Game 24: Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess - Final Rating

It's no secret that I'm looking forward to moving onto Codename: ICEMAN, but there's one last thing I need to do before that happens. It's time to rate Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess. The big question is: can the game rate higher than the previous French record of 27 (Captain Blood and Mortville Manor)?

Puzzles and Solvability
I mentioned in one of my early posts that I found the puzzles in Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess to be strangely satisfying. I think I have to reverse that statement after spending more time with the game. What I now realise is that it was the idea behind the puzzles that interested me, but not so much the solutions. Over time I realised that the puzzles were either solved way too easily, or required nothing more than trial and error. The item interaction system is the main cause of the simplicity, as it made the solutions too obvious. Sure, there were lots of options to choose from at times such as “eat”, “pray to”, “smash”, “throw” etc., but when you consider what it is you’re interacting with, it’s not difficult to figure out which one you’re supposed to do. I’m hardly going to eat a statue am I?!

Hmmm...should I climb on the step, smash the step or prostrate myself in front of the step?

When none of the item interaction options available had the desired result, I could resort to sci powers, and then if that failed, I could always get a hint from Gauss. As I mentioned in my posts, the only time the puzzles felt truly right were when the solution required the use of Sci Powers, but this was generally approached as a last resort to save valuable Sci Energy. It makes me wonder whether the game would have been better if sci powers had of been my only form of interaction with the world around me. Finally, the game allowed me to progress through alternate means on occasion, but this meant apparently important puzzles were totally bypassed (Who Will Be Saved? is a perfect example of this). All up, I can’t give the game any more than a 3.
Rating: 3

One of the times where Know Mind proved its potential.

Interface and Inventory
The icon based interface works well enough I guess. I never felt like I wasn’t able to get to what I needed when I needed it. The Sci Powers are pretty unique for an adventure game and without doubt the most enjoyable part of the game. There were some really good ideas that served the adventure game chassis pretty well, such as Zone Scan, which highlights hidden items, and Know Mind, which lets you know what someone is thinking and therefore whether they are friend or foe. I’d be surprised if another game somewhere down the list isn’t influenced by this approach. It did really annoy me that there was only one save game slot, but I got around that by making copies of the game files from time to time.

The interface rarely got in the way of what I wanted to attempt

Probably the biggest annoyance for me was that every time I left DOSBox (to draw a map, write a note or take a screenshot) and then came back to it, the game would act like my mouse button was being clicked a million times per second. This caused me to miss dialogue and select incorrect options from menus over and over again. Given that my character died more times than I could possibly count within the game itself, and that there were two separate game ending time limits, it’s safe to say that I restored or restarted this game more times than in all games on the list so far (possibly combined). While the DOSBox bug shouldn’t count against the game’s rating for obvious reasons, it certainly affected my enjoyment, so should be mentioned. The inventory was a very simple and visual one, which did allow for investigation and utilisation of each independent item, so no complaints there!
Rating: 5

The inventory was crude, but it worked well enough

Story and Setting
What can I possibly say about the story? The manual and background documents had me worried prior to commencing, with their obviously drug induced nonsense and strange sense of humour. I’d hoped that they were merely setting the tone, and that the game itself would make more sense, but it turned out they were a very good representation of what was to come. Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess is completely bizarre from start to finish, and massively over-complicated, particular when you consider how short it is. There were way too many influences and ideas thrown into one pot, and most sections felt underdeveloped or just plain unfinished.

Well then I'm afraid pretty much nothing in this game is going to work!

The only time my interest was really captured was when Normajeen and Ash came into play, but they soon disappeared and played no further role, and the same can be said for the mummy I revived in their presence. It was the climax of the game that really took the cake though. My concept of what was actually happening changed numerous times while I tried desperately to piece it all together. The “twist” at the end was all but incomprehensible, and I still can’t say that I fully understand, despite the one line in the manual that gives a hint. Probably the most telling thing of all though, is that I really didn’t care. I just wanted it to be over!
Rating: 2

I see a...what? Oh, a flying saucer! Sorry, I thought you said something else!

Sound and Graphics
The first thing to say about the graphics is that they are extremely repetitive. I think part of the reason why the past few posts have not been very interesting is that most screenshots look exactly the same (or it could just be my lack of writing talent). It’s as though the designers were used to using CGA and didn’t know how to make the most of EGA, with an overabundance of blue throughout. Of more importance to gameplay though is the lack of onscreen visual change. I was often informed of things that were happening, but could see no representation of that on the screen. In some ways the game acts like an interactive fiction game with static graphics, with only minor forms of animation kicking in occasionally.

Considering it looks pretty much identical to every other wall in the game, how could I be so sure?

There are also some graphical glitches that confuse, including Qriich appearing in two places at once at a time where I was already very confused, and some very ugly characters. There’s less to say about the sound, with the effects limited to gurgles (representing speech) and clicking and grating sounds (for movement). I have to say that the music is actually quite fitting, having an alien ambiance to it that suits the surroundings. That being said, while I appreciated it the first twenty times I heard it, it soon became apparent that the same music was going to loop for the entire game. Technically, Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess is pretty simplistic and this has a negative effect on gameplay, so I’m going with a 3.
Rating: 3

I can only see one thing on the ground, which is the dead guy, so it stands to reason that he must Qriich. Right? Am I right?

