So I Tried… Simon The Sorcerer

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for the PC version of Simon The Sorcerer.

What I thought it was

A point-and-click adventure game in the vein of Monkey Island, featuring painted backgrounds. I think it’s fully voice acted, and I know it’s supposed to be funny, so I have high hopes for it. I’m a bit of a point-and-click fan, ever since I played a pirated copy of Monkey Island on floppy discs, at my friend’s house. I have to admit, the insult sword fighting appealed to the eight-year old that was me. I don’t envision anything like that in a game about a wizard, but one can hope.

What it actually is

A point-and-click with amazing (for the time) pixel graphics, and a very funny, well-written script. The titular Simon is voiced by Chris Barrie, whom you may remember as the butler from the two Tomb Raider movies, or the neurotic Arnold Rimmer in the sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf (which you should watch). Simon wanders through a magical portal to avoid doing his homework, and winds up being drawn into a quest to save the wizard who chose him to become a wizard “from literally hundreds of candidates”. At least, according to a letter left to him, before the villain of the piece kidnapped the guy.

Will I keep playing

Chris Barrie is in it, yes, I will keep playing it. If you ever get the chance to listen to the  audiobooks, take it, because Barrie’s voice work is fantastic. It’s not just that, as the script is really funny, and I’ll admit it really ate into my playtime. There was a full minute of woodworm arguing over what kind of wood Simon should fetch, then another almost two minutes of a Billy Goat Gruff arguing with the bridge troll over contract requirements. There’s a dodgy salesman I need to barter with, a pair of barbarian women I need to woo, and I have no idea how to attach this dwarf’s beard to Simon’s face… So there’s still plenty of reasons to return, and soon.