Along with Frost 1 my favorite game. This game is a two way dungeon game. After a nice title screen and picture a random choice is made either the hilarious Zenitherous (Heaven/up)one or the serious Nadir (Hell/down) way.
Zenith: A hilarious dungeon adventure that'l make you laff as much as in Chickenwire (if not more) I AM NAKED EDDIE, A PLAQUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES, LEAVE ME ALONE I AM EATING PRINGLES etc. The enemies are hilarious two (fleas, sperm like tamagotchis, bacteria ridden sponges, incontinence man) The graphics are really good two and even secret areas!
Nadir: The serious game blood gore skellington's and hordes of demons(hooray) are what you face. The dark atmopsphere and dangers always make the doom like feeling appear sorta like Lebensraum.
Graphics: 10/10 NO LESS ONLY MORE
Music: N/A What's a music
Plot: 5/10 Uh. yes. The Zenith one wasnt that good the Nadir one was way better
Programming: 9/10 ME LIKES TEH ENDING WORD TRICK (Learn to swim) and no its not the old #endgame word trick
Humor: 7/10 Nadir was to serious
Overall: 10/10 I MUST AWARD U A TROPHY ZENITH!
-ZZDevelin
Dungeon games are always fun, and so is this! The graphics are pleasant and I thought a lot of the jokes were pretty funny... either that or that was the sound of myself exploding. Either way this was a joy to play, and is only second to Anthony Testa's tons of dungeon masterpieces. Way to go!
There's not much more for me to say, but I agree with MadTom in that it is one of Zen's best games, better than ChickenWire, according to me.
I especially enjoyed the Zenith side, mostly the variety of creatures requiring SMITING. There are times even now when I feel like playing it just to kick Incontinence Man in the nads. Also, all the various people and creatures making an appearance in the dungeon is hilarious.
Nadir's side is much more serious, with a mysterious character, Mir, who is only truely explained at the end. But yes, Zenith does slip a bit of humour into these caves, frequently in the object titles.
Overall, impeccable programming, great design, and a hell of a lot of fun.
Vies with Chickenwire as my favourite Zenith Nadir game. His impeccable skill adds a real finish to the game, with clean, crafted graphics and carefully arranged text.
Psyche is a dungeon crawl with a difference. At the start of the game a random choice is made ... will you be given the Nadir path, the serious and TEEN ANGST course, or the Zenith path, with Zenith the showman as we all know him in Chickenwire? It's all up to chance. But whichever way you go first doesn't matter.
The Nadir path presents the third-person past tense narrative of a girl named Mir, struggling through a dungeon marked with many dead and gruesomely mutilated bodies. A picture of inner turmoil is painted here. Yet with the odd reflection of Mir's we see a slight hint of Zenith ... a tad of humour.
The Zenith path is completely different. Your nameless character is flung into an abyss of complete and utter happy-go-lucky chaos and hilarious disarray. You battle such fierce and fearsome beasts as fleas and tamagochis, and my personal favourite, Incontinence Man (prone to losing control of his bladder when kicked in the appropriate area).
At the end of each path you meet its creator ... either Zenith or Nadir. Both end your game ... but in decidedly different ways.
The depth of Psyche is something I believe not usually seen in ZZT games. Zenith's characteristic tidy style and amusing insights add a curious charm to the whole game, and it seems very complete. It reveals something about his personal nature, of course; and gives insight into the natures of the two names of our favourite schizophrenic.
