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Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love

Plattform: PC Veröffentlicht: 16.05.2019

-75%19.5€4,87€

Preis Update 31.03.24

Wirf in diesem satirischen Point-and-Click-Adventure, das von den Meisterwerken von LucasArts und Daedalic inspiriert wurde, einen Blick hinter die Kulissen des Kalten Krieges! Erlebe das totalitäre Matryoshka durch die Augen von Evan, einem durchschnittlichen, etwas vertrottelten Journalisten, der unfreiwillig zwischen die Fronten zweier Supermächte gerät. Stürze dich in ein verrücktes Spionage-Abenteuer, decke die Geheimnisse dieses bizarren kommunistischen Landes (und die des mächtigen kapitalistischen Reiches!) auf, erlebe eine Story voller Drehungen und Wendungen und entlarve die wahren Absichten des geheimnisvollen Obersten Führers!

Was könnte der liebevolle Vater der stolzen Nation von Matryoshka wohl von einem unwichtigen, kapitalistischen Schreiberling wollen?
Warum sollte man plötzlich den Vorhang für einen Fremden öffnen wollen und diesen in Matryoshka willkommen heißen?
Und warum ist da ein Alligator mitten im Badezimmer?!

Originelles Setting: eine fiktive Ära des Kalten Krieges – Eine alternative Realität, in der die Menschen von Matryoshka alles versuchen, um das Leben in ihrem seltsamen, unlogischen Land zu meistern.
Inspiriert von klassischen Adventure-Spielen – Nur besser. Keine Mondlogik, keine Pixel-Jagd, kein Unsinn. Einzig pure Point-and-Click-Freude.
Spionageintrigen – Schläferagenten, gestohlene Geheimnisse und Pläne, die Welt zu erobern, gewürzt mit einer gehörigen Portion Humor.
Skurrile Charaktere – Triff auf den geheimnisvollen Obersten Führer von Matryoshka, den planlosen Evan, die tapfere Agentin Anna und den berüchtigten Propagandaminister ...

Deutsch (10)
Englisch (29)

2669 Produkte im Account

98 Reviews

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770 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 14.12.21 14:13

Der Vorhang fällt

Artifex Mundi macht außer Wimmelbild was anderes? Tatsächlich war ich überrascht, als ich das 2019 erschienene Irony Curtain der polnischen Schmiede sah, das ein reinrassiges Point and Click-Abenteuer sein sollte. Aber das war es tatsächlich, ein qualitätvolles darüber hinaus. Warum es mich dennoch nicht überzeugte?

Die Pilzvodkaverschwörung – Geschichte und Art des Spiels
Die eigentliche Story ist simpel und ganz auf Klamauk ausgelegt, was erstmal nichts Schlechtes verheißen muss: Als junger Amerikaner Evan gerät man wegen der eigenen Liebe zum fiktiven Matryoshka mit seinem kommun..äh matryoshkanischen Lebensstil in eine Geschichte um die Rettung des Staates, der Revolution des Volkes, des Verrats auf höchster Ebene. Spannung sucht man allerdings vergebens! Für mich war die Geschichte im Grunde nur Mittel zum Zweck, möglichst viele lustige Anspielungen auf den Kommunismus bzw. Russland oder andere mediale Verknüpfungen unterzubringen, die teils zünden, teils im Rohr krepieren. Und so klicken wir uns in traditioneller Point and Click-Mechanik durch die comichaften Szenerien, lösen Rätsel und lauschen den Gesprächen, mechanisch und technisch alles wunderbar.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2663221977
Von Borschtsch und Fleisch – Rätsel und Minispiele
Die Rätsel sind eigentlich gut eingebunden und erdacht, beinhalten aber vor allem ab der Hälfte des Spiels immer wieder die gleichen, mitunter sehr langen Laufwege. Neben klassischen Bring-Hol-Wende-an-Rätsel gibt es ein rege zu nutzendes Inventar und logisches Puzzlereien, die allesamt vom Anspruch eher einfach waren – außer man wusste nicht, wo es weiter ging. Zusätzlich haben die Entwickler 3-4 Minigames eingestreut, die auf Reaktionsschnelle setzen. Da ist man erstmal Baff, nach der 5. Wiederholung schafft dies aber auch ein eingerosteter Johnny Silverhand.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2682213448
Lasst die Rupjankas rollen – Technisches und Sonstiges
Graphisch, audiovisuell und technisch gibt es im Grunde nichts auszusetzen. Die Animationen laufen flüssig, die englische Vertonung ist gelungen professionell und Fehler oder Abstürze kamen nicht vor. Sogar speichern darf man mal manuell! Bei der deutschen Übersetzung der Untertitel durch die gute Claudia Kranenburg sind mir aber ein paar Fehler zu viel untergekommen: In der Häufigkeit stört dies den Lesefluss durchaus. 10 Sammelkarten und 42 Errungenschaften, die zu ¾ automatisch bei Beendigung des Abenteuers erreicht werden, komplettieren das Ganze. Insgesamt brauchte ich wohl um die 7-8 Stunden.

