More 80 Days impressions:
I write for a hobby. Short stories, parts of stories, game impressions and previews. There's something quite magical about how mere characters and letters can transport you to some new worlds, breathe life into exotic beings and otherworldly places. 80 Days is the newest interactive fiction/visual novel masterpiece from inkle and it has absolutely stunned me with its compelling worldbuilding and engaging story.
Inspired by the classic Jules Verne novel, you are the companion and valet of an English traveler extraordinaire, driven by a wager to circumnavigate the world in 80 days. Like inkle's previous games, the narrative is especially well-written, bringing the era, characters, and locations to life and offering a vast array of choices and scenarios that shape your journey. Your route is defined by more than just your dialogue and decisions, but also trading items on various world markets, your relationship with your partner and master, and other variables.
But what makes 80 Days so compelling for me is the incredible world that inkle has crafted. It's a world of conflict and turmoil, of walking cities and submersible trans-Atlantic railways, of revolutions and spies. Your goal may be to circle the globe, but each city offers new distinct wonders and there are dozens of cities spanning the world, giving the game a scope that few can match. Planning your trip, forging connections and relationships, learning new more efficient routes to new places gives 80 Days a sense of urgency and tension. The social aspect, which lets you see other players' routes as they travel in real time, adds to that urgency.
80 Days is a compelling experience that is a must play for fans of interactive fiction and visual novels