I started playing Blackwell Epiphany at 7:00 PM. By 00:00 AM I realized I was going to finish it in one go. By 01:30 I was on the edge of my seat, mouth literally (I mean literally) open, and not even caring I had to work the next morning. How many points should a game review cover? Is that something professional reviewers do? Take notes? I suppose it depends on the game. But I couldn't be bothered with putting down my mouse. Let me tell you. Blackwell Epiphany must be one of the better written narratives in the last decade. If you liked the saga, this title will provide the climax ending you craved when Deception ended. At first I didn't like how the game puzzles were constructed. It seems like a trivial matter, but it takes effort and know-how to guide the player through a graphic adventure game. I feel that's a lost art these days, and Blackwell Epiphany takes some time to get used to. At least it did for me. I was tempted to look at a walkthrough once or twice, but the game is well balanced in terms of difficulty. It will squeeze your brain just right. Once you have spent a couple of hours on it, you will just flow through it. And there's when the story comes in. [...] Apparently I wrote too long a review. You can read the rest here if you like reading fanboys praising games :D : pastebin(dot)com/QmPEDsS9 (Just a pastebin, don't get your panties on a bunch!)
I was going to put this at the end, but then I realized it's something important: I like this game very much, but I lost interest. I don't think I'll finish it. If this sounds like you, keep an eye for that. I'm too young to have played the classic dungeon crawlers this game imitates, but I feel that, by delivering such beautiful graphics and sound design, this game brings me closer to what I would've felt back in those days playing one of those games. The game just flows. As they say, easy to get started, difficult to master. You will get stuck though, and you will thank your particular god for the Internet and the guides therein.
If you like light puzzle games with are you will like this. It's very, very light on the storytelling side, but very atmospheric. At times the atmosphere made me think me of Abe's Oddysee, Limbo and even Portal, Primordia and Little Big Planet. Puzzles, although they are not linked to the "plot" per se, never feel superficial. They are thought out and will reward you with a feeling of accomplishment when you complete them. I usually get stuck in puzzle games waiting for the realization to slap me, but with this game it seems I spent just the right amount of time thinking. Not too much, not too little. It is short though. I completed the game in two sessions of two hours, and the ending feels a bit anticlimactic. But nevertheless, I felt this was money well spent. If it was longer, it would require more story to avoid getting repetitive. They could've expanded a bit on certain mechanic I won't spoil, but all in all, this game delivers.
