So I decided to try a really old horror adventure game that I'd been unsuccessful with in the past, but always wanted to play. Sanitarium came out in 1998 on CDs. First I had terrible trouble getting the discs to load, and once I did I couldn't figure out how the mechanics of the game worked. How are you supposed to walk around and talk and pick up and use items?
Actually it's fairly straightforward. Once you learn the antiquated system it isn't difficult. The game is only partially point & click, with walking done manually. The got away from the WASD movement system by using the mouse exclusively. Walking can be a tad tricky because you have to hold the right button down as you try to navigate your way around the screen.
Welome to the game!
Well finally I found a copy of the game on GOG, so I don't have to deal with physical CDs anymore. The game runs pretty well except for one time when the screen went black and I had to reload and replay for a bit.
We start out after the very grainy opening video, in an unusual asylum. We're covered in bandages and appear to have amnesia. Somehow we make it out to a courtyard filled with children, all of whom are injured or deformed in some way. There are no adults in the area.
The Courtyard of the Children
We have several tasks here: talk to all of the children thoroughly to get the beginning of a storyline. Then find out who the mysterious "Mother" might be. She's controlling the children and won't let them explain anything.
Also, this is an inventory game. Picking up stuff is easy. It turns out that accessing the inventory is easy too: click on your character and you will see the inventory items that you have. Once you've used an item it disappears, which is good.
The dialogue system
Eventually we will make our way across a stream and meet a girl named "Maria," who tells us more than anyone else, but stops when she senses that "Mother" has awakened. OK. That takes us into the pumpkin patch that Maria has warned us about.
Maria. Nice kid.
The dangerous pumpkin patch
It turns out that there is combat in this game! In this first area it's pretty easy. When you get killed the game puts you back at the beginning of the fight, but any enemies you've killed remain dead. That is appreciated, thanks!
Once we make our way through the pumpkin patch we will meet Mother, and have to figure out what to do. I actually got a bit of it by myself, but I relied on a walkthrough for this chapter. Now that I know what I'd doing, sort of, I might be able to wean myself from it. After all, inventory games are all quite solvable, even though a few of these puzzles are a bit obscure.
So I will continue! I have made it to Chapter Three out of eleven. Most folks say this game takea 10-12 hours to complete. Let's see how I do!
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