Kathy Rain looks and feels like a classic '90s LucasArts adventure game but follows a more modern design where you almost always know where to go and what to do next, eliminating the guesswork that was a common problem with the older titles. The puzzles are perfectly logical (if not entirely obvious here and there) and there are just enough hints to keep you on the right path, so you're unlikely to get stuck if you pay attention. The game's story is quite compelling, starting off mundanely enough before taking a turn for the weird and unusual, with an occasional Twin Peaks or I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (the game, not the short story) vibe. The characters are believable, the titular Kathy being particularly likeable, and they're all very well acted. The presentation is rounded out by detailed hand-drawn graphics kept in the '90s aesthetic, and really nice and atmospheric music. The only drawback to Kathy Rain I can think of without nitpicking is the ending which leaves a number of questions unanswered, some of them rather big. Everything else I could name is a technical matter and most likely due to the limitations of Adventure Game Studio, which is none of the dev team's fault. I can very much recommend this game to anyone who enjoys adventure games, particularly classic titles from the '90s by the likes of LucasArts, Sierra or Revolution, as well as fans of good storytelling.
I thought Absolution was pretty bad. The story, the characters, the mechanics, the level design, even the music - it was all wrong. There were a few rare moments when everything clicked together and for a while there I felt like I was playing a worthy sequel to Blood Money, but it happened twice in the entire game? Maybe three times? In fact, the Contracts mode felt the most like Hitman, overall. To me, this game is like a high-budget, star-filled Hollywood remake of a classic film that never needed a remake in the first place. So instead of Blood Money 2 we got more of a Michael Bay's Hitman. But at least David Bateson is still the voice of 47.