Back in high school, I had a classmate that I really didn’t like. He wasn’t really bright and wasn’t likeable. Coming from wealthy family from a regional capital town he looked down on me, a poor farmboy. We had not much subject to talk about without some ironic or sarcastic statements.But we did not want to fight, as different as we were, so the only common ground we could ever have was: computers. He was wealthy enough to have a new at the time MMX processor and top notch equipment so he boasted a lot. I listened to it, very interested in tech and, of course, in expensive and demanding games he got for his box.
One of those games, coming on 3 CD-ROMs, and therefore unaffordable by me (it was an age before CD-RWs so I couldn’t just pirate it…) was “Zork : Nemesis”. I waited for Christmas of 1996 when my colleague borrowed me the game.
You know, when you’re a kid or a teenager, getting games for Christmas is a special thing, probably remembered well for the rest of life. Especially when you receive a game like this one.
I did not play any other Zork games before this one, so I didn’t have any expectations. Later I learned this one was completely different from other Zork games, often absurd and with lighthearted storytelling. Oh no. This one is dark, very dark, with a tone of sadness throughout the whole story.
A player arrives at a monumental cathedral, the Temple of Agrippa, a deserted and ancient looking place, the seat of powerful Alchemists. My first feeling was being completely lost – I did not know who I was, what is my goal or what I am supposed to do now. Sure, there was a booklet with the game telling some important things inside, but still the feeling persisted. With everything so alien and absolutely gorgeous surroundings and unforgetabble music I was stunned at first. Then I started exploring.
The game is mostly about exploration and solving logical puzzles (sometimes very, very hard puzzles..), hints to which are scattered around. The very often case is that some part of the environment is blocked or locked until you solve some puzzle, and this forces a player to actually learn about the surroundings, the story and the characters.
Oh, the characters. Not long after the start of the game one finds some sarcophagi with preserved bodies of Alchemists and can communicate with their spirits (which are being played by real actors). They ask for setting them free and warn player about their Nemesis, a grim cloud of anger that manifests right after. A goal is set – reviving the Alchemists.
The whole journey is a journey through many bizarre and magical worlds (Alchemists’ domains) of wonder. It’s a journey of gaining knowledge of Alchemists, their goals and Nemesis itself. There’s one character that especially captures attention: Alexandra Wolfe, the violinist girl. Traces of her can be found from the very beginning of the story, and the player soon discovers that she’s a focal point of the conflict between Alchemists and the Nemesis, the frail, beautiful, sad girl.
Following the path set up by Alchemists allows the player to visit all the places belonging to powerful sages, each attuned to a separate element: fire, warth, water and wind. As the game introduces the full visual and psychological immersion to the player (you are the protagonist!), it’s in fact the player who visits those locations, making this game a sightseeing experience. Wind elemental Asylum in the cold wastes of the north, fiery Monastery with it’s rivers of lava, the desert fortress of Earth, and, my favourite, the watered musical Conservatory, each with it’s own theme and a plotline allowing the player to understand a quarter of the story.
What hit me most and still makes a great impression on me is how this game was able to convey the feeling of sadness and the passing of time. “Nothing lasts forever” the game says, from the very beginning. The bittersweet, amazing and yet scary themes make the adventure perilous at times, with an encompassing secretiveness well suited for Alchemists. Everything in the story is encoded – in text, symbols, architecture, sculptures, paintings and music, there’s no straight answer anywhere. Unraveling those mysteries is what makes the game so remarkable, and even at the end one leaves with an impression that was but a first layer of secrets waiting to be discovered there, in the Temple of Agrippa.
This is one of those stories that, by presenting it plot, leaves an impression of the huge lore and world constructed behind it (like Tolkien’s, Middle-Earth, Herbert’s Dune Universe etc…). One just wants to learn more. A pity, the next Zork games did not follow the dark and secretive pattern and went on a comical path instead.
Wanderer, enter the Alchemists’ abode and learn their knowledge. I promise you won’t forget it.
OST from the game:
Amazing Worlds 