Stahl Stalin die Show? – Meinung
Irony Curtain ist ein empfehlenswertes Spiel für alle, die sich von Klamauk, Humor und Anspielungen rund um eine alternative Sowjetunion angezogen fühlen. Denn produktionstechnisch ist das meiste von hoher Qualität. Bei mir fehlte jedoch das Gefühl, weiterspielen zu wollen! Wenn ich dann wieder drin war, hatte ich den ein oder anderen Lacher und fand das es auch originell, zufriedengestellt wurde ich aber nicht – obwohl ich das Spiel beendete. Zusammen mit den kleineren Schwächen ließ mich das Ausbleiben von Spannung enttäuscht zurück. Dieses Mal bedeutete ein nettes Spiel eben eher ein negatives Erlebnis. Ich kann aber jeden verstehen – und die Steam-Bewertungen sind ja auch positiv – dem diese Art zusagt.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2663221933

Code Ein top produziertes Point and Klick-Abenteuer, das voll auf Klamauk setzt. Mir verging der Spaß aufgrund der rudimentären Geschichte um eine alternative UdSSR. Entscheidet euch auf Basis der eigenen Vorlieben!

Lust auf Reviews mit einmal mehr und einmal weniger archäologischen Anmerkungen? Probier doch meine Kuratoren-Gruppe The Archaeologist plays… aus.

602 Produkte im Account

26 Reviews

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583 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 07.04.21 15:44

Mein erstes Point and Click Adventure, welches ich richtig und durch gespielt habe. Gute Animationen, lustiger Humor und eine unterhaltsame Story, welche ich mit diesem Setting sonst nirgendswo gesehen habe.
Die Rätsel sind sehr ausgewogen und nur an einer Stelle musste ich eine richtige Lösung zur Hand nehmen, da eine falsche Übersetzung mich aus dem Ruder gebracht hat.

3805 Produkte im Account

184 Reviews

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267 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 16.02.21 12:32

Zitat:

Folge meinem Kuratoren Profil HeikarGaming für weitere ehrliche Reviews

Mal was ganz Anderes aus dem Hause Artifex Mundi. Viel zynischer und schwarzer Humor mit guten Sprechern, toller Grafik und interessanter Story. Bestimmt nicht für jeden Spieler . Mir gefällt es, dass sich Artifex Mundi auch an solche Dinge probiert.

5 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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540 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 03.01.21 20:19

Die Grafik und die Mini-Spiele sind nett. Aber wer ein anspruchsvollere Story sucht ist bei diesem Spiel eher falsch. Es wird sich einem lahmen Kommunismus vs. Kapitalismus Klischee nach dem anderen bedient. Und man hat den Eindruck die Entwickler haben hier ihr Wissen aus dem 6. Klasse Geschichts-Unterricht verarbeitet (aber erst 20 Jahre später, nachdem sie von ihrem Wissen schon wieder 90 % vergessen hatten...). Aber ich hab evtl auch zuviel erwartet und für den Preis ist es trotzdem ein netter Zeitvertreib.

538 Produkte im Account

87 Reviews

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678 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.10.20 08:38

Rätseldesign unnötig kompliziert. Manche Schritte müssen mehrfach wiederholt werden, die dem Spieler jedoch längst bekannt sind.

545 Produkte im Account

131 Reviews

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510 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 01.09.19 15:08

Das ist mal richtig Gutes Point and Click Adventure.

Zeichnung ist Richtig gut mit viel liebe zum Detail Anspielungen zu andren Spielen, Geschichten und sonstige.

Rätsel sind ausgewogen mit, bisschen um die Ecke denken versteht man, was man machen soll.

Sonst man merkt total die Inspiration zu Daedalic wie alten LucasArts Spielen und das in Positiven gerne mehr von solchen Spielen Story ist Lustig wie mit Schwarzhumor und Doppelmoral bestückt, jetzt nicht total die Überraschung aber gut genug um ein gut zu unterhalten.

