The Trials of Odysseus Kent

The Good
Odysseus Kent isn't your typical young man. He's 19, he doesn't have colors, he's white and black and he's speaking like a certain Guybrush. He's a treasure hunter who prefers carrying Regency period clothes than modern ones. He's after some treasure and is about to dig. But a priest is stopping him: first, he's not a gravedigger, not a professionnal one and second, this portion of field is belonging to Rudolph Cretin, a very sick man who will die soon. Odysseus decides to pay a visit to this Rudolph. He learns from his son Lionel that Mr Cretin doesn't want to die if he doesn't see a movie rated M (or NC-17 or X if you prefer), he doesn't speak to his deceased wife and he doesn't see a certain flower...

The Trials of Odysseus Kent is a game made by Yathzee, the maker of the Rob Blanc Trilogy and the Chzo mythos quadrilogy. It's free and still downloadable. It's also made with the AGS engine, used for Rob Blanc, Chzo mythos quadrilogy but also series like Barn Runner, Ben Jordan or Pirate Fry.

Anyway, the game was made by Yahtzee at a moment where he decides to give up making video games but having play to Monkey Island II, he wrote this one and didn't speak about it before the release.

The storyline is good even if somewhere immoral. I mean, the guy is a treasure hunter and it seems that he's ready to fullfile a dying man's three wishes in order to "kill" him, well, to make him die (poor guy is waiting for ten weeks since the sollicitor's last visit) for gaining access to the treasure. Fortunately, a plot twist is written and Odysseus is discovering a "enemy".

Odysseus Kent is a point and click game, meaning that if you want to do something, you have to click. Our hero can walk, interact with its environment, speak with someone or observe objects and people. For doing one of these actions, you have to choose the one you want (example: for speaking, choose the head who seems to scream) and then click where you want to go or with who or what you want to interact. When you're picking an item, it's stored in your inventory where you can take a object when needed or combine two of them for making a new one. When you're speaking, a dialog box is open at the bottom of your screen, with sentences Odysseus can say. Some are humorous like the I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi or about God, what's His favorite series...

Odysseus Kent is a strange game in terms of graphics. It's refreshing - I loved the blue of the night - but still, beginning in a graveyard when you're a black and white guy, you're beginning to think that maybe, Odysseus is a) an unfinished character (but it's not the right answer) b) a ghost c) a vampire.

Anyway, graphics seem to be made with MS Paint but if you played Rob Blanc or Pirate Fry, it will be not a displeasure. As mentioned previously, you're playing by night, meaning that a lot of locations is blue and black, a strange but efficient combination. The locations who are in colors are the interiors of building.

I also loved the numerous references to other AGS games like Rob Blanc (with the famous "Here lies the Rob Blanc series" or the choice Paul Grenwald from this same series when trying to be a member of the local videoclub). Even Star Wars is mentioned with the Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Bad
I don't know if Yathzee added a soundtrack or not because well, apparently, with this version of the AGS engine, no sound can be heard. I had the same problem with Rob Blanc and Pirate Fry. However, the game was released in 2002...

Another thing is the unbalanced difficulty. A lot of enigmas are easy to understand (like making a doll bearing a resemblance with the deceased wife or use the sollicitor's card for gaining a video) but can take a certain time before solved (like with the whole wig thing or the doll belonging to the strange man in the hall of a building).

The Bottom Line
Odysseus Kent is a good surprise: it's refreshing to see new ideas like the dying man's wishes (his son also is interested), the black and white old fashioned young man or the fact that the game is only by night.

Even if you don't have soundtrack (I used the DOS version because the Windows one didn't work), the game will be a pleasure for you, especially if you like old school adventure games.