G: Alice Mare

Alice Mare was a nice little game that came way and I thought the artistic design looked cute, so I decided to download it and play it. The first thing I noticed was the incredible music in this game. The soundtrack is wonderfully atmospheric and melodic. Most of the tunes are classical in nature with piano compositions present throughout. The music is also quite effective in setting the tone scene by scene. Before I go to much into the music and how it sets tone, I should address the game's setting, mechanics, and story.

Well, Alice Mare places you into the shoes of a child named Allen in a boarding school. Everything seems to be quite okay and maybe even cheerful at first, but things go quite dark. You'll eventually find yourself in a dream world that is gothic and macabre. The game looks like a JRPG at first sight, but once you go into the dream world, you find out what this game is truly about. It is an adventure game in the veins of The Walking Dead and Indiana Jones and The Lost City of Atlantis, but this game is not point and click and not entirely functional in the same way that The Walking Dead is. Imagine the game design of those two, but within the structure of a 16-bit JRPG.

As it being an adventure game, the gameplay isn't the focus, but the story is. Not to give too much away for this game, but it definitely takes inspiration from a certain classic piece of literature. The game stays foreboding and grim throughout. You'll unlock journal entries that compliment the overall story throughout the game. The game also has multiple endings that encourages replays and the ending I got I felt some weight to. I think I'll end up playing it again, because I felt I didn't grasp the entire story during this playthrough. The game is relatively short. I completed it in just a little over three hours, but that's not a negative at all. The only negative I have with this game is that the walking mechanic felt a bit too loose and I would've preferred if the character walked at a bit slower pace that controlled more fluidly. It was actually nice to play a short game again for a change. The game is free as well so there's nothing to complain about. I'd recommend it for those who don't mind the genre.

6/10