The Last Express is a remarkable classic masterpiece of a game. The rotoscoped art direction, iconic and yet realistic all at once, still looks fantastic for its 1997 technology. The setting and characters are rare and unusual for a video game, and are rife with deep historical symbolism. The fact that everything happens in real-time made me feel like I was actually there, eavesdropping on these fascinating fictional people like a fly on the wall. I came away feeling inspired to create something with a similar feeling, in my continued quest to author stories that one can truly explore.

The Last Express is a confusing mess of a game. Without the help of hints, I had no idea what to do. I hated being punished for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, or rather, for not doing the right things at the right time because I was at the wrong place when the game was telling me what the right things to do actually were. I also noticed how, as in many adventure games, the aliveness of the game would come to a grinding halt once the computer ran out of things for people to do or say at a particular point, but the fact that everything was supposed to happen in real-time exacerbated the problem for me. Plus, there was puzzle gameplay, which I can tolerate and sometimes even enjoy in normal circumstances, but which completely stresses me out if I know I’m being timed. [1] I came away with a resolve never to invoke those kinds of feelings in a creation of my own… that is, unless it became absolutely necessary for the story to convey them. But I doubt it. My true goal as an artist is to empower people, not to frustrate them.

Despite the flaws, I did stay up late at night finishing the game, just like I do with novels I find myself deeply engaged in. However, I now find myself in need of another fascinating narrative to suck myself into. Hmm…