Cannery Vale

Well, this was interesting. Apparently we're a writer and we're trying to write a story about a man who wakes up on a beach with no memory of who he is or how he got there. The action goes back and forth between the writer character and the amnesiac, with the writer making notes that determine aspects of the amnesiac's world. It's a fascinating concept, especially if there are some ideas that should be toggled on while others are toggled off.

I guess one problem is that we're not entirely sure what the story-within-the-story is supposed to build up to. Also, it does appear that our amnesiac character doesn't get properly reset whenever we restart his story -- the items and money that he accrues on one venture don't quite go away when we restart from him waking up on the beach. But maybe that's part of the what's really going on.

I came back to this after an initial review describing it in somewhat different terms. Having finished the game, I can say that it's something of a slow-burn horror story -- as one might guess from the scratching under the bed, though it didn't seem to add up to anything significant at the time. It's one of those nightmare things, and, I'm not sure how, but I actually feel rather satisfied to have found the ending. I think there's a bit of an issue in that it's a bit unclear as to what you have to do to trigger certain options, but there's a fair bit to discover here.

It's something with fish in it for breakfast, I think. Pickled herring on flatbread, coupled with strong, black coffee. Maybe it seems a bit odd at first glance, but somehow it works.