Echo Bazaar: A review, of sorts
Mar. 22nd, 2011 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseI don't play online games much. Mostly they strike me as offering little more reward than passed time; and while there's nothing wrong with filling a coffee break or a long lecture with a game of Sudoku or Bejeweled, I generally have other goals to pursue. Role-playing games can offer more depth, true, and for a while I played Kingdom of Loathing (enjoying very much the snarky humor and low-fi aesthetic), but like most games in its category, once the majority of the clever allusions and jokes were discovered and duly apprecated, all that was left was the gameplay itself. Which, in the grand tradition of online role-playing, was entirely grind-tastic in nature. Needless to say, it didn't hold my attention much past that point.
This isn't Kingdom of Loathing's (or, indeed, any online RPG's) fault. Really, the entire format of the role-playing game could effectively be reduced to a Skinner box - small rewards for repetitive actions that eventually accumulate into larger rewards. This is probably the biggest reason behind their popularity, and indeed, many of these games are utterly blatant about how they manipulate you in the hopes of getting you to keep clicking. But the most effective RPGs, the ones that stick with us - and I stick with - the longest, are those that offer something more than a slightly higher number or a different color of armor for your time and effort.
Echo Bazaar doesn't come in a particularly assuming package. A number of people have commented on the character creation screen as an indicator that you're not playing a typical RPG; and to be fair, it is clever:
...Ah, delicious friend. I'm so glad you asked. The reward, you will find, is the story. Oh, you may be told that you're free to roam about, to make your fortune in Fallen London however you see fit, but I know you. I see that hunger in your eyes. I feel that burning curiousity, that need to find out what this glyph means, what secrets that cat might know, what notables hold confidences worth charming your way in to. You may well potter about, singing a song for a crowd here, pick-pocketing a society gent there, possibly even forming connections with the local urchins or bohemian types, but sooner or later that won't be enough to hold your interest. And why should it, with so many toothsome secrets waiting to be discovered? Such myriad and pressing questions to be answered? What do sorrow-spiders do with those eyes? What on earth is the Topsy King saying? Who is the cheery gentleman you only see whilst suffering from Nightmares? And if London is the Fifth City, what other cities have Fallen before?
Pay very, very close attention, dear delectable newcomer. These secrets and more - indeed, the very world of the Bazaar - are here for your discovery, but they are not to be had merely for the asking. Take note of the results of your actions. Study the snippets given to you in the sidebar (but 'ware of misinformation and gossip). Increase your skills and follow your path, whether it takes you to the silent chambers of the Shuttered Palace, the hallowed halls of the University, the rickety rope-bridges of The Flit, or the peeling-gilt stage of Mahogany Hall. The Bazaar's magnetism is not obvious, nor immediate; but as you gather your cryptic clues, as characters make reference to this or that occurrence, the story will begin to emerge, ensnaring you as it has hundreds before you. And somewhere along the way, you may find yourself surprised at how enthralling the small dramas you enact have become, how attached you might have grown to some aspect of your character's identity, how gut-wrenching you might find a particular choice. You may be asked to solve a murder, or become embroiled in the plotting and counter-plotting of spies and assassins, or learn a startling fact or two about the Bazaar itself.
Make your choices carefully. You may regret them, you may not - and your mind may change halfway through. But one thing the Bazaar can promise - your story will never be dull for long.
-----
Ambrosia Rose is a professional drinker, blogger, storyteller, and critic, with a healthy dollop of sarcastic wit on the side. Two of her great loves are a tasty cocktail and a good story.
All screenshots copyright Failbetter Games. Used without permission for promotional purposes only. All rights reserved.
This isn't Kingdom of Loathing's (or, indeed, any online RPG's) fault. Really, the entire format of the role-playing game could effectively be reduced to a Skinner box - small rewards for repetitive actions that eventually accumulate into larger rewards. This is probably the biggest reason behind their popularity, and indeed, many of these games are utterly blatant about how they manipulate you in the hopes of getting you to keep clicking. But the most effective RPGs, the ones that stick with us - and I stick with - the longest, are those that offer something more than a slightly higher number or a different color of armor for your time and effort.
Echo Bazaar doesn't come in a particularly assuming package. A number of people have commented on the character creation screen as an indicator that you're not playing a typical RPG; and to be fair, it is clever:
But "clever" is something any number of other RPGs have done. And while the setting - Fallen London, a modern turn-of-the-century city stolen by bats and relocated far underground - is certainly fantastical, it's hardly what you'd call original. Alternate-Victorian-London scenarios are common as paint chips these days, and fast becoming cliché (and this is coming from a confirmed Anglophile). So while the character creation process amused me enough to pass my initial selectivity test, I still wasn't expecting anything much from the game. Some cute wordplay, perhaps, and an imaginative setting, but ultimately just the same repetitive clicking.
