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Storytrails #16
The Eye of Heaven
As a security agent protecting both an international meeting and a Middle Eastern prince, the reader makes decisions determining the course of an investigation into a dead cat, a marauding criminal, and a priceless jewel.
Paperback
First published March 7, 1985
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August 19, 2019
Not a bad crime story, with interesting characters and - typically for Storytrails gamebooks - well written. It branches more than most Sharp's books and has quite a few plot lines.
I see two main problems in this one.
First, the consequences of the choices are quite random and there is no way for the player to forsee them, to make informed meaningful choices. Since the chance of reaching bad ending is quite high and since bad endings here feel quite unsatisfactory, because you don't get much of the story, I think that the UX and gameplay of The Eye are particularly bad. Not that gameplay was ever a focus for Storytrails, but usually I am ok with their minimalism in that aspect and here I was not.
Second, the resolution of most plot lines/elements was pretty much an info dump on the path of the successful ending and the reader has absolutely no involvment with the unfolding of the mystery. I just feel like Allen started way more complex story than he could finish in 45 sections and in the end he just had to wrap it up.
Yet, it was interesting enough for me to even read almost all of the sections, so I defenitely can't say it's a bad read. Check it out, if you like Allen Sharp's books and if you are not such a big fan or looking where to start with his works - better pick another one.
I see two main problems in this one.
First, the consequences of the choices are quite random and there is no way for the player to forsee them, to make informed meaningful choices. Since the chance of reaching bad ending is quite high and since bad endings here feel quite unsatisfactory, because you don't get much of the story, I think that the UX and gameplay of The Eye are particularly bad. Not that gameplay was ever a focus for Storytrails, but usually I am ok with their minimalism in that aspect and here I was not.
Second, the resolution of most plot lines/elements was pretty much an info dump on the path of the successful ending and the reader has absolutely no involvment with the unfolding of the mystery. I just feel like Allen started way more complex story than he could finish in 45 sections and in the end he just had to wrap it up.
Yet, it was interesting enough for me to even read almost all of the sections, so I defenitely can't say it's a bad read. Check it out, if you like Allen Sharp's books and if you are not such a big fan or looking where to start with his works - better pick another one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review