At the turn of the 20th Century, a young aspiring painter named Franz struggles to make a name for himself. He has the ability to see the different layers of people, yet has trouble bringing them to life in his paintings. Can Franz discover that one element he needs to bring his paintings to life?
Once again, we have another story about the struggles of an artist. Like Wilma, Franz is struggling to find himself and develop his work. However, while Wilma had to isolate herself in a cabin to develop her next song, Franz needs to go out and explore the real world to be able to bring life to his paintings. On his journey, he takes advice from an art critic, Grete, and has a session with real life historical psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud. I don’t want to give anything away but, at the end, there’s one painting you help Franz with. Whether he completes it is up to the choices you make.
Like the last episode, you get to see references to early 20th Century Germany and, as mentioned earlier, Sigmund Freud makes an appearance. You get to see history in the making from the fashions to the farmer’s market.
Slight spoiler alert, Franz not only knows Wilma but actually painted her. If that’s not enough, you get to hear Wilma’s song on the gramophone.
For those of you who explored everything the cabin had to offer, the Grete in this episode is also the same one who sent a love letter to Arthur. You also see another hint for what will take place in Episode 3 when Franz has the opportunity to paint a Mathematician.
The game play is similar to the last episode, with you making dialogue choices for Franz.
As I said in the second paragraph, you get to explore more in this episode than you did in the last one. In the first episode, you had little to no control over where Wilma went next. She stayed in a cabin, listening to the sounds around her for musical inspiration and only left in dreams. With Franz, you could explore the city and actually talk to people to learn how they view the world. You also get to see how Franz views people by the white silhouettes representing the layers of each person’s personality. You even get chances to paint people and ask them questions. What you ask determines how the painting will turn out.
This game is insightful and intriguing. I give it 9 out of 10, it somewhat made me think and managed to get a chuckle out of me at certain points.