I didn't know anything about the Darkside Detective series, but I loved the retro pixelated graphics from the store description and decided to try it out. When I first started the game and saw how simplistic the controls are (basically just clicking and moving left/right/up/down) my first impression was that it was going to be lame. But the music and graphics had my attention so I kept playing. I'm so glad I did! I agree with others that have said some of the puzzles are very easy...but not all of them! There were a few times I really had to think about which items could be combined or who I needed to talk to for another clue. More importantly, the stories and characters are awesome and genuinely funny. I loved the dialogue and banter between the two main characters and found myself wishing there were more cases. Then I found out there was a sequel and bought it right away.
I really liked this game, but whoa, was it different than I expected. When I read the description, it talked about a journalist who investigates the death of her grandfather and searches for clues while coming to terms with her past. It does mention right at the end of the description "The truth is dark and sinister…" but that's an understatement.... Having just played Thimbleweed Park, and the tagline of Kathy Rain being "A Detective Is Born", I was excited to give this a try. Plus, I love 90's pixelated point and click adventure games. The game starts out with Kathy in her dorm room when her bubbly roommate tells her that she read that her grandfather passed away and suggests that she go home for the funeral. You learn pretty quickly that Kathy has a tense relationship with her family and had a difficult childhood. Once the funeral is over, Kathy's grandma explains that her grandfather had actually been catatonic for a decade after a terrible accident years earlier. Since Kathy's mom had taken her away, she never knew any of this. As you learn more about the story, it seems like there's way more to it and Kathy decides to investigate to find out what really happpened. It starts off typically enough... but it very quickly goes from Nancy Drew to Unsolved Mysteries which I was not prepared for. We're talking about things like mysterious lights in the forest, ancient prophecies, creepy dreams, computers that start randomly typing things like "I SEE YOU", occult groups, dead kids that talk to you, etc. Personally, I found a lot of the images very unsettling and preferred to play during the day. It's just...nothing in the game description led me to think that I was about to challenge an ancient prophet from the abyss. Beautiful graphics, great voice acting, intriguing story and fun puzzles. Just way creepier than I anticipated, so I wanted to focus my review there in case anyone else gets unsettled easily and wants to shy away from that sort of theme.
In Irony Curtain, the main character is a 20-something "journalist" in the USA who idolizes a country called Matryoshka which he has grown up to believe is a communist paradise. Through a series of events, he ends up being invited there and is thrown into a conspiracy plot with lots of twists and turns. The more time he spends there, the more he begins to realize that what he saw in posters and magazines was only what they wanted people to see. Despite this somewhat heavy premise, the game is actually funny, and I was impressed with how the developers managed to achieve that considering the subject matter. Visually, I found the design and graphics to be beautiful and I enjoyed looking at all of the details in each scene. I didn't look too much into the plot before I decided to try out the game, so I was invested in the story and what was going to happen next. One thing I didn't realize before playing the game was that there would be puzzles, so be aware of that. Things like putting something in the right order or connecting a switchboard to create certain shapes. Puzzles aren't usually my thing but they weren't advanced and there wasn't an excessive amount. Overall the game isn't an expert-level difficulty, it's clever and fun. This is not the type of game where you find out halfway through that you forgot to do something important and have to restart. You can't die, you can't do anything wrong and most of the clues/answers are "hidden in plain sight". I find that there's a level of enjoyment in all levels of difficulty and sometimes it's nice to have the assurance that you're not doing a bunch of stuff for nothing. The characters were fun, the voice acting was great, the story was interesting and the graphics were beautiful. If you're a fan of easygoing point and click adventure games that aren't designed to be mind-bendingly difficult, I think you're really going to enjoy this one. I wish it was longer!
I was pleasantly surprised at this game! I had never heard of it before, but based on the screenshots it seemed like an old-school point-and-click game that I would enjoy. When the game started up and I realized it literally only has two actions (look and use) I thought there was no way it could be challenging but I gave it a shot. The Good: I thought the story was unique and fun and I was invested in it. The music was also decent for a game of that time. In the beginning, I thought it was going to be too simple because of the controls but as the game went on and I started accumulating inventory items I realized that wouldn't be the case. This is definitely a game that will make you think outside of the box. The Meh: As others have mentioned, some of the logic was way out there. There were multiple times I found myself in the inventory just clicking items together to see if anything would work. At times it was frustrating and didn't make sense. Overall: I gave this three stars but to me, that's not a bad thing. This is not a 4 or 5 star game like Kings Quest, Monkey Island, Kyrandia, etc but its also not an awful game at all. As frustrating as some of the logic was, I think I would have been more disappointed if it was just easy and I didn't have to think. Expect to do a lot of guessing and a lot of clicking but it's pretty satisfying once you figure it out. I had fun.
I'm not sure if it always is, but when I found this game it was free, and when I saw the screenshots and the style of game I said why not?! Due to it being free I don't think any harsh criticism of this game is necessary but I'll still give my honest opinion of the good and meh parts: The Good: It's a whimsical point-and-click adventure game that will easily provide 5-10 hours of entertainment. For people like me who grew up with these types of games, it was a nostalgic experience. If you are the kind of person that enjoys games where you can't die and lose all your progress, this game is for you. The puzzle styles are not complicated or advanced and most are pretty obvious, with a few slightly more difficult ones thrown in. The Meh: The controls are a little clunky so there were a few times I didn't even realize there were other paths or exits or items to pick up. Some of the puzzles were a little TOO simplistic, such as items that I knew I'd need to get and I would assume I'd need to put some things together or distract someone only to find out all I had to do was ask for it. However, as the game went on that seemed to happen less. The main meh thing I would say about the game is that I wasn't super invested in the main character. As someone who has played Kings Quest, Space Quest, Kyrandia, Monkey Island & Thimbleweed Park, I'm used to finding myself cheering for the characters or at least liking them. I felt like Joe King in this game was just ok. He wasn't particularly funny, witty, or likeable. Overall: I gave this game 4 out of 5 stars because you can't go wrong with a free point and click adventure game. Sure, it's no masterpiece, but it grew on me as the game went on and I'm happy I gave it a try. The fact that I was able to play a nostalgic game like this in 2021 was really fun and I was entertained. Give it a try and give it some time to get going and you'll be glad you did.
