John's Fire Witch - bravo!


Fri, 3 Feb 95 08:02:06 PDT

This post is a bit premature, I suppose, since my friend and I are still
stuck in what is presumably the last scene of John's Fire Witch. But Kevin
said he liked the solution to this puzzle, and that's good enough for me.

I think I'm prepared to say that JFW is the finest work of IF I've ever
played, and I've played many. (As John knows, I never got very good at
them and had to ask for a couple of hints, but they were minor hints.) The
story is cohesive and intriguing, the puzzles logical, the jokes funny.
The plot, while Zork-like, provides a nice twist: save the game's author.

I realize that part of the reason JFW works so well is that it's fairly
small and therefore does not have to worry much about the exponential
effects of game growth. It also relies on many IF cliches, though
put to good use. However, I would take small adventures of this quality
any day. Hell, Wishbringer was one of the best Infocom games, and it was
small, too.

Don't take my gushing word for it--download JFW and give it a try. You'll
probably end up buying John lunch, like I did. Hope the check gets there
soon, John!

Matthew