Elsinore is a time-looping adventure game set in the world of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Elsinore combines strong social simulation elements, a dynamic story that reacts immediately to player decisions, and a world full of diverse characters with secrets to uncover. Can Ophelia prevent the tragedy that lies before her?
On a summer night, the Danish noblewoman Ophelia awakens from a terrible vision: in four days, everyone in Elsinore Castle will be dead. Even worse, she's been thrown into a time loop from which she cannot escape. Forced to relive the same four days over and over again, Ophelia determines to do everything in her power to change the future.
Very Positive
356 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
Absolutely stellar. One of the best takes on the time loop game.
Absolutely fantastic game. So clever and so unique, with beautiful art and compelling characters!! Highly recommend!!!!
My only feedback is that [spoiler] I think it's a shame that capturing Fortinbras and keeping everyone alive doesn't yield a better ending than just killing Claudius and making Hamlet into a puppet king. I worked for SO many hours to keep that dramatic little twink alive all the way through the ship plot after the game said Fortinbras couldn't escape if I kept everyone alive, only to find that I was not going to get to see the ending scene work out after all! I had destroyed Claudius' poison and everything! I was SO READY to do the Perfect Run where I solve everyone's problems and keep everyone alive - like the last day in Groundhogs Day! But that's just like, not in the game, which I thought was a shame. I guess that's why they had to have King Hamlet show up and explicitly tell the player to stop trying to find new endings.
Also, I thought we'd learn more about Quince and find that he was secretly Robin Goodfellow, but that never happened, which is okay. Would've been fun though! [/spoiler]
I would have given this one a positive review just for the Umineko reference, but this is one of the best time loop games I've ever played. The characters are well realized, you get to learn more and more every loop, you get to mess with people, and it's all done in a freeform way that doesn't feel like you're just going down a decision tree.
Brilliant game.
I didn't expect it at first, but surprisingly enough, I liked this game. The premise of exploring the world in a time loop, finding clues that will help you advance in the next iteration, reminded me of the Outer Wilds, which I consider one of the best games of all time.
My advice for new players: at first, don't try to do too much stuff in 1 loop; better focus on a single idea, since it will be harder to determine the consequences of each of your actions, as they tend to interfere with each other.
What I didn't like is that the gameplay feels somewhat clunky and is missing a number of QoL features:
- You have to watch as you run to the place of the event (which, by the way, you can miss because that can take a considerable time depending on the location)
- You need to confirm all notifications about things you've learned each time you do that (even if it's the 20th time you do it)
- There's no option to skip cutscenes and dialogues that you've already seen a dozen times
A hidden gem, and I don't even enjoy Shakespeare.
Not for kids. The greater your personal experience with misfortunes of life, the greater will be the impact of this game on you.
Great time-travel, intelligence gathering story-driven game based on "Hamlet".
Small choices, big impacts. Good characters. Great lead characters. Endings with morals.
Beautiful visuals. Great music. Good UI. Great support for keyboard and mouse, and for controllers too.
Great gameplay design. Time cannot go back, but can be fast-forwarded. If player knows exactly what they are doing the result of a time loop can happen less than a minute into a new loop session.
Satisfying information gathering. Every new topic feels like a meaningful tool. With a bit of thinking they can manipulate, kill or save lives, if used at the right times.
For the price and because so little people know about it, I totally recommend it for mature time traveling games enthusiasts.
Turn tragedy into comedy or even fiction! Embrace the choice and never hesitate to go back even after you think you've reached the end.
I'm very torn on this game. I think I would recommend it to try just because I appreciate the unique mechanics, but I have to be honest and say that I think it falls at the last hurdle.
I experienced this game in 3 sections.
The first section was learning the mechanics and the premise and getting familiarized with the characters. It's a bit shaky due to the voice acting but overall the characters feel unique and it's clear pretty quickly there's a lot going on worth being invested in.
The second section is where the game really shines as you start to explore and experiment with different story branches resulting in some dramatic, emotional, sometimes funny twists and turns. I would almost recommend the game for this part alone as it's one of the few games to really deliver on the whole, "Your choices have consequences" promise. I would have, if not for-
The third section, where you then have to use all those different story branches to create specific endings. From that point on, it's fairly clear what you need to do, but it becomes increasingly tedious as there is no skip conversation button, and there's a lot of conversations. You can skip sentence by sentence, but you have to wait anytime a character plays their distinctly sluggish animations - there's no way to skip a whole "cutscene" if you've already seen it a dozen times before (which you will). So for this whole final section of the game most of my gameplay boiled down to going down a checklist of plot points while mashing the skip dialogue button until realizing that because I forgot to say one random thing to someone on day 1, now I have to restart the run all over again.
So the meat of the game is solving puzzles, but then the only payoff is basically having to show your work step by step. What I find interesting is that the writers of Elsinore's story clearly understood and made use of the fact that doing the same thing over and over is torturous and can drive a character mad. But at a certain point, the gameplay itself inevitably becomes that very exercise. Whether that is an intentional integration of one of the themes of the story I can't say, but what I can say is that it stopped being fun.
Tragedy explored in every facet. The antagonist in this game is like a monster I've never quite seen before. It's very original.
I love this game, it was really detailed with the level of clues to uncover. And potential endings to explore.
For everyone who approached Shakespeare's tragedies with a "if they only just did this" attitude, here is your chance to fix it! Except the problem with a tragedy is, it isn't suppose to be avoided. You can try for the best ending possible, but something (or more likely, someone) always has to be sacrificed. Surprisingly enjoyable play. Still haunted by the choices I didn't make.
I've only done one ending so far but can't wait to go back and play again after some time has passed so it all feels fresh again! I really like how quickly things can change depending on the choices you make. A wonderful timeloop puzzle that, even after a full playthrough, still left me feeling like there was so much more to discover!
too ambitious for its execution to manage but playing around Hamlet in a time loop is a ton of fun
Excellent jeu, maîtrisant parfaitement les trames temporels des différents personnages.
Seul défaut : vous aurez besoin d'un bon niveau d'anglais pour vraiment en profiter.
Des traductions mériteraient d'exister (et on adorerait faire la française).
wonderfully beautiful, well-written and detailed puzzle game - happily sunk hours and hours into this and kept finding new things. really captivating, charming, and thoroughly enjoyable. if you like detailed games, untangling threads, and putting puzzle pieces together, this really scratches those itches for me - while still being witty and enjoyable!! doesn't hurt my MA in English Lit neither ;P
kind of like: a literary version of the forgotten city. 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors but with less bombs and without the escape rooms. outer wilds but in shakespearian denmark.
Elsinore sounds like a dream concept, but it collapses under its own ambition.
Characters follow rigid schedules that barely react to your actions, and most of the game is just talking to people. There are almost no puzzles or physical interactions, and logical oddities quickly break immersion (like following someone for three in-game days without them noticing).
The scope is impressive, but full of inconsistencies that make it hard to know what to take seriously. Older games like The Last Express or Deadline handled similar ideas more effectively by keeping things simpler.
