Customer Reviews

Theresia

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a little late to the table on this one, as Theresia was released last October and I only just got it for Christmas. I'd originally heard about this game back in June, when I was bored and Googling "Shadowgate" - an old favorite NES game of mine. When I read that Aksys was localizing a game that was "a horror-adventure game like Shadowgate," my inner fangirl (and a lot of my outer fangirl) began squeeing with delight.

Now that I own the thing and have beaten both halves in 2.5 days of frantic gameplay, I have to answer the question: Is Theresia a worthy successor to the Kemco-Seika point-and-click trilogy of yore? That would be an emphatic yes. A red-blooded (and occasionally purple-skinned) point-and-clicker with a seriously creepy and nightmarish atmosphere, Theresia delivers in spades.

There are two halves to the story; Dear Emile and Dear Martel, the latter of which can only be accessed after completing Dear Emile. Each story revolves around a protagonist who awakens with no memory of who they are, where they are or how they got there (echoes of the first Deja Vu game). You're surrounded by booby traps that will drain your health - yes, there is a health bar AND ways to replenish it. This allows for a little more exploration of your surroundings than in Shadowgate, where nearly everything would kill you instantly.

And you're going to need to explore. A LOT. Nearly the whole game is spent wandering around hallways in a first-person 3D perspective. The graphics here are not really DS-worthy. In fact, they look kind of Super Nintendo-y, very pixelated and grainy. Normally, mazes of this kind would make me weep with despair (see also: the maze in Uninvited), but Theresia loves you so much it provides you with two things that will make you want to kiss it: a map of the entire area, AND a way to look at said map to see every room you've explored and what you did in that room. In addition to these fantastic tools, you also have at your disposal an item (it's different for each character) that, when used on yourself, provides you with a hint as to what you should do next. I got quite a ways through Dear Emile on my own with these advantages, and I am no puzzle-solver.

The gameplay mechanics are incredibly user-friendly, with the game itself leading you gently and telling you how to use objects, what everything does and sometimes even where to go. It's very easy for someone to pick up and play without looking at the instruction booklet.

The puzzles can be savagely difficult if you don't have much of an analytical mind, and there is a severe lack of completed walkthroughs on the internet to help you through. Fortunately, it's really hard to die, and you can explore your surroundings in-depth, despite the fact that nearly everything is booby-trapped. Thankfully, there is an examine feature - the Eye - that will almost always indicate where the traps are, by indicating hidden needles or pieces of metal, or just giving you a George Lucas bad-feeling-about-this.

Your main goal in each story is to recover your memory and figure out why you are where you are, and what's with the purple corpses everywhere? You do this bit by bit as you explore, collecting journal entries and triggering memories as you struggle to make it out. I can't emphasize enough how creepy this game is - it's officially the first game I've played to give me a genuine wiggins. It's not a shock-jump kind of game such as, say, Resident Evil, where you never know what zombified creature is going to leap on you next. It's originally Japanese, and as in their horror movies, more emphasis is placed on creating a growing feeling of dread than BOO! scares, although there are one or two of those.

The graphics in the rooms are much more lovingly detailed than the wandering-in-the-hallways sections, looking for all the world like oil paintings. The corpses you run into all over the place are invariably disgusting and gross, which is fantastic, especially on a small-screen system. The memory flashbacks are beautiful, using specific colors - mostly red - over gray and sepia tones to effect a sense of nostalgia. If you've seen the movie "Suspiria" by Dario Argento, the importance of color in this game is a bit like that. You're surrounded by a lot of grays and browns, so when red and purple come up, you know it's important.

So what's the real selling point of Theresia? The intertwined stories. I really, really, really can't give even the slightest hint away as to the plot because it is so worth discovering for yourself. I will say that both Dear Emile and Dear Martel are incredibly twisted: Dear Emile because of psychological reasons, and Dear Martel for biological ones. I'd say Dear Emile's was the more warped of the two and Dear Martel had more of a sense of regret to it. The endings are still making me go "wait...what the HELL was that?"

