Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a beautiful magic

Thirty-two years after its debut on Amiga and fifteen years after the last chapter of the saga, Simon the Sorcerer returns to our screens with Origins, a prequel rooted in our country. Indeed, the new adventure of the young wizard comes from the mild Liguria region, created by Smallthing Studio, a start-up based in Chiavari that not only recovered the license, which had fallen somewhat into oblivion, but also (and above all) involved Mike Woodroffe, Simon's creator, and Chris Barrie, the original voice of the young wizard, in the project. Are you ready for a blast from the past?

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Simon the Sorcerer Origins takes us back to the '90s

If you've been around video games for a while, the phrase you've heard most frequently in your life as a gamer is undoubtedly: "Graphic adventures are dead." The elegy began in the second half of the '90s, the funeral dragged on throughout the 2000s, while the cries and laments still echo today. Meanwhile, graphic adventures have spanned decades, resisting almost clandestinely the decline of the genre, trying with often vain attempts to modernize, venturing into 3D or hybridizing their mechanics. Every cliché, however, contains a bitter kernel of truth, and to be honest, despite commendable attempts to survive in an increasingly inhospitable world, graphic adventures haven't fared well in recent years. In light of all this, Smallthing Studio's decision to revive not only an icon of the genre, whose fame is however rather faded compared to other illustrious colleagues dedicated to piracy, but also its original formula, adapted just enough to make it palatable today without distorting it, is even more interesting.

Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a graphic adventure with all the trimmings and (at least for me) there couldn't be better news. You move with the mouse (of course, you can also use a gamepad, but the mouse is definitely more comfortable), with one click the protagonist walks and with two he runs, you interact with objects, you talk to characters, you cultivate an inventory full of assorted oddities to combine with each other and with the scenery. In short, Smallthing has returned to the original magic formula, which couldn't be such without ample doses of irony and a touch of cynicism, certainly modernizing the technical sector, but presenting to today's mainstream audience a genre with which very few are now familiar. And one can only applaud this "radical" choice in a market increasingly driven by trends and approval algorithms.

The origins of young Simon

As mentioned at the beginning, Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a prequel, meaning its events take place before the adventures experienced by the protagonist in the games released starting in 1993. Yet, when we meet him, Simon is a boy like many others, a boy of today, perhaps just a little annoyed by his parents' decision to move house, but still endowed with sharp wit. Everything changes when, opening the door to his new room, he finds himself catapulted into another universe, where magic is real and influences the lives of the village, somehow stuck in an era resembling medieval Europe. One day, everyone here will know of Simon's deeds, but for now, he's just a stranger looking for a way home. But someone at the Academy of Magic seems to be plotting other plans.

Now, if you put all the pieces together, between the young wizard and the dark plots at the Academy, I already know who you're thinking of: but on second thought, our Simon is a precursor to the wizard who is today the most famous in the world, and of course, this new adventure of his is full of references, allusions, and jokes. But Harry Potter is not just the target of Simon's caustic observational spirit: as per tradition, his graphic adventure is filled with irony, jokes, and absurdities (like the gigantic thumbtacks that appear in the environments once fixed on the map!).

At the heart of a game of this type, however, are, of course, the puzzles, and in this case, Simon the Sorcerer shows commendable courage. Only some of the puzzles, in fact, are narratively explained during a dialogue with some character. Others, however, simply require you to reason about Simon's needs, the objects available in the inventory, and the currently accessible locations. In other words, you won't find a clue anywhere that explains the adhesive properties of slimy tentacles on jars that refuse to open: Simon the Sorcerer Origins lets your intuition figure it out, preserving all the satisfaction for you. This, of course, implies the possibility of wandering aimlessly, waiting for your brain to find the right fit, trying things out, re-trying dialogues: all activities that the seasoned graphic adventure player remembers fondly, essential to the genre, but which today might not resonate with an audience whose attention span has been constantly fragmented by external threats.

Simon the Sorcerer Origins between yesterday and today

Aware that an uncompromising attitude would be very unproductive, the guys at Smallthing Studio have freed their Simon the Sorcerer Origins from some non-essential obstacles. Forget pixel hunting, for example: to identify interactable objects, just press a button (but don't forget to recheck at each step because some events change the scenarios). The most evident adaptation, however, does not concern the mechanics, but the aesthetic sector: the pixel art of the time is replaced by hand-drawn digital illustrations, and it almost seems possible to discern the different hands whose varying styles add layers of characterization to the characters, without however altering the overall harmony of the image.

If playing Simon the Sorcerer Origins, your hands may have the impression of still being in the '90s, your eyes, however, have few doubts about the modernity (and beauty!) of what they observe: a perfect synthesis of this debut title from Smallthing Studio, which looks to the past with respect and awareness, but is equally aware of what it takes to work today. It's hard to say today if Simon the Sorcerer Origins will lead to a new renaissance of graphic adventures (Ah, we hope so, Ed. Note), but the approach used by Smallthing Studio is appreciable regardless. In any case, the partnership between Smallthing Studio and graphic adventures is destined to continue: the remake of the original Simon the Sorcerer, to which this prequel obviously connects (but we certainly won't spoil the surprise of how!), is already announced for next year.