Elsinore(video game)
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| Developer(s) | Golden Glitch |
| Publisher(s) | Golden Glitch |
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| Release | July 22, 2019 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Elsinoreis a 2019point-and-clickadventure gamedeveloped and published by Golden Glitch forWindows,Linux,andmacOS.The game follows the character ofOpheliafromWilliam Shakespeare'sHamlet.InElsinore,Ophelia has a vision of the deaths of everyone inElsinore Castleand relives the same four days again and again as she works to prevent the tragedy that will fall over everyone.
Development onElsinoretook over seven years, and was carried out on nights and weekends by its development team. The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who noted that fans ofHamletwould appreciate it but that the game's slow pace could be sometimes frustrating.
Gameplay
[edit]
Elsinoreis apoint-and-clickadventure gamebased onWilliam Shakespeare's playHamlet.The player controls the character ofOpheliaas she experiences a time loop leading up to the tragedy at the end of the play.[1]During the four days leading up to those events, the player moves Ophelia throughoutElsinore Castleand talks with its residents in order to manipulate the outcome of events. The conversations the player has leads to unforeseen outcomes in which tragedy still occurs in other ways—every time Ophelia dies, the time loop begins again, four days before the end ofHamlet.[2][3]
To manipulate events, the player talks to the castle's residents about events that they have witnessed or expect to occur. The game provides a "Hearsay" menu, which shows which topics can be broached.[4]As Ophelia goes through multiple loops and witnesses scenes, she remembers these when she wakes up again and can bring them up to other characters.[4]The game includes a branching timeline that shows the player possibilities they can be aware of, showing both the location of an event to happen and the time of it. Outside of Ophelia's deaths, the game has 13 unique endings that change based on the player's choices throughout the game.[4]
Plot
[edit]The plot ofHamletrevolves around the Danish court of the recently deceased King Hamlet. Denmark fears that an invasion from PrinceFortinbrasof Norway could be imminent.[5]Prince Hamlet,son of the recently deceased king and nephew toKing Claudius,meets his father's ghost.[6]The ghost reveals that he was murdered by Claudius and makes Hamlet vow to avenge his death.[7]Believing him to be Claudius, Hamlet accidentally killsPolonius,enraging Polonius' son,Laertes.After an attempt to kill Hamlet fails, Claudius and Laertes plot to murder him in a duel by using a poisoned sword and poison in the prince's drink.[8]Ophelia, Laertes' sister, drowns[9]Hamlet returns for Ophelia's funeral and gets into a fight with Laertes.[10]Hamlet and Laertes duel, and through various means both of them die along with Claudius andQueen Gertrude.[11]Fortinbras arrives as Hamlet's heir and takes the crown of Denmark.[12]
Elsinorebegins with a vision of the deaths of everyone in Elsinore Castle, similar to the play's ending. Ophelia then manipulates events to achieve a different outcome. If the player does nothing, the events unfold as in the play and everyone dies.[13]After Ophelia's first death, a time loop begins where she wakes up at the moment ofHamletwhere Prince Hamlet is behaving erratically in her room. Ophelia's actions directly affect the plot in sometimes unpredictable ways. If Ophelia continually talks to people in Elsinore Castle about the supernatural dreams she has been having, the characters will send Ophelia off to an institution because they are convinced she has gone insane.[14]In order to convince Hamlet to ally with Ophelia and to have him trust her with his plot, the player must search Queen Gertrude's chambers for evidence that she was not complicit with the murder of her late husband.[14]By confronting King Claudius with evidence that he has murdered Queen Gertrude, Claudius arranges a private meeting with Ophelia and murders her.
