SHP Forums

... what are some things you would have liked to have seen?

Maybe story wise?
Character wise?
Voice actors?

I never quite got the humor. It just seemed all over the place. The family that has a sitcom laugh-track? How did they fit into everything? A sequel would need to pick a tone and stick with it.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:48 pm I never quite got the humor. It just seemed all over the place. The family that has a sitcom laugh-track? How did they fit into everything? A sequel would need to pick a tone and stick with it.

I loved the game as a kid, and I still enjoy it today (the puzzle design is surprisingly complex), but I agree about the inconsistent types of humor. “The Bitternuts” are funny as a stand-alone gag, but there’s no other counterpart to them anywhere. Maybe if other TV genres were spoofed elsewhere in Escarpa it might’ve fit in a bit more. Like, say, if the King and Queen were more soap opera-ish.

I know Al Lowe’s purpose was to create a game enjoyable on two levels, one for kids and one for adults, but I actually think Torin’s more effective during its serious moments. There’s a very clever concept at work that might’ve been better served by playing it straight.

Part of the problem is that Lowe’s sequel ideas never got made, so the world feels kind of underdeveloped and incomplete. Some of his concepts, especially the uprising and Torin’s eventual death, suggest the tone might’ve become more serious had it progressed.