Still, Elsinore remains a very fascinating experiment – one I respect more than I enjoyed.
lo devo approfondire ma promette sicuramente bene per chi apprezza i giochi narrativi ed i time loop
Прежде всего Elsinore - игра про временную петлю: гамлетовская Офелия в дне сурка вынуждена раз за разом переживать события пьесы, попутно пытаясь не умереть и спасти всех, кто ей дорог - по крайней мере вначале. Игра кажется довольно неказистой на первый взгляд, но способна затянуть и удивить - главным образом за счёт хорошо написанного текста и живых объемных героев. При этом, парадоксальным образом, она часто бывает почти невыносимо скучной - многие диалоги и события приходится переживать множество раз, а быстрая перемотка что времени, что текста мучительно медленная, и судя по тому, как на скуку раз за разом жалуется главная героиня и некоторые другие персонажи, которые испытывают временную петлю, не теряя память с каждым циклом, почти полное отсутствие механизмов, облегчающих прохождение, - это сознательное художественное решение. Зато, когда удаётся докопаться до нового куска истории, который двигает её вперёд, игра по-настоящему сияет.
Теперь, ретроспективно, я понимаю, что это как нельзя более уместное и естественное решение - завязать на бесконечной повторяемости основной конфликт такого театрального произведения: больше всего Elsinore похож на спектакль, который бесконечно репетируют, дополняют, переписывают сцены и реплики, но никак не могут сдать. Это ощущение только укрепляется костюмами персонажей: в настройках игры их можно переодеть в современное, но даже историческая одежда весьма условна - как будто для любительской постановки "из того, что было".
Театральна игра во всём. Прежде всего привлекает внимание та наивная лёгкость и яркость, с которой персонажи при перемене обстоятельств раскрываются с разных сторон - как быстро играются свадьбы, плетутся и приводятся в исполнение заговоры, любовь сменяется ненавистью и наоборот. Несколько резко бросающихся в глаза отступлений от оригинала вместе с нарочито условными декорациями и костюмами дополняют приятное впечатление игры, не претендующей ни на "историчность" (что бы под этим ни подразумевалось), ни на точное следование букве исходника. "Гамлет" здесь в первую очередь удобный контур, раскраска, которую можно и нужно расцветить собственной историей - проявить вольность в обращении с известными героями, одарить личностью тех, у кого прежде была лишь пара строчек диалога, добавить новых персонажей. И именно поскольку эта история самостоятельна, она может позволить себе, держа вежливую дистанцию, "разговаривать" с шекспировской пьесой если не на равных, то, по крайней мере, как взрослый сепарировавшийся ребёнок может разговаривать со своим авторитарным родителем. В отличие от, например, To Be or Not To Be, которая использует классику, чтобы, условно говоря, хулигански подрисовать усы Джоконде, Elsinore ограничивается почтительными кивками то в одном, то в другом месте.
Эта наивность в подаче, отсутствие претензии, подкупает: она помогает сломать лёд между игроком и игрой, а потому лучше проникнуться персонажами. А ими нужно проникнуться или хотя бы вникнуть в хитросплетения их жизненных неурядиц и отношений между собой: большую часть игры цель героини состоит в том, чтобы "исправить" трагедию, предотвратив сначала собственную гибель, а после сохранив жизнь всем остальным - долгое время игра пытается убедить, что именно кровавая развязка заставляет Офелию раз за разом просыпаться в начале одного и того же дня. Впрочем, заниматься всеобщим спасением вовсе не обязательно: в том, как дать игроку возможность перетасовать судьбы персонажей игра проявляет изрядную гибкость - итоги, к которым может прийти каждый конкретный герой и весь Эльсинор поражают разнообразием и свободой в обращении с оригиналом; в этом плане игра представляет собой идеальный фанфик. Даже к одной до одной и той же концовке можно прийти разными и порой весьма зрелищными способами - то, с каким количеством вариаций и фантазии персонажи могут перебить друг друга, впечатляет. Это порождает нездоровое, холодное любопытство - и главная героиня пару раз отпускает комментарии по этому поводу - на что ещё способны эти люди? Игра богата на эмоции - тут и трогательные любовные сцены, и семейные драмы, и убийства, и забавные комедийные вставки. Историю легко сконструировать под собственные вкусы и настроения, пусть даже набор кубиков несколько ограничен - love, blood and rhetoric school. Правда, если хочется открыть все концовки или разблокировать условно хорошую, а скорее самую трудную, то придётся поскучать: небольшая промашка с таймингом действий может легко всё испортить, так что диалоги придётся просматривать множество раз, а как таковой быстрой перемотки здесь нет. (Реплика в сторону: у меня, впрочем, эта самая "золотая" концовка разблокировалась случайно благодаря багу).
Я не случайно говорю про концовки "открыть", а не "достигнуть". В игре нет возможности сохраняться, а до финала нельзя просто дойти, совершив определённое количество действий, которые составляют основной сюжет. Вместо этого, по достижении определённого поворота в истории, игроку внутри самой игры дана возможность выбрать концовку из тех, на которые он вышел до этого - или поискать третий путь, настоящий выход из игры. Секретных концовок в игре две и обе они блокируют другие эндинги. Абсолютным завершением игры, однако ж, является только одна из них.
[spoiler]Здесь есть одна деталь. Дело в том, что вначале выбор одной из концовок стирал все сохранения, делая таким образом выбор игрока финальной точкой в истории: чтобы увидеть все эндинги нужно было 13 раз спидранить игру, а это путь, который осилит не каждый - особенно учитывая упомянутое уже и почти полное отсутствие инструментов, убыстряющих прохождение. Потом с одним из патчей эту систему сменили другой: концовка всё так же выбирается внутри игры, но после того, как игрок просматривает её, просто блокируется - весь прогресс при этом сохраняется. Полностью закрывают доступ к другим концовкам, как уже было сказано, только две секретные, а одна из них, в свою очередь, также исключает другую, "ломает" сохранение и фактически по-настоящему завершает игру. Я говорю про "Exeunt All".
