The Call of the Shaman

This appears to be Episode Six of an ongoing series, and I suppose a lot the engagement and attachment to the main character must derive from the preceding episodes. Coming into this as a complete newbie, with none of that experience, leaves me a little disconnected -- or perhaps I'm only imagining that there might be something more.

I'm happy to say, at any rate, that the story works even without the preceding episodes to inform it. It's quite simple: our bride has been shot with a poisoned arrow, and we must obtain the antidote from the shaman of, uh, the Cherokee in the distant land of North Americanus.

Well, damn. Everything was all mediaeval high fantasy until this moment. I wonder if the other episodes were much the same, because this feels like the sort of thing that ought to be a constant thread through the series, or it won't work.

Anyway, we're teleported to a settlement in North Americanus, and our first order of business is to prepare for our journey onwards to the shaman's village. This isn't so bad, except for a couple of coding hiccups. I'm not fond of the phoneticised accents all the settlers speak with, but that might be a matter of taste. I almost feel as though the "mediaeval epic fantasy" nature of the backstory detracted from the actual game.

Taken on its own, though, this looks like a fairly conventional work of puzzle IF with little in it to rock the boat one way or another, and that might be its worst flaw. Like a breakfast of oatmeal and milk, it does the job that's required of it, but I can't help feeling like a dash of salt would make all the difference.