The Librarian: Special Edition (Review)

Source: Cashmoneys
Price: £2.89
Where To Get It: Steam

The Librarian, as a game itself, is short, tight, and simple. A short adventure game, with a few puzzles, and that… Is that.

But neither that, nor the quiet, moody soundscape, or the pixel style visuals, are what really grabs the attention of someone. And no, not the fact that it’s less than £3 either…

Also, another world is part of the question. How, what, why?

It’s the world it only hints at. In its short time, it generates many questions, and, slyly, answers none of them. The Librarian doesn’t find her world fucked up, even if we do. So, unquestioning, she walks right past a tree with skulls piled on it (after dealing with a giant, wolflike spirit… This is right outside her house, by the way), and a pair of huddled skeletons under an abandoned house on her way there. She’s shocked by her window blowing open, but takes everything calmly after that. And, while she’s a Librarian, she wears a military style uniform and carries a dagger.

This is only some of the strange things she encounters, and is completely unfazed by in the short time the game goes on. I could spoil the whole thing, but the point has been made, just in the “On the way to the library part.”

See? She just walks by them without a glance, they’re not examinable, aaaaa!

As a point and click adventure, it’s simple, it’s clear. You click to move, click to interact, and occasionally, you click one of the things you’re holding, then click a thing to do another thing. This isn’t really the point. The point is this short, surreal journey that the protagonist considers to be… Just another day. And that’s the fascinating part. And it wants you to see it. It wants you to see this weirdness, this short, simple, and wordless story, set in a world we see as strange and a little frightening… But they see as their world.

For less than £3, I definitely don’t regret exploring this one again. And fans of short, interesting adventure games would like this, I feel.

The Mad Welshman enjoys tight experiences. Can you perhaps tell?

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