That is strange. Sounds like you should be able to read it then. I wish I could remember. After you used the Captions button did you exit out of the game and go back in? Sometimes you have to do that for the changes to take effect.

***Metamorphium's review*** says
Are you not getting the "captions" for anything?

I don't remember seeing them at all, actually. I will check again. But even then, it's really annoying to not have them in the game itself.

So I read it, all five hundred pages this weekend. It follows the game for the most part. What happens in the game is in the book, some events with a slight twist. However, there is so much more. You learn a lot about characters who appeared in the game. Even characters you barely noticed. Then there are characters who were not in the game. no spoilers here but if you liked the game you should like the book, however, the ending is not quite the same. I get the impression this is a message not to expect a sequel to the game. Of course, there is an opening at the end for our girl to have another adventure.

P.S. Nothing in the book will tell you what to do in the game.

Thanks oldmariner - I loved the game & have (more than ) hinted for the book as a suggestion for a christmas present to me!

Thanks for the info, oldmariner. I haven't gotten the book yet, because like chrissie, I was planning on suggesting it as a gift.

Great to know it expands on the storyline and characters. Sorry to hear that it implies we shouldn't expect a game sequel, though. Not that I am expecting one at this point, but I still have a slight hope.

Looking forward to reading the book.

I have read half the book Culpa Innata so far and it is much better than what I was expecting. I just love it, I don't want to finish it and I will read it again. I will tell you more after I finish reading it, I hope to write a more elaborate review.

Barmanbek is certainly extremely talented with an uncanny sense of observation concerning human behaviour. Despite having played the game a hundred times, all the dialogues in the book are just fascinating to read. It is different enough from the game to make reading it truly worthwhile.

It is really like an extension of the game where you finally get to understand everything that was really going on behind the scene, down to what Phoenix was really up against at the GPSN. We get to see just what it really means to live in the World Union and how twisted and ambitious these people are. She is extremely vulnerable in the book, constantly being slowed in her endeavour, but she is brilliant, becomes more confident and you feel her sense of uniqueness.

I am no longer disappointed that this announcement was not about the adventure game Culpa Innata 2. I could not tell you if I would prefer Culpa Innata 2 the book or the game if I had to choose just one or the other. And the strangest thing is that reading the book is like playing the adventure again but in a more elaborate and meaningful way. You will love what Barmanbek did with Phoenix's first immigration interview at the beginning, it is so powerful compared with the game. I must read that whole passage again where all the internal personal wars at the GPSN come to the front, whilst only Phoenix is unaware of what is really at stake.

When all is considered the main line of the story here is a simple murder investigation (albeit set in the future), the basis of most movies on TV. And yet this is radically different from anything on TV. There is such a wonderful historical background of Eastern Europe behind it filled with the infinite imagination of Barmanbek. The book certainly rates high compared with other classics out there in my opinion. I certainly enjoy reading Culpa Innata much more than I did reading other dystopian novels like Brave New World of Aldous Huxley. Culpa Innata is richer and more believable, more human and emotional as well, despite the fact that this is supposed to be the depiction of a cold world.

I could not possibly have waited until Christmas to read it, I believe anyone who enjoyed the game will love reading the book. I can't wait to finish the book to play the game again, it will be a totally different experience now that I am aware of all the nuances.

Roland Michel Tremblay

Thanks for your comments RMT, it sounds wonderful and I am glad you are enjoying it.

Ana

RMT -- that was very helpful, thank you!

Thanks for the terrific review, rmt! My excitement for the book just went up substantially.

I don't know that I'll ever stop hoping for a game version of Culpa 2, but good to know that the novel added so much depth into a story that already had a lot of depth. It sounds as though we actually find out more about what is going on behind the scenes in the World Union, which I really look forward to.

Also, good to know that we find out more about Phoenix. In a way, I felt like game version Phoenix held herself back from the player, if that makes any sense. It was a very smart writing decision because I thought Phoenix was repressed, so it made sense that she would do that. However, it sounds as if the novel gives you more access to her private thoughts and feelings, so I'm looking forward to that. Also looking forward to that first immigration interview you mentioned.

