Death of the Reprobate: what’s wrong with the picture? Review

Malcolm Shit, and. O. The Lord of the North, was very tired of hanging and quartering his subjects, so he was very happy when the messenger brought the good news – soon his father, John the (no longer) Immortal, would finally go to the next world. You can unwind and finally get rid of this hateful prefix “and.” O.” True, in order to inherit the throne, you need to prove your virtue and perform seven good deeds, but what is the problem, exactly? Who needs to be stabbed, who needs to be bribed, what needs to be stolen, and the job is done. Will it really not work?

No, I didn’t make up Malcolm Shit like you might think.

Joe Richardson completed his triptych (yes, the word “trilogy” seems completely inappropriate here) – and it took him (how ironic!) seven years.

The first part, Four Last Things, released in 2017, was discouraging with its Pythonesque violence, but at the same time with its subtle and even somewhat gentle humor: the very idea of ​​​​collecting Renaissance paintings with their characters, absurdly animating them and playing out a point-and-click comedy caused a storm of delight.

We wrote about the second part, The Procession to Calvary, sampled in 2020 – the humor became harsher, and the works of art covered a larger time period. The idea was no longer fresh, but another three hours of homerically funny comedy with jokes in the style of “The Suffering Middle Ages” – who would refuse?!

Of course, the third entry of a lone developer into the same river – still with Macromedia Flash MX at the ready and an armful of pictures that have not yet been discussed – was readable. Well, Death of the Reprobate, which should be the last of its kind, how can you surprise us?..

Announce the entire list, please!

The answer to the rhetorical question should have been this long, wordy review. But no, we’ll answer right now. Of course, nothing. This is another three hours of exactly the same thing – it’s just that now from the times of Bosch and Bruegel we are jumping into romanticism (up to the 19th century, from where, for example, Ophelia sailed into the game). And the humor has become even harsher and more furious – the intellectual habits of Four Last Things have been left in other, more herbivorous times.

However, this does not mean that Death of the Reprobate is in any way worse than its predecessors. Unless you are allergic to the words fuck, shit, jokes about the bottom of the body and you don’t really like feeding babies cow shit. Hmm, I don’t really like it either, but-o-o-o-o-o… yes, it’s still incredibly perky and funny.

As before, the hero can, um, sing along with the musicians

The gameplay itself has not changed one iota – this is a point-and-click quest, where you move from one artistic masterpiece of the past to another, talk to characters from other paintings randomly included in them, sometimes kick them, slap them, collect objects, apply them in some places. In fact, all this is completely unimportant – you don’t even need to think about riddles, there is a character in the game who simply tells you what needs to be done next to accomplish this or that good deed. And all active zones are highlighted – zero pixel hunting, we live in wonderful times!

The whole point of Death of the Reprobate (as well as the other two components of the triptych) is not in the gameplay as such, but in reading absurd dialogues and the dissonance between the sublime (Great Art) and the base (in principle, the characters of the same Bruegel behaved in life approximately same, zero doubts). I’ll repeat what I said four years ago: if you like Monty Python and jokes from the Suffering Middle Ages, then Death of the Reprobate will appeal; Joe Richardson didn’t even lose his touch; there were enough hilarious gags for the third game in the same format.

At the same time, I must say that I really wanted to solve some problems on my own – some of them are really extremely simple, but some are very interesting and paradoxically constructed. And no, I’ll say right away that you won’t get an achievement for solving a gambling puzzle—don’t be fooled.

Sometimes it seems that it is so – He is on the verge

The game looks and sounds great, of course. How could it be otherwise – the world’s masterpieces are responsible for the visual part, and Telemann, Palestrina and other geniuses are involved as the sound track, and each screen has its own music, as well as its own performers – there is no break in reality, all the music here is strictly diegetic. Total immersion. The characters, however, are silent – Joe Richardson never had money for voice acting, and he still doesn’t have it now. I think we are all to blame for this – if Four Last Things and The Procession to Calvary had sold better, then… no, I still don’t think they would have spoken. But, by the way, mouths open. In general, the animations are extremely funny. And in general, everything seems to be even a little neater than before – although maybe my memory is just failing me.

Let me add that this year turned out to be very fruitful for good comedy games. Usually there is too much of one (the genre is not the most popular in video games), but here are Thank Goodness You’re Here!, and (to some extent) Harold Halibut, and here is Death of the Reprobate.

***

Despite the fact that, having sorted through Renaissance and proto-Renaissance paintings, the creator decided to draw from slightly more recent art, Death of the Reprobate received its name from one of the wildest paintings of its (and not only its) time, by either Bosch, or his nameless follower. As for the game, we at least know exactly whose author it was, and this is already a guaranteed sign of quality. I’ll just testify: Joe Richardson hasn’t written himself out, the entire triptych is incredibly good.

Advantages:

• This is most likely the funniest game of the year;
• You can get acquainted with great art.

Disadvantages:

• There is no translation (and it is unlikely that there will ever be one – except perhaps a fan translation);
• The gameplay is more than primitive.

Graphic arts

As usual, a perfect combination of oil on board or canvas and Macromedia Flash with simple but hilarious animations.

Sound

A classic in every sense of the word – you don’t have to pay, and it sounds cool. By the way, everything was played on original instruments of the era – as I say, maximum immersion!

Single player game

We help Malcolm Shit solve some legacy issues – in the form of a point-and-click quest.

Collective game

Not foreseen.

Approximate travel time

3 hours.

General impression

The final stroke of a masterpiece triptych, as beautiful as Four Last Things and The Procession to Calvary. Not better than them, but, most importantly, not worse. That’s why this is a triptych, not a trilogy – no sequels or threequels, everything is whole and unified. Like father, son and… well, you know.

Rating: 8.5 / 10

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