The Sexy Brutale

These kind of experiences come so very rarely. Story kept me going from the beginning until the end and I was gladly surprised about the length of the game. It was also the most unusual surprise as pretty much everything was better than I even hoped for. Mechanically game is very well done. I didn't encounter any bugs at all, the animations were _superb_ and it had very distinct style all the way. Music was another really cool thing which fit the game perfectly. Install on an SSD if possible! Only gripe with the game for me were the transitions from room to room, as they seem to load quite a lot of information. I tried it with a normal HDD but it really was quite horrible experience. SSD changed that totally and was able to enjoy it fully.

Without spoiling anything, all I can say is that you relive the same period, in a big mansion, and you must save the party’s guests. The trick is that you can’t directly interact with the characters that are soon getting murdered, all you can do is alter the environment somehow. I love when games come with new concepts like this, but unfortunately The Sexy Brutale’s puzzles are a mix between easy and moon logic. The overarching story is ok, but you’ll end up not doing much puzzling but mostly reading (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Rating: Groundhog Day without any groundhogs. https://pixelloot.com

That game spoke out to me, with its graphics, the way it is played, its general style. Once I had it, I dived headlong into it. It is definitly very enjoyable. It sadly left me behind with a bad taste because of the following two things (Spoilers of course): 1) It is too short. Very much so. I was getting into it, waiting for the challenges to get greater, and... suddenly it was done. Too easy, too short. I think all in all I spent about 10 hours in the game, and thats with starting anew because I thought I missed something, listening to everything, just to know it, and finding everything. 2) The story is intriguing, fascinating, and mysterious - until it gets bland, boring and crash lands. I feared the story coming a mile away, and sadly was not disappointed. Before it was really nice, I was eager t find out more (only to find out that was it, see 1), and after I knew more, I was just hoping that it is done soon.) The way the boring story is done, is worse than the story itself. There would have been more potential, much more. Yes, it was somehow interesting for 1 or 2 seconds, but it was not giving something. Like satisfaction. Also the end feels VERY rushed. Without need the gameplay is taken from your hands, you are forced into the end sequence, have all this dialogue - even if you do it a second, third, etc. time. ("choices") Confounded with the above two: It is too easy. I was waiting for the game to throw something more complicated at me than throwing abutton at the right time. Actually thinking for the solution. One of the "major" steps I accomplished by accident. There should have been someone trying to make it more complicated. That said, the scenario of the game is great. The gameplay and athmosphere is great. The attention to detail i superb. If you think of it as more of a story experienced through interesting gameplay, then it gets better. But that was not what I was expecting. It was hard deciding between 3 and 4 stars, but since I enjoyed myself while it lasted, and was really hooked into it, the 4 stars are alright.

It looks like a lot of people liked the ending - I didn't, I preferred the dark humor and was very confused by the tone shift and plot dump at the end. But if you are intrigued reading the game description and wonder if you'll like it - get it, you'll like it! It really is a unique game. Even though the puzzles are not very puzzling, it has enough detective gameplay to satisfy.

Let me start by saying this is barely a puzzle game. The solutions are almost always obvious (I solved what should have been a difficult puzzle by accident) so if you're in it for the brain-melting gameplay you'll be disappointed. The story is interesting, if minimal. The ending is kind of crap. Without any spoilers: it reeks of wannabe Bioware signature moral choice. So why the four stars? It's hard to explain--if that intrigues you then you really ought to give it a shot. The art is charming, the tone is both dark and light-hearted, the characters are expressive and the mansion is both beautiful and terrifying. It all comes together. That's the real magic in this game. It ought not to (the flaws are glaring), but it still just works. If you just want an off-beat adventure to take up an afternoon, there aren't much better games than this.