Just out of curiosity - and you don't have to spoil too much if you don't want to - do we find out about any of the other unanswered mysteries in the novel, such as the Renovators and Mata Hari? I realize you may not have gotten this far yet, but I was just wondering if these things were addressed.

Without spoiling anything, the renovators are present from the start as some mysterious organisation behind some of what is happening. I think we will find out much more about them. We have full characters concerning them plotting against Phoenix, two agents called Crane and the Mantis, and we get to know what they think as well. We have explanations for many things that were not explained in the game. Mata Hari so far I have not read much about her.

Phoenix is now fully three dimensional, and more, as she has a new AI friend with whom she converses all the time about philosophical questions like how can she trust her instincts and intuition when those are not very scientific arguments upon which you can base any decision. There is now a whole philosophy of life incorporated within the story, it is fascinating.

And you are right Venus, I realise how we missed a lot within the game that is now in the novel about Phoenix. She is far from just going on with her life in the World Union, quite the contrary. She has fears, she has always been a misfit and it does not seem that she wants or can fit in.

I know now why the game is called Culpa Innata, it is a brilliant idea. And the answer comes from that horrifying 8th grader in the school with the fake Arrivee tattoo on her forehead. For some reason in the novel her behaviour really reaches out to you in an incredible manner. She is talking like you would expect a banker or politician to speak like (in private) in this day and age. That 8th grader must be unique in all of literature, I could write a whole novel just about her and never run out of interesting ideas.

I agree with what you said RMT having read the whole thing in three sittings this weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner two days early because two friends were visiting and have to work today. She picked up the book and started leafing through it never having heard of Culpa Innata the game or any other computer game for that matter. She had never heard of the author either. In short time she had read forty-eight pages. Her comment was "Wow, too bad our heroine is a blond otherwise I could really get into her." I could not let that rest. Phoenix as a blond is one of several changes from game to book the author took. Julius, the old man with the mop becomes Art among other things. I could not let that rest as there are lots of videos of the game on You Tube. I fired up a twelve minute scene, part one of game walk through showing the real Phoenix, Morrison and a few others. She was amazed offering yet another comment. "Now I can see our heroine, her demanding boss, the obnoxious Julio, the building she detests, I love it. A picture forms while reading giving me clearer views of Phoenix and the environs and I can really like this girl." Needless to say the book is thirty miles from here and I would not be surprised to field a request to borrow the game in the near future.

Even the music of the world of Culpa Innata has not been left to chance, it is almost depressing for any creative mind out there. As if we were witnessing a whole bunch of great creative thinkers from one eastern european country coming together to create something simply just amazing. And it only reached us because somehow it was translated for us. One must move on from jealousy at being able to produce such great art manifested in many formats on many fronts coming together, and just admire such genius.

Even the music of Culpa Innata inspires a great deal. Here is my playlist on Youtube that others put together somehow:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL208ACC46916978B4

Thanks for the info, rmt! Glad to hear that the Renovators are present throughout the novel; hopefully that means they got a lot more development than they did in the game. Interesting that the young girl from the Child Development Center has such a significant role. She was pretty minor in the game, I thought. I'm intrigued. What about Roger Arnett? He was my favorite character in the game, along with Phoenix and Dagmar. Is he in the novel? And thanks for the YouTube link! The game does have great music.



Um, what difference does it make what color her hair is? As a blonde myself, I protest this line of thinking. That's odd that they changed her hair color and Julius's name, though. I wonder what the reason behind that was. Glad to hear your friend got into the book as well as the game, oldmariner. I hope that doesn't mean you'll never see them again.

Venus, you know how it is with some people who are not blond regarding blonds. As for name changes and hair color changes who knows? The differences were minor and those of us who played the game recognize the difference. Roger does play a vital part late in the game. Those who did not play the game will not be aware of the changes. There was more than one name change, all minor characters if I recall. Perhaps someone in the know will enlighten us. I am not too worried about not seeing the one who borrowed the book again as I am good about nagging. My friend has been a close associate for close to forty years so he is not going anywhere. She is a second wife of several years I doubt there is a problem there.