Вообще есть что-то глубоко депрессивное в том, что игра, которая большую часть времени декларирует целью игрока "спасти всех", в конце вынуждает цинично этих всех убивать - вот этих вот куколок, в хитросплетения взаимоотношений и проблем которых до этого нужно было вникать, чтобы идти дальше по сюжету, теперь требуется только удачно разбивать на группки, чтобы случайно не попасться на глаза тому, кто может дать отпор. И задача это, прямо скажем, довольно лёгкая, отчего только грустнее. Все эти живые и выпуклые характеры оказываются лишь забавными механическими птичками в не очень просторной золотой клетке, а сама история - только бесконечно повторяемым спектаклем, который, несмотря на свою остроту и тонкость, всем надоел, как старик, из года в год рассказывающий на семейном застолье одну и ту же шутку. Таким образом, из игры про выбор, в том числе моральный, Elsinore превратилась в довольно линейную историю о потере человечности - полноценные прежде концовки оказались низведены до сайд-квестов или, в лучшем случае, части основного. Стыдно, конечно, убивать героев, чтобы растрогать холодных и расшевелить равнодушных, но вообще для вариации на тему "Гамлета" финал, в котором почти все действующие лица умирают, выглядит вполне уместным. [/spoiler]
Перед занавесом. С технической точки зрения есть определённые огрехи. Некоторые квесты неудачно накладываются друг на друга: например, персонаж, которого уже нет в Эльсиноре, неожиданно появляется там для какого-нибудь заскриптованного диалога или, наоборот, остаётся на месте, хотя по сюжету должен был исчезнуть. Порой о мёртвом персонаже говорят как о живом - особенно при неочевидных действиях и их последовательности. В остальном же это замечательная игра. Хотя бы потому, что в титрах Шекспир указан через запятую с Ryukishi07. Кстати, в игре можно найти портрет Беатриче из Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
I expected I would enjoy this game, but not that I would love it. By the end, I was so captivated by the story I didn't really want to put it down. Saying goodbye to these characters was surprisingly hard! They took on lives outside their original source material that I grew attached to, and the things they had to say about the story they're from, stories in general, and life itself really struck me deep. I will be thinking about this game for a very, very long time.
Wow, just wow.
I'll be brief, and blunt: I am not a fan of this game's visual style, or its gameplay. This is a glorified visual novel, and that is not a genre I normally enjoy. But Elsinore is a drastic exception for me, because the depth and complexity of the interactive story is simply incredible.
This is not an "accessible" game, as it doesn't hold your hand or tell you what to do at all, but the fact I could play through dozens of timeloop worlds and still find something new in each one is beyond impressive. It's not a game for everyone, but those who put in the "work" to play this game will be rewarded. Just when you think the story is wrapping up, a wild twist or other bombshell is dropped on you which opens up the world and expands the story beyond what you expected. As the player, you can not only influence events, but influence WHEN events take place. I can't begin to imagine the effort put into crafting this detailed and dynamic story. Highly recommended if that sort of thing sounds interesting to you. I finally played this game because it was referenced in Outer Wilds, and other than the fact I prefer Outer Wild's focus on exploration, the connection between the two games' timeloop mechanics do not disappoint.
[P.S. My game time is incorrect due to offline play on a Steam Deck. I think it was closer to 10 hours to reach one of the endings.]
I wish I could have liked this game. There was clearly a lot of effort put into it, and it had a great hook of a story, but I had several major gripes.
First, there NEEDS to be a 'skip conversation' button. You should not have to sit through the same lengthy dialogues a million times. It just punishes you for experimentation. I reached a point where I thought I explored everything but the tedium prevented me from revisiting things to fully check out what I may have missed. And indeed, I had missed stuff. Starting each time loop with two unskippable conversations was a pointlessly annoying decision.
It's also very frustrating when other plotlines suddenly interrupt you, whisk you away from the scene you were in, and prevent you from engaging in the plotline you were just about to complete. Having to restart and redo all of that is frustrating, especially when you were right there completing it.
The time travels forward too quickly. It's extremely easy to miss things, and certainly not fun. The game has an option to fast-forward time when you're waiting around, so I'm not sure why they had to make 'normal speed' time run so quickly and make events so easily missable. This also has the unintended effect of making NPCs do goofy ♥♥♥♥ like sprint full speed to make their appointments on time, which honestly took me a bit out of the game. A queen sprinting around looks foolish.
The biggest reason I had to give this game a thumb down was the ending. You spend this whole game trying to stop this evil character, and you're never rewarded for it. It's kind of a slap in the face to basically be told "haha, all your effort was for naught!" Now, I agree that, thematically, this is an interesting way to end the story. And I agree that this would be a fine ending to watch in a movie or a play. But for a videogame that takes hours and hours of your own efforts to complete, especially a game that is built around unskippable repetition, it's just flat out annoying and make you feel like you wasted your time without really getting anything back for all of your efforts. There needs to be more payoff beyond "you, the player, are stuck in hell just like the protagonist! All your efforts were pointless! Bummer!". Why did I even waste my time picking up the game then?
I first heard about Elsinore years ago when it was in development, and I'm thrilled to finally be able to play it. I love timeloop games dearly, and this is one of the best I've played.
哈姆雷特和时间循环都是哲学气息很浓的题材。
但是通篇玩完除了最开始的三个小时觉得解读新颖，后面越玩越觉得自己的选择变得失去意义。
推荐的原因在于题材新颖，设计也很完整。但是也不是没有问题，我把我感受到的都写在下面了，酌情参考。
好比说你重复过同一天，你每天可以从三种口味的冰淇凌里选一种。前三天选择每次都不同还会有新鲜感，但随着一次又一次地重复，你开始感到麻木，怀疑选择不同口味的冰淇凌是否有意义。伴随着流程的重复，这个游戏后期变得乏味缺乏进展，甚至在我的体验中出现了一整个循环就为了解锁一个线索的情况。
类比星际拓荒(Outer Wilds)的循环体验，我发现时间循环跟伦理抉择很难适配。星际拓荒中你可以有限的时间内选择不同的星球探索，而每次探索结束都会为下次探索提供更多的便利条件或者允许更深层次的挖掘。这个游戏里虽然，同样的，你可以根据所有循环中获的线索来进行互动，但是每次循环开始你都要面对同样的哈姆雷特——对叔叔感到气愤，对奥菲利亚难舍难分的哈姆雷特。
假设游戏问你是否要跟哈姆雷特重归于好，如果你先入为主有一个概念，认为奥菲利亚就该跟哈姆雷特好（因为他善），或者就该跟哈姆雷特分（因为他疯了），你选完第一次后，再重新回到这个抉择点的时候就会对选择另外一个选项感到不习惯。这个游戏里有不少这样的抉择点，让我不断重复，以至于我不得不重复提醒自己选择自己不认同的选项只是为了凑数。
There's SO MUCH packed into Elsinore, it's hard to summarize this time-loop take on Hamlet. It's also important to mention that Hamlet is QUITE the emo jerk in this iteration (maybe that was always the case). Anyways: Imagine a much more inclusive version of Hamlet with a time-loop structure and delightful, meta-level Easter Eggs everywhere. The writer of the game Katie Chironis is such an absolute genius, here on top of her craft. There'd be other details I'd love to reveal, but I'd love to spare you from spoilers and instead invite you to enjoy Ophelia's whirlwind adventure through Hamlet again and again and again.
Very good story, it baked me alive, cried in oven. I am a bread now on plate. Well done.
A very interesting and eminently replayable game, especially for fans of Sleep No More.
Wrote a paper on this comparing it to other Hamlet adaptations and the question of Ophelia's agency. Does the time loop thing quite well.
Liked - amazing plot, intriguing story changes, opportunities to massively mess stuff up just by saying the right / wrong thing to someone.
