One of the comments appears to point out quite a few bugs related to ScummVM. Since it's from 2023, I just wanted to make sure these bugs were known issues, and maybe have been fixed since then.
Anonymous25 August 2023 at 23:54
(6 years later)
I played through this game for the first time recently. I decided to drop ScummVM for DOSBox after about an hour of pathfinding frustration. After reading these postings on the game, I thought I'd point out some things that you experienced that may be down to bugs in ScummVM.
1) NPCs don't seem to ever get stuck in DOSBox, as opposed to ScummVM. Ratpouch always follows the player and never gets stuck in alleys.
2) The difference in pathfinding, especially with multiple characters on screen, is like night and day. ScummVM is slow and torturous for everything to resolve, while in DOSBox it's much more pleasant. This is the reason I switched!
3) I tried many times, but I don't believe you can sneak into the monastery behind a monk. You have to wait until you get the book to get into the monastery. Probably another ScummVM glitch.
4) Goewin doesn't teleport into the next cave room in DOSBox. You have to manipulate the skulls to let her catch up with you. Maybe this is another ScummVM bug?
5) When you follow Wayne the Skorl into the shop, at least using DOSBox, he appears to end a conversation abruptly, leaving Ewan confused. I think he says something about it being a final warning? Anyway, it's an indication to spy through the window, which has indeed been an option all game and not something that appears out of nowhere.
6) As has been mentioned in a comment, there should be an animation when you get carried away in the barrel. It's completely unskippable in DOSBox, so the fact that you accidentally skipped it is likely another ScummVM bug.
7) You mentioned that the game told you every barrel in the cellar was empty. If so, that's likely a ScummVM bug. One of them has a different description and indicates that you can open it.
It looks like another ScummVM bug allowed you to "solve" the drawbridge puzzle incorrectly. If you tell the Skorl to go to the cellar when wine isn't actively pouring out of the barrel, he'll return and hunt you down, even into the drawbridge mechanism room. You won't have the time to solve it and get to the drawbridge before getting punched out. The only way to solve it is, as you looked up later, using the tongs on the wine barrel.
Honestly, your overall assessment is pretty spot on, but ScummVM is so problematic and full of niggles that I don't think it gives an entirely accurate reflection of the game. In fact, my first 3 points were mentioned as negatives in the Puzzles and Solvability section!
I think it would have gotten at least 45 if played natively with DOSBox.
I'm glad these frustrations about the game not being more exceptional (other than having a very approachable interface) aren't just me. I've just played through this from a retail disc in dosbox and can also second everything anonymous has said, especially about the puzzles and pathfinding and monks' room.