Environment and Atmosphere
There’s no doubt that the environment and atmosphere of Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess is unique. Probably the only other game I’ve played that feels like it is Captain Blood, which had an equally bizarre and unpredictable quality. Both games also punish the player for “mistakes” and also apply pretty harsh time limits that are not really beatable on the first attempt. As Ilmari has mentioned a couple of times, the game has taken on more influences than you can poke a stick at, but it simply doesn’t spend enough time really making the most of any of them. Instead of being an intriguing world of gods, aliens, magic and mutations, it’s just a baffling wash of oddities that promising much while fully delivering on very little. Still…its Giger-esque backdrop is at least different to the normal Sierra and LucasArts fare.
Rating: 4

A lot of things in the game feel underdeveloped or really just play no role

Dialogue and Acting
I’m not sure whether to praise or punish the dialogue in the game. On the one hand it’s grammatically all over the place and at times I struggled to make any sense of it at all. On the other hand, it’s presumably intentionally that way to give the player the sense they are dealing with futuristic beings, aliens and a talking foetus. Gauss’ language is a puzzle device that I didn’t mind at all. I think it’s a pretty decent way to give hints to the player without outright telling them the solution, but then it wasn’t utilised anywhere near as well as it could have been, and the actual game mechanics meant the hints were either not needed at all or unsolvable without taking a leap in logic. I could give the designers the benefit of the doubt on the grammar and spelling, but in the end, it’s all about the player experience.
Rating: 3

You're going to remove your guilt and shame by "inseminizing" my girlfriend!?

Let's see what all that works out to be. I calculate a total of 20 points, divided by 60 equals 33.33, which rounded down is 33! That leaves the game just below Shadowgate and above Uninvited. It also means it ranks higher than the two previous French games, which feels right. You know what, I'm happy with 33 and see no reason to add or subtract my personal adjustment point. 33 it is!

So, did anyone pick 33? Yes, they did! Congratulations Mooki! You've won yourself a copy of the Quest for Glory collection. Send me an email to theadventuregamer@gmail.com and I'll reply with the GOG code. Once again I'd like to thank our sponsor Lars-Erik for his amazing contributions to the blog. It's interesting to see that my final rating was right at the bottom of the spectrum of predictions. Does anyone feel I've been too harsh?

Companion Assist Points for Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess

It’s time to dish out (and perhaps deduct) some points for those that predicted things and assisted me along the way.

35 CAPs for Ilmari

* Legend Award - 20 CAPs - For playing along with me, and completing the game without a walkthrough!

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug

* Helping Hand Award - 5 CAPs - For explaining what Who Will Be Saved was all about
* Fear of God Award - 5 CAPs - For scaring Deilos away with a bit of the old extreme violence
* RTFM Award - 5 CAPs - For finding the mention of Qriich in the manual

35 CAPs for Lars-Erik

* Sponsor Award - 20 CAPs - For sponsoring the blog with free games!

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug
* Delegation Award - 5 CAPs - For making me play a game then refusing to play it himself

30 CAPs for Canageek

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug

* Genre Support Award - 5 CAPs - For commenting about a new adventure game sale on GOG
* Genre Support Award - 5 CAPs - For commenting about a new adventure game release on Steam
* Genre Support Award - 5 CAPs - For commenting about a new adventure game release on GOG
* Genre Support Award - 5 CAPs - For commenting about a new adventure game sale on Steam

20 CAPs for Alfred n the Fettuc

* Veteran Award (aka Google Award) - 20 CAPs - For solving my villain riddle

10 CAPs for Bleaghhh

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug

10 CAPs for Charles

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug

10 CAPs for Cush1978

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug

10 CAPs for Jarikith

* Wingman Award - 10 CAPs - For being there when I needed a hug

10 CAPs for Mooki

* Clairvoyant Award - 10 CAPs - For predicting the score I would give the game

10 CAPs for TBD

* Logical Deduction Award - 5 CAPs - For being the first predictor to go real low.

* Bravery Award - 5 CAPs - For suggesting a fight to the death at the edge of a live volcano

10 CAPs for Zenic

* Playing the Numbers Award -5 CAPs - For realising the odds of winning and buying QfG on sale

* Genre Support Award - 5 CAPs - For commenting about a new adventure game sale on GOG

10 CAPs for Xyzzy Magic

* Cynicism appreciation award - 10 CAPs - For liking me when I'm angry

5 CAPs for PrisonerOfRR

* Genre Support Award - 5 CAPs - For commenting about a new adventure game sale on GOG

Game 24: Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess - Won!

Raven Journal Entry 5: “I have rescued Sci Fi! It is difficult to describe what I had to go through to get her back by my side, as I’m not even sure that I fully understand it myself. From what I gather, it was not a god called Zorq that was ruling our planet, but in fact an alien race that had in turn taken control of another alien race called the Zorqs. Whoever they were, I foiled their plans of keeping Sci Fi as a high priestess slave and killed one of them in the process. Sci Fi and I won’t be around if they ever decide to return, as we’ve taken a flying saucer and are making our way to other worlds as I write this. Who knows what awaits us, but it’s surely better than what we leave behind...”

Where we last left off: Believe it or not, this had no relevance to the game whatsoever

I’m going to try to keep this short (ed: I failed). It appears from the reader comments that Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess has offered even less entertainment to you guys than it has for me playing it. Describing what’s been going on in my sessions has not been easy due to the bizarre nature of it all, and I think the amount of effort I’ve had to put into merely painting a cohesive picture has left me with little energy left to inject my own feelings about it all. If I’m going to do that in this post, I’ll need to get a move on, so let’s get to it! When I last finished writing I’d just awoken a sleeping mummy by giving it a drink and feeding it a bean, yet I could find no purpose to the event whatsoever. The rebels Normajeen and Ash seemed nice enough, but neither had any advice, items, or even requests to offer. All I could do was move on.

