2bornot2b

Here’s the Shoe My Baby Wore, But Baby Where Are You?

*It is difficult to describe without leaning on contrasts. It’s a game whose theme, characterization, and visual style simultaneously pull in multiple directions.

*There is a remarkable clarity to its narrative. I’m hard pressed to think of a game that tells its story more cleanly and clearly.

*The village of Elderbroec is filled with little Disney-esque vignettes that involve pigeons and shutters, shops and whispers. It’s a world of character that feels full, but also slightly curdled.

*There is something of the American poet Dudley Randall in its narrative. It’s a story where a central figure is neither condemned nor redeemed. You sit inside its ache.

*There are echoes of other Dutch rooms (Molly’s Game comes to mind) and the chiaroscuro lighting is as much philosophical as visual… truth is partial, meaning lies in shadows, what you cannot see is as important as what you can.

*Crimsons does everything at a high level. I would be surprised if it doesn’t end up in the top 10 of Terpeca next year.