Developer Smart Move started in 1992 by creating a first-person adventure with puzzles, the same genre as we know from Myst. It is a bit alike that. It is built out of 2500 pictures of a real existing area: Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. In fact this is a french exclusive adventure game. The production values are actually very good and while playing this game I feel they should have made it available in a broader region. As it was an exclusive french release, this game has become a bit rare. If you spot one, you should get it, especially if you understand the French language!
L'Ange et le Demon is a French adventure game that takes place around the Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. It is up to the player to find an angelic sword that is stolen by the forces of evil.
The game world is made up from 2500 photographs from the area and a large number of puzzles that the player has to solve to end this conflict between good and evil.
L'Ange et le Demon was actually the first project of developer Smart Move, who in the first place didn' t want to create a full game, rather than incorporating educational elements. The historical aspects about the island Mont-Saint-Michel are very significant and precisely recreated in this game. After creating L'Ange et le Demon in 1992 on CD-i, Smart Move went on developing L'imagier du Père Castor in 1995 (pure educational software) and Le Roi des Fjords, another game that is associated with CD-i a few times, but the internet has hidden this very well.
The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times and since the 8th century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudalsociety that constructed it: on top, God, the abbey and monastery; below, the great halls; then stores and housing; and at the bottom, outside the walls, houses for fishermen and farmers. These aspects are very well integrated in the CD-i game.
The commune's position—on an island just a few hundred metres from land—made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey, but defensible as an incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would-be assailants. The island remained unconquered during the Hundred Years' War; a small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433. Louis XI recognised the reverse benefits of its natural defence and turned it into a prison. The abbey was used regularly as a prison during the Ancien Régime. It's a nice addition that you can actually use this CD-i title to explore the island!
This history is nicely integrated in the storyline of the game.
Finally, the real Mont-Saint-Michel. When you have played the game, you will for sure know your history about this remarkable island!