226 Produkte im Account

132 Reviews

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114 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 07.07.19 18:01

Ne das ist langweilig.

Schade das man dafür die Wimmelbildspiele links liegen gelassen hat. Das Adventure ist einfach öde. Das hat Monkey Island vor Jahren besser gemacht.

328 Produkte im Account

11 Reviews

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912 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 21.05.19 21:13

Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love ist ein wunderbares Spiel. Es hat eine sehr schöne Grafik und die Charaktere sowie die Atmosphäre sind einfach nur gelungen. Die lustigen Dialoge haben mich immer wieder zum lachen gebracht.
Dieses Spiel ist mit sehr viel Liebe zum Detail entstanden und ist für mich ein Point & Click Adventure das ich sehr gerne weiterempfehle.

182 Produkte im Account

7 Reviews

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1001 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 19.05.19 01:15

ну что сказать не плохая игрушка с юмором и загадками в общем веселая

267 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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309 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 17.05.19 11:29

Sehr schönes Point & Click. Die Rätsel sind kniffelig, aber nicht zu schwer. Der Humor ist großartig!

552 Produkte im Account

10 Reviews

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5 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 28.02.22 16:05

The developers of this game have pledged to donate money gotten from game sales from the 27th of February till the end of March to the Polish red cross's #helpforUkraine fund.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/866190/view/3109176926616347650

I will continue to support these developers for their assistance to the Ukrainian people, and I call upon my fellow gamers everywhere to continue to support Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.

Slava Ukraini!

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280 Reviews

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479 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 30.01.22 19:15

pros

+ a satirical commentary about communist and capitalist ideologies, dictatorship and Cold War era politics. there are some surprising twists about main characters and story in the end.
+there are also some in game references to movies and adventure games like Harry Potter, Monkey İsland and Grim Fandango
+ great looking, colorful and cartoony hand drawn background artwork
+ well made long cartoony cut scenes
+ there are some funny moments
+ many different, funny and colorful cast of characters
+ good character animations
+ pretty good voice acting
+ nice musics
+ the mostly enjoyable puzzles. there are also inventory puzzles you can combine some items
+ when you press to space, hotspots highlighted so no need to pixel hunting.
+ easy to use point and click controls and interface
+ there are steam achievements and cards
+ there are some fun mini games
+ likeable and funny main character
+ there is auto save
+ hint system very helpful

cons

- there are some frustrating and broken QTE mini games which impossible to pass and unfortunately there is no skip button. it literally kills game's enjoyment for me
- some puzzle solutions quite obscure or nonsensical. therefore generally you don't know what supposed to do
- a few trial and error puzzles
- some fetch quests which cause backtracking

Overall this is decent and typical adventure game which reminds old classics and Daedalic games like Deponia series. i m recommended to adventure game players.

my last words and advice to developers: i have been enjoying this game until a frustrating and broken QTE mini game which is impossible to pass because of clunky mechanics. this mini game literally killed the game for me for a while and developer says he can't add a skip button for this mess. when you decide to put in your game QTE mini games you should also add skip button for gamers who can't pass this kind of mini games. despite all of this i quite enjoyed from this game and i decided to thumbs up.

480 Produkte im Account

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473 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 01.11.21 16:23

Nice small Point 'n Click Adventure Game with good puzzles and a nice inbuilit helper function.

249 Produkte im Account

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40 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.07.21 06:24

Not sure who's the target audience

With the game being on really easy side, as puzzles go, I got through about fifth of it pretty quickly, hoping entire thing become better; it didn't.

It's one of those endless, soulless, weird neo-era adventure games that Daedalic Entertainment often publishes; a twenty-something dorky male protagonist, cartoony art, super light tone, a bullet list of puzzles and mechanics to fit to the genre. And nothing else. Just a bullet list. We have that, that and that. Generic. Cookie-cutter. Boring.

It feels like pop music; everything is there, nothing is particularly good. I really don't see the point. I did watch a playthrough of what's coming next, to just make sure I didn't quit too early, but no, it doesn't seem to get any better.

Cartoony graphics appeal to children. Political parody would appeal to people with actual geopolitical/historical knowledge - which is undoubtedly older adults. Lightness of it all would appeal to teens. But in the end, it appeals to no-one.

Another point and click that's lighter than a drop of milk in a bucket of water. Who wants light? Tell me a story. Get deep. Or if you're going to make me jokes, make people wet their pants from laughter. Tune it to eleven. Get dark, if needed. Nobody cares about light.