Why let me ask characters for items when none of them ever have any!?

I felt like I’d been everywhere I could go in the game so far apart from the two exits leading out of the rebel’s cavern. You guys probably know my style of play well enough to know that I took the left exit first, but for completions sake I’ll tell you up front that the right exit led only to The Noose and Deilos’ watery habitat, neither of which I thought could offer me any assistance at this stage. The left exit however did lead somewhere new! A few twists and turns and I found myself in a room called the Refectory. In this room was a smallish green creature, which my cursor informed me was a turkey. Why the creators named it a turkey is anyone’s guess, but regardless, it quickly disappeared out of sight before I could try to interact with it. The red light came on in my interface, which informed me that there was an item in the room. It turned out to be a chopper (knife), which I added to my inventory.

Evolution has not been kind to the poor old turkey.

From the Refectory I could go right or down. I chose down for no particular reason, and appeared in The Threshold of Truth, confronted by an angry protozorq priestess. She shouted “yegga zorku, kwango! Wug..” at me and then waited to see what I would do. What else could I do but attack her?! I assumed the priestess was going to kick my ass, but instead it was me that ripped her a new one. I could only assume that my newfound chopper made a big difference in combat because my previous attempts at taking down protozorqs had been less than inspiring. Once she was dead, a turkey appeared and ate her body before I could search it, which was rather annoying. Oh well, she was gone! I then noticed a pedestal behind the bars in the room, and an odd looking...thing...on the wall.

A pity your fighting skill did not deprive me of anything

The thing on the wall had an open mouth as though expecting me to put something in there, but I didn’t know what item might do the trick. It seemed unlikely that the chopper would be the answer, and the egg seemed far too important to throw away now. I turned to Gauss to see what advice he might have. “Poach dor fried” was all he had to say. Talk about giving the answer away! I think this is one of the main issues I have with the game. Some of the puzzles are genuinely interesting, but Gauss either gives the answer away entirely or the interface does by giving you only one or two valid options. Probably the only time the puzzles really worked  were when I had to turn to my sci powers. Rant aside, I put the egg into the mouth and the bars opened, allowing me to investigate the pedestal further.

"Psssttt...use the egg! That's the solution!"

Inspecting the pedestal changed my view to inside the room behind the bars, from where I could see scriptures sitting upon it. I read the scriptures and was informed that they contained the Book or Origins and the Book of Shame. Both scriptures were part of the game’s background manual, so now Raven knew all that I as the player knew prior to starting. It turned out the scriptures were not what I was after at all, as I soon noticed a small statue sitting atop a wall sculpture. I couldn’t reach it apparently, so I used my Sci Shift power to get it and add it to my possessions. With that done I left the room and took the downwards path out of the Threshold. This took me to The Ante-Chamber where I was destroyed immediately by numerous protozorqs. That clearly wasn’t the way!

Zorq had a fascination with giant boobed elephant people!

I restored and then took the right door instead, finding myself in a room called In the Presence of God. There was a large orange statue there, but there didn’t appear to be any way of interacting with it. That left only three doors, labelled Saura’s Repose, Starry Wall and Placating the Powers. I recognised the latter name, as that had been where I was sacrificed in the previous games where I’d agreed to sleep on the mattresses in Dreams of Slime. Gauss had no insights to offer me, but the Zone Scan did reveal that the Starry Wall could be moved somehow. No amount of pixel hunting or clicking gave me any clues as to how the wall might move or open, so I decided to enter Saura’s Repose.

This brings new meaning to the phrase "fear of god". He looks terrified!

Saura’s Repose contained two pillars topped by spiders, a mattress on the ground, an inscription on the wall, and a niche containing a statue very similar to the one I’d collected earlier. The inscription said no more than “of the divine couple”, which meant absolutely nothing to me. At first I picked up the statue to complete my set, but it then dawned on me that the solution might be to put both in the niche together. There definitely appeared to be room for both, and it turned out there was! Reuniting the two statues in the niche caused a small tunnel to open close by. Unfortunately, it was much too small for me to enter, and I could find no other use for it at all!

Now I know how Alice felt.

I thought about how I might be able to use the turkeys, or even the vorts that appear from time to time, to do something in the tunnel, but to no avail. There was another door leaving Saura’s Repose apart from the one I came in through, so I left the statues in the niche and took it. This doorway led me to a rather surprising scene. On entering a room called Ablutions, I found myself looking at a naked woman bathing herself in the centre of a room surrounded by doors. She immediately set upon me, and while I had options such as “Admire” and “Kiss” in my menu, the only successful thing I could do was to “Attack” her. She went down (so to speak) quickly and disappeared beneath the bath waters, leaving me to try my luck with the five doors.

I knew it was too good to be true!

I won’t take you through each room that I gained access to through these doors, as all but one had nothing of interest apart from an inscription on the wall. I read the inscriptions on each wall and came up with the following: “The father of all offa will open the way of the stars under the eye”. The father of all offa? Under the eye? Huh? The way of the stars was clearly the starry wall in the room called In the Presence of God, but the rest was a mystery to me. Taking the last door took me back to Saura’s Repose, where I realised that my sentence wasn’t yet complete. I’d already come across “of the divine couple” earlier, and that was clearly the last part of the message. “The father of all offa will open the way of the stars under the eye of the divine couple.”

