From the creators of the highly acclaimed "Juniper's Knot" comes "Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos". Dysfunctional Systems is a visual novel series featuring Winter Harrison, a student mediator from a utopian world. What is a mediator? A mediator is a person who travels between chaotic worlds, attempting to resolve the issues plaguing them. The first entry in the series follows her second mediation, where she shadows the experienced and aloof mediator: Cyrus Addington. "Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos" features two distinct endings, unlockable bonus art, an animated opening video, and a jukebox of in-game music.
One of the things that impressed me about this first episode is the sheer amount of subtle depth that is used to paint a broad picture of not only the cast but the world around them. Chief among them is the main character Winter who, in the beginning, strikes you as an atypical tween (I hate that term but it applies). She's not prepared, not very focused and far outside of her element interfering in the affairs of other worlds. As the game continues, you get a sense of who she actually is underneath her more bookish tone and by the final act, after dealing with a truly cataclysmic event, I found it very hard not to like her. That says a great deal about not only her overall character but how their world views other worlds...more on that in a second. Considering just how broken she is when Episode 1 wraps up, there is a lot of room to grow in the next four episodes and they have a great deal to build on.
Dysfunctional Systems is freakin' gorgeous. Doomfest's artwork delivers once again with distinct characters and somber backgrounds often blending into the best water color Event CGs you may see this year. Along with the great artwork is a fantastic soundtrack by CombatPlayer that revels in the games science fiction roots. It's mostly atmospheric techno and synthetic mixes with a few poignant piano pieces to even out the mix. Everything punctuates the story when it needs to and it fits into my usual standard for EVN soundtracks: it sounds great on its own. When I downloaded DS, I was able to download the entire soundtrack for free and hopefully it'll become something of a standard in the coming weeks and months for other developers (HINT HINT).
Dysfunctional Systems Episode 1: Learning to Manage Chaos isn't a perfect game, but even with its flaws it is a stunning achievement.