I get the attempt, but Full Throttle was actually quite deep. Day of Tentacle was actually funny. Sam & Max had loveable characters (protagonist in this game made me sick in just first 3 minutes). Just because you're doing wacky animations and cartoony style doesn't mean your entire game has to feel confusing mess like Teletubbies speaking at UN Security Conference.

So while it looks quite good (I'm not a fan of character design, but scenes do look nice), and it definitely sounds very good, but I just don't get the point. If it's comedy, there's no way I'm spending 4-5 hours to get few weak chuckles. If it's a puzzle game, there's no good story nor motivation to solve them, and they feel too easy, anyway. If it's about the story... I can't imagine anyone being a fan of the protagonist or being super excited to see what comes next... so... I don't know what to say. Sorry you wasted your time?

I hate to hate a point'n'click adventure game, and I would really love for this genre to rise again, but soulless light pop garbage like this title... this really isn't how to make it happen.

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32 Reviews

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575 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 10.07.21 07:46

Pros:
-Fantastic theme song by Peter McConnell
-Relatively nice backdrops

Cons:
-A solid 80% of the puzzles are busy work with little thought given to them. This means extra unnecessary steps to pad game time out such as having to travel to another room to open a tunnel that could already be accessed by an open one directly next to it. Others have you engaging a character in dialogue and require nothing more than repeatedly speaking to that character and picking different dialogue choices until you've gotten the expected answers. One real peeve of mine is having to find boots for a homeless guy, and when you finally give them the boots sit next to him. He doesn't put them on his feet. They just sit there while he remarks how warm his feet are now. So lazy.

-INCREDIBLY CHEAP animation during cut scenes. The motion tweening looks like a beginner's Flash animation circa 2001. It amazes me that the animation during actual gameplay has far, FAR more frames of animation to it.

-Nearly all the jokes fall flat, and not even enough to appreciate it in an ironic 'it's so bad it's good' sense.

-Constant callbacks to Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango. The fact that one of the puzzles is simply picking anagrams of these old games in dialogue is flat out embarrassing.

-The game world is boring and weirdly inconsistent. You have characters that speak in a stereotypical Soviet Russian accent, and then you have citizens of Matryoshka speaking with Southern American accents? Why?
Evan's character is to constantly and undoubtedly praise Matryoshkan communism, yet occasionally offers out of character criticisms of it as a joke.
The story is mediocre at best and misses every opportunity for character development. There are clear setups for characters to reappear and offer an interesting twist or chance for redemption, but it never materialises into anything. They disappear and never come back. Using the extremely cliche of showing the end of the story at the very beginning was a massive red flag.

288 Produkte im Account

252 Reviews

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823 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 28.06.21 17:43

Irony Curtain is a delightfully clever adventure in the 'old style' of point and click classics. It has all the elements - meaningful story, detailed graphics/animations, professional voice acting, obtuse inventory-based puzzles, mini-games, and a lot of running back and forth across scenes. It does not have complex dialog trees, which I appreciated. Instead, it has simple dialog choices and a number of cut scenes.

You play Evan - a child of capitalism who is in love with the idea of communism. Through a wild series of events, he ends up in Matryoshka and discovers that life under 'The Great Leader' is not what he imagined. He is thrown into playing a role in a revolution of the people and the rest is just good fun. Evan is a bumbling hero and his antics within the communist bureaucracy are quite entertaining.

Old school gamers will find many references to classic adventure titles. Achievement hunters should know that about half the achievements are missable and most can not be returned to once passed. The game has a number of explicit save slots which are very helpful for having multiple places to go back to, if needed. The game also auto-saves on exit.

Within this genre, I accept that some of the weird combinations of inventory and uses for objects are going to require serious head banging or peeks at hints. Overall, the game was pretty good about guiding you through actions needed with dialog and 'help' calls to the Ministry of Information. I highly recommend this game to those who enjoy classic adventures with a a sense of humor and an underlying message.

74 Produkte im Account

24 Reviews

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850 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.06.21 11:27

It's a mean little game. More like reading a comic book than playing. In the few mini games you just have to be fast. The endless dialogues are supposed to be funny, I didn't laugh, it's all very cliche and extremely repetitive.
Sometimes (e.g. Making the baby laugh/ Telling Gutek a story) there are nay endless possibilities, so you have to be very patient and do trial and error because there's simply no logic to it. I guess the game is meant to be annoying.

