“The Ballad of the Metamorphosis of M. Dolly” by David Su.
Maybe David Su read a Kafka novel before creating this wonderfully weird game, maybe he did not, but nonetheless “The Ballad of the Metamorphosis of M. Dolly” seems like a short retelling of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” in the form of a musical video game. One day, M. Dolly wakes up and is suddenly transformed into a sheep. Instead of seeking for an antidote or a reverse transformation spell or anything, you just wander around in your new form and think about the consequences of this event. Will your family still love you? How will you be able to pay for your bills? Everyday stuff like that, actually. Also, this strange curse does not affect only you.
This peculiar tale gets told with the help of a self-written and self-sung ballad. Whenever a verse is over, you have to find the next activation point to trigger a new one. A neat little feature about that is the fact, that the song does not just go on, as the audio waits for you and repeats a part of the melody until you find the next stimulus. That way, there is no time pressure for the player. They can just explore the landscape for a bit and stand around, enjoying the sight of giant sheep. When you decide that it is time to go on, the music will smoothly progress as well. [PLAY]