Dear Emile's story is almost an aftereffect of what goes on in Dear Martel, and it's very exciting to play for the first time just to see how they intertwine. Replayability may suffer a bit just because you know what happens and why, but it's like re-reading a good book to catch things you may have missed the first time around in order to gain a deeper understanding.

Bottom line, this is a wonderful horror-adventure game for people who enjoy subtle terror, point-and-click adventures, and yes...DEFINITELY fans of Shadowgate.

This is not just a game; it is a story. A work of art.

This game is for all the souls out there who long to interactively satisfy a DARK aesthetic. The artwork is beautiful, and the music is haunting. The atmosphere of Theresia overall is one of dim nostalgia and painful, inexplicable longing. By the time you finish the game, the character has infected you with a strangely blissful resignation. Even though the goal of the game is to escape the shelter, the manipulative power of its narration is so subtle, so insidious, that by the time you leave... you realize that you will never truly feel free. I still hear the bittersweet tune of the music box in the back of my mind.

Beauty, darkness, psychological twists, and a meaningful story. If you're part of the cult obsession with Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GC), then you'll love Theresia.

"What is Theresia?" This is what the game asks you outright, and what it wants you to understand. At first, this seems a purely practical puzzle. But as the game goes on, and you wind deeper and deeper into the character's mind, the question starts to become more abstract. Less than halfway through the game, you know WHAT Theresia is... and yet you find yourself unable to stop contemplating it; unable to truly satisfy the underlying question.

The thing that I love about Japanese games--and storytelling in general--is that when done right, it can make you feel emotions that you did not even know you had. Theresia may not evoke familiar feelings, but it WILL make you FEEL. It will make you feel things you have no words for. Like seeing a color outside the visible spectrum.

If you want to be gently lulled into a stranger's insanity--if that is your form of escapism--then buy Theresia. It will leave you with the ghost of hidden meaning, rather than an unsatisfying: Congratulations, you beat the game.

Theresia is a strange game, or life-simulation, as I would refer it to be. The most compelling (or disturbing) is you start out the first Chapter (or Book) as 10 year old Emilie who, for reasons unknown, wakes up in a dark, smelly, room in a darker blood stained facility, ladened with horrific booby traps (sharp needles & skin shearing knives). But, that's not most horrific part: Emilie discovers through strange & gruesome flash backs that she has a unsettling allure towards the blood all around her. She "wants" it.

And that is just the first Chapter. I've just only begun the Second. Do not buy this game if what you just read has disturbed you. While survival horror is not for everyone it is engaging, as I didn't think I would even keep it, but I did.
Graphics:
This is a pretty bad area, & I'm NOT the one who judges on this. Most 3rd thru 5th Gen. gamers see graphics as "everything". While the 2D interface is tight, the 3D portion is ugly, and amateurish. It looks like 1st Gen 3D games like Wolfenstien and Doom. On the DS this is bad news, as current Gen. gamers will be put off by this. The 2D artwork is excellent, though.
Mechanics:
The worst part of the game is the interface. It's just NOT intuitive. The first Chapter is "Training" that explains everything. With a touch screen/buttons/arrow keys you would expect more. For ex. Navigation in the 2D areas uses touch screen to move/examine, arrows/buttons to select; but the 3D areas only use the arrow keys/touch to move ONLY. You can't use items when moving in 3D (only in 2D) & you can ONLY interact with highlighted areas.
Game play:
The best part that will, hopefully, allow you to overlook the mechanics is the story and game atmosphere. It's clear to me the developers concentrated more on plot/character then anything else. While that is fine by me (40 yr. who played the 1st video/PC games), it may not sit well todays fast paced modern gamers. The story so far is rather engaging, this game plays a bit like Dementium: The Ward, but Dementium had better 3D game play.

