Vespers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author(s): Jason Devlin Genre: Historical/Religious Language: en First Publication Date: 2005 License: Freeware Rating: 4.0 (based on 183 ratings) ABOUT THE STORY It has been five days, now. Five days since I made the choice. Five days since I closed the gate. Really, there was no choice. Rovato was damned when the first spot appeared: when the first bloody cough ensued from the mouth of an urchin. To have allowed the sick sanctuary at Saint Cuthbert's would only have damned us as well. But we were already damned. The plague came. And now we suffer. EXTERNAL LINKS vespers.z8 post-competition version Requires a Z-Code interpreter[1] vespers.z8 original competition entry Requires a Z-Code interpreter[1] vespers.inf source code for post-competition version ClubFloyd transcript EDITORIAL REVIEWS Emily Short's Interactive Fction > What I found most interesting about Vespers was its construction, its > success at arranging events and making characters take action; it has a lot > of plot, but avoids the excessively linear feel of many high-plot-content > games. The Escapist > Set in a 15th century monastery beset by the plague, Vespers follows an > abbot driven increasingly insane as he watches his feverish monks perish one > by one. It's a nauseating, deeply frightening game, like survival/horror > without the survival part, and it clings to me like a bad nightmare I can't > shake. I'm thoroughly grossed out by it, physically, emotionally and > morally. > > Vespers is one of the best games I've ever played, text-based or no. -- Lara > Crigger Ferretbrain > Vespers is strong on atmosphere, very strong on atmosphere. It is told over > three days, with the monastery becoming slowly creepier and more oppressive > as time goes on. Descriptions change in subtle – and not so subtle – ways as > the plot progresses (and, I think, in response to player action – if you > play as a raving nutbag things get rather more messed up rather more > quickly). -- Dan Hemmens Gaming Enthusiast > A truly horrifying, but thought-provoking experience that is sure to leave a > lasting impression on the player. If you’re not afraid of the darkness in > human hearts, be sure to check Vespers out. -- Toddziak SPAG > It has numerous strengths, but I think the most important is how well paced > it is. The introduction slopes in gradually, and while I generally like to > have some idea of what I should be accomplishing from the very beginning, > here the more leisurely approach worked well - knowing that plague was loose > and the monastery was locked in made things more interesting than the > standard wander-corridors-until-something-happens opening, and front-loading > much of the exploration allowed later sequences to play out tauter, since > the player knows exactly where everything is. The number of NPCs is > initially a little overwhelming, but the author does a very good job of > giving each of them a distinctive feature, so that the player soon remembers > which is the crazy one, which is the terse, practical one, and so on. -- > Michael A Russo REFERENCES [1]