The Frogs Preview: Let's Play(Wright)
More coverage from the Steam Next Fest. Today’s opener is The Frogs, and the expression will be ‘bite off more than one can chew’. Don’t read into the last one; that’s just me playing too many games in one go.
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The Frogs is based on the play by Aristophanes. Perhaps you already knew that, but despite the interest in mainstream ancient Greek knowledge, I know little. What I do know is comedy, and The Frogs is full of it.
You play as Dionysus, the God of Wine, and set out to convince Johnny Public that playwrights are cool, notably you. It’s a point and click adventure, not just carried by the humour, but the actual play from all those years ago. Say, 1998? When did that bloke write his play?
The Frogs Preview
As with any medium, we can question modern society by looking back at the past. Kurosawa’s jidaigeki were often challenging modern-day politics by representing samurai and his auteur technique, whereas here, in ancient Greece… yeah, yeah – forget all this analysis; this is about your entertainment, not a uni lecture.
Playtime in The Frogs begins on a boat as you have to interact with the sailors (ooer!) to find a compass. Cue some clever use of Renaissance cutouts, cameos by Chthulu and a script that could have been one of those ‘Lost Monty Python Scripts’.
Yes, Terry Gilliam may well have been the art director and the other Pythons contributing to the written wit. It’s a text-based point and click – not those old school Sierra ones, but no voice acting – what we used to call talkies.
Two Ancient Greeks Walk Into A Bar
It’s almost like you can’t criticise the art style as it’s all from the Renaissance era – works of art, and it’s illegal to say bad things. That said, it’s a little rough around the edges in places – notably a montage of Dionysus’ ship travelling the globe and placed onto art masterpieces.
Undoubtedly it will be compared to Joe Richardson’s series, such as The Procession To Calvary, due to the similarities of the art design, style of play and the humour. Make for it what you will, but if you too have a sense of humour that was spoon-fed a healthy diet of Python and Pratchett, then The Frogs might be something you want on your wishlist.
Below is a capture I took, albeit short as point and clicks aren’t fun to watch when you have a numpty trying to solve the problem for way longer than necessary. The Frogs by Michael Wells is expected to come out in December 2021 on Steam.