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829 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.04.21 13:20

Quite nice graphics, but the humor is not my cup of tea. Neither are the sarcy comments every time you try something wrong...

66 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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589 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.03.21 21:01

Great Game! It reminded me on the good times, when I played Monkey Island... Lots of easter eggs, nice puzzles (not too hard, but interesting), charming art work and an interesting story! Well done

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512 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.01.21 19:18

The game was even better than I thought it would be. It's a must-play for any point and click fan. The colorful, rich graphics and voiceovers are top-notch. I enjoyed the puzzles and mini-games, except the card stamping. There are a few head-scratching puzzles, but otherwise, the difficulty was perfect. Be sure to examine all items thoroughly in the inventory. Some have hotspots you may miss.

The story and game flowed nicely, and there are a few twists and turns. The story is always better when the protagonist is clueless. The characters are unique and engaging, and there were some funny moments like the guard constantly following you. Even though it is a political satire, it doesn't overdo it. Not sure why everyone thinks the game is 13-14 hours long. It'll take about 8-9 hours.

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808 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.01.21 15:47

Realy fun game to play, it took me little more than 13h to complete the game ... very logical solutions , some puzzles are confusing but overall very very fung game .

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1465 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.12.20 23:05

This was a fun game. It was shortish - I managed to get through it in less than a month which is probably down to me playing it more. It had nice and satisfying point and click puzzles. Very humorous too. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it.

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389 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.12.20 20:51

Witty, nicely animated and aptly voice-acted, Irony Curtain is one of those games I'm sad to finish. The storyline is clever, and especially enjoyable if you have experienced living in a former East Block nation. The voice acting is also superb, with the adorkable Evan being one of my favorite characters. All in all, a great and easily enjoyable game with nice mechanics.

120 Produkte im Account

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500 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 11.12.20 17:48

Everything I love about point and click and done very very well. If you liked Deponia you'll like this.

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12 Reviews

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817 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 09.12.20 03:35

democratically challenged

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381 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 03.09.20 04:45

Graphics, voicing and animations are really good and some puzzles are alright... but the whole game just feels like anti-communist propaganda without any intention of being a proper game. The first part of the game is amusing, but the same jokes are being told over and over and over again, until it becomes simply annoying. When you meet a new character you can guess everything he'll say. All characters lack depth (even for a satire) and the storyline seems written by a 16-year old on the 80s. It's not a horrible game, but it's far from being a very good one.

166 Produkte im Account

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682 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.04.20 01:46

What a fun game!
Reminded me very much of the Deponia series.
Same quality of artwork, puzzle style & voiceovers.

If you have a good sense of humor, you'll like it. The people who hated this game need to chill out a bit and not take life so seriously. This is SATIRE, people. SATIRE.

Someone recently gave the game a poor review and said there were no hints. They obviously did not even play the game. In EVERY chapter, you have access to a phone line where you can call and get hints.

The puzzle solutions are logical, most with quite hilarious solutions too. I was able to figure out most of it by myself, only needed a few hints.

If you liked Deponia, you'll really enjoy Irony Curtain.

Great job Artifex. I'd love to see more.

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1555 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 02.04.20 17:13

Fun, not glitchy, logical puzzles, not too hard.

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366 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.03.20 21:15

The story is great and everything. However, this is the buggiest game that I've played so far (and I've completed more than 600 games in my lifetime). Just think how buggy the game is. The bugs are not small and block you progress the game completely. I experienced 2 different bugs till this time and they require me to restart the game from start now but I won't bother more..

608 Produkte im Account

2 Reviews

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653 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 09.02.20 06:48

I've played a fair amount of point-and-click adventure titles over the past three decades, and Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love ranks as one of my favorites. Although the game wears its influences on its sleeve -- you'll never have a problem identifying which games the developers hold near and dear to their hearts -- Irony Curtain is very much it's own thing. Evan has all the traits, quirks, and mannerisms of Guybrush Threepwood, but he's no cheap imitation; instead, he sits alongside some of the genre's greatest heroes, and there was never a moment when I found him irritating or insufferable. The puzzles will put your noodle to the test, the artwork dazzles the eyes, and the voice work never disappoints -- in my opinion, it's an almost perfect adventure game, one that should be experienced by anyone with a passing interest in P&C comedies with heart. I want a sequel!

