Valpurgius and I
, the first public game of Agustín Cordes, an Argentinean Interactive
Fiction writer, puts you in the shoes of an unnamed character, with
no biographical background; an effective narrative strategy since it
makes easier for the player to project his/her personality onto the
protagonist. Immersion into the game is also encouraged by the amount
of details involved in the description of the different environments.
The world you enter is quite strange and colorful: exotic flowers, funny
smells and wild fauna give shape to an interesting and well-depicted
setting. Without any doubt, the game’s writing quality is one
of its highest points.

For being an unexpected
visitor in this alien land, your main concern is quite mundane: your
back is itching. No, I’m not joking. As the game informs you
after a few turns, your back is really killing you and it’d
be better to do something about it. This first puzzle sets the zany
mood that will characterize the whole game. Humor is one of the strongest
qualities of Valpurgius: puns and jokes are hilarious and
carefully distributed throughout the game. Most of these amusing situations
involve the participation of Stooge Valpurgius, a humanoid non-playable
character (NPC) that not only gives his name to the game but is also
an invaluable sidekick, crucial in the development of the story.

Now, let’s say a
word about puzzles. Frankly, prior to any experience with the game,
my only expectation was to find merely linear interconnected inventory
puzzles (which wouldn’t have been a bad thing at all). Even
though most of the puzzles are related to the utilization of the appropriate
objects in the right places, a different approach is needed in a couple
of situations. Without giving any spoilers, interacting both with
the environment and with the NPC becomes a must to finish the game.
My only complain about puzzles is that scarcity of hints makes many
of them rather obscure. This also applies when it comes to the game
goals. While the lack of directions helps to create the strangeness
and wackiness of the game’s atmosphere, it also makes sometimes
difficult to figure out what to do next. Very probably, the average
player will often find himself disoriented and begging for a clue.
In order to avoid this problem more hints and directions would have
been welcome.

A very short game as it
is, Valpurgius involves only a small number of rooms. This
is not a surprise considering that it’s the author’s opera
prima but may disappoint some players. An experienced IF gamer
would be able to finish it in less than an hour. Nevertheless, it
is quite clear that the developer chose to concentrate in the game’s
quality rather than in its length. It seems that, for the author,
quality beats quantity.
Valpurgius was written using Inform 6.15. Although the first
version had a couple of bugs, this aspect does not undermine the fact
that the game is very competently programmed. In fact, these bugs
were quickly fixed by the author in the second release, which also
encompasses more text for the NPC as well as other minor modifications.
The main technical drawback I noticed is that the game’s vocabulary
is not very extensive and many times you have to enter an specific
word to make the game progress, a situation that is evident in one
of the last puzzles. Furthermore, interaction with the NPC requires
a highly structured syntax. This wouldn’t be a problem, but
no instructions are stated in the game to advice the player about
it. Maybe using the commands “info” or “help”
to create a short “instruction sheet” would have served
well, especially for the inexperienced player.

In the end, the game twists
and turns, revealing a strange, interesting final scene, which fits
perfectly with the general aesthetic of the game’s atmosphere
and will keep you thinking for a while. All in all, despite the above-described
downsides, Valpurgius is a good piece of IF, with a remarkable
writing style and many hilarious situations. Anyone interested in
the genre will find this game enjoyable.

Final Grade: C+

Download Valpurgius
& I for free from Just Adventure.