Alida revisited

 

Replaying the Myst series reminded me of Alida. Can’t find it for sale on any digital platforms. This means it is no longer commercially for sale, which gives me permission to download an archived ISO of the DVD version for a replay.

It mounts and runs using WinXP compatibility. I have to install the version of Quicktime included on the disc and set it to safe mode and run the game in 640x480 with water effects off. It just barely works.

I don’t see any retrospective videos on it. No reviews anywhere on youtube. Very few articles. Perhaps it deserves a revival.

Successful Australian band grows to mistrust their manager so much they convert their giant guitar theme park from tourist attraction to combination lock, hiding their assets behind elaborate puzzle locks just to keep their manager from getting to it. Absurd, and yet still believable, even more so after watching the interview with the creator.

He’s seen it before: people go crazy when they get money, so of course they’d build a giant guitar off the coast of Australia, and of course their manager would make some bad investments with their money, so of course the bandmembers would use their giant guitar to hide their money from their manager. Of course!

I ended up making progress just wandering around. Hadn’t decided to commit to a replay until I solved two puzzles.

Wandered around a little more, found more clues that added up, that helped me make a little bit of progress.

So many loose ends. So many clues that don’t add up.

Figuring out which clues you do have that do add up is quite a challenge, but I made it to the switch, the conservatory, and the potentiometers just from paying attention to the environment.

Collecting symbols. Collecting devices and remembering where I’ve seen this or that before. Collecting information, waiting for all of it to add up.

It has an addicting quality to it. I put it down, wanting to take a break, only to give in to the urge to pick it up again because there are so many clues everywhere I look, all of them add up, and I don’t want to stop until they fall into place.

Alida is tantalizing like this. Playing with the equipment yields new information all the time, and watching it add up keeps me going back for more. Even when I am frustrated on a puzzle I can’t seem to make progress on, my mind drifts to something else, and behold! A few clues that add up!

Connections are everywhere! I can’t stop until I find them all!

Do I have enough information to interact with this thing? Let’s play with it. Nope. Move on to the next thing. Do I have enough information to interact with it? Maybe. Maybe... The possibilities keep me going.

Something about Alida that made me want to dwell in it until I solve it! I couldn’t stop thinking about it! Even when I took a break, I wanted to go back. Everything connects. My brain knows it, and it can’t rest until it connects everything.

 

I needed no walkthrough this time. Everything you need to solve the puzzles is in your environment, in plain sight. Pay attention, and connections becomes apparent. Alida was better the second time around because I found all the connections on my own. That one puzzle I solved by accident on my first playthrough? This time I figured out and I understood its logic. My only memory cheat was recalling the importance of flashing lights.

Alida deserves a high-rez remaster. It’s a superbly-designed adventure game, full of creativity and consistent internal logic. It shouldn’t be forgotten.