102 Produkte im Account

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1101 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 04.02.20 02:31

Good voice acting, nice jokes, interesting twist on the puzzles( ex: application ones), discrete soundtrack.
Refreshing to see a cohesive story in a puzzler again.

239 Produkte im Account

24 Reviews

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320 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 25.01.20 20:28

Quality wise its a pretty detailed point and click game, high resolution graphics and well acted dialogues. I am not really into political backdrop based games and stuff but this is still enjoyable and particularly funny compared to average point and click titles.

84 Produkte im Account

15 Reviews

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544 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 07.01.20 19:20

A Communist Leisure Suit Larry

If you're into comical point-and-click adventures, then this is one for you! It’s like Leisure Suit Larry but then in a Communist setting during the Cold War period.

PROS
+ Fun & comical to play.
+ Music / Atmosphere.
+ Likable character
+ Voice acting.
+ Decent length and difficulty.
+ Runs smooth on low spec computer.

CONS
- Communism is a cow of many, well milked and badly fed.

OVERALL
A very good game for its price. Now I'm hoping to see a sequel or DLC or… just more!

443 Produkte im Account

8 Reviews

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1309 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.11.19 03:25

Very well done point-and-click adventure done with humor. The puzzles were fun and the in-game hint system is a clever way to point players in the right direction without having to leave the game and with just enough help to get you unstuck if you need it. Dialogue and voice acting is first-rate. Very easy to recommend without reservation to anyone who enjoys adventure games.

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1032 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.10.19 02:09

I'm very disappointed I can't unlock the final achievement, which I know is the achievement in which you unlock everything else. I've done that but I can't get the final achievement to pop up.

A good game, the puzzles are fun and the story was funny. I was not disappointed in playing. One tip though, in my second playthough (in an attempt to get the final achievement), I was able to skip a lot of sequence on the puzzles by just triggering advancement of the story.

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272 Reviews

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473 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.10.19 18:23

I must have a monkey’s paw lying around here somewhere, because I’ve been wanting Artifex Mundi to make a point and click adventure game for a couple of years and now when I finally get it…I get Irony Curtain. The first scene of the game gave me a gut feeling that this game wouldn’t be nearly clever as it thinks it is when it comes to general comedy as well it comes to satire of the Soviet Union, and my gut was right. I stuck with this game though because I thought it would least could make an interesting critique out of it and because it’s more mediocre than outright bad.

Irony Curtain is a great example of what I’m really starting to dislike in smaller studio adventure games, adventure game cargo-culting. Irony Curtain is just filled with forced references to better games, they’re not even jokes, just “REMEMBER GRIM FANDANGO?!” There is even a mandatory dialogue puzzle where you have to say anagrams of classic adventure games and it’s just absolutely eye rolling. Most of the jokes in the game just go over like a lead balloon, like a whole sequence where the protagonist, Evan, thinks he has to show the Matryoshkan Leader his ass, but ha ha it turns out he just needed an ID pass but the Matroyshkans say pass without a p for absolutely no reason. There’s not one but two jokes complaining about political correctness like a washed up Boomer comedian. It’s the embarassingly cringey kind of humor one can expect from a bad Daedalic game. (Though it never becomes as mean-spirited as Deponia)

Gameplaywise it’s just meh. The game gives you a hotspot button and an in-universe hintline you can call, which is nice, but the problem is the latter is used as a crutch when it comes to the game’s multiple instance of puzzles where the game gives you really no hints on what you’re supposed to even start to do. It’s just not good adventure game design, even old game Day of the Tentacle gave you some good hints from just talking to people leaving you just enough to infer what you need to do without spelling it out. The Red Square sections is just also horribly padded out with a really boring fetchquest train that must have been completely excruciating before they patched in running apparently.

One of the strong suits about the game is that art design and atmosphere is really nice. The voice-acting is actually solid too. So really the game does really well on the artistic polish side, it’s the gameplay and especially the writing is where it really suffers.