The game enlarges Ophelia and Laertes' roles, and adds additional characters such asOthello,andPeter QuincefromA Midsummer Night's Dream.Quince replacesthe acting troupefromHamlet,and is one of the few characters that is aware of Ophelia's time loop.[4]Several characters have also been adapted for the game, makingRosencrantz and Guildensternfemale and Ophelia and Laertes arebiracialwith experience of racial discrimination.[14][15][16]Alady-in-waitingnamed Brit and a cook round out a more gender balanced cast.[14]
Development
[edit]
Team lead and writer Katie Chironis and game designer Connor Fallon originally met inCarnegie Mellon University's Game Creation Society.[13]Development ofElsinorebegan in 2010.[13]Chironis and Fallon originally createdElsinoreas part of agame jam,scrapped the project entirely, and then decided to create it from the ground up again.[13]Chironis was inspired to make aHamletgame by both her high school Shakespeare teacher and from the college writing classes she took at Carnegie Mellon.[13]Chironis and Fallon wanted to create a game that would have a tragic story but in an interactive medium, eschewing the "power fantasy" games that are commonly created.[18]By combining the tragedy of the play with the goal of "winning" games, the development team thought they could have a fresh take onHamlet.[19]
Chironis and Fallon created their company, Golden Glitch, with five others that had been part of the Game Creation Society, and worked on the project during nights and weekends while keeping their day jobs. The founders received no payment until after the game went on sale, and the team's four contractors were paid from their personal salaries from their other jobs.[13]In 2015, Golden Glitch created aKickstarterforElsinore,which was successfully funded and raised over $32,000.[20]Despite an original targeted release date of September 2016,[21]the game was not released until 2019.[22]
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Maskprovided inspiration for how to implement time loops in the game, and Golden Glitch drew inspiration fromanimeandvisual novelswhich had many examples of time loops as a plot mechanic.[13][23]Golden Glitch decided to focus on Ophelia as the protagonist because of her lack of agency inHamlet.[13][23]Her early exit by suicide in the play means that she is uninvolved in much of the action that comes later on, and it gave the development team room to try to make her a stronger character.[13]The team also decided to make Opheila a woman of color, and created her with the idea that she was ofMoorishdescent through her mother's line.[15][24]The writers believed that this modification and some others allowed them to ensure that all of the characters had more fleshed out and unique storylines.[13]
Reception
[edit]| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 68/100[25] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Adventure Gamers | 3.5/5[4] |
| USgamer | 3/5[26] |
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Power of Play 2017[27] | Most Unique Game |
Praise for the game was centered especially on the writing, and the mostly perceived success of adaptingHamlettowards a video game medium.Wired's Julie Muncy praisedElsinorefor its "beautiful writing" and "humanistic flourishes".[1]TheLos Angeles Times's Todd Martens commented positively on the game's parallels with modern experiences.[15]Polygon's Cass Marshall compared the game positively toLong Live the Queen,but noted that unlike in that game,Elsinore's mechanics meant that progress always felt positive, praising the deep levels of character that can be explored.[14]GameSpot's Phil Hornshaw listed the game inGameSpot's "Best of 2019: Editor's Spotlight Awards" and praised the game for being full of "well-executed ideas".[28]
Criticism for the game's long waiting periods was tempered by feelings on the overall game.Kotaku's Heather Alexandra noted that the slow pace "wouldn't be for everyone" but felt that if players could make it through it, the game was a worthwhile experience.[29]US Gamer's Eric Van Allen noted that the waiting periods can "grate" after a while, but that the game was largely successful in creating a positive narrative experience.[26]
Accolades
[edit]The game was nominated for "Excellence in Design" and "Excellence in Narrative" at theIGF Awards,[30]and for "Best Original Choral Composition", "Best Original Song" with "Fair as a Rose", and "Best Original Soundtrack Album" at the 18th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards.[31]Elsinorewon the award for "Best Adventure/Role Playing Game" atIntel Level Up2016.[32]In 2024,Game Rantincluded the game on the list of the 10 Best Games Based On Shakespeare’s Plays.[33]
References
[edit]- ^abMuncy, Julie (August 8, 2019)."ElsinoreSmartly ReimaginesHamletwith Ophelia as the Hero ".Wired.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2019.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Wright, Steve (December 22, 2016)."Making Grand Video Game Tragedy inElsinore".vice.Archivedfrom the original on November 21, 2019.RetrievedJuly 18,2020.
