The Majesty of Colors
The Majesty of Colors, by Gregory Weir, is an expressive interactive story about choices and consequences. You play the part of a nightmarish Lovecraftian beast from the undiscovered ocean depths, as it creeps to the surface and encounters the human race for the first time. A first-person narrative provides context, and helps guide you through your emotional encounter with this confusing new world.
Your only means of interaction is a single, sinuous tentacle. Hold the mouse button on things to pick them up, and release to drop them. The branching storyline takes place through a series of vignettes, and your fate depends on your conduct in each situation. There are five possible endings, and each story is quite brief.
Go play the game first, before you read any further. It won't take long, and I don't want to spoil anything for you.
Analysis: This is very similar to Daniel Benmergui's charming I Wish I Were the Moon, both in structure and graphical style. I found The Majesty of Colors more compelling, though, because its interface is more concrete and personal, and because its narration sets the scene so well. Plus I like giant be-tentacled monsters rargh rargh.
I found that each individual vignette was so well framed, I instinctively knew what I needed to do in order to succeed, whatever my moral compass decided success should be in that moment. The blocky, pixelated graphics are a strength here, rather than a mere style choice. By abstracting the artwork so much, Weir lets us project our own stories onto the characters. After I had already discovered all the endings, I found myself doing strange unscripted things, like dangling a shark in the air in front of a surely terrified child, or trying to hand out balloons to fishermen.
It would be interesting if more of these random interactions were supported in the game. Although it initially feels open-ended, The Majesty of Colors focuses on a narrow range of possibilities, and that means the experience is over too soon. Why can't I snatch sea gulls out of the sky? Why can't I drag myself over to the island and steal the beach towel? It's a small world, so let me explore it fully.
It's rare to play something with its roots in emotion, rather than mere atmosphere. I can relate to this game, because I once had a dream about vibrant colors that I would never see again. Because I've looked down upon the seething crowds of New York from a 40th-story window. Because I knew a girl who dreamed every night about a sea full of floating corpses. Because I've turned strangers into friends, and friends into strangers.
Walkthrough Guide
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just discovered something:
Q&A:
Can't get started?
Just in case you don't know, before you can do anything you must drag a balloon to your eyes - These are the red orbs at the bottom right of the screen.
Question about the humans?
See below:
Can't help the speedboater?
Just pick him up and get him back in his boat.
Can't help the fishermen?
Drag the fish to the boat. 6 fish are needed to help them.
Can't help the boy?
Keep moving the shark(s). When the helicopter appears, do not move the boy towards it. this makes the helicopter try to get away.
Can't get the boy to die without killing him?
Note: this question is here because if you drown him, the army comes.
Do nothing. Let the sharks take him.
Question about the army?
See below:
Can't get the army to appear?
The army will appear if you kill anyone. This does not apply when you allow the shark to kill the boy.
Can't defeat the army boat?
either pick up a mine and place it above the boat, or, move all the troops off the boat.
Can't get the army submarine to appear?
Destroy the army boat.
Can't get rid of the submarine?
Drag its own torpedoes behind it. 3 torpedoes to destroy.
The endings are as follows:
A:
Human Helper.
You must help all humans.
B:
I couldn't save him!
You must let the shark eat the boy - You must not kill the boy
C:
Death by mines.
Get killed by the army boat (You can help them by moving the mines to your eyes)
D:
Death by submarine.
You must be killed by the army submarine's torpedoes.
E:
Human killer.
Get rid of the submarine
Ps: this took ages! But don't hesitate to criticise this.
The reason i posted this was to prove that its the end result that matters (mostly because of the army endings)
But thanks to:
AndrewBagel for his walkthrough. Couldn't have done it without him - therefore without him I could not have thought up this theory
Note to all:
if anything is wrong with this, Post a comment and precede it with @Cooley123 Walkthrough. I will take Questions & updates if/when you find something wrong, or if you have a question. I have this saved to notepad for quick access.
Thank you.
Posted by: Cooley123
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December 12, 2008 4:35 PM