Now the Soviet Union is rife for biting satire, after all it was a horrific totalitarian state that did absolutely absurdly callous, short-sighted, and incompetent things, just look up how the Soviets nearly drove whales to extinction for no reason or how they turned the Aral Sea into a real life Mad Max wasteland for just two of many examples I can think off the top of my head. You would think Artifex Mundi would have some good incisive satire, what them being Polish and all, but really it’s not much better than any old stuff here in the States; long lines, straight to gulag, etc. There are some good satire here and there, but as I said the game thinks it’s smarter about than it actually is. The truly ironic thing is that while it criticizes the Soviet Union’s authoritarianism and imperialism through the allegory of Matroyoshka Artifex Mundi glorifies America and capitalism in the same breath, never once ever lampooning the other side of the Cold War that definitely deserves it too. Evan opines how America totally doesn’t imprison its citizens without due process or spy on them and the Cold War era CIA as seen as heroic liberators, etc. It’s just a laughably naïve and ignorant view of America and American capitalism during the Cold War and especially now in our present day capitalist hellworld. Lest anyone forget about things such as McCarthyism and Jim Crow during the time the game is supposed to take place or how the CIA destabilized democracies to instate brutal dictators that the game is trying to criticize. When it comes to the present we’ve been going nearly two decades on a forever war, people are dying because they can’t afford medicine, and now major American corporations like Apple and Activision Blizzard are tripping on their asses to cater to China, a brutal totalitarian regime, by stifling any defense of the people under Chinese rule protesting to insure their basic rights just to make a buck just for starters. Funnily enough Artifex Mundi are what they are mocking with Evan, just naively oblivious to the States and American capitalism instead of the USSR and Soviet communism. If you’re going to do a political satire you need to do some research first. And I’m not really being too hard on this game, it wants to be treated seriously to some degree, it’s not like C&C Red Alert where Tim Curry corpses over going to outer space because it’s the last place untainted by capitalism.

Now when it comes to the characters, they really isn’t much to say, most of the cast are just all shallow stereotypes, which really hurts the game when it tries to shoot for pathos in the end. They play the hopelessly naïve card on Evan way too much for him to be in any way endearing, it’s clear they wanted to make him like Guybursh or George Stobbart but it just doesn’t work.

Ultimately Irony Curtain is a disappointing game, too caught up in referencing better games and making uninformed satire to really have a strong identity of its own. I won’t completely rule out Artifex Mundi yet, but they’re really going to have kick their writing and puzzle design up a notch for me to consider their next game. You can do a lot worse when it comes to adventure games but you can do a lot better, so that’s why I wouldn’t recommend Irony Curtain. Honestly play Paradigm instead, it also has a Soviet Era aesthetic but its actually funny.

86 Produkte im Account

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1670 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 11.09.19 10:19

If you're into point-and-click adventures, then this is the 2019 game for you.

Made in the same graphical style as Daedalic's Deponia series, this game is full of interesting puzzles, historic political social commentary, and laced with good-natured, tongue-in-check humour.

But don't take my opinion as anything special: buy the game and find out for yourself!

579 Produkte im Account

156 Reviews

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736 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.09.19 04:45

Excellent point & click game. The entire game feels very polished and remained thoroughly entertaining throughout the entire story. All aspects of the game were very well done: graphics, sound, voice acting, plot, pacing, controls, etc. I honestly can't think of anything bad to say about it.

8237 Produkte im Account

143 Reviews

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886 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 31.08.19 00:10

Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love

Pros:

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????Superb Voice Acting
????Bold and Colourful Hand Drawn Graphics
????Puzzles Had Just the Right Amount of Difficulty
????Satire was amusing and fun to uncover
????Meaningful Achievements
????Trading Cards

Cons:

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???? Only Six Save Slots

Short Analysis

Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love is developed and published by Artifex Mundi, usually attributed to making Hidden Object Games. Recently they broke the mould a little when releasing My Brother Rabbit and have now released their first adventure in the point and click world.

The game oozes quality with its superb voice acting and colourful hand drawn artwork .

I was surprised by how good the puzzles were for a first attempt. They were not too difficult to be frustrating but just difficult enough to feel rewarding. Items in your inventory can be combined and pressing space on the keyboard reveals items of interest.

There is a very clever hint system in each scene represented by a telephone helpline or a character. If you get stuck trying to solve a problem, you can ring up the helpline and ask for a hint. They won’t always give you a direct answer, but they will point you in the right direction.

The story was amusing, full of anecdotes and jokes aimed towards communism. The environments are full of witty and politically incorrect signs and slogans for you to find. For example, clicking on the postbox in Matryoshka tells you that “The Matryoshkan postal service will make sure your letters don’t contain any errors. Spelling errors of course.”

Everywhere you’ll find these quips and it does feel a little like Communism bashing. Lots of jokes about permits, long queues and astonishing inflation rates etc. but I suppose that is what satire is all about.

The story line is okay. I wouldn’t say it was mind-blowing, but it was interesting, if not hard to follow in places, and there were a couple of twists and turns along the way. It was just the right length at 14 hours.

