The year is 1978. A child has found a game they've never heard of before. It fits into the Video Computer System's cartridge slot just fine, though, and the paper found attached to the game spins an interesting tale of demons and castles. The child is not ready for what they are about to face, for in this game, losing a life means losing a bit of mind. Once that mind is week enough, it will become a perfect conduit for... things on the other side of the screen. And they been waiting. Misadventure is an action-adventure horror game by Mike Houser, done in the retro style of a pseudo-4-bit Atari game gone horribly wrong. Move the little blip with [WASD] or [arrow] keys. You pick up object automatically by walking into them, though you can drop them with [X] or the [spacebar]. Though the manual at the start of the game will give you some general guidance, for the most part, though, you will be on your own.
Whether it's the Godzilla NES Creepypasta, Ben Drowned, or even The Story of the Blanks, it's interesting to see how authors have, as of late, used the retro-gaming medium to create a unique brand of fourth-wall breaking horror. One supposes the premise works so well since it combines the kind of skewed nostalgia and innocence that makes old toys and amusement parks so creepy, with the the technical confrontation of a glitched screen: those things always end up looking like a portal into madness, so it's a natural fit that they should ending up being one.
But where Misadventure excels in its creepy cosmic horror atmosphere and slow-building sense of dread, it could afford to be a bit more explicit in its gameplay mechanics. They can be sussed out well enough after a couple of deaths, but by that point, some players might be too freaked out to want to try again (or, at least, frustrated). That being said, Misadventure uses its pixelated blotches of red to create a world that's, in many ways, more viscerally frightening than many horror games with top of the line graphics. Those in the mood for a scare should turn out the lights, turn up the sound, and steel themselves into pressing start.
Thanks to Dan for sending this one in!
Walkthrough Guide
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Misadventure Walkthrough:
Notes:
Part of the point of Misadventure is figuring it out for yourself. Even the best of us need a nudge in the right direction sometimes, though. I've tried to provide hints when possible and hiding spoiler information. Still, I recommend that you only use the walkthrough when you're really, really stuck.
I ended up describing a lot of things by color, because there isn't much else that differentiates the rooms and monsters. I tried to use other descriptors too, but this walkthrough might just not be very accessible for people who have difficulty distinguishing colors, and I'm sorry for that.
Tips:
Signs provide helpful tips sometimes. It's a good idea to check them whenever you can.
This game involves a lot of trial and error, and you're probably not going to make it all the way through on your first try. If you're stuck and you've already lost a few of your lives, try experimenting. Most of the difficulty in this game is figuring out the rules, so spending a few lives figuring out what to do is generally worth it.
Sometimes something that looks impossible really isn't. If the game's asking you to do it (and there's nothing else you can do), it can be done. Look to how you can do it, rather than whether you can do it.
Walkthrough, with hints:
You'll start the game in an area with a brown house to the north, a yellow gate to the south, and a black key on the west side.
Pick up the black key (by walking up to it) and use it on the door of the brown house. Go in.
Inside, there's a yellow key.
Take the yellow key and go south to the previous area. Use the yellow key on the yellow gate. Go through.
This next room has a bloody square on the floor and, in addition to the exit you just came from, exits to the west and east.
Take the west exit. You'll arrive in a room with three yellow beams, and one black skull. Past the beams is another exit to the west.
Hint:
Can anything in this room be picked up?
And used on something else in this room?
Solution:
Directly touching a beam will kill you, but fortunately, using a skull on a beam will make it disappear.
Take the skull and use it on the first beam.
Go back to the room with the bloody square, and take the east exit. This next room has a floor full of glowing triangles and a currently-inaccessible skull.
Hint:
If you can't get what you're after, try waiting...
...but once you get it, you'll need to be quick.
Solution:
Every so often, the room will scroll, and you'll find yourself in a different room. When the room shakes, it's about to scroll. The triangles at the bottom of the screen are spikes. If the room scrolls when there's no wall separating you and the spikes, you'll die.
Before the room scrolls for the first time, position yourself near the skull. After the room scrolls, take the skull and move to the west as quickly as possible.
You should now be back in the room with the bloody square, carrying a skull.
Return to the room with the beams and use it.
Once empty handed, go back to the room with the triangles at the bottom, then east again. You'll be in a room with another skull and a green demon to the north of the walls.
Hint:
Once again, speed counts.
Solution:
After a little while, a gate will begin to form over the exit (on the north side), eventually blocking it. Once you're trapped, the green demon will come through the wall and kill you.
Run for the skull, grab it, and run back out. The gate will probably start to form before you're out, but hug the south wall on that last stretch, and you can make it.
Again, you should be back in the room with the bloody square, carrying a skull.
Again, return to the room with the beams and use it.
You should now be able to take the west exit from the room with the beams.
