From crazy cultists to a talking cat, Gibbous takes you on quite an adventure where you explore a Lovecraft inspired world as three protagonists.

Like most adventure games, some puzzles defied all logic, which made me sometimes have a peak at a walk-through guide. Even though, I must admit I’m not always the most patient, and probably would have figured it all out by contemplation and time. Nevertheless, Gibbous was quite fun with a mostly freed game play, and an unexpected ending.

One of the things I love most is the art style, it’s hand-painted and gloomy, perfect for a Lovecraft inspired story. I’m also glad that it was Cthulhu heavy, unlike some stories that are supposed to be Cthulhuesque but miss out on all the elements. From the order of Dagon to Curven to the tentacles, and the insanity, they didn’t miss a thing. These guys in Transylvania got it all right.

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.

Yesterday, while watching an episode of Westworld, I thought about how cool it would be if point-and-click games would use an AI… Instead of scripted characters who are always at the same place, saying the same things, we could find them speaking to each other, wander around, have different dialog lines following their moods.

For example, we would enter Thimbleweed Park and Delores could be home but she could also be at the arcade or at the dinner, living her own life.

Of course, there would be boundaries, for the sake of the story, but everything else would be left to the AI. I could spend days looking at game characters interact with the environment and with each other in a completely unpredictable and unscripted way.