If you really want to tell something to someone, spread the message across five separate inscriptions.

Suddenly it dawned on me that the divine couple would likely be the two spiders atop the pillars in Saura’s Repose, but what the hell was “the father of all offa”? Offa are the people (myself included) that lived on Earth before Zorq came down and messed around with Spawnomatik. Who would the original father of the people be? I had no idea, so I decided to go to the only place I hadn’t yet explored...Placating the Powers. This is where things got very, very confusing...so bear with me. If the following description of events makes it sound like I rationally figured out what was going on and quickly solved the scenario, then I haven’t done a very good job of describing it.

Using the Know Mind power had so much potential, but can be used rarely in the game

The scene I came across in Placating the Powers was certainly odd. There was a figure on the altar who was about to be sacrificed, a protozorq priestess standing to the right of it, a bunch of turkeys hanging around, a monkey, and Saura the high priestess herself. I only knew it was Saura because she matched the image I’d been shown in the games introductory presentation. Saura went through with the sacrifice before either of them realised I was there, but once they did, the battle was on. The priestess called me a “vile profaner” and attacked me. She was defeated easily and once again eaten by a turkey. Saura then turned her attention to me. Surely it was going to be harder than just pressing attack to defeat the high priestess!

Expiation? Sounds like you've been doing some fouling of your own!

Nope, Saura went down quickly too, and for a split second I thought the game might just be the most anticlimactic experience ever. But Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess had at least one card up its sleeve! When Saura died, a message popped up saying “Saura’s mask falls! You’ve killed your partner, Sci Fi!!” What? The bitch that just took a swipe at me with a large knife was my best friend (and presumably lover) Sci Fi?! Surely not! Had I totally missed something? Was the victim on the altar Sci Fi and I just misinterpreted what was going on? I restored and played through the scene again. Same result! Saura the high priestess was Sci Fi...Sci Fi was Saura the high priestess. Every time I killed her, I was set upon by distraught turkeys that killed me on the spot, so clearly I was supposed to do something else.

Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

I tried all sorts of things at this stage, from running away after defeating the first priestess to Brainwarping Saura, with no success. I spent some time killing as many turkeys as I could before entering Placating the Powers in the hope that there would be none there to eat me after I took down the traitorous Sci Fi. I must have spent about forty minutes trying everything I could think of until I finally tried Sci Shifting Saura’s sacrificial dagger away from her. It worked, and I was then able to Sci Shift her mask away also. Sci Fi still didn’t seem to recognise me though, and if I tried to talk to her in any way, she still attacked me and forced me to kill her. It turned out that the only solution was to Sci Shift her dagger and mask away, then Brainwarp her, and then give her the flask of liquid I retrieved from the mummy’s tomb.

Hmmmm...she seemed better in my memories.

Sci Fi must have been under some sort of hypnosis, and as soon as I went through the above steps she came to, completely confused about where she was or what she was doing. I’d kind of expected the game to finish once I had Sci Fi, but I wasn’t done yet. She just stood there looking at me, with a monkey standing next to her. I tried picking up the monkey, but he was afraid of me. I did however have a “eureka” moment though, when I suddenly realised the monkey must be “the father of all offa”, as man descended from monkeys. As an avid science student, it pains me that this is part of the plot of a computer game, as humans did not evolve from monkeys as we know them, or any modern animal for that matter. I’ll excuse the game creators for their simplistic view of evolution though, as a fair percentage of the world’s population falsely assumes this to be true (don’t get me started on those that refute evolution altogether).

"Squeeken...squeek, squeek squeekety!" (I...am your father!)

Given I was unable to pick it up, how was I going to get that monkey into the tunnel in Saura’s Repose? Eventually I noticed that both Sci Fi and the monkey followed me wherever I went, so I headed for the tunnel with them in tow. As soon as I was standing next to the tunnel, I was able to select “put in the tunnel” as an option when clicking on the monkey. It seems odd that the little guy wouldn’t let me touch him at all, but doesn’t mind me chucking him in a tunnel. Anyway, with that done, I went back to In the Presence of God, where I was now able to open the starry wall. It felt like the end of the game was very close, but I really had no idea what was to come.

Get in the hole you little shit!

Through the newly formed door in the starry wall was a room called Birth of a Divine Race. The Spawnomatik device was in the room, which I believe is what Zorq (and then the people) used to form new races (including the Vorts). There was also a ladder leading to a trapdoor and a lever next to it. No matter what I tried to do, the trapdoor would open and two protozorqs (I assumed they were protozorqs) came down into the room, announcing “It’s an abomination, great Zorq! They will die!” I’m not really sure what they were referring to, but interestingly, one of them had a white beard and the other some sort of spider like creature levitating above its head. I was informed that “the god Zorq has decided to destroy you!” and then the one with the spider thingie attacked me straight away, so I attacked him back.

Hey! That's my girlfriend you're talking about there!

I died before I could even throw a punch, with a message saying ”what mortal can resist the mega-god Zorq?” Huh? Was this guy supposed to be Zorq himself? I restored and went through the scene again. Yes, everything suggested I was about to fight a god! How could I possibly defeat him? I turned to my sci powers. My Extreme Violence power did the trick, and then Zorq was down. Except...a message said “Qriich falls to the floor and starts to squeal.” Qriich? Who the hell was that? So I wasn’t fighting Zorq after all? Gauss then piped up with “deeaktiv ation of Zork seemz to hav inka pass it ated hiz col eeg” (deactivation of Zorq seems to have incapacitated his colleague). Deactivation of Zorq? What?

