If you're excited about Deathloop and liked Outer Wilds, you should read The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle
If you're excited about Deathloop and liked Outer Wilds, you should read The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle
Obra Dinn fans should also check out The Devil In The Nighttime Water
I've been thinking a lot about video game recommendations recently. Specifically, things similar, "What game would you recommend to someone who'south never played a video game before?" and, "What kind of games would you lot recommend to people who read a lot but don't necessarily play games very much?" My answer to both questions would probably exist What Remains Of Edith Finch in the kickoff instance, mostly because it has a really good story and its controls aren't also intimidating. Only this week I realised I rarely think nigh the changed of that last question: "What books would you lot recommend to people who play lots of video games merely don't have much time for reading?"
Happily, I now have ii solid answers, and they both come from the highly talented Stuart Turton: "The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle" for fans of Outer Wilds, The Sexy Brutale and Agatha Christie-fashion murder mysteries, and The Devil In The Dark Water for The Return Of The Obra Dinn likers.
Alice Bee and former RPS vid bud Matthew (RPS in peace) have spoken about Evelyn Hardcastle before (both on the site and on the RPS podcast), and I, too, have now joined the Turton volume brigade subsequently reading them in very quick succession this month. To say much about any of them would exist to spoil the many surprises and twisty-turny plot points of their ingenious locked room mysteries and incommunicable murders, only there's some undeniable video game logic nowadays in both of them that, I feel, make them great picks for game players who never quite know what to read next.
The Vii Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle is a Groundhog Day-style timeloop mystery where the protagonist has to solve the murder of the titular Evelyn Hardcastle. After waking up with no memory of who or where they are, they must apply the knowledge they gain each day to further their investigation. The setup itself could exist the start of a video game (and information technology kinda is, if you've played The Sexy Brutale). Merely the affair that makes it feel the nearly video gamey is that you and the protagonist learn everything at the same fourth dimension, allowing yous to piece together the clues in your head while they're existence relayed to y'all on the page. Here's a brief summary of information technology in Turton's own words:
The twist, as Turton explains to a higher place, is that rather than re-living the aforementioned day over and over and once again, the protagonist wakes up each forenoon in the body of a different guest, and he'south constantly bumping into his past and hereafter selves who all have different agendas and levels of noesis. To me, this structure feels very Outer Wilds-y. Instead of following a breadcrumb trail of clues across multiple planets, you're hopping from one host to another and piecing things together as they come at you. As in the game, events and clues are all jumbled up in Evelyn Hardcastle, and juggling them altogether on a kind of mental corkboard was one of my favourite parts of reading the book.
Even meliorate, the protagonist in Evelyn Hardcastle doesn't appear to exist solitary. Other people seem to be trapped in this timeloop, as well, and that's where the Deathloop connection comes in. As you may know, Arkane'southward next game is a start person timeloop 'em upwardly that sees yous hunting down 8 targets all the while being hunted yourself past another timeloop assassin. We also saw earlier this week that Deathloop is less most beingness a roguelike and more about becoming a main of your environment - which is precisely what the protagonist has to practice in Evelyn Hardcastle.
It'due south kind of uncanny how much Deathloop has in common with Evelyn Hardcastle, although as I said earlier, it'south hard to talk about information technology without giving away major spoilers (everything I've mentioned above is either in the book's blurb, or yous learn it very apace in the opening chapters of the book). If you read it, y'all'll see what I mean. Just I think part of the reason why Evelyn Hardcastle feels like it'southward been constructed from a lot of video game logic is because Turton himself has been playing games "since the Dragon 64, this old shitty, pre-Spectrum computer," every bit he told our pals at Eurogamer a couple of years agone when Evelyn Hardcastle start came out. In that interview, he also acknowledges the striking resemblance it bears to Condescending Games' The Sexy Brutale, likewise.
"I tell you lot what, when that game was announced, I shit myself," he said. "I admittedly shat myself. $.25 of that, $.25 of Maniac Mansion..."
Indeed, Turton seems to have a bad (good?) habit of releasing his books around the exact same time as games with very like themes and settings. His 2nd book, The Devil In The Dark H2o, is more of a historical criminal offence novel set on a Dutch East Republic of india Company ship in 1634. It'due south based on a real-life shipwreck, merely lemme tell ya, it has big Return Of The Obra Dinn vibes, and not just because it all takes place on a boat.
At that place'south also a Holmesian style detective duo on board, only the Sherlock Holmes-alike character, Sammy Pipps, is a prisoner on this ship being carted back to Amsterdam where he'll stand up trial for crimes fifty-fifty he hasn't been told about. Instead, it'southward up to his hulking, Watson-style sidekick Arent to solve a serial of impossible murders in his stead. Information technology doesn't spring around in time like Obra Dinn (or, indeed, Evelyn Hardcastle), merely it works the same deduction muscles in your brain as y'all try and solve this series of strange goings-on. Information technology'due south a gripping read, taking you lot through all aforementioned kind of nooks and crannies of the transport and introducing you to yet kind of dastardly crew members as Lucas Pope's nautical masterpiece.
All this has me very excited for Turton's next book, which is supposed to exist out in Oct. He's not confident he'll meet this deadline, absolutely (Matthew and I went to see him talk about Devil earlier this calendar week at our local book festival, which you should be able to listen to in podcast course from May 28th if y'all're interested), simply he did tell me over Twitter that the 'similar game' for his next book is actually already out this fourth dimension - which is such a deliciously thrilling prospect that it's almost like its own mystery cliffhanger. I accept been wracking my brains over what this game might be for weeks now, and trust me, both Matthew and I tried our best to pry it out of him at his volume upshot, but he didn't let his guard down for a single second.
My ideal scenario would be something like Sky's Vault or peradventure something else space-y like Outer Wilds but without the timeloop attribute, but honestly who fifty-fifty knows. Turton'due south always made a signal nearly doing something unlike with each of his books, and then I don't call up he'd go for another timeloop again, just cor... it would exist proficient, though, wouldn't it? In any example, if yous're a fan of crime, mystery or fourth dimension-travelling puzzle games, I would definitely urge you to read Turton's books if you take the time. They're incredible $.25 of piece of work and some of my favourite books I've read this twelvemonth - and hopefully you'll similar them as much every bit I did.
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/deathloop-outer-wilds-seven-deaths-evelyn-hardcastle
Posted by: taylorencell1939.blogspot.com
0 Response to "If you're excited about Deathloop and liked Outer Wilds, you should read The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle"
Post a Comment