasis on gnosticism. This huge, admirable effort starts as a mystery, then winds up a superhero soap opera.
Rating:7
8/17/03 01:19 AM
Rating:7
8/02/03 11:58 PM
A very approachable game, suitable for beginners to the medium (its intended audience, in fact), and shows every evidence of Short's usual attention to detail, prose, and worldbuilding. The simplicity of the basic plot--provided by someone else--is slightly limiting, but the game remains engrossing, and is an elegant glulx implementation. Also uses the topic-based conversation system which allows color to the most minor of npcs.
Rating:9
7/20/03 08:17 PM
Rating:9
7/15/03 08:46 AM
Rating:8
7/10/03 12:10 PM
The amount of investement that was put into this game must have been staggering, and it shows - this game shines on many levels: from the look of the interface, with the subtley changing graphics, to the ease of use, to the exquisite setting, detailed characters, and interesting story. Yet, it seems to lack something for it to be a true favourite of mine - perhaps it is the way it forces you to make some uninformed, but at least apparently important, decisions early on, which bothered me as much in the game as similar dilemmas would bother me in life. I ended up putting it aside for a while, but I plan to return to it - and I would strongly recommend that everyone at least try it out.
Rating:9
7/10/03 12:10 PM
An extremely well-polished, well-written game. Non-linear and newbie-friendly, contains, among other things, an in-game map, exhaustive help system, and one of the best menu-based conversation systems implemented. That being said, I just couldn't get into this game, and I really wanted to. The writing is great and there's a very palpable history to the game world, but the story just didn't do anything for me.
Rating:8
7/10/03 12:10 PM
Fantastic multimedia, excellent five-act structure, dozens of helpful and introductory menus and the culmination in Short's brilliant conversational systems make this one of the most professional and engaging pieces of interactive fiction I've played. The clever use of ">THINK ABOUT ..." alone would have justified this as one of my top ten games. Absolutely recommended, particularly for beginners... the only problem being that this might set the standard too high. My only complaint is a lack of direction in several spots.
Rating:10
9/26/03 10:21 PM
A massively detailed IF which comes remarkably close to achieving the Holy Grail of a satisfying plot combined with the illusion of free will. Annoyingly difficult to run smoothly on an old computer, though.
Rating:8
7/10/03 12:10 PM
Brilliantly executed and replayable. A work of art.
Rating:8
7/11/03 03:06 PM
Rating:5
7/10/03 12:10 PM
Rating:10
7/10/03 12:10 PM
Staggering amounts of detail, both in implementation and plot threads. Some bits seem forced, and sometimes it's too easy to get lost, but overall very impressive.
Rating:9
7/10/03 12:10 PM
A sprawling and detailed world with frighteningly articulate NPCs. Worth replaying to see the cause-and-effect of different actions and paths through the game.
Rating:8
7/10/03 12:10 PM
A vast and complex example of worldbuilding; not quite sure what it wants to be puzzle-wise, but very impressive thematic handling and character development.
Rating:9
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