My brain fell out of my head and started to squeal!

I then noticed the spider thing was lying on the ground next to Qriich. Was that Zorq??!! Was he controlling the protozorqs through some sort of telepathy? Before I could think on the matter further, the bearded dude took Sci Fi hostage, threatening to kill her if I even so much as moved. I tried numerous things at this point, but any incorrect moves led to the bearded one (whose name I could now see was Harssk) climbing up the ladder partway or killing me by plunging a dagger into my back. Rather oddly, once Harssk reached the second step of the ladder, he appeared to have one of the spider things on his head, despite the other one still sitting on the floor. I could only imagine that this was a bug in the game, but there was every chance that I just had no idea what was going on.

Um...oh I hate decisions like this!

Eventually I came upon the solution, which was to cast Brainwarp at Harssk. This apparently gave the spider thingie on the ground a chance to attach to Harssk. Any chance that my current assessment of the situation was correct was blown away though, as the message onscreen stated that “Qriich leaps from the floor and fastens onto Harssk’s head”. So the creature is Qriich, not the protozorq!? So where’s Zorq in all this? Am I to believe that he was controlling the non-bearded protozorq by controlling the alien called Qriich attached to his head? How was he controlling the bearded dude? Or was Zorq merely spectating events through the eyes of Qriich? That would kind of make sense, but then why did taking down the protozorq also take down Qriich?

Watch out for gravel rash little dude!

Qriich then spoke to me, saying: “you saved my life, earthling, by emptying mind of protozorq. I was able to enter it! I must leave. Cannot act without my Zorq. Protozorq body too weak for me. Zorq race dying out. Need new slave race. I will return with another Zorq. Experiment with Earthling female. Will make new race of slaves for Qriich. They will take place of Zorqs whose numbers dwindle.” Hang on a second! There’s more than one Zorq? All I could deduce from that was that the guy I killed with Extreme Violence was in fact a Zorq, but not the only one. Qriich (or perhaps a race of Qriich’s) were using Zorqs as hosts to enslave other races. This particular Qriich lost his Zorq, so he then attached himself (or herself) to a protozorq, but that wasn’t enough to sustain him, so he was going to have to leave and come back.

I've experimented with lots of Earthling females mate. What do you want to know!?

Qriich leaving sounded just fine by me, but he still had Sci Fi held hostage. If I didn’t get her away from him before they reach the top of the ladder, then we were both killed. I used my Sci Shift power to close the trap door and he was unable to escape, dropping Sci Fi to safety. When I saw the message “Qriich’s eyes leave you, turning towards the trapdoor”, I knew what I needed to do. I threw the sacrificial dagger at him, and felt great satisfaction when “the blade buries itself deeply in Qriich-Harssk’s back!!” With him out of the way, Sci Fi and I climbed up the ladder and through the trap-door. That’s when we saw the flying saucer!

Just shut up and die would you!

At least, that’s when I was informed that my character could see the flying saucer. I was then also informed that “back in the temple, you see all the protozorqs have self-obliterized!”, “you fetch ash and normajeen from their cave”, and finally “you and Sci Fi decide to quit this world of fear and hatred. The netwerk’s not for you. The saucer will fly you to other worlds.” I then witnessed the flying saucer speeding off into space. Talk about tying up all loose ends without involving the player in any way! I stared at the words THE END that popped up, feeling utterly confused, yet pretty damn happy that I wasn’t going to have to subject myself (or you guys) to Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess any longer. I’ll save any further rants for the Final Rating post.

Um...the end!

Session Time: 2 hours 00 minutes

Total Time: 6 hours 00 minutes

Game 24: Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess - Do the Brainwarp

Raven Journal Entry 4: “I must be getting close now to my goal of saving Sci Fi from the protozorqs. I have bypassed the dreaded Dreams of Slime room, where I believe other Divo’s are sacrificed, and have instead made it into the Gallery maze past The Concourse. There I have found two rebels named Ash and Normajeen, who are a father and daughter hiding out in the caverns. Strangely, I have just resuscitated a long dead mummy we discovered in a tomb beneath the cavern, but I know not what purpose it might have. There is still much to explore, so perhaps things will become clearer in time.”

The Concourse: Only Divo's may enter

So, I’d made it through the Five Ordeals, and now found myself in The Concourse as a Divo. I had no real purpose at this point apart from saving Sci Fi, wherever she might be. I didn’t yet know whether I’d removed the time limit altogether, or whether it was simply going to start over with another hour ticking down. The concourse had four doors leading off it, being the Guard-Room, the Dreams of Slime, and two that were simply called Passage. I decided, as I normally do, to take the doors from left to right. The first door was blocked by a protozorq who demanded I “do not hang around, Divo. Go into the chamber of dreams.” Well that sounded like the door named Dreams of Slime, but I thought I’d stick to the plan before taking that option.

Somehow I highly doubt the truth is worth dreaming!

It turned out the second and third doors were also blocked, with the protozorq guards giving me exactly the same message. It looked like I was going to have to take the Dreams of Slime pathway anyway. Before I did that though, I spent a little bit of time exploring The Concourse thoroughly. That same damn engraving that had appeared a couple of times before was on the wall, yet it still meant nothing to me. There was also a Holo Holo on the wall, which if I haven’t described it already, is a screen displaying propaganda on tap. “All must be ready for the final spawning! Zorq drools.” I briefly considered changing sides after such a stirring speech, but eventually decided to continue down the path of righteousness I’d chosen. Most interestingly though, Gauss had the following to say when I used my Tune In power: “faithful to water not dreem.” It didn’t mean anything to me, but I noted it for future reference.