Sorry I can't add more as I just started, but I wanted to at least let you know what to expect. If Theresia is a [DS Download Station] game, then get it before you buy it. I gave it 3 stars because of the interface & graphics. As for the interface is concerned the bad part is when leaving areas it presents you with a text menu that can only be utilized by touch. Pressing the B or A button won't work, you have explicitly use the touch screen to select "Back" or "Quit" - which is just frustrating because it's an extra step that is not needed. The on screen prompts are all like that. You can't advance any prompt (NOT dialog, that you can advance with the Buttons or touch) unless you touch the appropriate action. Maybe it adds to the suspense like Resident Evils' ever-opening door-area-transitions, but to me: it's annoying and sloppy.

I had recently played another Aksys game (9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors) and enjoyed it. Theresia seemed to be similar in gameplay, but in a darker gothic style with survival horror elements. Being a huge fan of the horror genre, I decided to buy it.

In terms of gameplay, Theresia is tedious. This is particularly true for the Dear Emile portion. I unfortunately spent most of the game glued to a faq due to the sheer amount of backtracking required along with the obscure solutions to some puzzles. Especially true since some of the puzzles require very precise application of the touchscreen. This made actually playing the game very frustrating. After awhile I ended up solely playing for the tidbits of journal strewn about and the memory scenes that came with them.

Graphics were a mixed bag. I enjoyed the still frames and the cutscenes, however the rendering of the hallways was very grainy, to the point where it was hard to determine you were at a bend. Not too much music to speak of but what was there, was solid.

The story was really well executed, despite the fact that I had to toss in a healthy amount of suspension of disbelief with some of the details. Dear Emile was more satisfying, tough that was mostly due to length of that chapter giving the opportunity for better development. Dear Martel felt somewhat rushed, and I would have enjoyed more fleshing out of the details, but it was still satisfying. Both stories leave you with a number of unanswered questions. I understand that this is an adaptation of a mobile phone game series in Japan, hopefully more of those get released here to clarify the story a bit more.

Anyway, final take: Did I like this? Yes. But I didn't really like PLAYING it. I would have preferred it as a movie or novel. However, I did get it when it was 10 bucks so it totally justifies the money. Also, when you beat the game it gives you synopsis of both stories with some added details, so you can revisit the story anytime you want without trudging through those abysmal dungeons.

Just like the title says, Theresia is a good horror-themed point and click adventure game. Awhile back, I was in the mood to play some horror-themed games, but since I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn to save my life (i.e. my shooting accuracy is not so good), games like Resident Evil were pretty much off the list. So, that left me with my two favorite genres: the RPG and the point and click adventure game. Horror-themed turn-based RPGs are quite rare; in fact, I only know of two: Parasite Eve and Koudelka (both of which I own and enjoy). Horror-themed point and click games on the DS also seem to be somewhat rare, but in my search I discovered Theresia. So, is it any good? Well, let's find out!

Graphics (score 7/10): Graphics are not bad; they basically consist of a mix between 3D portions in the hallways and still pictures in the rooms. The cutscenes are a mix of still pictures and slight animation. The hallway portions are traversed in first-person so you never really see your character. The hallways don't look terrible, but they are a bit pixelated and undetailed (say, compared to a game like Trace Memory). The still images in the rooms and the cutscenes look good though; not the best I've ever seen, but still good. Overall, I'd say the graphics are decent, but still average.

Music (score 9/10): There is no voice acting, but the music is just awesome. Some of it is creepy, as you would expect, but there are also awesome pieces featuring a pipe organ. Anything with a pipe organ is made of "win" in my book. Other than the various songs featuring the organ, most of the music is creepy atmospheric music designed to set the mood more than actively catching your attention. To this end, Theresia's music succeeds quite well.