Disliked - the game felt somewhat unfinished, and I definitely encountered at least one error message (I think when telling Quince to put on a play about a spy). Sometimes people would say dialogue that didn't make sense with the timeline, but given how much could change from world to world it makes sense not every base could be covered.
I was also very confused about the red stamps for questlines, but that was probably just me.
Initially, I wished more things were voice-acted, but I grew to love the charm of the voice snippets.
Overall, I'll say 10/10 just because I think the game meets my criteria for a good game. Is it perfect? No. But does it meet my standards? Yes, and in many cases exceeds them.
Wish you could skip the intro though.
Keep exploring to find truth in medieval time loop
Very good
i didnt like it, too much dialog
Very well-written and engaging time loop game. Takes the story and characters from Hamlet (plus a few other plays) and lets you get to know, and change the fates of all of them based on your actions. Fast forward mechanics ease the repetitiveness that is inherent in these kinds of games. There was lots to explore and it was fun to see all the trajectories the story could take.
The only game where dying multiple times can actually be fun. I love exploring the castle and talking to everyone. Despite its complexity, the game is surprisingly intuitive. If you ever get stuck, click on the map and walk to the purple area. You'll witness a cutscene that'll give you more details about the plot.
Generally good, with lots of narrative details to explore. It felt like love and effort was put into making the game world internally consistent, which is difficult given that there are lots of interconnected branching narratives you could dig through. I explored nearly all of it, and only once experienced an inconsistency (inconsequential at that). So kudos.
The ending was good, but somewhat weaker than you’d expect. It remained consistent to its theme, and really upped the stakes, but I felt kind of like it didn’t resolve the main antagonism of the plot. Maybe this is the best it could be. In addition the script-writing, though compelling, was somewhat shallow, and appeared even more shallow when juxtaposed with the source material (Shakespeare) which sucks for the author, who does not benefit from that comparison.
All in all, I recommend it if you like to dig through "choose your own adventure" style games.
I was expecting some sort of over-dramatized Shakespeare fanwork, but in stead what i got was a well crafted multi-pronged time loop murder mystery. The characters are a little one-dimensional but otherwise well developed, and each have their own unique stories and potential story paths. The ability to affect their actions and events by choosing to share certain information, which can be gleaned from previous time loops, is an engaging and unique game mechanic feeling different from all the other games i've played. The inherent tragedy seems to be that you just can't save everyone, and must choose what type of ending you want to work towards to ultimately break out of the loop. Even knowing what happens to who' and why, figuring out how to manipulate events to achieve a positive outcome is a challenge.
The visual art style can be a little rough around the edges but is still charming. Audio is nothing to write home about but doesn't get in the way, as the focus is almost entirely written dialogue and event-based storytelling.
There obviously is a lot of influence from Shakespeare, even ignoring the setting and story, but i don't think you need to know or care about it in any way to enjoy the game. The writing is all modern, and direct references to the play Hamlet are essentially cameos, having little relevance if you don't already know about them. You're definitely not just following the original plot as things can go various ways based on your actions, from the moment you wake up after the first loop. It feels more like a standalone murder mystery / detective story than a derivative work.
Above all, the time loop format means there's no pressure despite how dire events are. There are frivolous storylines to follow if you just want to chill and take a break from all the drama. You can spend an entire loop just stalking one person to see what they get up to if you want. You can also set five different storylines going at once if you like to multitask and hate wasting time. Game control options like time skipping and auto-following other characters mean the controls and game style never really get in the way of doing what you want.
Overall, the game feels unique and engaging. I've only played for 8 hours and 5 loops or so, but already i feel i got my money's worth (3 coffees) out of it. It's hard to say because it's such an odd mix, but i think the things i find most fun are the detective story, the mystery (even already knowing the plot of Hamlet), the many varied storylines, the social manipulation, and the challenge of trying to find the best way to force things towards the outcome i want to see the most. If any of those things sound like fun, i guess you might enjoy the game too.
An interesting take on Hamlet.
The first few rounds were engaging, especially in the second and third rounds when the mystery and "missing link" piqued my curiosity. However, once that initial intrigue faded, the gameplay became repetitive. The game required careful planning each turn, as even small mistakes could cost the entire turn to be started over again, which could be frustrating.
Overall, I’d recommend the game in good faith for those who enjoy unraveling complex narratives.
喜欢《哈姆雷特》的应该能对上脑波，没有对话配音，然而虽然初期精彩，但是中后期重复度高，一旦放下就拿不起了......依旧推荐，但是建议一次沉浸式体验
This game was so much fun! I love the entire premise of it. I worried I would become bored of repeating the same story over and over, but it sprinkles in just enough difference in each path that it stays interesting. Choosing an ending was soooo hard to do, too! I had to look up the endings I didn't choose. Extremely well written and well done.
PLAY THIS GAME if you like mystery and knowledge unlocks. I wishlisted this game because I'd heard some people who worked on Outer Wilds worked on this game first. OW is my favorite game of all time because of the knowledge unlocks- the cerebral challenges, and the successes when you figure something out. I can definitely see the similarities in Elsinore. Just like OW, there are some moments that feel hopeless and difficult, and there are some puzzlers to sleep on. However, I'm on hour 10 of the game now, and I've finally reached that feeling of understanding and realizing the solution that I've missed so much! I'm going back into gameplay now, and I'm not sure I'll beat the game this time around, but the experiment will be fun! This may be a smaller game, with only a few game-wide solutions to discover rather than a whole solar system full, but I'm very glad I stuck with it to get to this moment.
Additionally, the characters are deep and powerful and intricate--you can tell the developers had fun playing with Shakespeare. I am having fun in the Bard's world now too!
One more note comes to mind: If you've played Shadow of Destiny, you'll love this game too! Elsinore is far more well written, in fact, with far more intricate branches to explore! (Though SoD has a special place in my heart, and has some great characters, mystery, and twists that make it worthwhile. If you like playing Elsinore- I recommend it!)
Una originalissima rivisitazione dell'Amleto di Shakespeare, narrata dal punto di vista di Ofelia, la donna amata dal protagonista. Ma non avremo a che fare con la storia come noi la conosciamo, o almeno non completamente. La vicenda infatti non sarà lineare, poiché la bella Ofelia si ritroverà colpita da una sorta di maledizione che la obbligherà a rivivere la vicenda, ancora e ancora finché non scoprirà cosa l'ha scatenata e soprattutto il modo di spezzarla. Inevitabilmente, sarà costretta (e noi con lei) a cercare nuovi approcci verso i personaggi al fine di scongiurarne i tristi destini, sfruttando la conoscenza che man mano accumulerà su di loro grazie alla continua ripetizione degli eventi. Avremo quindi a che fare con un albero delle scelte particolarmente intricato dove ogni singola vicenda personale è strettamente legata alle altre. Un solo tassello cambiato in tale mosaico può finire per rivoluzionare tutto, e Ofelia potrebbe non solo spezzare la maledizione, ma perfino trovare un finale migliore per lei e gli altri personaggi.