This bloody engraving better make sense by the end of the game

With no other apparent option available, I tried to enter the Dreams of Slime. The protozorq guarding that door once again stopped me, but he merely demanded I reveal my egg to him. I did so, and then found myself in a room full of other Divos sleeping on matresses. The protozorq on guard told me that “Zorq has been kind to you, Divo. Dream.” Clearly I was supposed to use one of the mattresses and go to sleep, so that’s what I did. On awakening, I found myself strapped to an altar in a place called Placating the Powers, where I watched powerless as I was sacrificed to Deilos. I restored my game and re-entered the Dreams of Slime hoping to find something to do or some way of avoiding being killed, but I couldn’t. No matter what I did, I always ended up on that altar.

Wasn't there a scene like this in Conan the Barbarian, but with more boobs?!

I restored once again back to The Concourse, but this time I tried to figure out if there was another path I could take. Guass seemed to be suggesting that I could avoid dreaming somehow, but I wasn’t sure how. I turned to my sci powers, and was stoked to find that if I used the Brainwarp power on one of the guards, it gave me enough time to enter the room they were guarding unopposed! I therefore went back to the original plan of checking out each pathway from left to right. The left most doorway took me to the Guard-Room, where I was confronted by “many protozorqs”. Gauss just had time to tell me that I’d gone through the “rongdor” before I was slaughtered where I stood. So...door number one was not the way to go.

Noshit!

The second door took me into a passage with some bars at the end. Through the bars I could see a chamber, half-filled with water, and there was also a bolt I could interact with just next to them. I pulled the bolt and there was a loud clunk, but nothing I could see had changed. I then passed through the bars and found myself in The Powers of the Abyss. I haven’t mentioned this room before, but I did find myself there a couple of times earlier on. It’s where I fell when I purposely jumped down the hole in the ground in The Noose, but since it was also home of the hungry Deilos, who quickly tore me to shreds, I figured it was a place I didn’t want to be. I was surprised to find myself back there now, and started to wonder whether the room served another purpose. After all, Gauss had mentioned water.

Do you care to let me see it?

I quickly realised I could use the Sticky Fingers sci power to climb into a tube in the ceiling, but there didn’t appear to be any way of getting through a slab at the top. I always ended up thrown back into the water with Deilos, and eventually dying. Even if I pulled the bolt in the chamber and then tried to retreat back to The Concourse, I was immediately confronted, and killed by, the protozorq guards. I was going to have to try door number three! This passage immediately looked more promising, first taking me into a vacant corridor, which then turned left up some stairs to another passageway that had a door off to the left and ended with a toad’s head carving. The door led to a room called Ante-Chamber, but I thought I’d investigate the carving before proceeding that way.

Shodan's little sister had none of her kin's sex appeal!

As usual, I checked in with Gauss to see whether he had anything insightful to offer. “Sumthingznot kleer” was all he had to say. I inspected the toad’s head and was told that the eye appeared worn out. I was then able to interact with the eye itself, and pressing it made the wall spin round, and me with it! The room I found myself in was called A Hidden Place, and there was a cadaver lying in the middle of the floor. There was also a lever on the wall and a trap-door on the wall, but I couldn’t help but wonder whether searching the cadaver would offer positive results. I chose to “go and search” the body, and was immediately crushed when the ceiling dropped to the floor. Well I guess that’s what happened to the dead guy!

Well if you'd described the cadaver as being strangely flat, I may not have attempted it!

I restored and made my way back to the hidden room, then tried to pull the lever with the same result (death by ceiling). I eventually figured out that I needed to use the Sci Shift sci power to pull the lever from a distance, which would then allow me to pass through the trap-door. The cadaver appeared to be nothing more than a red herring, and an effective one at that. Only time will tell whether I was actually supposed to do something with it! Through the trap-door I found myself in an ominous place named Gallery. It was the colour of fire, and there was nothing there apart from a passageway at the end. I took it!

Raven's vindaloo ramification art exhibition failed to find an audience

Through that exit was yet another room called Gallery, but this one had two exits. Oh oh! Was this a dreaded maze!? I opened up Excel in preparation and began mapping my progress in case things got complicated. I took the left passage and found myself in Pink Gallery, which strangely looked exactly the same as the other passageways and had nothing resembling the colour pink. I pushed ahead and found a trap-door in the next room. On entering it, I was a bit shocked when I suddenly appeared back in The Noose. It turns out there’s a small trap-door high up on the wall in The Noose that I only discovered when I used my Zone Scan sci power. I couldn’t reach the trap-door now that I was in The Noose, so I restored back to the beginning of the Gallery maze.

Pink Gallery: Not pink

This time I went straight ahead from the second Gallery room before taking the next left. I was now in a room called Downward Gallery, and pushing ahead brought me to a room with Water flowing into it. Entering the water took me straight back to The Powers of the Abyss, which is the room beneath The Noose where Deilos attacks and kills me. So far, taking any path off the straight and narrow in “the maze” had resulted in bad results, so I restored once again to the first Gallery room and moved straight ahead four screens. I found myself in a cavern, and there were two people standing in front of me!