Characters (score 8/10): This game is a bit unusual in that you actually learn very little about your main character as a person until you are already most of the way through the game. In fact, you don't even learn your character's name until quite a ways into the game. Furthermore, neither of the characters you control are named after the title/sections of the game: in "Dear Emile", you play as Leanne, and in "Dear Martel", you play as...a man. I still don't know his name! Gah! Anyway, the vast majority of the game is spent recovering their memories (since they both start off with amnesia), which will slowly let you learn their backstories. These are quite fascinating and I was thoroughly intrigued, so this section gets a good score from me.

Story (score 9/10): I'm not going to spoil anything in particular, but just let me say that the story is quite good. The game consists of two sections: "Dear Emile" and "Dear Martel". In "Dear Emile", you play as a young girl who wakes up in a strange room with no memory of who she is or where she is. From here, you quickly realize that you are lost in some sort of labyrinthine facility that is filled with hideously dangerous traps (things that shoot knives out, things that shock you, etc.). Basically you spend the game trying to get out of this place alive and recover your memories. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Once you've beaten "Dear Emile" it unlocks "Dear Martel". "Dear Martel" basically starts off the exact same way (except you play as a man instead). I must say that "Dear Martel" feels a bit more frightening than "Dear Emile" did. Why? Because in "Dear Emile" the traps felt like they were just randomly placed (even though they were still dangerous). In "Dear Martel" the traps feel like they were more specifically targeted at the main character, and they are also much more devious and deadly (for example, in "Dear Emile" you might open up a random cabinet and have arrows fly out at you; in "Dear Martel", you might enter a room, hear the door lock behind you, and then suddenly have poison gas start leaking into the room. Then you have to find a way to open the door while you are slowly dying. Furthermore, you find a small key and use it on a drawer thinking there might be a key to the door in it, but it's empty except for the words "it's all your fault" scrawled over and over again. This feels more malevolent to me than the random arrows in "Dear Emile".). One thing I must mention about the story is that it is more disturbing and creepy than scary, per se. There are no jump scares in this game (which I am glad of) and there are no monsters chasing you. The real creepiness here comes from a sort of psychological unease which is very atmospheric in feel. It takes a while to slowly settle into your mind but once it's there it chews at the edges of your subconscious and fills you with a sense of dread the longer you play. This is, in some ways, even more effective to me than your more traditional scares.

Gameplay (score 7/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. There are numerous typos in the game, as well as a few translation/consistency problems (ex. there's a point where the game mentions a priest, then later refers to him as a bishop, then as a priest again). For the most part, they don't really detract, but there are some portions where it is really noticeable (ex. there's a room you enter where the protagonist mentions that all these rocks and trees make him feel nostalgic - but there are no rocks and trees in this room at all!) My one big complaint though, has to do with the menu. The menu itself is fine, I just wish you could access it in the hallway. It's really annoying not being able to check the map details when you are in the hallway. I do like the fact that they give you a map at all (you can see the basic map from the hallway, but not the detailed descriptions of the rooms). My only other complaint is that some of the logic involved with the puzzles is a little nonsensical (for example, you come to a point where you need to get a lighter to light a lamp, but there are loads of lit burning candles in a room. Can you just use one of those? NO! You have to solve an annoying puzzle to get the lighter. Here's another example of nonsensicalness - my character has just lit a candle to light up a dark room. Fine enough, but once I'm done I try to take the candle with me because candles are useful, right? She reaches out for the flame and burns herself. What idiot would do that? Just blow out the candle and pick it up!). For the most part though, the gameplay is good. Most of the puzzles actually make sense (although there's a good number that make you scratch your head). Movement in the hallways is perfectly intuitive and responsive, and the rest of the controls are good. So, overall, I'm pleased. As a side note, unlike a lot of point and click adventure games, you have a health bar and can die in this game. Every time you get hurt by a trap, it drains a bit of health (you can restore health using healing items). This ups the challenge (although you can save anywhere so if you save often it won't really set you back too much to die). Depending on what sort of gamer you are, you may or may not enjoy this feature. I liked it because it made the traps feel more dangerous, but I've also played games like Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles where you can't really lose and I enjoyed that too, so it really does depend on your own preferences.

