The Adventures of Mister Big T 4 by Mister
Big T |
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Impression Well, there you have it. That screenshot describes The Adventures of Mister Big T 4 in a nutshell. This is a hard game to understand and appreciate, written by an individual who is equally hard to understand or appreciate. I've had a few conversations with the author, and have discovered that he's Finnish and English is his third language. And I hate to sound ethnocentric, but if all Finnish people are like Mister Big T, then Finland is a very, very strange place. The Adventures of Mister Big T 4 is the fourth installment in the Adventures of Mister Big T series, and even though it was the first game in the series I've ever played, I didn't feel left out. This is because the author had a short blurb at the beginning of the game, outlining the events leading up to Big T 4 in a (perhaps far TOO) succinct manner. Although the explanation didn't really explain anything to me in a way that I could understand, it was at least worth a laugh or two. This is a game starring Mister Big T, who is represented by a giant RPG Maker 2000 RTP dragon sprite. He is your hero. He is a vehement sex addict, he's selfish, he's rude, and he's so useful in battle that you won't even care about the colorful support characters who join your party. And, essentially, that's what this game is about; journeying across the land as Mister Big T and having sex with women while annihilating enemies on pointless side quests. The aim of the author, of course, was probably to make you laugh.
I admit it: I laughed quite a bit while playing this game. The humor is pretty sophomoric, usuaully involving either poop, boobs, or drinking too much, but something about the broken, misspelled dialogue and bizarre atmosphere appealed to me in a cursory way. The game is incredibly inconsistent, switching between Run Time Package and edited and ripped and custom graphics left and right, with none of the styles matching up, and some of the worst map design I have ever seen, but, in the end, there is something incredibly appealing about this game. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but I can't deny that it exists. It certainly isn't the gameplay, since the dungeons are boring the random battles are way too easy (there are nearly NO custom systems or anything either), and it isn't the humor, since I rarely found the game funny, and it isn't the story, since I wouldn't be try to tell you what happened even if I was at gunpoint. But there is yet an appeal to this game, somewhere, and so I remember it fondly. Technical Graphics
The graphics of The Adventures of Mister Big T 4 are somewhere between really stylin' and painfully unattractive (maybe both). As I've said above, I haven't seen maps this bad for a long time; there is loads of empty space, most of the tilesets are really bad to begin with, and a lot of the borders and things are really messed up (if you want to know what I man, look at how the snowdrifts above seem to pile up several feet away from the walls on every north side). Some of the custom stuff is so strange (like the battle against the giant Toad) that it just freaks you out. As far as any technical mastery of graphics goes, there is none. I saw nothing fancy at all that struck me as particularly ingeniously coded or used. I just saw a lot of really . . . uhm . . . weird things. Of course, there's a certain quality about something this weird; it zonks you in the face and makes you laugh because it's just SO FRICKING BIZARRE. And that, I suppose, is what defines both The Adventures of Mister Big T 4 and the author, Mister Big T, in general. But given the right perspective, that bizarre quality is what makes it all so good and so endearing. Code Nothing. A few items you can use to call up different skins for text boxes and a few battle abilities, but otherwise this was straight-up RM2k. Sound Again, nothing. This game, unfortunately, follows the trends of so many Indie games before it, and overlooks the sound aspect of the game. There is sound, but that's about all I can say. Artistry
This is a tough judgment to pass. The Adventures of Mister Big T 4 has a certain style to it; one that is overwhelmingly peculiar and difficult to fathom. But, in its own very unique way, it definitely has something to offer. It is simultaneously lame and hillarious and sloppy and intriguing. Only a genius would have the insight to use the above screenshot as a game over screen, for example. At the same, however, only a complete and total weirdo would have the insight to use the above screenshot as a game over screen. This strangeness permeates every aspect of the game, whether you're having strange kinky sex with a hermaphrodite or fighting alongside Obmeiste (a random community member who just happens to make a cameo in this game as a playable character). "Strange," I suppose, is the only way to describe a game like this, and it is that strangeness which gives it artistry and uniqueness. Of course, the game is sloppy and the battles aren't particularly fun. The graphics are at the same time ugly and creative and utterly absurd. There are definitely a lot of elitists in the Indie game design community that would claim this game has absolutely nothing to offer, and they are right. But they are also utterly wrong. That's the problem with this game: I don't know what to think of it! I can't answer whether or not I even liked it. It has so much to offer and so little. Play or Not? Maybe. Pick it up if you're into weird comedy games, sophomoric humor, or want to find out why I feel so ambivalent about it. If you're into serious gaming, or at least a more traditional approach to design, avoid it. Reviewer's Notes I had them written down on paper, but I lost them in the move. Sorry. = (
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