Initially, there wasn't much to raise my expectations, either. Like many such games, you start out in prison for an unknown offense, must plan your escape, and then are dumped unceremoniously on the street with little in the way of direction. The game gives you a helpful nudge now and then (some lodgings would help keep the rain off, and oh, is that a tavern? Perhaps you can entertain the guests with a bawdy joke), but what you can do is limited by your (lack of) wealth and your four attributes, both of which you increase through spending actions on storylets and Opportunity cards.
As you progress, however, the game will make references to its (impressively large and consistent) internal backstory, and like the newcomer to Fallen London that you are, you'll start to have questions - what's a Rubbery Man? Who is this Mr Veils? What is this "Correspondence" thing with so many rumors surrounding it? Why is this Duchess so concerned about the city's cats? And on and on. Not only do you learn some of the answers to your questions as you go, but you begin to get a better idea of which questions to ask.
Echo Bazaar doesn't succeed because of its gameplay, but rather because it knows it needs to be more than its gameplay. True, there are spots where you end up simply looking for the most efficient way to increase a statistic and then clicking the same spot over and over, but the creators understand that "making the number higher" isn't a reward that will motivate most folk. So, of course, that begs the question: what does the Bazaar offer in return for all this thankless stat-grinding?Initially, there wasn't much to raise my expectations, either. Like many such games, you start out in prison for an unknown offense, must plan your escape, and then are dumped unceremoniously on the street with little in the way of direction. The game gives you a helpful nudge now and then (some lodgings would help keep the rain off, and oh, is that a tavern? Perhaps you can entertain the guests with a bawdy joke), but what you can do is limited by your (lack of) wealth and your four attributes, both of which you increase through spending actions on storylets and Opportunity cards.
As you progress, however, the game will make references to its (impressively large and consistent) internal backstory, and like the newcomer to Fallen London that you are, you'll start to have questions - what's a Rubbery Man? Who is this Mr Veils? What is this "Correspondence" thing with so many rumors surrounding it? Why is this Duchess so concerned about the city's cats? And on and on. Not only do you learn some of the answers to your questions as you go, but you begin to get a better idea of which questions to ask. ...Ah, delicious friend. I'm so glad you asked. The reward, you will find, is the story. Oh, you may be told that you're free to roam about, to make your fortune in Fallen London however you see fit, but I know you. I see that hunger in your eyes. I feel that burning curiousity, that need to find out what this glyph means, what secrets that cat might know, what notables hold confidences worth charming your way in to. You may well potter about, singing a song for a crowd here, pick-pocketing a society gent there, possibly even forming connections with the local urchins or bohemian types, but sooner or later that won't be enough to hold your interest. And why should it, with so many toothsome secrets waiting to be discovered? Such myriad and pressing questions to be answered? What do sorrow-spiders do with those eyes? What on earth is the Topsy King saying? Who is the cheery gentleman you only see whilst suffering from Nightmares? And if London is the Fifth City, what other cities have Fallen before?
Pay very, very close attention, dear delectable newcomer. These secrets and more - indeed, the very world of the Bazaar - are here for your discovery, but they are not to be had merely for the asking. Take note of the results of your actions. Study the snippets given to you in the sidebar (but 'ware of misinformation and gossip). Increase your skills and follow your path, whether it takes you to the silent chambers of the Shuttered Palace, the hallowed halls of the University, the rickety rope-bridges of The Flit, or the peeling-gilt stage of Mahogany Hall. The Bazaar's magnetism is not obvious, nor immediate; but as you gather your cryptic clues, as characters make reference to this or that occurrence, the story will begin to emerge, ensnaring you as it has hundreds before you. And somewhere along the way, you may find yourself surprised at how enthralling the small dramas you enact have become, how attached you might have grown to some aspect of your character's identity, how gut-wrenching you might find a particular choice. You may be asked to solve a murder, or become embroiled in the plotting and counter-plotting of spies and assassins, or learn a startling fact or two about the Bazaar itself.Make your choices carefully. You may regret them, you may not - and your mind may change halfway through. But one thing the Bazaar can promise - your story will never be dull for long.
-----
Ambrosia Rose is a professional drinker, blogger, storyteller, and critic, with a healthy dollop of sarcastic wit on the side. Two of her great loves are a tasty cocktail and a good story.
All screenshots copyright Failbetter Games. Used without permission for promotional purposes only. All rights reserved.
