@egtung's reviews on Morty

Magnifico

Escaparium - Laval

Escape room
IRL

It's hard to express how amazing this game is, but I'll try. Pretty much every element of the game was the best I've seen so far in an escape room. This doesn't feel like an incremental improvement over other games, but rather an entire leap forward. The set was detailed, very immersive, and interesting to be in. They did a great job evoking their intended spaces, and frequently had nooks and crannies where unexpected content would appear. There's a ton of effort put into even minor details, which helps sell the whole thing - a certain late game prop comes to mind as a living, breathing embodiment of this. The actors were essential to the game, and a significant portion of the experience revolved around interacting with them, from comedic to dramatic. Escaparium has previously flirted with a character driven narrative in Wardrobe for Sale, but Magnifico really runs with it. I wasn't the only team member crying at the end of the game. In most escape rooms, puzzles are tangentially related to the set or plot, but are pretty clearly where the designer thought "What do I associate with X, and how do I turn it into a puzzle?". While there's still some of that here, I think Magnifico does a better job than most of naturally integrating puzzles into what's going on. In particular, there's a sequence midgame where it's pretty clear what you want to do, but have to figure out how to use the environment and your inventory to accomplish the goal - it's more like a (sensible) real-life point-and-click adventure game than the standard escape room "here are 4 icons, a lookup table, and a 4-digit lock". I'm not saying Magnifico is perfect - I might have preferred some different creative choices about some aspects of the plot or character development. At the same time, I think it's saying a lot that this reaction is much more like how I'd think about a movie or book than a traditional escape room. I love that this is a place we're at now, and look forward not only to Escaparium's future games but also how the industry keeps up.

Le Jour du Jugement [Judgement Day]

Eliviascape

Escape room
IRL

Judgement Day aims for a more cinematic/story driven experience than most escape rooms, and I think it delivers on the promise. The set is surprisingly large, puzzles are memorable and fit into (and are inspired by) the story, and the finale is worth the buildup. Well done! This is easily my favorite of the four games I played at Eliviascape (Legend of the Mayan Warrior, The Longest Night, Abstraction, and Judgement Day). It's not perfect - one midgame cutscene in particular was hard to make out (and I actually didn't understand what was supposed to be going on until the GM explained after the game). Also, it's possible (and maybe even likely) to get into a state where that cutscene is inadvertently blocked from view.

𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 �𓅝𓃄 �𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿 𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 𓂨𓅝𓃄 𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