Visual Novel Review: 80 Days

 When I was a kid, I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books. I loved exploring stories where I got to steer the plot, with varying degrees of success. The illustrations that would occur throughout the books was a nice touch too. Thankfully, there plenty of great examples of interactive fiction that are aimed at older audiences. Many video games have successfully adapted the Chose Your Own Adventure format to electronic form. Where I am going with all of this. Today, we're going to take a look at one of the best examples of interactive fiction I've seen in quite some time. We're taking a look at 80 Days.

80 Days is an adaption of Jules Vernes' classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Our story begins in 1872. Passepartout is a French valet recently hired by British gentlemen Phileas Fogg. Fogg has recently taken a bet from his gentlemen's club that he must make it around the world in no more than eighty days. Ah, but there is a twist. You see, this isn't out Victorian era. Rather, it is a steampunk alternate history. Passepartout and Fogg much make their way across this steampunk world using several strange, exotic, and sometimes mundane, modes of transportation. How will they accomplish this? What routes will they take? That's all up to you. The choice is yours, so choose wisely.

I was first introduced to Around the World in Eighty Days when I saw Disney's 2004 adaption starring Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan. I think it was that film which indirectly lead to my interest in steampunk. There actually wasn't that much in the way of steampunk in the film itself, though Fogg was a bumbling inventor, rather than a rich gentleman like in the novel. The film deviates a bit from the novel, often for comedy. Eventually, I did seek out the original novel, which is easily my favorite of Verne's work. So, when I saw this game, I knew I just had to buy it.

Now, let's briefly discuss terminology and classification. After mulling it over I decided to classify 80 Days as a video game, but me being me, I feel that's a bit too simple. More broadly, it falls under the umbrella of Interactive Fiction. As the name suggests, Interactive Fiction is any fictional narrative medium influenced by the choices of the reader/player. The exact degree of interactivity varies. On the high end, you have stuff like the Ace Attorney games; not only do you have different dialogue options, but you must collect evidence and call-out false statements in court. On the low end, you have certain types of Japanese Visual Novels, where the story is pretty linear, and the choices don't really matter, or are for purely aesthetic stuff.

 I would say there is a fair bit of genuine choice and strategizing involved in 80 Days. You have to determine the best route first and foremost. You are presented with options as soon as you arrive at a new city, but you can also quite new routs options by purchasing travel schedules. You also have to watch your budget. Different modes of transportation charge different rates. You also have to spend money on hotels if you stay overnight in a city. You do start off with money, and there are ways to gain more as you go. Each stop has a marketplace where items can be purchased and sold. How much each item sells for depends on where you are. Fortunately, the game does tell you where you can get the most for each item. The items are also important because they affect Fogg's health. Fogg takes health damage no matter what you travel in, but carrying certain items in your suitcase help negate this damage. You can also add to his health by attending to his needs before or during travel. You can also get money by going to the bank, but be careful, because Fogg isn't made out of money, and it will run out if you make too many bank trips. You can earn a bit of money by polishing shoes at hotels. Hey, small drops fill the bucket.

 You care the items with you in a suitcase, and you can purchase more if you run out of room. However, more suitcases will increase the cost of travel, and certain modes of travel limit the amount of luggage you can take with you. Fogg will provide commentary depending on what you choose to carry with you. For example, if you chose to bring a gun at the start, and then purchase another one, Fogg will inquire about just how many guns you think you'll need. If you sell the altimeter, Fogg will inquire about what you've done with his grandfather's altimeter. If you purchase a mirror, Fogg will remark about how it is occupying your attention quite a bit as of late.

Your choices have consequences beyond advancing the story. How you interact with Fogg determines how he will view you. Serve him well, and he will consider you a truly worthy companion that any gentleman would be lucky to have at his side. There are also several characters you have the option of romancing. Oh, and Passepartout is bisexual, so you can romance women or men without issue. Play your cards right, and you can even romance Fogg, but that takes a bit of skill.

 The artwork is very well done. You have a three-dimensional globe that tracks your progress. Your latest mode of transport, as well as famous buildings from the cities you visit, are represented as stylized black and white drawings set against color backdrops. The day-night cycle is also represented in shifts in background color. You get the text of the story when you are embarking on a new leg of your journey, when you arrive at your destination, and if you chose to stay the night in a city. And it is fairly substantial text; we're talking multiple paragraphs. Upon successfully completing the journey the route you took will be highlighted on the globe, and you'll get stats about how many places you visited.

 One of the biggest draws of 80 Days is the way that it explores steampunk outside of Europe. Many nations were able to successfully avoid colonization, or kicked out their colonizers. Each nation also has its own unique twist on steampunk technology. You can ride anhinga, a type of fast bird-like airship, in South America and the Caribbean. You can take a mechanical elephant through the mountains of Northern India. You can cross the Pacific Ocean in a steamship that can also turn into a submarine. You can even visit Haiti and see the unique steam-powered cyborg animals they utilize. Well, that and the automatons made out of wood and bone, which are powered by blood.