Se avete amato giochi come Overboard o Last Express, decisamente dovete giocare anche Elsinore.
引人入胜的时间循环游戏，越玩越上头。好不容易避免了间谍行动突然发现这才是开始T T
This game is sooooo amazing, I wish the developers made another game because it is so unique compared to other games with so many different endings 10/10
My friend gifted me this game after we played Pro Philosopher 2 and I expressed my interest in it. It shares a lot of the same team and it really shows - this title is also phenomenal!
I'm definitely not one to shy away from a time loop mystery - Zero Escape is among my favourite games. What I am slightly more averse to is Shakespeare - I read Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth in school and haven't touched much of his work since. However, I don't dislike Shakespeare and this game made me genuinely intrigued to read Hamlet, both to see how the original and the game converge and diverge and just to see the writing in its original form. Something about Elsinore's (and therefore Hamlet's) cast is so compelling and fun to read and I imagine that is inspired somewhat by the original work.
As the above spiel suggests, I've never read Hamlet but I vaguely knew a few things. As a result, every twist and turn truly was surprising to me but I imagine that comes down to the masterful presentation. Part of the game stays faithful to the source but a lot of it is truly imaginative and a lot of fun to go through. I really can't stress this enough - explore everything. Try everything. Get to know the cast as best as you can, you never know what you might find.
I can't comment much on the choice to put Ophelia in the protagonist role as I have no experience of her in the original Hamlet, but friends I've spoken to about this game have found it to be a surprising decision based on her role in the original story. However, putting aside the source, she is a delightful and fun protagonist to engage with and seeing the world through her eyes made for a fantastic experience. She's a friendly and lighthearted character with those she cares for and trusts, but also knows how to stand up for herself and others in the face of peril. The player does get to control her actions through the choices they make, but each decision helps for her individual personality to shine through beautifully.
Her interactions with the cast always gave a variety of interesting reactions that ranged from purposeful to fun. The game narrows down your choices so that they aren't paralysing but also not restrictive. You are able to do plenty, without slogging through every possible choice only to get minimal feedback. This allows for every avenue to be explored without it being too overwhelming. The game truly lives up to what it says - your choices really do impact the story and leads you to an ending that suits as the consequences of your actions.
I liked the rest of the cast as well, but it's mostly just echoing the same I said about Ophelia. Each are willing to come into their own and adapt to the events of the story the Ophelia of now is telling, and the Ophelia of now changes from loop to loop. At one moment she is preventing tragedy, at the next she is enforcing it for the greater good. The characters change to reflect her choices and how the world is shaped by them, but those changes are spoiler territory so I'll leave you to find them for yourself. Each character responds in a way that is expected of them, despite the several forms this expectation can take.
These studios (Golden Glitch and Intelligible) really have a knack for taking "boring content you dreaded in school" and transforming it into something that anyone can enjoy, or taking something you already enjoy and presenting it in a way that makes you think of it differently. It also allows beginners (like me in this case) to access something they are vaguely aware of and learn an overview in an engaging way before they look further into the source. I'm excited to see more from both studios - maybe a crossover is in the cards? I jest, but I love the way that the writing is presented in Elsinore and I'd love to see more!
This piece has many themes that it isn't ashamed to wear on its sleeve and is even willing to get the player involved in exploring them in an overt manner. They are key both to Hamlet and Elsinore and the game ensures that the player knows the impact that each has. Even as I'm writing the review, I am considering the parallels that each theme presents and how they are differently important to different characters.
But that's enough of me talking about my own experiences of the game, it's time to open the game and begin your own. It's a beautiful game you don't want to miss out on - there is so much to experience and find. But after you find everything and make every choice you possibly can, you'll just have one thing left to say, as I do now.
Farewell, Elsinore.
Loved the first few hours with a fresh take on Hamlet's characters. While finding the endings was satisfying, it's not always clear what you need to do once you have all the necessary hearsay for some of them. Making one mistake in the order of events can muck up the timeline and you have reset the day and go through the motions all over again. Thankfully you can reset and speed up time whenever you want. The hand drawn art style is beautiful but the animations are a bit amateur. Kudos for developing a unique game but I'm not sure linear gameplay in an open world works with such complicated stories. I think it was smoother in a single plot like The Forgotten City
Très bon jeu de time loop !
<3
A very fun and creative game, with an interesting new take on the classic plot of Hamlet. I'm a sucker for time loops, and I had a lot of fun scheduling each day to get the exact outcome I needed. There's much to explore, and I owe a great deal to one song in particular on this soundtrack (my friends will know which one...). With the permanent price drop to $10, this game is more than worth the price of admission. Give it a try!
I wish there were more games like this. Very memorable.
是一个可以称得上年度游戏的好游戏，很诚挚的作品。
不知道制作方是如何想到以落水的奥菲利亚作为开篇，来重新讲述这个原标题为哈姆雷特的故事。writer的野心从第一个循环之后就可以窥见，通篇下来酣畅如同尝遍五味，深刻但也简洁，没有架子，轻快优美地勾勒了整个故事，让人非常难忘。
表面平淡，实际上将无限流的元素玩得很透彻，将玩家的设想和疑问都回应得恰到好处，在玩家想象之外又准备了很多惊喜。
而故事本身的立意，它的意义对我来说更大。一个完全男性视角的经典作品，由女性主笔从女性视角切入并把几位风格完全不同的女性角色重新让到聚光灯的正中，让她们人设立住并丰满，充满人物魅力，真的很少见。剧情中透露出的思考层次也非常丰富，每进展一步带来的感触都更深一层。
硬件方面的优点，剧情是绝对的主角，也好得十分令人信服；音乐出彩，我很少玩过游戏后还循环听soundtrack但我循环了这个；人物配音虽然不是全文都读，但关键部分是全配音，演绎生动，女主配音尤佳；画风不常见，可能不容易第一眼爱上，但和整个游戏的古意是特别贴合的。
缺点和其它无限流游戏一样，后期非常耗时间（可以快进，但需要摸索的地方很多），重复性大，很容易无聊，但是为了这种程度的好剧本我完全甘心玩这么长时间以经历所有剧情。
再见Elsinore，等我失忆一定再玩一次！
A fun game with awesome writing.
If you are into time loop games with a bit of exploration and reading-between-the-lines then this is for you. I found it a little confusing to wrap my head around the little hints the game gave in order to move forward but once I got the hang of it I found it really cool and fun. Do note it's a lot of dialogue and reading and lots of it are mostly lore and flavor. I did get a few bugs but nothing game breaking or annoying.
If you like the idea of this exploration of Shakespearean themes using Shakespeare's story as a template to tell even more stories, then this is definitely a highly recommend.
Also, the soundtrack and the visuals are really nice! especially the character portraits and the story scenes.
