I'm far more forgiving of titles such as Asylum, whose developers provide updates on progress, while this title has been in indefinite stasis since the initial announcement. Even at a 'sale' cost of seven-tenths of a US dollar, the fact that 'early access' hasn't been changed or altered in over three years makes it almost a crime to continue demanding any price of admission for this 'game.' This incomplete version of The Mansion, indeed, would be more-accurately described and presented as a BETA or Prologue or DEMO or Preview, and appropriately offered as a free preview or concept, and not as a complete work. Forever Entertainment S. A. should be ashamed of their long-term efforts to collect monies for an abandoned development, and far more ashamed if it's due to a dissolution of the studio. In addition, I feel GOG bears some of the burden in these abandoned & failed projects. They should be playing a FAR MORE proactive role in verification and status checks of these sorts of projects instead of continuing to collect funds for themselves and on behalf of truly abandoned projects. The obvious lack of such checks and balances places some serious doubts on GOG's credibility of a so-called 'curated' collection of offerings.
It truly is a "tale of corruption in the land of the dead." My brother and I landed on this game when it was new, and we had no idea what to expect from it. Decades later, we both agree it's worthy on the lists of 10-best Adventure Games of all time. Manny(Manuel) Calavera is an agent of the Department Of Dead(DOD). Manny doesn't seem to be able to fulfill his quota of selling departed souls their deserved tickets to the Number-Nine train to the underworld, so he goes investigating, drawing a demon(Glottis) and another soul (Mercedes Colomar) into his investigation. With voice acting by Tony Plana as Manny, it's an exceptional adventure. "My scythe. I like to keep it close to where my heart used to be."
The crew that made this game did an exceptional job in putting this together, right down to the campy acting and other wonderful quirks which made The 7th Hour and The 11th Guest such delightfully fun romps at their times of release. More impressive is the team's ability to lure Robert Hirschboeck back into the role of being Henry Stauf once again. From the maniacal laugh to the demonic-sounding growl, and the video appearances, Mr. Hirschboeck's appearance makes this game instantly legitimate as part of the series because, to put it bluntly, anyone other than Mr. Hirschboeck in the role of Henry Stauf could not have made The 13th Doll anything more than a cheap and unfinished continuation. The devs put their hearts and souls into this project, and it shows, as they're bigger fans of the franchise than I thought I was. I latched onto their efforts back when they swore it would be free upon release, but I lost interest after a long time of nothing. When I finally checked in again, I gladly paid for the $13 or whatever it cost, just because I wanted to support the group, and found they had delivered everything I'd hoped for. The Team, Trilobyte, Mr. Hirschboeck, Devine, Landeros, and all others, have collaborated wonderfully to let this happen, and I think it's exceptional.
Ancient Egypt, Easter Island, the lost Anasazi culture, as well as the Mayans all come together in this adventure which culminates in the lost city of Atlantis. Sounds farfetched? Sure, it is. But it's a cool ride! The artwork cannot be praised more than possible for a game that *demanded* a 256-color pallette, even when Windows95/OSR2, Win98/SE were the dominant OS platforms, with millions of colors possible at the time. Many a screenshot from this game were used for my wallpapers, most notably, the upright sarcophagus upon entering the pyramid. Environmental sounds were quite good for the time, with music being a standout in the Anasazi caves. Puzzles are simple to obscure, depending on your tolerance of 'moon logic.' The biggest setback for me was always the Egyptian 'crystal' room, which is no longer a problem for me. It's simply observation and application, or just trial and error. Eventually, you land on a solution. Artwork of the Egyptian, Mayan and Anasazi worlds is completely stunning. While washed-out by today's standards, they still managed to flesh-out worlds in a *mandatory* 256-color rendition. How does Cyberpunk or other games compare to this accomplishment? They don't, because they can't, or they won't. There's a rather weak performance from the guy you're chasing on his quest, while the rest of the characters make up for the Professor's lack of interest. It's not simple or easy, but it's a game well worth trying out.