You'll arrive in a gray, occassionally static-filled room, with an exit to the north (in addition to the east exit you came from) and a figure standing in the middle.
The figure is a demon, and touching it will kill you. It uses the static to change positions, but if you hug the north wall as soon as it's convenient, you should be safe. Take the north exit.
Next, you'll arrive in a room with a purple floating head that rapidly switches between the east and west halls, then disappears. Beyond the halls is another exit to the north.
Hint:
The east and west halls are not equally safe.
But which hall is safe is randomly generated...
...and if you pay attention to the purple demon, you'll get a clue.
Solution:
Note the last hall the purple demon was visible in. Going down that hall will set off a trap, and the demon will kill you.
Go down the other hall, and through the north exit. If you missed the demon's final position, you can go back through the south exit and re-enter the room-- but make sure you go back north very quickly, because the other demon is still around and can kill you very quickly.
This next room has two large red squares, three bloody, twitching small squares, a key in the northeast corner, and an exit to the east.
Hint:
Can you interact with the large red squares?
Have you gotten everything you need?
You'll need to be quick again.
Solution:
Red squares are buttons, and stepping on one will turn it green, and change the configuration of the walls in the room. The bloody squares will, over time, turn green and chase after you. Touching them is fatal.
Quickly press the first button. Then, avoiding the small, bloody squares, run to the key and grab it. Press the second button, and leave the room. If you missed the key your first time around, go back through, leave through the south exit, and go through again, picking up the key this time.
You're now in a red room with another door to a house. Apart from the exit you just came from (to the west), there are exits to the south and east. It's also a checkpoint. When you die, you'll now respawn here, instead of at the beginning of the game.
Use the red key-- you're going to need your hands empty pretty soon. If you don't have the red key, go back and get it (see step 6.)
Go east. You'll arrive in another room with a skull and a green demon to the north of the walls. This time, there's an exit east and a beam blocking the center of the room.
This is pretty much the same as last time, except for the addition of the beam. Grab the skull, use it on the beam, and take the east exit. Again, the gate begins to form from the north wall, so hug the south wall on your way out.
The next room contains three twitching, bloody squares, and an exit to the east currently blocked off by a grey area.
There's nothing you can do here for now, but remember this room for later.
Return to the red area and go north through the door.
Get the skull.
Return to the red area and go south. You'll come out in another scrolling room full of spikes. There's an exit to the south in the southeast corner and a strange colorful square square near the west side of the room.
Hint:
What's different than last time? How might you go about protecting yourself?
Is there a shortcut you can take across the room?
How might you reach the colorful square?
Solution:
This room is similar to the last scrolling spike room, but with one notable difference: having a wall between you and the spikes will NOT protect you. The colorful square can't be reached normally, but you can touch it when the room scrolls if you stand directly north of it. Touching the colorful square will teleport you to the east side of the room, north of the exit.
If you're not directly north or south of a spike, you won't die when the room scrolls. Make your way to the west side of the room, positioning yourself in the gaps between the spikes when the room scrolls. You should still be holding the skull from the red house (if not, go back and get it), so don't bother with the skull next to the teleport square. Position yourself north of the teleport square, and wait for the room to scroll. You'll be close to the south exit. Go ahead and take it.
You'll come out in a room with three beams, an exit to the west (blocked by the beams), and an exit to the east.
Use the skull you're carrying on the first beam.
Return to the scrolling room with the spikes.
You'll want to bring the other skull over, same way as last time. First, make your way back to the north exit. It's pretty straightforward-- stand in the gaps between spikes when the room is about to scroll, then move to the next gap after. You won't be able to make it all the way south on the first switchback, so hide in the alcove to the west. As before, you'll need to position yourself north of the teleport square, but grab the skull first. After, go back to the room with the beams, and use the skull.
From the room with the beams, go east. You'll arrive in a room with four flickering purple demons surrounding a skull.
Hint:
You're going to need that skull.
You're going to need to get past the demons.
Observe the demons. When do you think it might be safe to go?
Solution:
When a demon is flickering and has its eye closed, you can run through it. When a demon isn't flickering and has its eye open, touching it will kill you. Running through a demon turns it black. It'll slowly approach you, and if you touch it, you'll die.
The best way to do this is to run through the south demon while it's flickering, grab the skull, and run out through the west demon. Go back to the room with the beams, and use the skull. You should now be able to cross.
Go west from the room (formerly) with the beams. You'll come out in a room with a large green demon with a purple key in its belly. Sometimes the demon flickers, sometimes it does not.
Hint:
When does the demon flicker? When does it stop flickering?
When is the demon dangerous?
Solution:
The demon flickers when you're moving, and stops flickering when you're still. Touching it while it's not flickering will kill you.
Run through the room, grabbing the key and taking the north exit, without stopping at all.
You'll find yourself in a room with a purple house, which is also a checkpoint.