Elsinore is a beautifully crafted game that offers a deep, intelligent, and emotional experience. The way it handles the time-loop concept is incredible – every time you think you’ve figured things out, new information comes to light, and you have to rethink your strategy. The characters, even though they're from a familiar story, feel fresh and complex, with motives that you can uncover through multiple playthroughs. Playing as Ophelia, I felt genuinely invested in trying to break the cycle of tragedy, and the choices I made really felt like they mattered. The art and music add to the immersive atmosphere, and it’s clear that so much love went into designing this game. Whether you're a fan of Shakespeare or just looking for a game with a rich, branching narrative, Elsinore is an absolute must-play. I haven’t been this captivated by a story in a long time.
Medieval "butterfly effect"
One of the best-written games ever made - there are some annoying mechanics but it is so worth it to get to the great and tragic stories in here.
good
Twelve Minutes가 Elsinore에서 무엇을 해결하려 했는지 대충 알 것 같으나, 개인적으로 Groundhog Day (사랑의 블랙홀) 부류의 타임루프 게임으로는 Elsinore가 더 잘 만들었다고 생각한다. 장소 이동시간으로 인해 놓치는 것이 많이 생기긴 하지만, 이건 디자인상 선택의 중요성을 의도한 부분이라 보고, 되려 지도상 이벤트 표시와 타임라인 정리, 정보요약화면 등으로 잘 메꾸고 있다. 타임루프 장르 특유의 동일부분 반복도 적절한 방법으로 잘 생략하였고, 루프를 반복하며 다양한 인물과 사건을 나름 내가 원하는 순서로 탐색한다는 느낌도 잘 주는 편이다.
소재가 셰익스피어의 햄릿을 배경삼고 있기는 하나, 알면 좀 초반 이해가 빠르다 정도고 모른다 해서 크게 몰입에 방해되는 수준은 아니라 생각한다. 사실 한국어가 없어서 영어로 플레이를 해야 하는 만큼, 영어로 이걸 플레이 가능한 어학 실력이라면 햄릿을 귀동냥으로라도 얼추 알고 있으리라 생각하기도 하고.
원작도 그러하듯 어느 정도 막장드라마적 요소가 있고 유혈사태도 일어나는 만큼 이용자의 소소한 주의를 요한다.
The characters are largely written to match the time period- the political benefits of marriage are taken seriously by wise people.
You make progress as you complete loops- you learn more information you can talk to people about- but it still is definitely a time-loop story.
You can influence events in MANY ways, but usually not directly. You can tell Hamlet what he needs to hear to summon up the resolve to kill his uncle, you can get his uncle killed in many ways, but you can't interrupt a scene and beg Hamlet to calm down and not kill someone.
interesting puzzle game
I genuinely and whole-heartedly loved this game. It's a Hamlet time-loop from Ophelia's point of view, and it's freakin' fascinating. You (almost*) always feel like you're making progress, the story is mind-boggling in its complexity, and the narrative it tells ends up presenting some genuinely interesting, bittersweet dilemmas. The additional characters are great, and the game does a fantastic job of incorporating a diversity of races, genders, and sexualities responsibly and without breaking immersion.
Don't expect, y'know, the smoothest of 2020s graphics or anything -- it's mostly text-based, characters occasionally teleport, and I once conversed with a character who forgot[?] that Hamlet had already died in that loop. But if you like narratively-driven games, this one's criminally underrated.
* (I did turn to the internet for help a few times once I had unlocked a few endings. Most everything felt super fair, though; the game's well-clued, I'm just impatient.)
compelling
Love the spin on the play; the characters stories are refreshing; the plot twists
Elsinore is a magnificent game that takes hold of you and doesn't let go until you've seen every possible path through to its bittersweet ending. This game absolutely blew away my expectations with amazing art, puzzles, character relationships, music, and gameplay. Every last character was deliciously gray, making every last player decision one that required thought and care. Despite the game being about a timeloop, it never felt boring or repetitive, as each tiny decision changes so many things and ensures each "life" is interesting and unique.
Seamless gameplay, intriguing mysteries, sky-high replay value, and delightful homages to many of Shakespeare's works even beyond Hamlet- Elsinore is absolutely a hidden gem of a game.
Love it
very good game, I show it in my class just but it!!!!!!!!!
An inventive take on good old Hamlet. Surprisingly ambitious, and while not perfect, it manages to deliver a noteworthy experience. Recommended.
Edit: to elaborate further, now that I've actually reached one of the endings, Elsinore's story is perfectly palatable and easy to enjoy, yet it's not quite what's going to leave a mark in my memory.
Above all, Elsinore, despite being a visual novel at its core, manages to present a coherent world for its readers to explore, one that's full of characters who don't just stand there, frozen in space and time until you deign to approach them. Interacting with this world and making use of its rules is a delight, hands down.
had to play it for a college level Shakespeare class, loved every second of it
this game is fantastic! I had so much fun playing it! I fell in love with how interesting the plot is, how endearing and deep and sympathetic all the characters are when you get to know them, and in how many ways you can obtain the same result, each one with a distinct nuance and flavor. It's a game you don't get tired of exploring, offering you endless big and small surprises (sometimes the small are even more precious than the big). I super duper recommend it!
Best game that forcibly deleted my save file
Find Grace, find freedom.
To be clear it's not necessarily a high recommendation but it IS a recommendation nonetheless! I'll get the "bad" out of the way first. This definitely feels like an indie title with: Lack of VO, rough graphics/animations, sporadic and buggy music. But if you can look past those (minor IMO) flaws then you'll find a well-written game that has lots of interesting choices and problems for you to face. Well-written characters, good music, and varied endings for you to find, or not.
I liked a lot of this game, just wish you could teleport places instead of walking or at least have that option. By the end of the main game I was confused on what to do next but it ended up being that I was on the right trail so I can't complain too much there either.
Overall 3.75/5 from me!
An unexpected mix of Shakespeare, Sims 2, and choose-your-own-adventure detective. Weird and addictive, but in a good way.
时间循环题材棒棒的，时间-人物的事件时间轴，还有死亡重置和查看历史对话的功能在多次循环中帮助很大。本作有近20个人物，每个角色都丰富立体，即使是原作相当边缘的角色也很有趣，吉尔登斯吞好可爱♥。可以摸猫和狗，[strike] 我可以摸猫直到世界毁灭 [/strike]。刻画LGBT/有色人种/feminism的质量很高[spoiler] 很难得的LGBT四个字母全都有的故事，没有女同会不喜欢Grace吧 [/spoiler]对话时人物只念头几个词或者大意很好地配合了阅读速度，音乐和情节也很搭配。[spoiler] Gertrude站在城墙上绝望自杀，只有Ophelia才能看到的老Hamlet指导她试图救下Gertrude，“留在生的那一边” [/spoiler]另外，本作对英语能力的要求远远低于莎翁原作，以我的六级水平和欧路词典的鼠标取词几乎可以流畅游玩，好游戏不应该被语言障碍埋没。
Overall, beautiful story. Already it hooked the theater kid in me with the combo of Groundhog Day meets Hamlet. The only thing I'd say is... It needs a little more polish.
