Game Report: Sanator: Scarlet Scarf & Jewel of the Monostructure

Another two short games knocked off the list. These short visual novels are part of a series that currently only has 2 parts released, with a third one in the works for a a few years now (I hope the devs are doing alright?)

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Scarlet Scarf

You play as Richard Murdoch, a member of the Brotherhood of St. Elm, and a Sanator aka plague doctors (beak masks and all!). In this vaguely medieval world, plagues of varying nature are a common occurrence, and it's up to the Sanator order of the Brotherhood to take care of them - even if doing so requires harsh measures.

And wouldn't you know it, there's a plague breaking out right now!

The game begins with a sequence of 6 short scenes, each from one day before the plague fully takes hold. After that, it's the story of Richard doing his job as a plague doctor while also investigating the origin of this plague.

The worldbuilding, what little we get, is interesting. People rely on the Brotherhood, but they also fear them. Not just due to the power they wield to decree the fate of plague victims, but also the supernatural powers they are thought to command. The way the Sanators were characterized was compelling, as people doing the best they can, but often forced to pick the least bad option.

A possible flaw of the game is that it's short, too short perhaps to give its choices and consequences full weight. At the same time, it does offer you 4 separate paths and endings, which help flesh out some of the characters and events a bit more (though at times they appear a tiny bit inconsistent). You can see all endings and finish the game in 3 hours or so.

An interesting tidbit is that the developers appear to be Russian, which combined with the overpowering plague outbreak does make me reminisce of Pathologic a bit.

Jewel of the Monostructure

A prequel to the other game, which shares the same protagonist, and reveals a bit more about the world to us.

Something I didn't mention before is that while the humans generally have a medival-ish level of technology, they seem to live in the ruins of a civilization that was much more advanced. Buildings have mechanical or technological features, and the dissection table we see in one scene clearly has some technological thing behind it, even if they don't know how to use it.

In this story, we learn that the entire city was built on top of a 'Monostructure', a huge building complex that now lies abandoned, is usually closed to its environment, and is widely considered a death trap full of weird shit.

Except now, it appears that someone has opened a door to that place in the sewers, a member of the Aluir race, the very same people who built these structures in the past and lost them after their god disappeared.

Why did they come here? And why are they stealing food from random people, prompting the Brotherhood to get involved? That's the questions to be answered in this game.

This one is even shorter and only has 3 routes/endings (based two branching points). Can finish in under 2 hours if you read quick.

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These games aren't particularly long, but they aren't particularly expensive either.

During sales, you can get them for ~ 1.70€ each, which seems like a pretty decent price for what you get.

They aren't masterpieces, but they give a good atmosphere and an intriguing world some decent writing.