A special mention must go out to the voice acting. It was superb. Every single character I encountered was professionally acted, full of character, wit and charm. The Russian sounding voices sounded authentic and were easily understandable.

The graphics were bold and colourful, reminiscent of Daedalic and Lucas Art titles. The characters movement was excellent, and they were all drawn and acted like a stereotypical Communist person would. The world of Matryoshka was a well thought out and enjoyable experience to visit.

I would have liked to have seen more save slots as currently there are only six which might prove difficult if you want to go back afterwards and mop up any achievements. There is an autosave feature that doesn’t use any slots and will allow you to continue your game from where you left off.

Overall, I would highly recommend Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love. It appears that Artifex Mundi have taken their reputation for high quality games and applied it to the point and click genre. I will be keen to see where they go next.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1833086275

Further analysis

Story

Evan Kovolsky (or Ivan Kovolsky as he is often jokingly referred to in the story) dreams of becoming a fully-fledged member of the Communist party and visiting the land of Matryoshka. A place he has read so much about in books and magazine articles. Nobody has been granted a visa there for years but one day Evan receives an invite to visit the leader of Matryoshka and is unwittingly thrown into a high stakes game of political intrigue.

The story is nothing special but don’t let that put you off. Most of the enjoyment is achieved through character’s witty exchanges and the amusing observations pertaining to a Communist lifestyle. The remarks and observations are certainly very politically incorrect and stereotypical but that is half the fun of the game. Reading signs, talking to characters all deepen the layers of what life is like for the inhabitants of Matryoshka. Propaganda is rife and Evan goes through a journey of discovery and enlightenment.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1836837437

Gameplay:

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Manipulate your inventory!

What I did enjoy about Irony Curtain was the way in which you can manipulate your inventory in certain ways to solve different puzzles. Some games are very rigid where one item does a certain task and items can’t be combined. In this game certain items in your inventory can be used more than once to solve different puzzles. For example, a piece of wire can be bent in different ways and items can be combined multiple times to generate new items. It was a refreshing change and meant you were always examining inventory items for extra clues or ways of manipulating them.

The vast lands of Matryoshka

Matryoshka is a huge place and the environments match. The game area is quite large for a point and click game and the screen scrolls rather than having separate screens which you can enter and exit. Thankfully Evan can run fast with a double click of the mouse, but you can’t fast exit screens even if there is an obvious exit.

There are four chapters to the game, and they appeared to increase in difficulty. The first two chapters were relatively straight forward but I had to really think in the last two chapters. I would estimate there are roughly 10-15 different scenes for you to navigate so there is plenty of variety on offer.

A Hint is only a phone call away

Another interesting concept I don’t recall experiencing in other games is the way you can telephone a help line to ask for hints on puzzles you are struggling with. The operator will not divulge the complete solution but instead will point you in the right direction by maybe suggesting what items you will need or who to speak to.

A Puzzling Affair

The puzzles in Irony Curtain are overall logical and well thought out. Most of the solutions would be had in real life but because this is a wacky game there are a few liberties taken with some puzzle solutions but nothing too far-fetched.

There were quite a few puzzles where you had to fetch items off characters who then asked for other items you had to fetch. This is not unusual in this genre, however. I think the puzzles were perfectly balanced. I struggled on quite a lot of the game, but I worked it out eventually and that felt very rewarding.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1847598286

Sound:

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Every single character I met sounded professional and authentic for their character. They were always stereotypical, but then again this is a satire! I was very impressed with the voice acting throughout and they have obviously poured a lot of time into this area.

There was always some sort of Russian themed music playing in the background and special effect noises also sounded excellent.

Graphics:

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Bold and colourful graphics. All the characters looked great and the environments were detailed. The characters were very well drawn and had bags of personality.

Conclusion

Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love is a very impressive first attempt by Artifex Mundi in the genre of point and click adventure games. It contains a few elements I haven’t seen in other games namely the hint system and the clever use of inventory.

You’ll have a lot of fun meeting the characters and laughing at the communist satire.

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Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love

Sammlung

Über das Spiel

Systemanforderungen

Steam Nutzer-Reviews

Der Vorhang fällt

Not sure who's the target audience

A Communist Leisure Suit Larry

Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love

Pros:

Cons:

Short Analysis

Further analysis

Story

Gameplay:

Manipulate your inventory!

The vast lands of Matryoshka

A Hint is only a phone call away

A Puzzling Affair

Sound:

Graphics:

Conclusion