Resonance

If you're cool with retro graphics, you'll find an entertaining adventure game that manages to recycle all the best puzzles from the genre, and wrap it all up in an intriguing and mature plot.

Resonance has a lot to like. Its storytelling is solid, if not groundbreaking. Where Resonance most excels is the way story is woven into gameplay considerations. I cannot say much more on that topic without spoilers. Suffice it to say it does tweak the adventure game formula in ways old - e.g. switching between multiple characters - and new, such as a "Long Term Memory" system that provides an additional inventory of plot points. While no adventure game will send the player away without one or two harrowing puzzles one might wish had been cut, Resonance does better than most. The puzzles are largely sensible and pleasing, as opposed rubbing rubber ducks from your inventory over all the scenery. There are even a number of obstacles in the game with multiple solutions. Resonance does have its flaws. The story takes a slow pace for a good chunk of the game, requiring faith upfront that it's all going somewhere. In a more open mid-game section, the on-demand character switching can be as frustrating as it is fun or interesting, threatening to overwhelm the player with (largely fruitless) additional choices while only seeing real use in a handful of puzzles. I agree with the reviewer who noted that the Short Term Memory system is more often frustrating and a red herring than it is a justified part of the game. (The player can specifically mark items in the environment in order to bring them up in later conversation.) A single memory system that simply rewarded the player for examining important objects, rather than offering to let the player "bank" every single hotspot on screen, would likely have provided a smoother experience. I would wholeheartedly recommend Resonance to anyone who is a fan of the adventure genre. Interesting design meets a solid story. That story is a little slow to pick up speed, but it will engross you sooner or later and show you some fascinating and clever uses of the genre's tropes and mainstays as it does.

I really liked this game. Wadjet games never disappoints.

Aside from two puzzles that stick out in my mind as being truly frustrating, Resonance is a good pulp sci-fi adventure game. It is not the greatest P&C adventure game at all, but the in the end I have to award it a solid 4 out of 5 even if the ending is awful. But to be fair, what adventure game doesn't have an awful ending? It certainly isn't perfect but it does have it where it matters - and I certainly don't regret picking up a copy.

Resonance was a pleasant surprise. I finished the whole game in one afternoon, which might be short for some people, but for this game it felt just right. The story was interesting, so were the characters and it has beautiful graphics. The puzzles were good, too, not too difficult but not easy either. I'd definitely recommend it to fans of old-school point&click games. The only major downside for me was the short-term memory system used in conversations, which usually ended up being frustrating.