The Count Lucanor sees you playing as the worst little kid ever. In vaguely medieval times, you are a pauper child by the name of Hans. Hans has never had anything to his name, no toys, not even a cake or sweets. His mother tries to do the best she can to support him, but Hans has had enough of his mom’s “Oh but we’re so poor” bullshit and decides to run off on his tenth birthday to become a man. The start of any good survival horror. From there the plot gets very “Rumplestiltskin-esque.” You meet an impish guide, and he informs you if you want his castle’s treasures you’ll have to guess his true name. So your quest begins, the most complex, lethal game of Wheel of Fortune ever.
I’m always skeptical whenever I play a survival horror set on a 2D pixel plane, and yet I’m consistently surprised by the quality of them. Count Lucanor most reminds of Clock Tower with its approach to run and hide mechanics and intricate puzzles. Throughout the game you are attempting to resolve the secrets of the titular’s Count Lucanor’s castle, so that you may live in riches and splendor the rest of your life. As you continue your journey you’ll run into other castle denizens who will provide you with cryptic clues as to how you should make your way through the castle.
I mentioned earlier that Hans wins the award for worst child of the year. He blames his mother for their being poor, then goes ahead and delivers the low blow of “I understand why dad left.” This naturally crushes sweet little mom, and despite her son’s temper tantrum she does his best to prepare him for the wide open world. From there you get a bit of player control and you get limited opportunities to decide just how much of a piece of shit Hans is. Your mother warns you not to waste the food and money she gives you. Then, naturally, you get to waste it. It’s all tied to choices as to how nice and sacrificing Hans is, with the effects of your decision making seen a bit later in the game. However despite everything, despite the introduction of a kid that needs the mouth smacked off him, Hans gets to be a bit endearing. The closest parallel, storywise, is the horror movie Babadook. Another title about an obnoxious kid raking his mother over the coals, only to switch identity and empathy to the child later on.
The introductory parts of the game actually take place in areas around the castle, in fact you don’t even know this castle exists for the opening motions. It’s a bit misleading in that sense. The game starts out more as your typical RPG slash Adventure title and drops the survival horror bomb on you a bit later on. You’ll be exploring a typical forest, making your way up a mountain, and finding a farm of cute, cute, adorable goats.
Oh so adorable goats.
Upon finding these goats Hans decides to take a short little nap. In which he wakes up in a nightmare world with nightmare goats. There’s something about the twisted, flesh rending faces of these goats dancing on two hooves that deeply disturbs. For the most part these goats begin to serve as your antagonists for the rest of the game. I’m unsure as to the symbolism, I’m unsure as to “Why goats?” But then it doesn’t matter when they look at creepy. I already didn’t trust goats. Look at their eyes. There is nothing to trust about a goat’s eyes.
However this isn’t a game so much about goats. I mean, they are the primary antagonist you’re going to be running and hiding from, but this game is more about cartography and puzzle solving. As you progress through the castle you’ll begin to slowly orient yourself as to where each room, corridor and outdoor location is in respect to everything else. It’s a very old school form of map charting. For me I was often able to choose a central landmark (mostly the garden that harbors the game’s savepoint and the denizens you’ll acquire) and work clockwise from there. The game also gives you a supply of candles to do with as you please and light your way. I mostly used the candles to mark where I’ve already been, so that I don’t make the mistake of attempting a puzzle over again, or running into those nasty untrustworthy goats and lethal traps I’ve already had to contend with.
Each room in the castle corresponds to a different color and number. These serve to give you a sense of difficulty level, as well as informing you as to what special keys you’ll need to open the doors. With each room resolved you’ll figure out more of the castle’s secrets, advance NPCs and enemies, and get that much closer to solving the game’s core mystery. I often found exploring off the beaten path was rewarded. If I asked myself “Hmm, I wonder what I’ll find if I backtrack here” I would find my efforts bore fruit. I always appreciate when a game thinks as the player does and leaves easter eggs behind.
Fans of the Clock Tower series and puzzle adventure games will likely get the most mileage out of this title. It’s enjoyable and just deep enough to keep you engaged. While I only managed at one ending, the Count Lucanor has a series of achievements that hint at other endings and secrets to find throughout the game. It doesn’t quite shock and scare, but the atmosphere is just tense enough it encourages caution. I ended up quite enjoying The Count Lucanor, even if Hans needed the world’s longest timeout.