There are plenty of paths of thought you can pursue, and in 18 hours I've probably seen almost all of it (Except a few options that don't lead to a specific ending, but lead in someone dying likely including yourself).
I won't spoil anything, but the creators really enjoy the idea that no ending is perfect. You can't really ever WIN in Elsinore's story, but you can go with what you believe is probably the best ending. I've been told you can go into several endings, but at least most of them pretty clearly explain what the ending looks like. If you're at the end, completely done and paralyzed by choice, there is at least a youtube video which shows all the endings.
Now in terms of my overall feelings, I think it's worth experiencing. Like I said, there are some things that need polishing though. I won't expect them to have fully voiced lines for everyone, but there are some times when the exact repetition of lines can kind of get boring. Ophelia will always say the same thing when she discovers this item, as if she hasn't discovered it before. She'll act with shock when a choice she makes leads to a result she's already seen. If the creators have time at some point to add onto the game, I'd just suggest more awareness from our MC.
Another thing I'd suggest is 'The Current Timeline' of events. In Elsinore, people will go about and do their scheduled tasks. If I follow around Hamlet all day, not changing anything at all (Creepy, true, but useful) then I would expect to have it marked down where he'll be and when. If something changes? Sure I can imagine that might throw things off. But after a few times when you want to get all the endings, it would be nice to just see the default timeline and potentially some of the conversations involved.
There were a couple bugs, but nothing game-breaking. Sometimes the camera would zoom over something, showing the dungeon when I'm above ground. Nothing major at all but worth mentioning.
Also, it feels weird to have a option to enable modern clothes, but only have it on the main characters. I get the idea behind it because there are plenty of modern renditions of Hamlet where they'll wear modern clothes, but I would've loved if they'd gone all the way with it- even if it was something like a $1 DLC or something to justify to the creators using it.
Also, yes you can pet the dogs and cats.
Fantastic writing, music, and time loop mechanics.
Shakespeare fans MUST play. It's Outer Wilds if it were better.
Satisfying time loop mechanics, plus now I know what Hamlet is all about!
I chose to play this game after seing the easter egg in Outer Wilds.
I liked the story with multiple endings, I liked the portraits art style and the musics.
But the graphics are really outdated otherwise and the sim like animation of the characters is kind of immersion breaking some times, for instance, none of the character actually sleep, they just stand in their room.
Still worth playing for the original gameplay and if you like Shakespeare.
Very possibly my favorite game ever played!! Visually beautiful and incredibly clean mechanics. The world feels alive, and while you (Ophelia) do eventually have the power to change things, the game leaves you feeling appropriately, tragically helpless for much of the game. What more could you ask for from a Shakespearean tragedy!
The game is truly and genuinely challenging, though completely unpunishing thanks to the time loop conceit. The story brings up thoughtful ethical quandaries throughout. As a final note - the devs really thoughtfully added gender, queer, and racial diversity while appropriately grounding the characters in their historical period. A huge win in my book!
If the description of Elsinore sounded even a little intriguing to you, this game is absolutely worth playing!!
recommended for real tragedy enjoyers
Actually a much more absorbing game than I expected. Worth it even at full price.
However, it would benefit greatly from a 'skip scene' button for scenes you want to happen but have already seen. Wouldn't normally call something like this out, but there IS a fast-forward button so it feels awkward when you can't FFwd something.
What I was hoping to experience was [i]Hamlet[/i] from Ophelia's point of view. That sounds amazing! Especially if you're a reading geek like me! But this is not [i]Hamlet[/i]. Oh, its got all the characters, sure. But they speak and think like modern day social media accounts, not like the medieval individuals they were. The historical context and beautiful wordplay of the original script has been ripped out and replaced with safe, modern sensibilitites. It genuinely feels like a high school creative writing project: surface-level understanding of the text, implanted with surface-level understanding of social issues for brownie points and written with surface-level word choice.
Basically, they decided to fix a play that needed no repairs.
Amazing for time loop fans
把《Elsinore》全结局完整玩了下来，还算蛮超出期待的一部作品。说起游玩契机，我最爱的《星际拓荒》中有这个游戏的联动彩蛋，同时这个游戏在GMTK的某期视频中也有提及，于是在没有中文的情况下用英文玩完了这个游戏。对英文要求其实不高，大概四级水平，而且这种文本向游戏可随时停下来查词所以还好。
正如商店页面简介所言，这是一个以《哈姆雷特》为背景的以“时间循环”为主要特色的游戏，玩家需要做的是在不断的循环中搜集信息，并将自己掌握的情报在特定的时机告诉特定的人，从而引发特定的结果，这个结果可能是一个会提供更深层信息的事件，也有可能是一出玩家故意编排让某人出丑的恶作剧。玩家可以按照给定的传闻任务探索事件的发展结局和幕后真相，也可以出于纯粹的好奇心扰乱NPC的行为期待事态如何发展。这一点倒是和《星际拓荒》和《遗忘之城》有一定相似之处。
同时，在上述这个相当类似侦探推理游戏的玩法下，本作有完善的时刻表，会展示（玩家目前知道的）每一位角色之前已经做的和之后确定要做的特定事件，可能比一些推理游戏的时刻表都要更加细致以及易用。对话记录、人物档案、当前传闻、已搜集情报这些功能也是都有专门的栏目，略简陋，不过麻雀虽小五脏俱全。
文本相当戏剧风、或者说舞台剧风，会在一定程度上唤起久违的阅读书籍的感觉。整体剧情在《哈姆雷特》的基础上进行了相当大胆的改编和填充，同时一些原作桥段演出效果还行，对熟悉莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》（以及其他几部戏剧）或者不熟悉的玩家其实都有照顾到。作为一个可以算是个多分支多结局的以文本为主的游戏，剧情上的几个关键点还是有一定难度的，需要充分探索互动。而游戏的多结局，看起来像是“热情莎翁粉丝疯狂写原作的IF线结局”，其实也是主角奥菲利亚对自身、对家人朋友、对国家、对命运的苦苦挣扎求索。游戏在“结局”之后还有“结局”，在“结局”之后，流程的最后期有一连串颇有戏剧性的反转，相当有意思而且比想象中要长不少，涉及剧透言尽于此。
音乐算是蛮优秀的，好几首都比较抓耳，整体的配乐数量不算特别多但对于渲染气氛已然相当足够。配音算是每一段只说开头一两个关键词或者语气词的形式，比较适合配合眼睛阅读的速度。几个结局的文本是全配音的。我要特别提到结局[spoiler] sacrifice reality for joy [/spoiler]里女主角的配音，对人物状态把握十分到位，配合这个结局特有的[spoiler] 突然猛拉卷轴的 [/spoiler]演出效果，非常有感觉。
如果要说缺点的话，除了“不喜欢文字类游戏”、“不喜欢人物长相”、“没有中文”这些可能的游戏外因素，慢热可能是一个不小的问题，在早期游戏的乐趣点并不是展现得很充分很直接。而在流程中期，“已有线索 X 人物 X 时间”这三个变量的组合带来的巨大数量的潜在可能性有点令人望而生畏。有些剧情关键点的解锁方法非常不明显，可能会卡关不短的时间而不得不查攻略。文本在多刷时的快速跳过功能其实还是有点慢了，如果是在连续几个循环尝试同一目标时，相同文本的这种文本速度可能会带来一定的烦躁感。
总结：《Elsinore》是一款以“时间循环”为题材、以《哈姆雷特》剧本为基础、以侦探推理玩法为主要特色的一款文字冒险游戏，有一些瑕疵，不过难掩其光芒。在“时间循环”这个另类的、说大不大说小不小的游戏类型之中，《Elsinore》理应占据一个不低的位置。推荐对上述要素有兴趣的的玩家尝试本作，应该会获得一段不错的游玩体验。
it good(:
I am a sucker for time loop games. This one is such a fun one. There's so much to discover. The plot twists had me on the edge of my seat.
