Posted on: July 29, 2020
Ssynesh
Verified ownerGames: 110 Reviews: 7
The first puzzle-based game I ever liked
Usually I'm not a fan of puzzle games or adventure games with puzzles as the center stage of of their gameplay. Those tend to be essentially walking simulators with bare bones puzzles and pretty visuals. The interactivity with the enviroment is limited if not absent in those cases, and with some severe cases of moon logic to boot. This is not the case for Westmark Manor. First of all, this game is not a straight line between exibition points, those do accour but they happen naturally as you explore the open ended mansion, diverting your eye and attention for brief moments, aided by camera shifts and voice acting. In that case the mansion is almost a Metroid-style in its exploration, requiring the player to find or craft objects scattered through the mansion in either pre-designed locations or by looking through random items in hope to get useful items and not some sanity draining random event. Then there's the puzzle rooms which effectivly are the main pieces of the game, but you are free to solve each one in what ever other you can or wish. The only requirement for you is to solve a fine amount, but I'm willing to bet that which room you decided to do over others will change at least some elements of the ednging. It must be noted that there seems to be a timer to each playthrough, but the main game doesn't seem to be excessivly long or straightforward so giving it another attempt if the time runs out doesn't come out as a punishment for me. And finally there's the design and theme of the game. It's ineherently Lovecraftian but it's not the same derivitive copy-paste homage to the author works (Like the Call of Cthulhu, Dark Corners of the Earth or Stygian), rather it uses it's Gothic atmosphere with elements of Cosmic Horror in a decent balance. Making it, for me, one of the best portray of Lovecraft's world. My biggest complain? Lack of mouse support. You can only play this game with a keyboard or a controller. I can't understand why, but it's not the worst.
Is this helpful to you?
