The Last Express (1997)

Set aboard the Orient Express days before the outbreak of World War I, this is a woefully underappreciated gem of a title that captures the dread and mystique of a bygone era. An incredibly ambitious project, the game features a unique art nouveau style, which was achieved by painstakingly hand-painting more than 40,000 frames taken from film footage created with a cast of fifty actors. The pre-rendered 3D train itself was recreated from one of the last remaining sleeper cars of the type used in the Orient Express.

The Last Express is also one of the few existing games to simulate real time; the game’s many-layered narrative is non-linear, therefore, and no two play-throughs are alike. Players can move about the train at their leisure, eavesdropping in on conversations about Sapphic love affairs or political treachery (the agency given to the player came at the cost of a hefty 800-page script). At one stage, the player can even choose to observe a 20-minute-long piano/violin duet.

While creator Jordan Mechner already had the massively successful Prince of Persia franchise under his belt, tragically, The Last Express was a huge commercial disappointment; its first release fell out of print within a year and first editions of the game became like the grail. Hopefully, the 2011 Collector's Edition release for GOG, 2013 Gold Edition for Steam and recent(ish) mobile ports have gone some way in redressing this.

I've chosen this as an example of a game I feel has elevated the medium to an art form. Please check out my blog, Inky Squiggles, to see the others!

Capsule thoughts here, full review at the link ending this post.

Myst kickstarted a generation of first-person puzzlers that had scarce highs. One of the only exceptions doubles as one of the bigger financial flops of the '90s, Jordan Mechner's (of the original Prince of Persia and Karateka) The Last Express.

The lightly accelerated real-time gameplay and puzzles centered around making relationships versus getting thing a into thing b are nothing short of masterful. It's astonishing how overwhelmed I felt first boarding the train despite the cramped space. As I got to know the schedules, personalities, and desires of the passengers the space grew less intimidating and more inviting.

Mechner's decision to build on his previous rotoscoping experience gives The Last Express a unique and rarely replicated look. Full animation is rare, and the stuttered pace of the characters in dialogue or quietly having tea takes some getting used to. But it grows in memory as there's just enough animation for my imagination to fill in the gaps resulting in a more impactful presentation overall. I also deeply admire Mechner's dedication to the pre-World War I period with a variety of bittersweet to tragic endings that fit the period well.

The only awkward bit of gameplay comes in the form of fisticuffs that function erratically. Otherwise, this is a stone-cold classic and worth getting lost in.

http://www.cantstopthemovies.com/2018/04/the-last-express-gold-edition-1997/