Just Adventure is proud
to welcome Ricardo Pautassi to our staff. Currently studying for his
doctorate, Ricardo is a huge fan of Interactive Fiction.

Back in the golden age
of text adventures – before there were walkthroughs, before there
were strategy guides, heck before there was an internet – if you were
playing a game and were stuck on a certain puzzle, well basically
you were screwed.

But anyone who will play
a text adventure, is also someone who is determined enough to find
someone who has the solution. So is was that I would hang out in the
‘games’ section of the local Singer Sewing Center (In those days there
were not Electronic Boutiques or CompUSAs, if you wanted to purchase
a new game you went to your local Radio Shack, Sears or whoever sold
computers in your area).

It is a testament to the
power of the written word that text adventures have survived and even
prospered in today’s age of high technology. May developers like Howard
Sherman continue to carry the lantern high.

First of all, a question:
Would you invest twenty dollars in an Interactive fiction game? Let
me give you a modest suggestion: hold your reply until you’ve finished
this text.

By the time this reviewer
was beginning his elementary school, text adventures were at their
highest level of popularity. In the 80’s, companies like Infocom,
Magnetic Scrolls or Level 9 produced many high-quality text games
that achieved great sale numbers. Two decades later, not only the
genre has been renamed as “Interactive Fiction” (IF) but
also the length of its realm is now mostly restricted to the amateur
developer. Within these boundaries, the genre is alive and kicking,
and produces an average of thirty games per year.

Should we say that IF
does not exist anymore as a commercial phenomena? While you might
be tempted to quickly answer this question for the affirmative, a
couple of recently developed games make a case for the contrary. I
am referring to 1983: A World’s Fair Mystery and Pentari:
First Light (PFL), the latter being the subject of this
review.

“Who are
these invaders? How could they so easily lay siege to a fortified
city like Delphin? Had the city’s armies been completely exterminated?
How could such a comparatively small band of mercenaries accomplish
this? Where were the Wizards of Delphin?”

PFL has been described
as a Zorkian game and it certainly shares many features
with the legendary Infocom game. But do not let the tree cast a shadow
on the huge and interesting forest that PFL represents, nor
think that the game’s proposal is to go back to the 80’s. In fact,
Pentari‘s plot is just fine for those who dream about swordsmen
and furious fights against wizards, dragons and mercenaries. But those
who dream about other issues (for instance,
electronic sheep) won’t have to worry since the story is
interesting enough to catch every player’s attention. You play the
main character, a captain who serves the army of the Great Empire
of Pentari. In one of the most important cities of the realm, Delphin,
a group of formerly trusty wizards has launched a coup against the
kingdom, seizing the authorities and imposing the terror in the streets.
It is your duty to travel there and return things to normality. You
will achieve this by killing the traitors, assuring the safety of
the King and his family and collecting the treasures that remain in
Delphin. Along with the description of these objectives, the first
part of the game also shows many of Pentari‘s remarkable features.
Delphin’s world is described in detail: there are huge quantities
of text to read, the writing style is superlative
and, unlike many fantasy adventures, the English employed is quite
modern. Reading is not only
enjoyable but also a requirement since many hints are hidden in the
prose. Moreover, every object is profusely described and, in certain
circumstances, the depiction is action-sensitive. Let’s say, it changes
to accommodate to transient changes in the environment.

“This large room fairly
explodes outward and upward from the passageway you just left behind.
Your eyes are riveted to the majestic sight of the waterfalls that
dominate this room. A small waterfall in the uppermost portion of
the room feeds a medium waterfall which in turn flows into a giant
of a waterfall whose white and brown water fairly gushes over a
rocky shelf above into a fairly large pool directly in front of
you”.

After a warm-up with a
couple of straightforward puzzles, the game starts when you arrive
to the city under siege. Delphin is really enormous, consisting of
almost three hundred rooms that comprise both outdoor and indoor locations.
What is more, many of them are components of a vast underground system
in which man-made dwellings are mingled with natural attractions such
as cascades, cliffs and canyons. To a certain extent, exploration
becomes a puzzle in itself and drawing a map a requirement (actually,
I filled out five whole pages with maps). As a matter of fact, Delphin
can be compared, in terms of richness of diversity, to the virtual
city portrayed in A Mind Forever Voyaging, one of Infocom’s jewels.

However, you are not alone
in this giant city. As you roam around, several non-playable characters
(NPC’s) make their entrance. In fact, there are more than twenty of
them. While many have a very narrow vocabulary, you will find three
or four exhibiting a well-depicted personality, Vera’s ghost being
(a sort of sidekick that has suffered the rage of the corrupted wizards)
the most outstanding.

“Swords are
not so helpful against magic. Fighting fire with fire will serve you
best. You’re not a mage, yet you must be a master of magic. I shall
help thee rise…”

PFL has a very comprehensive
online help system that will be a great aid for IF newcomers, who
also will be pleased to find out that the slope of the learning curve
is quite suitable for them. The number and diversity of the puzzles
is significant but their difficulty never exceeds a medium level,
always assuming that the player has fulfilled a thorough exploration
of the environment. If not, getting lost will be the most probable
outcome. Interestingly, the game is not linear and you can choose
the quests sequence at your own will. Various puzzles are connected
to treasure hunting, but I found those related to magic the most interesting.
Even though you are a warrior, the virtues of your adversaries make
it essential for you to acquire magical skills. After being properly
instructed, you should be able to cast a number of spells, which will
prove useful to open sealed doors, scan other’s minds and even causing
a cardiac arrest in animals and men. While these are the default spells,
additional ones are available after finding special scrolls. As expected,
inventory related puzzles, riddles and interaction both with the environment
and with NPC’s also play a role in PFL. Despite the fact that
many puzzles and subquests are optional and not required to end the
game, Pentari’s average playing time should be around twenty hours
for the experienced player and probably many more for those new to
the rich world of text adventures. The game’s vocabulary is extensive
and, in most occasions, multiple nouns are available to call for an
object. Unfortunately, this is not the case in one key puzzle where
a specific word must be employed.

Of
course, I’m not saying that no weaknesses can be found in PFL.
I felt that the story, while very interesting, is not fully developed.
In addition, the end seems a little rushed and many players may feel
that several questions regarding the plot remain unsettled. Being
a small company project, PFL is extremely polished and I didn’t
notice any noteworthy bugs with the exception of a couple related
to NPC’s behavior. But these are minor downsides that do not outweigh
all the pros described above.

You can buy the game at
the author’s web page and, believe
me, it’s certainly worth every penny of its price. The CD version
includes an illustrated package plus a couple of freebies pretty resembling
Infocom’s products.

All in all, PFL
is a game that will appeal both the hard-core IF player as well as
the casual adventurer and constitutes a must-play for those spellbound
to fantasy.

My final word about
Pentari: First Light is a clear, solid A.

Pentari: First
Light grades:

Final Grade: A