Introduction

Have you ever skipped to the last chapter of a book?

Sooner or later you return to the page where you left off, but everything reads differently now. Perhaps you lose interest and skim your way through. Suspense and urgency wither underneath a foregone conclusion. Or perhaps knowing that the struggles, the triumphs, the epiphanies will all amount to nothing leaves even the brightest moments coloured in grey. Whatever the story, whatever your view, to see the ending transforms, irrevocably, that which comes before.

What if you turned back to find only blank pages, and a pen in your hand?

Once again, my dreams read aloud the epilogue.

By now, it was routine. Without another frame of reference, anything can become part of a routine. Undress, wash face, tuck myself in, watch the world die. Wake up, have breakfast. It wasn't odd because I had no-one to tell me so.

Nor did I have someone to explain.

What is a dream to one who doesn't understand the concept of dreaming? It is a second reality, overwhelming and terrifying in its intensity.

And so, to sleep was not just to behold the end, but to live it. The end of my story, the end of all stories.

And as the mind can conjure, in dreams, visions of things never seen, sensations of things never felt, so did mine impart the knowing of things never known.

I knew the words.

Before I knew language, I knew the words.

And to know those words transformed

irrevocably

everything that came before.

Click for intro.

Developer Matrix Software and the minds behind the Rune Factory and Harvest Moon series bring us Avalon Code, the first game I ever picked up because of the concept alone.

Let me tell you about the concept.

Everything you know is going to end. Everyone you know is going to die. There is nothing you can do but try to make things better for those who will come after you. You accomplish this with the Book of Prophecy, a reality-altering tome that will create a new world based on what you record within. You can also use the book to "rewrite" the world around you, allowing you to modify monsters in battle, customize your equipment and even change the fates of other characters.

When I read this, I was sold. I didn't need to watch a trailer, I didn't need to read reviews, I didn't even need to know what kind of game it was. I had to see what they did with this idea.

The problem with high hopes, of course, is that they have a long way to fall.

Avalon Code flopped outside Japan. I only know about it because of a "You might also like..." advertisement coinciding with a twinkle of curiosity. Now I want other people to know. In a market where samey shooters dominate, I'll be damned if I'll let innovation fly under the radar because of poor execution.

This will be both a narrative LP and the chronicle of my disappointment. I hope you enjoy.