Ash and Normajeen's presence was a welcome change to the solitary task at hand

I recognised the characters straight away from the presentation that was part of the game’s introduction. They were Ash (described as an old gink) and his daughter Normajeen. At first they were very sceptical about me, but I obeyed their orders to remain still and told them the truth when asked questions, eventually winning them over. Unfortunately, despite me being friendly to them, Gauss quickly alerted the Netwerk of their location, much to their disgust. The two of them appeared to be rebels, who are now hiding in the cavern from the Protozorq. That would make them my allies! Eventually the conversation ran out, and while there were two doors ahead that I still had to check out, I highly doubted there was nothing I was supposed to do with Ash and Normajeen.

Um...sorry?

Gauss was of no help, but a Zone Scan revealed a stone slab beneath Ash, which he got off as soon as he realised I’d located it. The two of them had been unable to open it, despite trying for quite some time. I simply clicked the slab and selected lift to open up what turned out to be a tomb with a mummy in it!  The Objects in the Room light came on, and clicking it revealed that there was a flask and a bean in the tomb. I picked them up and then began investigating the tomb. I found an inscription that said “Prass will drink to dispel the mists of mind. Feed this to dead prass, that he may live once more to die.” It seemed pretty obvious that I needed to give the flask and bean to the mummy, so that’s exactly what I did. The mummy opened its eyes!

...then does absolutely nothing...at all!

I felt like I was onto something big by awakening the mummy, yet I didn’t seem to be able to do anything else with it. Unwinding its bandages resulted in it disintegrating, so surely that wasn’t the right thing to do. Talking to Ash and Nomajeen revealed nothing else either after restoring, so I just had to leave the cavern behind and move on through the Gallery maze. I’ll have to end this post here, despite feeling like I’m getting quite close to some sort of climax. I really am getting to the end of this insanely busy time at work, but in the meantime I have to limit my time spent gaming and posting to just enough to feel like I’m making progress. I have no idea how long Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess actually is, but if Ilmari’s comment about expecting a Won post shortly comes to fruition, it may happen in the next few days.

Oh boo hoo hoo...we all have bad days you know!

Session Time: 1 hours 00 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 24: Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess - Hangman

Raven Journal Entry 3: “I have found all five skulls and now become a Divo! It was a very close call, as the allotted time very nearly ran out before I could achieve my task. The fourth skull was quite easy to find, being hidden in a platform beneath an imprisoned (and not very friendly) aspirant. The final skull however caused me a lot of trouble, and I’m still not really sure how it was that I came upon it. I hope whatever awaits me in The Concourse and beyond will trouble me less so I can be reunited with Sci Fi and cause some trouble for Zorq and his Protozorqs while I’m at it.”

Things got strange during the last session, and they don't get any less stange during this one.

So where were we at the end of last post? Oh that’s right! I’d just collected the third skull from within the statue in the room called In the Scorpion’s Presence, and I only needed two more skulls to become a Divo and therefore gain entrance to some place called the Concourse. I’d gained the three skulls from the rooms called The Twins, De Profundis and In the Scorpion’s Presence, leaving only The Wall and The Noose to go. I knew that the item that would be useful in The Wall was a dagger, but I didn’t have it! I walked around until I found another aspirant, but unlike last time I found one, this guy was not interested in trading items. I decided to visit The Noose next, hoping that I would find a dagger along with the fourth skull.

Obscurity: Where I found the third skull within the scorpion statue.

On entering The Noose, I found myself completely in the dark, with someone warning me to move quickly or be caught. Rather than stumble around blindly, I made use of my Solar Eyes sci power and was rewarded with complete vision of the room. It’s a lucky thing too, as there was a large hole in the middle of the room that I likely would have fallen down if I’d rushed ahead in the dark. That immediately made me wonder about the man I could see on the platform ahead of me. He did indeed appear to be restrained and in a precarious position, but it seemed that the guy had no care for my safety. I tried out yet another sci power at this point, which was Know Mind, and found my intuition was correct when I read his thoughts. “That warpy has to die!”

Did you just call me a warpy??? No-one calls me a warpy!!!!

Knowing that the prisoner wasn’t trustworthy was nice and all, but it didn’t make my purpose in the room any clearer. There was a lever next to the platform, but I wasn’t able to reach it. Gauss also made reference to it, saying “wodda bout the leave uh?”, but how could I get there? It was time to turn to my sci powers once again, this time utilising Sticky Fingers to make my way up to the platform. I saved my game here as I was pretty uncertain as to whether I should pull the lever or not. I tried letting the aspirant go free, but as expected he attacked and killed me. I restored and pulled the lever, feeling only a little bit of shame when the guy died hanging by the neck as the platform fell away. Apparently I didn’t fall when the platform did, so I can only imagine my Sticky Fingers power was still in effect.

Well that's a first! An adventure game where violently hanging a fellow competitor reaps rewards.

I pixel hunted a little on the platform and found that I could interact with the ropes. I untied the top rope and watched as the dead aspirant fell into the pit. I then collected one of the hanging ropes, while the other slipped out of my grasp. I’d started this particular play through with the rope, but had earlier traded mine away for the fly. Ropes weren’t the only thing I discovered on the platform though. There was a hollow in the corner, within which I found the fourth skull! Hmmmm...could it be possible that within each of the rooms is not only a skull, but also one of the items of assistance? Is it possible that all the rooms can be beaten without one of the items? I still wasn’t sure, but with only one more skull to find, I quickly departed The Noose, intending to head straight for The Wall.

From within the hinge of a folding platform???

