Out of nowhere, something like this appeared in the game folder called "The Messenger Girl's Labyrinth". It was just an accident that I came across it - I just happened to have nothing to do and I was browsing through various documents. As for when it was downloaded, I have no memory.
The game's icon is very simple, with a black background and a red "L" making up its entirety. I thought that since it appeared in the "Game" folder, it must also be a game. However, for safety reasons, I did not rush to open the contents. Instead, I searched for "The Labyrinth of the Messenger Girl".
It turns out that the website doesn't have any relevant results.
Maybe this is an old and forgotten game, maybe it is some kind of virus program in disguise - but I don't want to dwell on it. Since it is not available online, just open it and take a look, then double-click to run the game. With the regular black screen loading, a gradually clear game interface dispelled my previous doubts. This is a scene of a pixel-style main interface. The title is in an unseen language, with small Chinese characters "The Messenger Girl's Labyrinth" attached next to it. On the background of the interface text, various pixel-style items are vibrating at strange frequencies. It has the flavor of an ancient RPG game. After preliminary inspection, the game can run normally and can be exited normally. There seems to be nothing abnormal.
I confirmed starting the game.
The screen went dark again, and when it became clearer, a pixelated man with "ZZZ" floating on his head appeared in the center - it seemed that he should be the character that the player needs to control. However, this game does not have any operating instructions. I tried using the "wASd" movement method and found that the character in the center did not move. Instead, the screen field of view moved. When I tried other movement buttons, there was no feedback from either the field of view or the character. .
With doubts, I began to look at the scenes in this game. It does not use a completely bird's-eye view, but a viewing angle at a certain angle to the ground, giving it a sense of sight like a camera. In addition, the wall on the side that blocks the view is blurred in the game. Although it is a product of pixel style, the sleeping villain in the picture has a relatively delicate expression and is not as crude as imagined.
Judging from these circumstances, this game seems to be a product of modern production.
The mouse in the game can move freely, and I tried to find interaction points on various items. To my surprise, the object interaction in this game seems to be richer than I imagined - whether it is a candlestick, a bookcase, a chair, or even every drawer has a different interaction reminder, and some even have multiple interaction options. For example, when the mouse is moved over the cabinet, in addition to "search", "use", and "close", "destruction", "disassembly", "move" and the like will also appear as the scroll wheel slides. options. Every interactive choice will have corresponding screen changes, which is really unimaginable. millimeterIt is no exaggeration to say that even ten years from now, the operability of this game will be better than most games on the market. Then I tried various ways of interacting with items, but the central character didn't wake up anyway.
Could it be that... I moved the mouse and came to the character, and as expected, the "wake up" option appeared.
I saw the "ZZZ" floating on her head disappear, and then she sat up and rubbed her eyes. It is not difficult to tell that this is a girl with short brown hair. If you squint, she looks like a brown mushroom. Her clothes are mainly brown and white. The combination of a jacket and a short skirt made me unable to tell what the setting of the game is for a moment. timeline. As the character in the picture finished stretching, a black dialog box suddenly popped up at the bottom of the screen.
[Hmm - I seem to have overslept... Where is this? ]
At the same time, there is also a frame of the character's expression next to the dialog box - the girl at this time is sleepy and looks a little dazed. I tried again to see if there were other keys that could be operated, but after a while of pressing randomly, a prompt popped up:
"Press the "~" key to start a conversation."
Haha ? Does this game originally have operating prompts? But what is the so-called dialogue? It should be similar to pre-programmed dialogue options. I pressed "~" and a line of input fields appeared at the bottom of the dialog box, but nothing happened as expected. This setting makes me a little surprised. I can't... This game also has an AI program?
[...Who are you? ]
New text appeared in the dialog box. Is this asking for the player's nickname? So I wrote the game nickname "July" that I always use in the input field. Soon the other party had a new response:
[July...use the month as your name? Although I have seen a lot of strange names in books, this is the first time I have seen it in this way...]
Unexpectedly, I suddenly became very interested in this character. I have been exposed to many AI dialogue products before, and most of them can barely carry out a few fluent conversations. The communication ability of this pixel villain far exceeded my expectations. I continued to try to communicate with her:
"What's your name?"
[Name? My name is Lilyana, but everyone is used to calling me Lily, maybe because it’s easier to call me that way? ]
"Do you know where you are?"
This chapter is not finished, click on the next page to continue reading.
A series of ellipses appeared above the girl on the screen, as if she was thinking about the current environment.
[...I don’t know how to answer - although everything around me looks familiar, I can’t remember where I am here...]
She stood up Walking around the room, at the same time the expression of the girl next to the dialogue box also changed.Get serious. Combined with the previous perspective movement operation, I gradually got some clues - the purpose of this game should be to let the player help the girl solve some puzzles. And now the girl has lost her memory and is trapped in a secret room...a very classic game start. According to the routine, I should be the one to look for clues to leave the room now?
Due to the special viewing angle, when the viewing angle is pulled to the edge of the room, I can see some situations outside the room. Connecting to the door of the current room is a corridor hidden in darkness, with some retro hangings on the walls; there are also some rooms, but due to the limited range of the viewing angle, the internal layout of the rooms cannot be seen.
[Hmm, um... I seem to remember a little bit, this is Mr. Watt's bedroom, I remember I came here... because of something outside...]
Liliana muttered to herself as she moved closer to the door. I've looked at that door, and there are no interactable points other than the "destroy" option. But in the picture, she reached out and pressed the door handle, and with a "click", the door opened!
Co-authored This place is not a secret room at all!
I noticed that the map in the upper right corner of the screen shows the "corridor" pattern, and the field of view can also be moved to the scope of the corridor. But there was no light source, the corridor was pitch black, and I couldn't explore much.
[It’s so dark... I seem to hear something else? ]
Sound? Liliana's slightly frightened look made me a little nervous, so I immediately turned up the volume of my headphones. Yes, I heard it too, but I couldn't identify what it was. It was like... some kind of gel that made a crackling sound when squeezed... I couldn't help but frown. The candlelight in the room slightly illuminated the doorway. I stared at the blurred boundary between light and dark, feeling vaguely uneasy.
A black arm suddenly poked out from the deep darkness. Then a strange creature quickly twisted out of it and rushed toward Liliana!
[! ! ! ]
Liliana was unprepared for the sudden attack and subconsciously slumped back to the ground; I had the reflexes to quickly click on the "Close the Door" option. With a dull crash, the monster was sealed outside the room; at the same time, without the candlelight, the corridor fell into complete darkness again. But the monster obviously didn't intend to give up. The door on the screen looked fragile after being hit again and again, as if it would completely break in the next second.
[Quick - cabinet! ]
After recovering from the panic, Liliana ran to the bookcase and tried to push it to the door to resist the monster's invasion. But her strength obviously can't do this, but fortunately, the bookcase also has a "move" interaction option for me. We sealed the door together, and the banging outside gradually subsided. It seemed that we were out of danger for the time being.
[Phew—what a danger! Thank you just now, thank youGood thing you reacted quickly...]
After all, getting compliments is a happy thing, and I couldn't help but laugh. But briefly reviewing what happened just now, I didn’t expect that this game would actually trigger danger without any warning. Is it a bit deceptive to test the player’s reaction ability in this way? I suddenly thought of those games dedicated to playing pranks, a collection of death with various jump cuts and sudden faces - thinking about it this way, it seems that I haven't found the "save" function in this game.
However, as a lover of monster themes, I am more interested in the creature just now.
"Do you know what was outside the door just now?"
The expression on Liliana's face stiffened.
[That is a monster...but if I read correctly, that...is my father...]