Analysis of Lil’ Guardsman

When Papers please with Guybrush Threepwood

And suddenly you wake up, you’re a 12 year old girl and your father walks into the room. She says hello, shows affection but also wants something, those things a pre-teen recognizes. He asks you to cover for him during his guard shift. An emergency, you think. That’s right, there’s a game of Goblinbol and he’s late to bet. Morally reprehensible? Yeah. Would you do anything for your father? Also.

This is the premise of the first game which offers Hilltop Games. It presents a fantastic medieval world, with “current” touches (Have I seen a Gameboy?) where Lil, her father’s replacement, is entrusted to the city’s entrance gate. From this small space you will let (or not) the different characters who populate the Spreading, which literally means “extension”, but which is also “an unsightly posture”. And this second meaning is correct. This is the pose you should adopt. Not everything is so complex and no choice is relevant, even if it has its repercussions.

Scrolls, please.

Lil Guardsman is a game of decisions and consequences. The main mechanism is to choose the destiny of people who pass through the checkpoint. In three actions we must determine whether or not it is beneficial for the city. Here he drinks Papers please nose (Play it, please) . Of course, it’s not as dense as Lucas Pope’s game.

To make the right choice, you need to consult the Mandates Council, which is changed every day with new rules. You can also call royal advisors or use a series of magical tools that work thanks to power crystals that you must buy in the store in exchange for your salary. It will be magical but not free. But without a doubt, the most pleasant action is to speak to each being who wishes to enter.

I understood this reference.

Beyond the mechanics, we see that the strong point of the game is the construction of the characters and the dialogues they have with Lil. Drink straight from the graphic adventures of LucasArts (they don’t hide for a moment) create a very recognizable and comforting comic atmosphere, breaking the fourth wall with winks, anachronisms and all kinds of jokes typical of the team of Ron Gilbert Yes Tim Schaefer.

Rarely in a video game is it so enjoyable to exhaust all the lines of dialogue or wait for the clock radio to repeat the joke before turning it off. Interactions shine thanks to voice casting (always in English) so worked. It’s a shame that subtitle localization doesn’t help. Although sometimes he succeeds by adapting the joke, other times he takes the shortcut and breaks the magic.

Shift is over for today.

The shift ends and Lil closes the blinds. There is more to life than work. A more typical mechanic adventure game where the story develops and the consequences of decisions that were made during the working day are considered. In this part, which in a typical game would prioritize exploring all scenarios to solve puzzles, the player is guided directly to what they can do to advance the plot and nothing else. For example, you can sometimes increase the gold earned by betting on Goblinbol, but this does not provide access to it every day. Perhaps in this way it is a more compact and non-repetitive game, but it loses the freshness that its text provides. This part is rather a visual novel where decisions continue to be made.

Like I said, it’s a game of decisions and consequences. There are multiple endings and numerous subplots that vary across many possibility trees throughout the game. It lasted 8 hours for me and I didn’t repeat any decisions. I think these games allow each of us to choose our personalized adventure. Not seeing all the endings. Even so, there are decisions that the game’s plot doesn’t implement well or simply ignores to benefit the story.

Did I mention you had a time machine? No? This is meant to be one of the main mechanics and cornerstone of the story. And still, I don’t see many mechanics in the game unless you’re a completionist. This is something completely incidental in the mechanics for such an important object in the plot.

Conclusions.

Little Guadsman It’s a game to judge people. Deciding in a few gestures if the creature is worthy, favors us and will prosper, or on the contrary is evil and does not suit us personally or society. Its humor and the design of many characters make it let’s internalize our decisions and take care of them. And what’s more, it’s fun! The tone is a success. If the puzzles outside the gatehouse weren’t so linear, this would be a graphic adventure like the old ones.