Background: Software and rudimentary internet services of the mid-nineties are monopolized by the unscrupulous company, Merchantsoft, who hires the player character as one of its “enforcers” to parse a variety of individual sites and blogs for contraventions against its enumerated regulations.
***
The immensity of content and intricate details to sift through in this game was truly laudable and much appreciated. It seems the developers crafted their emulation of the 90’s internet from quite a reverential standpoint, and consequently, the overall design and aesthetics were wonderfully nostalgic and enjoyable to view as an accurate replication of the past. As mentioned, the breadth of personalized pages and unique characters created a rather explorative experience ancillary to the underlying plot and mystery of the game.
Concerning the primary narrative thread, I found it a bit interesting how assiduously the enforcers are intended to police the content on the internet for infractions that range from harassment to comparatively innocuous copyright infringements. Despite the arguable necessity of such scrutiny in enforcement, the attention given to Merchantsoft’s own internal activities was, conversely, quite scant and dangerously insufficient. It was only after internet users revealed the suppressed, incriminating medical studies that Merchantsoft was eventually felled. Essentially, the company demanding strict compliance from its users was willfully, and ironically, incapable of ensuring its own behaviors were in accordance with safety regulations. In a sense, it’s a bit of a “who watches the watchmen” type of situation. I suppose it’s also possible to perceive a sort of theme discussing the inequities in the policing and enforcement of rules and stipulations, whereby scrutiny is levied independently of the potential danger or severity of the consequences of circumvention.
Lovely game, and a tad somber, as well.