 Oh, and did I mention that Haiti is a major power in this world? Well, they are, though they're also secretive and highly protective of their steam-powered cyborg animals. In fact, it was Haiti, with assistance from France, that built the Panama Canal in the world of 80 Days. But that's not the only notable change. The Zulu have formed a federation in Southern Africa to resist British colonization. They've embraced steampunk technology thanks to the Artificers Guild, who we'll talk more about in a minute. They've kicked the British and Portuguese out of several parts of Southern Africa; though some areas of European settlement, such as the Orange Free State, still remain. Meanwhile, Madagascar has also managed to remain independent thanks to embracing steampunk technology. Madagascar is also a hotbed of Artificer activity. There also seem to be more gender equality than in our world’s Victorian era. We see numerous women as engineers, captains, and in positions of authority. True, some do mention having to deal with sexism, but its all very progressive given the time period.  

The Artificers Guild is an international organization of scientists, engineers, and inventors dedicated to spreading steampunk technology throughout the world. Their officially language is Turkish, as they claim to have been founded in Turkey, and their members wear bronze flowers. Officially, they're politically neutral, but they do have influence in pretty much all nations. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you to decide. People of all nations, except the Austro-Hungarian empire, are allowed to join. As you can imagine, the nations of the world are sharply divided in their views of the Artificers.

There are also several secret locations that require you to do special things to find them. For example, there is a flying First Nations city in Canada named Kahwoka Othunwe. Go to either Calgary or Regina and looked for a Cree boy. If you help him, you'll get a mysterious device. After that, head to Toronto. Along the way some Lakota will find you and take you to Kahwoka Othunwe. However, if you're carrying whiskey the council will decide you a whiskey trader, and you'll have to escape on a gyrocopter. If you don't have whisky, you'll get to stay, and will be dropped off in Quebec City.

 Yeah, having certain items in your inventory affects how things go. Sometimes you are given items when chatting with other characters, but this can backfire on you. For example, can be given a copy of Communist Manifesto in Moscow. However, if you have it with you while you're in Vladivostok, you will be arrested and waste four days in prison. I learned that the hard way; I would have won that play-through if I hadn't gotten stuck in Vladivostok. Then again, you'll get arrested anyway if you stay overnight in Vladivostok. The Russians are paranoid about British travelers due to The Great Game. The only way to prevent this is to get travelers papers by stoping at Omsk. And even then, if you got involved in the demonstration in St. Petersburg, they won't mean anything. Personally, I don't find it worth the hassle. My advice, at the Trans-Siberian Railway all the way to Karimskaya. Then take the Trans-Manchurian Railway to either Pyongyang or Beijing, and from there get on a ship to Yokohama.

Another hidden location can be found if you chose you go around the North Pole. Yes, circumnavigating the pole is considered a valid route. Get far enough north and you'll join the crew or an ice walker. Be sure to get into their good graces, because eventually the walker will crash, and Fogg's health will take a serious hit. You need to keep him alive until you are rescued by members of Qausuittuq, a hidden city of Arctic indigenous peoples. Think kind of like Wakanda from Black Panther, but steampunk and the culture derives from the native peoples of the Arctic. You can explore a bit, but the council will decide you must stay in Qausuittuq forever, because of the whole secrecy thing. Thankfully, you can find an airship hanger, which will take you to either Winnipeg or Gastown (Vancouver).

Obviously, there are many different routes you can take. This creates quite a bit of replay potential. The wide variety of destinations, and the choices they present, also adds to the replay value. If you chose to follow the route of the original novel, the events will be fairly faithful to it, steampunk elements notwithstanding. Well, it will be depending on your choices. That said, there are some slight deviations. In the novel, when Fogg and Passepartout are in India they save a woman named Aodha from sati, aka Hindu wife burning. She joins them on the rest of their journey, and eventually becomes Fogg's love interest. In the game, however, she's the leader of an anti-British rebellion in India. As such, she stays in India.

If you go to Florida, you can encounter Michael Ardan from the novel From the Earth to the Moon also by Verne. You can go from a rocket ride, but if you do that Fogg will be killed, and potentially you too if you make the wrong choices. You can continue the journey alone, and you will win if you return to London. Of course, you'll also have to live with the guilt that Fogg died because of you. So you know, win some, lose some.

You'll encounter Inspector Fix in Singapore and Hong Kong. He'll try to convince you that Fogg is a criminal up to no good. Be careful about meeting him in the Hong Kong opium den, because next thing you know you'll be on a airship bound for Yokohama. Then you'll have to perform at a Japanese circus until Fogg finds you. Though, this is all faithful to the novel. Well, mostly. In the novel, Fogg didn't consider balloon travel to be trustworthy. Ironically, more than a few adaptions of the book have Passepartout and Fogg riding in a balloon on the cover. It is possible that the publishers get it confused with one of Verne's other novels, Five Weeks in a Balloon. Of you return to London via Lisbon you may encounter another British gentleman traveling around the world with his Prussian assistant. It makes for an amusing encounter.

 I'm not the only one who thinks 80 Days is amazing. It has won numerous awards. Frankly, it would be easier to list the awards this game hasn't won. And if you're curious about tips and tricks be sure to check out the game's wikia.

I've played 80 Day many times, and there's still plenty of achievements I'm chasing. This is an absolutely fantastic game and I can't recommend it enough. Download it today, you will be so glad that you did. 80 Days is available for Apple, Android, PC, Nintendo Switch, and is available on Steam.

Well, I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you guys next time.