Restore, Reflect, Retry—This haunted game remembers you. Play again?

It actually is possible to avoid Tommy being stabbed at all. I’ve done it. You have to have high Athletics and either Brave or Composure.

Code diving isn’t my thing, and it would suck if it were to become an expected thing. I too, would appreciate the answer.

There’s three different ways to save Tommy. One for each of the classes. Each of them needs a different combination of stats. I most reliably do it with the medic.

For the last ending I really do recommend checking the code yourself. The ending after you input it is just three lines. The satisfaction there is looking through the code to read the comments. But if you really want it, enter “I have looked in the mirror.” without the quotation marks.

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Just pushed a hotfix addressing two Achievements that were problematic.

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Ok, sure.

But hooooooooow?!

To codedive, I mean. I honestly have no idea how to do that, and apparently the game can’t be beat without doing that…

Go to the page for Restore, Reflect, Retry on the CoG website. (Restore, Reflect, Retry)

Add “scenes/startup.txt” to the end of the page address.
(https://www.choiceofgames.com/restore-reflect-retry/scenes/startup.txt)

You’ll see a list of scenes. To see the code for each scene, replace the word “startup” in the page address with the name of the scene you want to see.
(https://www.choiceofgames.com/restore-reflect-retry/scenes/one.txt will take you to the code for Chapter 1)

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Thanks. I’m still not sure what else I can do to influence anything, but maybe that’s the point, I guess.

Just gave this my first read. My thoughts:

The Good - haunting and sad, a horror story of metafictional melancholy. It’s difficult to describe the plot, and plot is less the point than mood and theme, but it’s a game about a game, and the consequences of using addictive games and false realities involving fantasy and danger to temporarily numb the pain and fears of our lives.

The Bad - this is true psychological horror, and reading it was more painful than fun. Rewarding but not something to read if you’re in the mood for light entertainment.

The Ugly - not for all tastes, but well-written and gripping. Short, but after one read I know I’ve only scratched the surface of the story, which I intend to return to, even if I’m not totally sure I’m looking forward to it.

Rating - One to ten? One star or five? Damned if I know. This one doesn’t lend itself to a conventional rating, but it’s unique enough to merit attention. If the summary on this site or this short review picques your interest, give it a try.

What do you have to lose, right?

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Is there a way to avoid Catrina getting stuck in the maze?

I didnt even know it was possible for her TO get stuck in the maze, so its definitely possible to avoid it

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I had Joshy get stuck once but every other time before and after that time no one got stuck, so yeah I agree it’s definitely avoidable

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I was going crazy trying to save Tommy. Turns out, other than composure, using only hands, and being a pacifist, you also need mid-level insight. So like, 50/50 with composure. I was going crazy trying to keep the highest composure and mix-matching the personality stats instead.

Anyway, also just wanted to drop by to say that this is definitely in my top 3 of all Choice games. Great concept at such an affordable price! Can’t wait for more games to pop up like this. :slight_smile: (Or if there already are, I’m very open to suggestions!)

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I don’t think there’s anything quite like Restore, Reflect, Retry, but if you liked Natalia Theodoridou’s style and you haven’t played his other games (An Odyssey: Echoes of War, Rent-a-Vice, and Sins of the Sires), they might be worth looking into. He also cited Lynnea Glasser’s Creatures Such as We as an inspiration for this game, particularly in terms of fourth-wall breaking. And if you want another short game that plays around with reality and packs a powerful punch that leaves you shaken and thinking, I highly recommend Mike Walter’s Paradox Factor.

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I haven’t managed to play all of Restore, Reflect, Retry yet but you might enjoy Don’t Wake Me Up - less horror, at least in the early parts, but it gets very into creepiness and ideas about games and play, along with wacky/nostalgic humour early on.

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Still haven’t figured out how to destroy the game from within, any tips there?

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I spent some time tonight reading a WIP on DashingDon that doesn’t have a save feature. When I had to switch over to another app for a second, the page reset when I came back. It’s relevant to this story that I’m married to a man who has checked out a few ChoiceScript games and understands the basic concept, although I’m not sure he’s ever actually finished one, to my great sorrow.

Me: [extremely aggravated utterance, mostly nonverbal]

Husband: What’s wrong?

Me: Oh, I just lost my progress in this game because there’s no way to save.

Husband: Someone should make a game where it looks like it resets and you have to start over again, but the second time through all the choices are different …

Me: Yeah, you definitely need to play Restore, Reflect, Retry.

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I genuinely adored this experience, front to back, and I’m so glad that I took the morning out to play through it all. What a wonderfully ambitious and touching story.

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hello great game and very interesting theme
reached the point where there is an option to “free to log to destroy the game” showing up but can’t select it since i don’t know how to unlock that choice
would appreciate if anyone can give some hints here

reached the point where there is an option to “free to log to destroy the game” showing up, but can’t select it since i don’t know how to unlock that choice
would appreciate if anyone can give some hints here

Haven’t figured that one out myself yet…