On exiting The Noose, I came face to face with an aspirant intent on killing me and taking my skulls. I used my Extreme Violence sci power to take him down, and then searched his body, finding a lamp. A lamp!? That must be the fifth item, yet I was never given a lamp when starting the game. It’s probably safe to assume that the lamp would be useful for The Noose, as the room is pitch black when you arrive, but completely unnecessary given the Solar Eyes sci power. I knew that the item that would assist in The Wall was the dagger, so I thought I would wander around The Ring attacking or trading with any aspirant I came across until I got it. It worked, and I soon made my way to The Wall with three skulls (remember that I started again after finding the first one in The Twins), the lamp, the rope, and the dagger in my possession.

Once murder had been so rewarding the first time around, it made sense to continue down that path

The Wall is rather odd really. It’s basically a long room with two small doors to either side and large exits at both ends. The doors at the end lead back to The Ring and to The Master’s Orbit respectively, but the two doors on either side lead to two passageways, both being called The Infidel’s Tomb. Pressing any of the three arrows on the ground (which are labelled Zone 1, 2 and 3) causes a sliding wall to move across the room, eventually coming together to form “The Wall”. I soon figured out that entering either of The Infidel’s Tomb passageways while the wall is open resulted in me simply passing through the tomb with nothing of interest to work with on the way. However, if I managed to make the sliding wall complete while the lit arrow was in Zone 2, the wall would remain in place and I would be confronted by something interesting when entering either door.

The Wall and The Twins took by far the most time to figure out, and I'm not even sure I did figure them out in the end.

In front of me was part of the wall, with a sculpted warrior on either side of it depending on which door I took. Both knights had slots in them, which was clearly where I was supposed to insert the dagger. I eagerly put the dagger into the slot and was killed when the wall flipped up, crushing me in the process. Thankfully I’d saved on arrival to The Wall, and was able to restore and try again. This time I spoke to Gauss first, who responded with “Wunstep ata time then blade” (One step at a time then blade). It was only then that I noticed a small step at the bottom of the wall, which I was able to step up onto. Then when I put the dagger in the slot, I was flipped over with the wall and found myself on the other side.

Siiiilent Kniiiiight....Hoooooollly Kniiiiight....

OK, so now I was on the other side of the wall, which is exactly where I would have been if I’d just walked through the passageway without closing the wall first. Confused, I collected the dagger and continued on down the passage and back out into The Ring. I went back and entered The Wall again, only this time I took the other doorway, placing the dagger into the slot of the second warrior. This time when the wall flipped I found myself in a section I’d never seen before! Just like other parts of the game so far, I don’t claim to understand what happened or how I got where I was, but my intuition and problem solving had somehow got me where I needed to go. Unfortunately, despite being very careful with the amount of time I was using up (I’d been restoring and doing things quicker each time I figured out puzzles), the end of my hour was approaching. I was going to need to get a move on!

...and miraculously land somewhere that wasn't actually behind the wall in the first place.

Within this little nook was an engraving exactly the same as the one I found in In the Scorpion’s Presence. I still didn’t know what it meant, so I focussed on the deep cavity on the floor. It was filled with “yukky water”, but that didn’t stop me putting my hand in and finding...the fifth and final skull! I’d finally solved The Five Ordeals and was on my way to becoming a Divo. Before that could happen though, I needed to get the fifth skull from The Twins, and to do that I was going to need the goblet. I exited The Wall and circled The Ring until I found and killed an aspirant who had the goblet on his person, then sped over to The Twins and retrieved the fifth skull with a couple of minutes up my sleeve. Now to get back to The Master’s Orbit!

What could it be? Oh the suspense!!!

I have the feeling I missed some information earlier in the game, as it was at this point that I had a bit of a “facepalm” moment. It turns out that there is a trader in The Master’s Orbit, which is not only the character I needed to give the skulls to, but also someone I could attempt to trade items with throughout the game. That being said, I would only have been able to trade an item once per skull, which makes sense given that each item leads to a skull. The success of such trades seems either random, extremely difficult, or beyond my understanding (perhaps all three). Every time i gave him a skull I was given the chance to trade one of my items for one of my choice from the machine behind him. I then watched as what I assume was a robot placed my item under one of three cups and moved them around rapidly. I had to watch carefully and tell him which one the item was under when he stopped. I was crap at this!

I would, but I...just don't feel like it right now.

I tried four times to guess correctly and failed on each occasion. I’m not even certain whether it’s actually possible to deduce where the item is by watching, as the clunky movement animation doesn’t act in a realistic manner. I didn’t actually need any more items and had little time remaining, so I gave up on trading and simply gave all five skulls to the protozorq dude. My reward was a visit by The Master of Ordeals, who spouted some nonsense about a priestess, who will tonight be “inseminized”, before giving me the egg that will apparently “open the secret of my Divo destiny!” I took the egg and with literally seconds to spare, took the passage to The Concourse, showing the egg as passage on the way.

Yes, I will carry the message! Um...what's the message again?

All up, passing The Five Ordeals took me close to four hours, but there’s no way it would have taken me that long had I not been preparing to blog about it. I was often writing while playing, as there were so many options I needed to communicate, and taking close to 200 screenshots on the way, all of which caused me to run out of time and have to restart. I reckon playing through the ordeals from start to finish would take under ten minutes now that I know what to do, but I'm going to put my playtime down as three hours so far. Am I looking forward to seeing what happens next in Chamber of the Sci Mutant Priestess? Not particularly. I think the sheer strangeness of it all distances me from the subject matter, and while some of the puzzles are satisfying, others are baffling or just not critical for success in any way. I shall press on nonetheless, and report back as soon as I’m able. I have to finish at least one Exxos game!

The Concourse: I'm almost dreading what awaits me there.

Session Time: 1 hours 00 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!