The Cave

As a long-distance admirer of the Monkey Island series (I haven't yet compelled myself to play through them entirely), I was excited to see what Ron Gilbert and the people Double Fine had in store with The Cave. The end result was a fine experience hampered by occasional tedium and somewhat confusing storytelling. But let's start with the good.

It is clear that Gilbert's sense of humor is about as sharp as ever, and the fine artwork/animation put in by the skilled DF staff accentuated it beautifully. The Cave, in both style and personality, was fun to run around and listen to. Major credit for that goes to the performance of Stephen Stanton as the titular, sentient locale. The Cave's asides to itself/the player punctuate important moments and provide a nice, if not laugh-out-loud, bit of comic relief throughout. The rest of the voice cast does an excellent job as well, and points must be given to the casting and voice directors for their choices. And there's always that keen sense of style that permeates all of Double Fine's releases, with animation that sells the characters as well as their voice acting (the shopkeeper's opening instructions was a particular favorite of mine).

In the Quick Look EX for this one, Gilbert spoke about how he wanted to update the standard adventure game formula by stripping out the massive inventories and complex, frustrating puzzles they tend to create. That goal was certainly achieved thanks to the simple one-item-per-character system here. I had no issue with making sure I had the right item when I needed it, and having fewer things to keep track of meant that it was that much easier to find the right, logical tool for the job (no rubber chicken/pulley combos this time). The simple platforming also added a bit of variety, with the Adventurer's section being the best example. In all, moving through the game and its puzzles was an enjoyable experience, and one that only takes a few (3-4) hours on the first run. But this leads to the first big problem: the game is both too short and too long for its own good.

There are seven characters, three of which are used per playthrough. Each character has one specific level, and there are three general levels. Each character also has two endings to their stories (as revealed through semi-hidden cave paintings), one good and one bad. That's 14 endings, and you have to play through the game completely to see each one despite the fact that it is only a final choice right before the end that decides which ending you see for each character. It takes a minimum of four playthroughs to see all the endings, but you'll have to replay one character 3 times (if my logic is correct). Given these facts, you'll have to see each character level twice (one 3 times) and each generic level four times. Obviously, each playthrough makes getting through these sections faster, but it seems like too much repetition just to see four extra slides per character (as each ending just means two new cave painting slides to view at game's end). I would have loved to see a larger number of the generic levels so that each replay had more variety. I assume that this exact idea ended up on the cutting-room floor as the game neared completion, but it still makes me a little sad.

While the platforming added some spice to the gameplay and puzzles, there was also a fair bit of that old adventure game specter, backtracking. While mostly well constructed, there were multiple times where I found myself needing to take one or more(!) characters back across the levels in order to complete a puzzle. I found The Twins' level to be particularly bad for this (like moving that damn china box). While not a total dealbreaker, these moments pulled me out of the otherwise wonderful sense of place previously mentioned. I imagine as I push through the remaining playthroughs (I've played every level but not seen every ending) it will be more grating.

The biggest gripe I have with The Cave, though, is about its story. It is an interesting morality play, certainly, but the actual lessons the player is meant to draw from what happens (as well as how the story is told) are far from clear. I felt like I was treated somewhat unfairly by The Cave as I played through it. Perhaps I am too used to the trend of moral choice in games, but it seemed like there was the implication that I (as the controlling force) should have been able to avoid the terrible things the characters do in pursuit of their goals (even if that is simply progress through The Cave). But there are no choices, not, at least, until the very end (and that choice is so weak that it wasn't evident to me until I started reading the impressions of others). You are stuck going down the same, wrongheaded path for each character and generic level. "Stop punching yourself," says The Cave, while it forces your fist into your face. This format would work far better in a film or book where one is a completely passive observer, but in the context of a game (where one has control) it seems unsporting to chide about decisions you really can't change. In fairness, The Cave is never directly malicious towards the player. As Gilbert noted in the QL:EX, The Cave's speech is meant to be more internal musing than external telling (though there are obviously moments of the latter). But I cannot shake the feeling that the snark is misdirected. If nothing else, it provokes questions about storytelling in games and what a level of control over choices does to expectations of narrator remarks.

More pressing, though, are the questions about what morals, exactly, we are to take away from the stories of The Cave. The entire mythos is built around the idea that lessons are meant to be learned. But what lessons? In my first playthrough, I selected the same ending for all three characters, but while two clearly faced consequences for their choices, the third essentially got away scot free. What is that meant to say? Are certain kinds of distasteful behavior (in this case, betrayal) OK? The Cave keeps going on about how bad these people all are and how their decisions are terrible, and yet one can get away with nothing lost and everything gained? Moreover, for the characters whose endings show some comeuppance, what are we supposed to take away? Their stories are not common, their circumstances not universal to the human experience. There are no clear rules of thumb to be had. At best, this provokes a conversation and lets players hash out for themselves what they are supposed to take away (an admirable goal). At worst, it's overly vague and, dare I say it, lazy. I'm inclined to go with the first option, but I am by no means fully satisfied by it.

Ultimately, I consider The Cave to have been well worth my time thus far, and worth the $15 I paid to get it. It is finely written and presented, the puzzles can be fun without being too mind-bending (I actually really liked the time travelling level), and it's a nice way to spend a few hours. The downsides, whilst important to discuss, are not dealbreakers. I wouldn't say this game is for everyone (adventure games will never be, I feel), but if you are inclined towards the genre, definitely consider it. And if you can pick it up on sale, absolutely do it.