Overall (score 8/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it's my subjective overall score. This is a very good game and I highly recommend it. The replay value may not be great (except for re-experiencing the story, which is something I like to do), but that's true of all games in this genre. One thing I can say for Theresia is that it is much longer than most of the other point and click games I've played on the DS (this is due to it having two sections), which adds to its value. Since it's so cheap now (at the time of writing this review), I strongly suggest that you go out and buy it if you're a fan of this genre. You won't be disappointed!

The defining moment of Theresia comes early in the game, in a small room containing an axe and several stretchers. Examine the stretchers, and you'll find there's nothing important about them that would necessitate your clicking on them. If you ignore this and move them aside to see if there's anything behind them, and they'll fire arrows at you. I'll repeat that: THE STRETCHERS FIRE ARROWS AT YOU.

And that, for better or worse, is what makes Theresia different from its competitors. Other adventure games can get away with giving you incredibly complex, even nonsensical, puzzles, and can hide necessary items in the most out-of-the-way spots imaginable, because the designers know you'll just click on everything until you get a positive interaction. Theresia punishes you for the slightest mistake, with traps involving knives, acid, razor blades, and more, so as compensation even the hardest puzzles can be solved through use of your brain rather than use of GameFAQs, and hidden items are almost always identified with use of the "examine" command. It's a degree of fair play that other adventure games should (and usually don't) imitate.

There is one reason I'm not giving the game a five-star review: the budget. All interactive areas are portrayed as static backgrounds, and usually there's no change in the background after you perform an interaction. In many cases, this means that a necessary item isn't portrayed onscreen, but is only found with the "examine" or "interact" commands, and again, it's all static background, so there's no way to tell without clicking everything that, say, the length of wire towards the back of the room actually has a key stuck in it, or even that said length of wire can be interacted with at all. It's par for the course for an indie game, but it's irritating nonetheless.

Overall, Theresia is better than most of the bigger-budget adventure games out there, and I'd recommend it highly to anyone who's given up on the genre.

I first read about this game in fangoria magazine and when I saw it in my favorite video game retailer I had to get it. This is the most creepy, unsetiling horror game to come along in years. There were times when I screamed while playing this game or had to turn down the volume because I was so creeped out. I recomend this game to any horror fan, or those playing horror games for the first time and don't want to encounter giant spiders or zombies like resident evil ds.

The game plays like a myst clone (only, you can get hurt in this game and die) but like it was done by clive barker or jack ketchum, and will have you rivited until the end.

What are you waiting for, the maze awaits?

I played it for days. and i plan to play it again.
It has two different stories that are connected.
It is very challnging and fun.
It saddens me that there isnt more games in this world. I really wish i could learn more about it.

I will admit starting out this game was tough. I won't ruin the playstyle of game here, but WOW. This game hits on a psychological level that very few handheld games have managed to achieve.
You are kept on your toes & if you make the wrong choice the consequences are immediate.
Kudos to the game designers for making an original game that steps outside the box & makes decent use of the ds' unique touch screen ability.

This is one of the most scariest games I've ever played. Silent Hill 2 and Alone in the Dark (Aline) are the others at the top of the list. The text is disturbing and the music is super creepy. So if you have a weak stomach, then this one isn't for you. At times, it can get very frustrating because basically the whole game you're going through a bunch of mazes. There's also some backtracking involved and it can get quite confusing and you can get lost very easily. It can get boring and repititive so you may want to take a break once in a while. The story is very chilling and has two parts, one that you can play after you beat the main game. Some of the puzzles aren't that difficult but others you may have a tough time. If you see a warning message about sharp metal, then DO NOT click on that spot. You will get hurt and you CAN die. So be sure to save.
If you're ready to explore the world of darkness and terror, then Theresia awaits.