The second review of this blog has been requested by author Dregadude for his year long adventure, Double Helix, which is apparently the first in a trio of stories which fall under the umbrella name Reality. Double Helix is not the most visually impressive adventure, but its strengths lie in its own humor and ability to not take itself too seriously. Very much in the vein of Jailbreak or Bard Quest, this adventure use most if not all suggestions leading to a non-sequitur style where almost anything can happen – to the point where almost half of it has been spent on a character imagining his life as a pirate. This style of story is best read when looking for something not too taxing, and if one is hoping for a completely coherent story, they should look elsewhere.
The beginning of the story posits the main character as an ENTREPRENUER looking to make his way in the world with his juice stand. Things quickly devolve as it is discovered the nearby donut shop has run out of donuts and the quest begins to find more. This beginning is probably my favorite part of the whole story – quick to make jokes, with plenty of word play and humor. There are nods to some grander overarching plot, and as the story develops it's clear the author has some actual arc planned, but frankly I don't know that this is really the kind of story that benefits too much from that – it's strongest when it plays fast and loose and prioritizes humor over plot.
The latter half of the story, while experiencing a mild art upgrade, is so far from the original tone that I frankly don't understand why it isn't just a different adventure. It starts taking itself seriously in a way that I don't really think makes sense for this style of story, which involves things like bugs made out of bread, floating upside down scooters, evil sea lions, and a robot uprising determined to destroy all the donuts. As I said before, this isn't a story being read for the plot – like an Adventure Time episode, it can be nice to give nods to continuity but the prime focus should always be on goofy and fun things happening with the story taking place in the background.
There's really not much more to be said about the story: it will appeal to a particular demographic, the sort that enjoys more hyperactive storytelling, and while it did make me laugh, the tonal shifts really dragged it down for me.
Story Grade:
There's not much to be said in the way of characterization in this story, although that's not necessarily a huge issue. Every character is just a glorified stick figure, again much in the tradition of Jailbreak, and a few basic colors and costumes are used to distinguish individuals from one another.
There is also not a huge amount of personality, not that it's needed for this kind of story. The main character is your archetypical hero type. There is also a donut manager who, well, likes donuts, and a survivalist who spends his time in the wilds with the evil Krew.
In the second half of the story things become a bit more diverse, with the main character suddenly taking on a pirate persona, a silent library guardian, and a mysterious evil idiot, but they're still basically pieces to be moved when needed to tell the story, which is fine.
One special mention is needed for the ever present “Krew”, an antagonistic group of people born from a pun that could potentially be problematic – At first they are just evil black-colored stick figures, but then they start turning into evil black-skinned stick figures who speak in particularly urban slang, play “b-ball” all the time, and are used as literal pack mules to carry the main character's stuff. I don't think it's a huge issue, but even the author acknowledges it's kind of potentially offensive, and I felt like as it went on it became in poorer and poorer taste. Overall the characters of Double Helix do what is needed of them, no more, no less.
Character Grade:
The interesting thing about Double Helix is that it's one of the few adventures I've seen that's actually done in MSPaint.
The art's certainly not incredibly by any stretch of the imagination, and the story originally started as a purely text adventure, with the images coming in as a late addition. Of course, with a story like this detailed panels and highly rendered characters aren't exactly necessary – I know I keep bringing up Jailbreak, but the comparison is pretty apt because that story was penned by a clearly skilled hand yet by itself very few people would call it visually impressive. It simply served its purpose, which is all adventures like this really need.
As I said before, there is a small upgrade in the art midway through the story – colors begin being used regularly rather than once in a blue moon, scenery and perspective begin becoming more prevalent, and characters are more distinct – but it still tends to suffer from a consistent line width instead of varied strokes, and sometimes the saturation of the colors can make some pretty harsh contrast. The art is at its strongest when it's used almost ironically, as a visual gag, much like how the story is best when it does not take itself too seriously. Overall I can't give it too high of a grade, but I certainly don't think it's a detriment to the story.
Art Grade:
Double Helix is a fairly short adventure, and if you want to be amused I can recommend reading at least the first half; when it begins to drag at the second you may find your attention waning, but as I said earlier the fun thing about it is that the author is very amenable to suggestion and if you've invested yourself in any way or would like to see your own input used it still has a lot of fun left to give. As a flawed but funny adventure, it has potential to go to some interesting places.
Overall Grade: (a high)
Adventure length - A little over 150 pages
Likelihood of finishing – Hard to gauge. The nature of the story means it could easily finish in two panels, or be stretched out for another hundred. The author has also indicated there are two other stories to be tied into this one, so it's a difficult call.
Uses suggestions? - Yes
Forum link - Here
MSPFA mirror - Here
Characters eaten by Krews - None so far
Some further clarification on the grading system: There has been some misunderstanding involved that ended with people coming to the conclusion that a C is akin to a low or failing grade. This is not correct – the grading system works like a bell curve, where the grand majority of adventures should fall in the C area, as a true “average”. Less adventures will fall into B, as better than average, and only a small number will fall into A, which means true excellence. Likewise with D's and F's – A D is simply an adventure that's just a little more underwhelming than some adventures, while a true F will be far and few between