I played through Elsinore over the weekend. I was a little worried before playing it would be like eating my vegetables but it kept me engaged, especially thanks to being able to fast-forward time and having the events I’d already seen reoccur regardless of whether or not I witness them. At its best, the game plays up the ridiculousness of what can happen in Shakespeare. The melodramatic highlights for me were the ghost ending, Hamlet killing Claudius and the hilariously creepy and nihilistic Power path.
In terms of quieter moments, my favorite ending was the one where Polonius finally internalizes that nobody respects him despite his decades of service. An important side effect of centering Ophelia that I hadn’t expected is that her family members Polonius and Laertes become more fleshed-out characters as well.
Another big change of emphasis from Hamlet to Elsinore is the political aspects are emphasized, especially since Prince Fortinbras doesn’t just suddenly show up at the end anymore. After playing this I have a much better understanding of the tension in Hamlet, which is not just about interpersonal conflicts at the court but also looming external menace exacerbated by Claudius’s mismanagement and Hamlet and Polonius’s inadequacy to fix things. If everybody is going insane it’s partly because of the cognitive dissonance of having this enemy army marching through Denmark but Claudius, like a sort of Chamberlain, insisting it’s cool because they agreed to be allies and nobody is allowed to contradict him. I gather this was all implied in the original play but completely flew over my head.
Another reason this game is successful is the aspect of bizarre richocheting contingencies and paths not taken is a huge part of the original. First of all, “if Hamlet had just gone ahead and killed Claudius what would have happened exactly anyway?”, is a question the play doesn’t ask but is at the front of the audience’s mind. The game comes up with several possible answers which also clarify why he might’ve been so reluctant. Also the whole complicated sequences Laertes and Hamlet both leaving on boats and returning and then getting advice from some particular people and not others, and all those particular details driving the ending, I now understand were not just Shakespeare machinating plot points to get a particular scenario where everyone suddenly dies, but also a commentary on how contingent history is. And that connects back to my last point about Hamlet also being about the history of a kingdom, not just a bunch of people.
In general I appreciated this game in large part as a learning tool for understanding some facets of the original better, which is a truly complex and alien play that nowadays begs for aids and critical discussion. By cutting out the difficult Shakespearean language (wisely given that writing pseudo-Shakespeare for all the new scenes is bound to fail) and adding gamey elements, Elsinore provides a new way of abridging Hamlet that emphasizes theme and structure. It only communicates a facet of Hamlet, but I found it quite faithful and thoughtful with respect to that facet, especially as it’s always clear enough what was in the original and what is an invention. I still have a critical edition of Hamlet on my bookshelf gathering dust, and perhaps I’ll revisit Shakespeare’s beautiful language later, now less disoriented.