Use the purple key. Go inside, and grab the hammer. Note that if you read the message while holding the hammer, sometimes you'll get a bug where your hammer gets stuck and can't be recovered. This only happened to me once, and I tried it again and didn't get that bug, but you might want to read the message before taking the hammer, if you want to read it at all.
Now it's time to use the hammer.
Hint:
Do you remember anywhere a hammer could be useful?
Try backtracking to the red house.
Solution:
The hammer can be used two rooms west of the red house, on the gray area blocking the east exit.
From where you found the hammer, go south to the outside of the house, south to the corridor with the large green demon, go east to the room that originally had the three beams, go north to the scrolling room with the spikes, go north to the red house, go east to the room with the green demon north of the walls, and finally go east again to the room with the gray area blocking the east exit. Avoiding the bloody squares, move the hammer into the gray area to chip away at it. Then, take the east exit.
You'll arrive in a room with 10 red buttons, 5 on the north side of the room, and 5 on the south. There is also a black, spidery demon in the room that moves between the dark blocks.
The spidery demon can only move north/south or east/west, though sometimes it moves two spaces. It can't move diagonally. It also seems to predict your current position by where you were the last time it came out of the walls.
Avoid the spidery demon and press all of the buttons. Then, go east.
The next room is a corridor full of red, quivering demons. There are exits to the north and east, but the exit to the east is blocked by a beam.
The demons won't move to attack you, but touching them is fatal. Make your way slowly and carefully to the north exit.
You'll now be in a room with four purple, flickering demons and four red buttons. There's an exit to the north, and a blocked exit to the east.
To the north is a black house, also another checkpoint.
It's possible to skip a small part of the game from here.
Hint:
Look very closely at the house.
Solution:
There's an odd pixel near the northwest corner of the house. It's actually a skull. Get close enough, and you'll pick it up.
If you'd rather not skip anything, keep reading.
Return south to the room with the purple demons and red buttons.
You need to press all the buttons to open the east exit, and to do that, you need to run through the demons. Start with the southeast-most demon, and go clockwise. Remember, you can only pass through a demon while it's flickering, and it will start to slowly follow you after. When you've pressed all the buttons, take the east exit.
You'll arrive in another room with a green demon outside the north wall, exits to the east and south, and a key.
Quickly grab the key and go back west.
Return to the locked black house.
Unlock it and go inside. Examine the message, then go back outside and examine the house. The odd pixel is actually a skull. Take it.
Return to the corridor of red, quivering demons.
Use the skull on the beam and go east.
You'll arrive in a room with two static blocks, one moving.
You can only move when you're standing on a block. When you're standing on the moving block, if you fall off the edge, you're stuck in place until the block comes around again. Ride the moving block, keeping pace with it, and when it reaches the top of the game window, go north.
Next, you'll be in a room with a green demon outside the north wall, and exits to the east and west. Depending on whether you skipped part of a previous step, there may be a key, and you may have been here before.
Quickly go east.
This next room is mazelike, with several red buttons, two bloody, twitching squares, and a greenish key.
First, press the only button you can reach. Then, press the button in the center of the screen. Grab the key, and take the north exit. If you mess up and didn't take the key, you can get back to the start of the room by leaving and re-entering, pressing the westmost button you can reach, then taking the west exit and re-entering the room again.
You'll arrive in a green room with a door.
Use the green key on the door and go north.
This room has a gap in the middle, covered by shifting static squares. On the north side, there's a sword and a very large green demon. Time for a boss fight!
The boss fires a green sphere at you (which moves toward your current position, not where you were when it fired the thing) but it's very slow-moving. You need to use the static squares to cross the gap. I recommend crossing at the far west when the sword is on the west side, and the far east when the sword is on the east side, as they seem to be the quickest routes. When you get across, grab the sword and use it on the boss. You'll have to do it three times before the fight is over, and the sword will switch sides every turn. Once you're done, the sword is yours.
Return to the very first room in the game.
If you've become disoriented, that's: south to the green room, south to the red room with the buttons, west to the room with the green demon north of the walls, west to the room with the purple flickering demons, south to the room with the red quivering demons, west to the room with the spiderlike demon and the rows of buttons, west to the room where you used the hammer (three bloody squares are there), west to another room with the green demon north of the walls (though if you killed it before, it won't show up again), west to the outside of the red house, west to the room with red buttons and bloody squares, south to the room with the purple floating head demon, south to the static room, east to the room that formerly had three beams, east to the room with one unmoving bloody square (you'll automatically kill a demon here), north to the outside of the first house, and north to the inside of the first house. Or, more simply: south, south, west, west, south, west, west, west, west, west, south, south, east, east, north, north.
Every demon in the game can now be killed, although, apart from the one that dies in the cutscene, you don't need to kill any.
Congratulations! You've won.
Posted by: Alice | May 23, 2013 12:42 AM