- ^Takahashi, Dean (April 27, 2017)."Ophelia tries to save Hamlet in the alternate universe ofElsinore".VentureBeat.Archivedfrom the original on May 6, 2020.RetrievedJuly 18,2020.
- ^abcdeMorganti, Emily (October 25, 2019)."Elsinorereview ".Adventure Gamers.Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Hamlet1.2/17,Folger Shakespeare Library
- ^Hamlet1.4/42
- ^Hamlet1.5/11
- ^Hamlet4.7/141
- ^.Hamlet5.1/224
- ^Hamlet5.1/231
- ^Hamlet5.2/308
- ^Hamlet5.2/400
- ^abcdefghijValentine, Rebekah (January 30, 2020)."InElsinore,more matter is more art ".GamesIndustry.biz.Archivedfrom the original on February 15, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^abcdeMarshall, Cass (July 23, 2019)."Elsinorerevisits a classic political drama – with a time-loop twist ".Polygon.Archivedfrom the original on April 14, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^abcMartens, Todd (August 9, 2019)."What to play: In theHamletremixElsinore,Ophelia is caught in a time loop ".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on July 10, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Brown, Fraser (July 23, 2019)."Elsinoreis a Shakespearean Groundhog Day ".PC Gamer.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2019.RetrievedJuly 13,2020.
- ^Hamlet4.7/187
- ^Rome, Emily (July 6, 2019)."Shakespeare's Ophelia gets bold new makeovers in a film and a video game".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on May 6, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Lachenal, Jessica (May 2015)."The Mary Sue Interview: Katie Chironis and Connor Fallon onElsinore".themarysue.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2019.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^"Elsinore,a time-looping adventure game ".Kickstarter.Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^"Elsinoreseeks to be in Kickstarter for time-looping Hamlet reimagining ".Adventure Gamers.Archivedfrom the original on September 4, 2019.RetrievedJuly 13,2020.
- ^"Shakespearean Adventure GameElsinoreComing in July ".Only Single Player.June 4, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on July 14, 2020.RetrievedJuly 13,2020.
- ^abIngram, Jackson (June 24, 2015)."Interview:Elsinoredeveloper gives us new insights into Ophelia's heroic comeback ".Game Skinny.Archivedfrom the original on October 15, 2015.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Chironis, Katie (March 2, 2015).""But It's Not Historically Accurate!" – Diversity inElsinore".Gamasutra.Archived fromthe originalon March 3, 2015.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^"Elsinore".Metacritic.Archivedfrom the original on January 20, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^abAllen, Eric Van (July 22, 2019)."ElsinoreReview ".USgamer.Archivedfrom the original on February 17, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^"2017 Indie Expo".Power of Play.Archivedfrom the original on September 5, 2018.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Hornshaw, Phil (December 20, 2019)."GameSpot's Best Of 2019: Editor's Spotlight Awards".GameSpot.Archivedfrom the original on May 6, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^Alexandra, Heather (July 25, 2019)."A Game Where You Try To Prevent A Shakespearean Murder In Real Time".Kotaku.Archivedfrom the original on May 7, 2020.RetrievedApril 18,2020.
- ^"Mutazione, Eliza, Untitled Goose Game Are Some of the Key Nominees for the 22nd Annual Independent Games Festival".GlobeNewswire(Press release). January 7, 2020.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2020.RetrievedMay 7,2020.
- ^Tangcay, Jazz (May 6, 2020)."'Death Stranding' Sweeps Gaming's G.A.N.G. Awards With Six Wins Including Audio of the Year ".Variety.Archivedfrom the original on May 7, 2020.RetrievedMay 7,2020.
- ^"Hall of Glory".Archived from the original on August 26, 2018.RetrievedMarch 20,2024.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^Twinley, Matt (March 22, 2024)."10 Best Games Based On Shakespeare's Plays".Game Rant.