Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper is a point-and-click adventure game set in the world of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr Watson. This time you are up against the infamous Jack the Ripper, and have to solve the mysteries surrounding some pretty gruesome murders. The game offers players two different perspectives: a third-person view in the pure style of traditional point ’n’ click adventure games and a first-person view for close-up investigation. This helps with some of the frustrating pixel-hunting you have to do to find the clues.
Sherlock Holmes: Nemsis is a point-and-click adventure game set in the world of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr Watson. The game is set in London where you get to go up against your nemesis, Arséne Lupin, who is causing all sorts of mayhem around the city. The puzzles are challenging, so don't feel bad if you have to refer to a walkthough or use the built-in progressive hint system.. Overall, I thought the settings around London were very well done, and I enjoyed the story. Some of it was frustrating, but it felt good to get through the game and solve everything!
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is a point-and-click adventure game set in the world of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr Watson. This game includes an investigation into the myth of Cthulhu, as imagined by author H.P. Lovecraft. There is still the annoying pixel-hunting to find the clues, but with this remastered edition you have the ability to switch between 1st person and 3rd person views, which can help a bit. Overall, I enjoyed the game and didn't find it as frustrating as some of the other entries in the series. Further remastering took place for the 2023 edition of the game.
Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring is a point-and-click adventure game set in the world of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr Watson. I got through the game, but it was a pretty frustrating experience! Finding the clues was an annoying hunt-the-pixel exercise, and the puzzles were often not logical and i had to refer to a walkthough. The graphics are dated, the controls are awkward, and movement is very slow. This is probably not the Sherlock Holmes game you're looking for!
I didn't enjoy Risen 3: Titan Lords as much as the first two Risen games, but would still recommend it. It's an awkward mix of medieval-based fantasy and pirate themes, and the clunky combat is still there. I didn't find the story as engaging as the previous titles, but got through it to complete the trilogy.
Risen 2: Dark Waters is the piratey sequel to Risen. Again, the environments are expansive and beautiful, and you get to explore a series of contrasting islands. The combat system is still difficult to get to grips with, but the sheer amount of content in this game makes it a recommended title if you enjoy RPGs. There is so much to do that you can easily sink 50+ hours into the game to complete the main quest and most of the side quests.
Risen is a successor to the Gothic games, and is an RPG well worth your time. However, it doesn't hold your hand and there is a lot of exploration and talking to NPCs to fill out your quest log. The combat system takes a bit of getting used to, but the environments are huge, expansive and beautiful. The story is good, but you can venture of the main quest line for hours doing other things, which I personally think is the sign of an excellent RPG!
Not as good as Gothic 1 and 2, but still another very decent RPG from Piranha Bytes. It's a pretty old game, so you'll need to embark on a quest of patching and tweaking before you can actually play the game on modern hardware, but it's definitely worthwhile! If you liked the style of Gothic 1 and 2, then I would say give this a go.
Gothic 2 is probably the best game in the Gothic series. It improves on the original Gothic in a number of ways but keeps the same formula, which makes these games something special amongst the many fantasy RPGs out there. Note that it's a game from 2005, so you'll need to do some patching and fixing to get it to work well on modern hardware, but it's definitely worth it. I would put this is my top 10 list of RPGs of all time! This Gold edition also includes the excellent Night of the Raven expansion.
Gothic is an old RPG from 2001, so be prepared to do some patching and tweaking to get it running well on modern hardware, but it's definitely worth it. The game is brutal at first and simulates well what it must be like to be a new inmate at a prison colony. You are nothing and need to work your way up from there, fighting, gathering and trading, talking to everyone and figuring out which of the factions in the camp you're going to side with. It isn't easy, but it is a rewarding journey.
