You assemble your case using Mask of the Rose's storycrafting system, the jewel in its mechanical crown. I could have ignored it, like I accidentally did the first time, but it feels a tad strange to leave my amiable Scottish chum to the gibbet's whims because I'm too busy trying to help a different friend with their writer's block. The third time through was the most satisfying, narratively, even if I'm an execrable Phoenix Wright, but it felt like I had to laser-in on the murder case at the expense of everything else the game had to offer. The third time through, I focused and finally managed to assemble one of many possible cases for why my boy was innocent. The second? I tried to balance my responsibilities and left them all half-finished. My first time through, unaware of how little time I had, I accidentally left my friend to hang because I got distracted pursuing various other plotlines: Fomenting revolution, taking London's census, trying to woo someone attractive even though they're definitely a Tory. Much like real life, the game is part dating sim, part murder mystery, and a significant part of the game's midsection is taken up by trying to prove your friend and flatmate has been falsely accused of murder (don't worry, the victim got better). Take, for example, what you can probably describe as Mask of the Rose's main plot. Even going through with a new character background and some different choices, I ended up feeling like I was repeating certain sections of the game to get back to where I was previously.Įven the clothes you wear to an encounter can alter how people react to you and the dialogue options you have You can get through a full run of the game in around three or four hours, but it means you'll inevitably leave plot-threads dangling and lots of relationships at a halfway point when you hit credits. You're constantly making choices-and every choice takes time-as the game progresses, even the clothes you wear to an encounter can alter how people react to you and the dialogue options you have during it, and Failbetter clearly wants you to go through them again and again to see the impacts your choices can have. It's richly textured and a pleasure to delve into, but your ability to do so is constrained by just how limited your time is in Mask of the Rose's London.
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