"Tonight is the end of our bloodstained history!" - A thread about Iji
 

So, Iji's this neat little indie game made by a guy in Sweden. The game begins with you awaking from a coma to find that you're in a building complex overrun by aliens who have wiped out the human populace, and you're equipped with a mysterious set of nanotechnology. Then the game lets you go from there.

The most interesting part about Iji is that the game watches your actions, then changes the story (and gameplay, in a few cases) accordingly. For example, choosing to do (or not do) something will change events or dialogue down the road, which presents you with new choices, etc. You might think that this means the story has to be light in order to be flexible, but you'd be so, so wrong. Iji has an incredible narrative - the creator didn't just make a game, he made a world. Logbooks detail everything from the thoughts of individual soldiers to the culture and history of the alien races to weapon schematics to game secrets. The game uses a graphics style that's reminiscent of Out of This World. Oh, and the soundtrack is great too, with an industrial feel that complements the action smoothly.

You can see a trailer for the game here, and you can download it here. If you have any interest in it at all, I implore you to download and play it - Iji is truly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Man I got through that earlier this year. The multiple paths make it so good for replay. And the story and characters are so damn likeable. The game is like if they mixed Metroid Prime and it's focus on apocalyptic logs and Fallout's open endedness and awesome characters. then stuffed it into a 2d sidescroller.

Also when you download it, the in game music is present as MP3s meaning it's easy to slot them into your playlist which is great cause the entire soundtrack rules. Kinda Green for the sudden rock out in the middle, the even more synthesised cover of Machinae Supremacy's Hero and the final boss track Tor are particularly awesome.

So I just started playing this, and I'm trying to get everything I can. I ended up starting the first stage over just so I could change what I spent my points on and get everything. Of course, this undoubtedly means I'll get some ending where I'm some big bully picking on the poor little aliens or some shit, but that's irrelevant. Right now I'm kicking alien ass with a machine gun.

EDIT: Part of me wonders if I should have saved the point I spent on Health and the one on Attack for the next stage where I'm sure I won't have enough points to do everything I want. :(

I've never known a game that made me care as much about the supposed enemies. They turned from generic enemy soldiers into people. On my first playthrough I just killed everything I saw, and by the end really regretted it! Especially (near-end spoilers) that last logbook of the tasen girlfriend... good lord I felt terrible, and I've spared her in every playthrough since. In fact I spare as many Tasen as I can get away with.

And yes, the soundtrack is utterly incredible, make sure you download the higher quality version. It really took me by surprise to hear it, having been expecting typical synthy-bleepybloop music.

You don't have to worry too much, there's a hidden move. I'll spoiler it in case you want to discover it yourself but it can be performed any time, whther you've "discovered" it or not. Find somewhere safe, crouch, press Crack four times, press kick. You'll crack yourself and all your points will be set to one, and you can spend all the points you've earned so far again. Be careful though as you drop most of your weapons, your health goes to one, and health doesn't recover when you upgrade health for the rest of the sector. Best done near health pickups if you can.

Played it today and I have to say I love it.
As previously mentioned, I regretted my course of action.

And I noticed that when you kill your first few people in level one, Iji says "I'm sorry" in a really sorrowful voice, further along, maybe becayse of the later levels, or maybe because of the exceedingly large number of previous kills, she starts saying "Die!" with the shriek of a Warrior-Princess. I found that to be a nice touch.

I'm getting close to the end. I'm getting the impression that there must be a New Game+ mode, though I'm not sure. Also, I feel like such a jerk. I loved following the story of the one alien who keeps trying to get transferred to the same area as his girlfriend.

Man, this is damn good for an indie platformer. Just makes me wonder how much better it could be with some real polish on the looks. I know looks aren't everything but I'm not a huge fan of the MSPaint style. Could do with a little less MORALITY though, that or develop that aspect further. Interesting idea for a platformer though.

I haven't played but what do you mean about the morality and expanding? Any specific ideas?

still haven't played it but i saw a couple of youtube videos. It has that Blackthorn / Flashback feel to it which is really great. So i'm interested by that alone. If the story is what you're all saying then it should be really great! But, is it a short game? How long does it take to get to the end?

My first save file clocked in at about 5 hours, and I don't think that includes restarting due to dying etc. But I've since played through it several more times, plus the Single Sector Mode you unlock for finishing it once so you can find all the secrets. Very replayable.