A pretty long (about 10h for me) gaming experience, a rather immersive narrative, a bit Indiana Jones-esque, slightly erring on the side of the pulp. Pretty focused on its core gameplay of point&click item & puzzle management, despite its narrative being action-themed (go around the world, and obviously, save it from evil evildoers). All in all, puzzles are quite intuitive, through rigourous item management (obviously split in scenes each with specific items) and subtle hints and nudges from character commentary. An enjoyable experience, fresh and immersive. As an old school point & clicker (king's quest, larries; lucasarts, etc, I enjoyed the continuity with refreshing content and production, on par with XXI century. I hope you will too!
This is in my opinion a game destined to a more mature audience, as themes around death, from a philisophical perspective, are at its core. The closest thing I can relate this game, theme-wise would be the Gabriel Knight series of game, but with less adventure, and more angst and despair. The game is not particularly difficult, once you get the specific mechanisms expected. Specifically, whenever you are stuck, tank with Joey, and he'll hint you towards a viable option to go on. The experience, though on the shorter side (about 3 hours I think) is pleaant and deep. The voicing acting is also solid. There is a minor downside to this game though: its awful music. It's loud, ugly, and borderline unbearable. Miles apart from the game itself, no idea why the studio went with this option. There are a few scenes where the music is decent (the hospital, or even the elevator, but, for the most part, you are better off without music if you can. I'm glad I tried this one.
Being a fan of (the original) Doom and Doom 2, and an active PC gamer of the 90's and early 00's, I have played my fair share of FPS (or Doom-like) at that time. Sadly, I had missed (the original) Shadow Warrior entirely, so this title was a discovery for me. The first point to note is that it a complete remaster of the graphics of the original game, as you might notice with the screenshots. But beware, this is a game that is historically accurate as far as late 90's shooters go. So the game play is quite repetitive, the level design a little convoluted, but quite predictable with a clear path forward, a disctict power creep towards heavier guns. Of course it had its own merits, like several character development systems to get additional powers, to customize your playstyle. All of this wourld have probably been worth 3 stars rather than the 4 I went for. 2 reasons for this in my opinion: first of all the game is really dedicated towards giving an authentic 90's gameplay experience, and this, in my eyes, is surprisingly refreshing in this modern day and age. And last but not least, the game is not one bit serious, and has a nice touch of humor, that make me chuckle. Say, a Serious Sam with little subtlety. In the end, my title says it all. Give it a try, I am glad I did.
The experience is quite close to the books' experience: ONE big case, divided in chapters. Don't let the screeshots put you down: the somehow rigid isometric environment, the clunky animations, the visuals don't do the game justice. As for the gameplay, it's the combination of a VERY WELL WRITTEN visual novel, with the easy brain racking of mapping the thoughts of the protagonist (not unlike Crimes & Punishments for example). The Voice acting is solid, and it's mostly about the story. As an added bonus, this story was written with the "usual" specific themes of Hercule Poirot in mind: Aristocrat way of life, the class divide, money, family secrets and love stories. Well, this one checks all the boxes, I think agatha would be proud. If you are looking for a deep story with light gaming moments, this is for you. I enjoyed it, I hope you will too.
