Sins Against Mimesis review If nothing else, Sins Against Mimesis may have invented its own genre: IF as in-joke. Virtually all of the humor in this requires knowledge of other works of interactive fiction--sometimes from specific games, sometimes merely conventions associated with IF-- and a relative newcomer may find the whole thing simply puzzling. Unfortunately, though I don't consider myself inexperienced in IF, many of the jokes went by me completely, and those I understood just didn't click for me, humor-wise. As most of the IF community has reported that this one is unremittingly hilarious, evidently I need a sense of humor transplant, but I may as well record my impressions in the meantime.

There are, to be sure, parts of it that I found amusing. The update on the puzzle from John's Fire Witch--even if it lacks the twist that made that puzzle clever in the original--is well done, though I wasn't sure why certain games were chosen as representative. There are several genuinely funny responses, primary among them when you encounter an unsavory character: 

>taste kunkel
No.
The source of the "kunkel" is not clear to me--I'm not sufficiently familiar with the GMD archive, I'm afraid--but that response, at least, was amusing, as was to the reference to "a bright red box of 'Sugar Coated Corn Puffs,' a terrifyingly unhealthy part of your complete breakfast." The compass rose was a witty touch, I though, and the homage to Leather Goddesses, though not particularly relevant, at least made me smile. But a humor game that isn't funny--and, as far as I was concerned, Sins Against Mimesis spent lots of time not being funny--is simply irritating, and Sins Against Mimesis doesn't have many puzzles or plot twists to keep the unenlightened involved. At the end, for example, Black of Jigsaw fame appears, and you have a short exchange. Is it especially funny to those who have played Jigsaw? Maybe, but that doesn't include me, so I just read the ending and quit the game.

There are other problems. One room includes an object--not vital to the game, but vital to a certain nonvital action--that can be taken but not found anywhere in the room description or in any description of scenery. A few objects appear in your hands without warning--somewhat logically, to the extent logic is involved in this game, but it would be nice to be told. The first puzzle is a bit strained in several points; it isn't as well-imagined as the original, in-jokes aside. And, well, the homage to a certain line of bad-taste games and films may be a clever parody, but it still feels like bad taste to me.

I don't begrudge this game the praise it's gotten; I'm glad that others found the jokes amusing (though I hope this doesn't encourage imitations, frankly). But I just never got into it; I'll give it a 6 for being mostly solid, gameplay-wise, but I can't reward it for humor that I didn't find funny.