I’ve been going down a rabbit hole of home made zero budget FMV adventure games. In a genre that already has some questionable quality control at times, the reduced technical aspect of creating an FMV game in a mobile phone world has given way to a much lower barrier to entry for many wannabe game makers. I really enjoy the so-bad-its-good vibes of this genre but I also applaud the comradery that this truly grassroots game making brings.
Moral King is a German language FMV game with English and simplified Chinese subtitles that starts with your girlfriend being kidnapped by Medieval guards. You discover you are walking next to a little castle and you’ll need to get inside and rescue your girl. The same nods to silly video game tropes like Double Dragon kidnap plots, side quests that make no sense (your girlfriend shouts at you from the roof as you pick carrots for a witch) and as you sneak around the castle all the guards can obviously see you but you aren’t in their gamed cone of vision. Moral King brings a slice of humour to its short runtime and I wished it leant into it more.
Instead, whilst the castle walls, a few staircases and a rooftop are used, you’ll be watching your character walk to and from props or characters for about 25% of the games run. This, and the fact you’ll need to follow a very distinct either/or choice constantly where one is usually going to imprison or kill you, really halts the big enjoyment of the game. Its narrow scope means you’ll see all three endings in an hour and that’s not bad for 79p but there are only a handful of puzzles and a couple of quick time events stopping you from the end.
Silly, irrelevant and barely making any sense throughout, its charm comes from being self aware of its limitations and video game silliness. Whilst it is very short and the interaction and branching narrative is limited to a few binary choices, this is one of the better home made FMV adventure games out there.
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