Some crazy crap goin down in this random castle.
pls pls pls pls dont burn the book dont dont
such a great game, nearly perfect
This really did keep me interested, through a lot of twists and turns. Initially, it's just great fun to "play within the play", to just mess around with stuff and see how the plot can take a completely different turn - the funniest moment for me was going to sleep and waking up to discover the cook had murdered the king and queen in the night! What really impressed me was how much there is to discover, how many twists and turns, and how the game mechanics basically hold up, despite having to organise so many variables. Handling so many alternative timelines and having them almost always turn out coherent is really impressive. My one quibble was how they handled the characters. They made Hamlet too much of a bratwimp - that is there in the character, but his intellectualism is completely denigrated and dismissed, and I think the adaptation would have had more integrity if they'd tried harder to preserve something interesting in the Prince: his refusal of his social role, his anti-militarism? Ophelia's transformation from the insipid character of the play into an absolute girlboss might also have been handled in stages rather than taken as the premise of the game. I think the handling of Gertrude, Claudius and Polonius was more successful, and did enough to preserve the sense that this was still the same play, Hamlet, which was what contributed so much to my enjoyment.
Fun game, despite some repetitiveness as you move forward. Glad for the tip to make text instantly display - saved a lot of time. It's surprisingly deep.
This game will live rent-free in my head forever probably. Definitely one of my favorite games of all time.
准备拿这款游戏写这学期莎士比亚课的论文了
This was a very original game with some really great writing. They absolutely nailed the idea of the time loop.
good game.
Seeing that this game has a small amount of reviews, I was surprised when the quality of this game subverted my expectations. There are lots of possible combinations, and you can generally achieve what you want by choosing the dialogue options you consider appropriate. The only thing I can critique is the fact that the romance endings are horrible and devoid of logic and feel rushed, and maybe there are a couple endings that are not easy to get organically. Also, while I get that we are stuck in a time loop, repeating dialogue for repeating actions gets tiring, a "skip all dialogue" option while still getting information for the timesheet would be ideal, and I would have loved to be able to skip entire days without having to forward time until night. Lastly, maybe sometimes it shows that it has some rough edges, but I have never found a game breaking bug. Having said that, I really recommend this game, I don't usually write reviews but since this is a pretty good product and it is not really well known I feel like I have to.
To be brief, this game is worth playing because the writing is pretty strong and the social simulation element holds together surprisingly well. You'll probably find a few instances where something happens that feels disconnected with the actions you actually took, but far more often the results will feel satisfying (if not happy).
I mainly want to something clear to people before playing this game: It's a tragedy. Without spoiling anything explicitly, when you're closing in on the ending you might feel frustrated and lost. Given what the game's about that will feel wholly appropriate. But it also feels about as frustrating as a regular point and click puzzle with fifty times more variables to think about. So my advice is to not go in prepared to solve or find everything. It's sorta possible, but it's difficult to do without a guide (which I did not use).
One of my all time favorite games--well written, beautiful narrative that really captures everything Hamlet is and can be. Well worth the play.
One of the most interesting and well-designed narrative puzzle games I've ever played. Every character has something to hide and half of them can die, making for a dense yet open world of possibilities (contained neatly in one castle). Navigating through it to find a path that doesn't end in total disaster is a (very fun) challenge, and despite living the same three days over and over again, the game never feels repetitive to me.
The smart and snappy UI with fast-forward button helps transition the gameplay from a storytelling rpg into more of a puzzle game after the first few hours. Initially I truly felt Ophelia's pain and confusion as everything falls apart around her, but after many lives eventually I started to play as a woman on a mission. Sorry Hamlet, talk to the hand, I don't have time for your angst on this run. And if something goes wrong with the plan, that's it - time to go jump in the river again and start fresh.
I think this game is the most significant adaptation of Shakespeare in the medium to date. That might not matter to some, but to the history of the medium of video games and its legitimacy as an art form, that will matter going forward. Also the game is incredibly inventive and has fantastic writing!
I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but this game is incredible. Very fascinating time loop feature, with enough new events introduced every time you solve something big that it never gets boring. Ophelia as the pc making decisions and changes to the plot was a stroke of genius, and I love the creative liberties taken in the characterisations of characters like Horatio and Bernardo, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, etc: they work so well within the context of the world. I also loved the Easter eggs for other Shakespeare plays.
All-in-all, this game scratches an itch in my brain to ferret out every possible piece of information I can about a fascinating web of intrigue
A fantastic game. Just beat it and can't stop thinking about it!
All 13 endings reached, including the 2 secret endings. In many ways, [I]Elsinore[/I] is incredible, weaving an intelligently-told time-looping story around the setting of Shakespeare's [I]Hamlet[/I]. The game sees the player taking control of Ophelia, who, after being killed within a couple of days, find herself waking up again into an ever-repeating loop, doomed to die repeatedly in some manner within at most four days. The task, then, is to explore Elsinore castle from an overhead perspective, interacting with its various inhabitants (via a point-and-click interface) in the hopes of working out what is causing the loop and, eventually, how to break it.
It's an engrossing premise, told with superb writing throughout and the level of detail and nuance available in the character interactions, alongside the huge range of permutations of events, is a highly laudable achievement. There's the occasional nod to actual Shakespearian dialog that's enjoyable to spot, but not overused and the game is perfectly accessible to someone with no knowledge of the source material. Of course, [I]Hamlet[/I] is a tragedy, so don't expect happy endings to be in abundance!
It must be said that some extent of repetition is pretty much inherent in the time-loop premise, which can become a bit frustrating when exploring events that take place later in a cycle. A fast-forward control alleviates this to some extent, but a way to accelerate the text-based dialog further would have been appreciated. Just occasionally, the event logic breaks a little - so you might encounter, for example, references to a character who's just died as if they're still alive - but this is rare and honestly, with the complexity that's involved here, this is forgivable. These relatively minor shortcomings aside, [I]Elsinore[/I] is among the strongest examples of a timeloop-based game that you could hope to find.
