Baf's Guide to the IF Archive

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Metamorphoses

Author:Emily Short
Genre:Fantasy
Released:2000
Review:

You're a slave girl on a mission of sorts for your master, though it's difficult to say what the mission is. The game's world is split between the literal and the figurative, and most of what you accomplish is significant more on the symbolic than on the concrete level. Idealized forms are a key thematic element, and most of the puzzles revolve around the transformation of those forms. The game provides two devices that can transform various objects, and the range and complexity of the transformations handled is impressive--the objects, by and large, behave sensibly in all their various forms. There are lots of puzzle solutions and a wide variety of endings, and the game manages to both tell a story and allow ample freedom in exploration. Beautifully described and impressively thoughtful.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (05 Feb 2001)

Competitions/
Awards:
2nd place, rec.arts.int-fiction competition 2000
Winner, Best Writing, Xyzzy Awards 2000
Finalist, Best Setting, Xyzzy Awards 2000
Finalist, Best Puzzles, Xyzzy Awards 2000
Finalist, Best Use of Medium, Xyzzy Awards 2000
Play Online:Play it at ifiction.org
Related Links:Author's home page: some notes about the game
SPAG review
Downloads:
metamorp.z5 (163.50 KB)
Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 1, original competition entry)
metawalk.txt (1.77 KB)
Walkthrough
fracture.z5 (108.50 KB)
Z-code 5 executable (version: "fractured" demo, incomplete)
metamorp.z5 (173.50 KB)
Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 4)


Baf's Guide to the Interactive Fiction Archive
Copyright © 2010 Carl Muckenhoupt
All reviews included in this site are copyright © the credited author of the review.