Milkmaid of the Milky Way

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Milkmaid of the Milky Way is a Graphic Adventure game that follows in the footsteps of classic entries in the genre, with a graphical style that’s very much like old LucasArts games like Maniac Mansion and the earlier Monkey Island games. However, it does make an effort to do its own thing.

To that end, this isn’t really a comedic game like those titles, but focuses on a tone that’s more contemplative, a story about a lone rural milkmaid whose life changes when her farm is visited by a strange space ship. This story is paired with some really lovely music, and the nostalgic visuals give the game a wistful tone that I really liked.

To go along with this dreamlike tone, all of the game’s dialogue, narration, and descriptions are done in rhyme. This has its moments, and it’s amusing to see the lengths the game goes to to make everything fit into the rhyming structure, though at times it can start to seem a bit forced.

As for the gameplay itself, this is also much in line with the sort of games it imitates, meaning you’ll be dealing a lot of “Sierra logic”, that style of puzzle where the solutions are sometimes frustratingly obtuse. At times, trying to figure out just what the heck you’re supposed to be doing is the biggest challenge and frustration here, and this game adds to that frustration by often making it unclear just where you can go and what you can interact with. Even early on into the game, parts of the background that just seemed like scenery were actually places you not only could, but needed to explore, and the lack of a clear indication of this caused quite a lot of frustration.

I have made no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of this genre, and Milkmaid of the Milky Way bears a lot of the issues that frustrate me with the genre. The obtuse puzzles, the wandering around trying to figure out what to do… I’ve never been a fan of that. However, I appreciate the way this game tries to set a tone, and fans of the genre wanting something more thoughtful and emotional instead of comedic may find this game to their liking

tl;dr – Milkmaid of the Milky Way is a Graphic Adventure with visuals and mechanics that are clearly inspired by classic LucasArts games like Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, but with a more quiet and thoughtful tone. It has great music and nostalgic visuals, but suffers from some frustratingly obtuse puzzles and a lack of an indication where to go, or where you can go. Still, fans of the genre will likely find it an enjoyable experience.

Grade: C

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