Fallen London

[zoop]

This is probably a significant long-shot, but are there any

Fallen London fans around these parts? For anyone that might not be aware (possibly everyone), Fallen London is a free to play literary web game that is not entirely dissimilar in concept to an open ended, open world visual novel. The premise is... a little different:

 

 

 

In 1861 Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Consort Albert, was on his deathbed... not willing to accept that his time had come, she received assistance from a group of shadowy individuals who offered guarantees that they could save his life, for a small price - control and ownership of London.

 

They held up their end of the bargain, Albert was saved, and collected their reward - London was stolen by a swarm of bats. Those in London fortunate enough to have been at higher elevations found their city suddenly placed in a cavern of impossible size with strange sigils carved all along the top. The city itself was twisted and changed, with strange spired structures now residing in the center. Those who weren't so lucky found themselves underwater, beneath the surface a subterranean saltwater sea. A sunless sea, you might say.

 

Thirty years later, with the terror of the fall long behind it, London continues to exist ... thriving, or perhaps limping, forward in a place lacking as much in natural light as it is natural order - the dead often shrug off their loss of life and patch themselves up, impossible colors are a common sight, mirrors hold more than mundane reflections, cats are often heard trading secrets and gossip, rats tend to be skilled engineers, Hell is a convenient train ride away, the soul trade - both licensed and unlicensed - thrives, and the masters of the bazaar, creatures that are quite plainly not human, manage all aspects of commerce in their newly acquired city, the fifth of such that they've taken ownership of and dragged beneath the surface.

 

 

You take the role of a new arrival to London, having traveled from the surface through the one passage to and from the Neath that exists. You start with nothing but the clothes on your back, and work your way up through society - becoming an academic, a writer or a poet, an archaeologist uncovering clues from the previous cities that fell, a wrangler of strange beasts, a legendary thief, a crazed madman on a self destructive quest for forbidden knowledge, or even the governor of a colony across the sea. Or all of the above. The game's lore is exhaustive beyond description, and fed to you gradually, making every extra bit of lore you discover all the more tantalizing.

 

Instead of telling a single story in tremendous detail like a visual novel, Fallen London is instead a collection of thousands (if I remember correctly?) of 'storylets' that vary between being brief and stand-alone affairs, to intricate and interwoven tales that slowly take shape over the course of your game, giving players an exceptionally wide world to explore.

 

Players who have tired of traditional stories may also happen upon a uniquely self destructive quest, in which they have the option to sacrifice and betray all that they are, all that they know, and all that they have in a quest for forbidden knowledge and all that fun stuff. Personally, I'm too fond of my character and her accomplishments to see her destroy herself... partially because I don't much feel like starting the game over from scratch.

 

Anyhow... I've probably yammered enough for now. If Fallen London isn't your cup of tea, I'd still recommend its companion game, Sunless Sea, which takes place in the same setting and has some of the most blisteringly creative and creepy settings that I've ever seen in a game.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIk2PqPU3o

 

If it seems like I'm a slobbering fangirl, you'd be entirely correct - few other settings have ever captured my interest and imagination half as much as that of Fallen London. Sunless Sea was my gateway drug, getting me invested and interested in this world and all of its peculiarities. From there, thirsty for more, I moved to the browser game.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Guest