Ha!! Thanks in part to Erkki and Cavebear I finally managed to figure out how to work the stupid-ass demo. The original version didn't like AMD processors (I have an Athlon) and a patch fixed it. The trick, I finally discovered, was to copy and paste the patch .exe into the install folder of the original demo,
then actually install the whole thing,
and then run the demo
by clicking the patch .exe within the game folder, not by clicking the original .exe icon. My main complaint after that was that I was't able to custom map the control keys (I'm lefthanded). But it was still playable, thanks to a simplified system where I needed only a few keys so that I was able use my right fingers to run around and the mouse to navigate. The game was also giving popping sounds (I guess it didn't like my integrated sound card, either) so I had to switch it to mono.
Anyway, I can now ascertain why so many people loved this game. It's extremely story driven and the characters, though predictably conceived, earned my sympathy quickly. The gameworld is also designed to be inviting and comfortable, and fully explorable. I love the vaguely RPG system of getting jobs and earning money to maintain your (Jade's) life and take care of your dependents, and earning pearls to upgrade your means of getting around.
The action and combat parts are too prominent to make this an adventure game, of course, but the experience of exploring, figuring out challenges, rich storytelling, and overall deeply thought out gameworld certainly shows the heavy influence of adventures.
I'd love to get the entire game. Once I have the exra 'dineros', of course.
