Review for Dreams in the Witch House
Dreams in the Witch House by Atom Brain Games, published through Bonus Stage Publishing, is a rich interactive experience. The narrative, sound, graphics, and interface are united in one purpose -- inducing fear. Adding role-playing elements imbues the game with empathy and replayability and gives the player a terrifying experience.
The interface features a third-person perspective. Left-clicking interacts with the environment, and right-clicking describes it. This simple interface allows the player to move through a world where their eyes and ears bind them to horror, and their salvation lies in balancing between the natural and supernatural, a precarious balance indeed.
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story entitled The Dreams in the Witch House, the player inhabits Walter Gilman, who comes to Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, to study the relationship between science and the occult. Doing so requires him to divide his time between two significant tasks, studying for exams and proving his theory that science and magic are similar. The former requires looking up textbooks in the school library and scrutinizing them. If Walter’s Exam skill is high enough, it will be possible to select the correct answers on the test. The latter means reading occult books. If his occult skill is high enough, he may be able to unravel the strange events that plague him. He needs to manage his time and energy well. I played on the easy difficulty level, which was still one of the most challenging aspects of the game. Be warned, If Walter fails, horror awaits him, taking the form of terrifying nightmares.
As in the original story, “Whether the dreams brought on the fever or the fever brought on the dreams Walter Gilman did not know”. Regardless of their origin, Walter’s dreams and adventures will have a detrimental effect on him. Protecting him involves pointing the mouse at the top of the screen and bringing up the character bar. It contains all the information related to his well-being. You can tell if he’s hungry, tired, feverish, or in pain and also see his inventory. Clicking on the items and pointing where you want to apply them will put them to use if possible. Walter’s statistics lie at the immediate right of the inventory. They represent his knowledge of mathematics, the occult, and the exams for which he’s preparing. When he’s impaired, his stats are lowered, making it more difficult for Walter to achieve his goals. It's essential to ameliorate Walter’s ailments using healing elixirs, cold medicine or sleeping pills. It's equally important to manage Walter’s sanity points. If they get too low, Walter will become depressed and his goals will be harder to accomplish. He may decide to harm himself. Walter will have opportunities to take his friends Allison and Elwood to the coffee shop. If he’s wise enough to take advantage of time with them, they will have a salubrious effect on his mental health. The role-playing elements increased my empathy for Walter, and I felt in control of the story.
Appealing graphics help bring “the changeless, legend-haunted city of Arkham,” to life. Scenes look innocuous and brim with life during the day. During the night, Walter's room's dark hues and sinister shadows can smother him with despair. He spends most of his time at the university and the boarding house. However, pursuing the mystery requires going further afield. The island, my favorite location, features spooky stones and vibrantly blue water. I was glad for the “To-Do” list. Be warned, time -- like his sanity -- is fleeting and precious. Walter has until May-Eve to unravel the mystery.
The puzzles I encountered in Dreams in the Witch House rose naturally from the narrative. I spent lots of time helping Walter acquire research study material. Maybe we “ought not to have studied so hard” because I didn’t get a very good ending. Apparently, I should have explored the island more thoroughly. Nevertheless, I haven’t been this enraptured by a game in a long time. The role-playing elements create a feeling of affinity for the main character, despite the lack of voice acting. This adventure game is a work of art. It provides a new way to experience H.P Lovecraft’s story that players should not miss.
