4 hours into "Willy Beamish" and I ran out of save files...

Yeah, I get it, it's the west side of town...

I'm 4 hours into The Adventures of Willy Beamish and I still can't grasp what happened. The game changed from a cozy, "play as a ten year old"-simulator into a "death around every corner" trial-and-error debacle, up to the point where it's just not fun anymore. I can totally remember now why I never finished this game more than once back in the day... After procuring myself a registration form for the frog jump, I got stuck on the other side of the river because I couldn't get back on the ferry. I explored some without really finding anything, until suddenly a gang showed up and, well, ganged up on me for some reason. Took me a while to figure out how to escape from them...

Jump, Horny, jump!

Then back home it was immediately on to day four and the big event! The frog jump took me several tries as well before Horny was victorious. But it's what happens next that really made me run through all my save slots. Looking for Horny after the competition, I get caught by a security guard. I lost count of the number of times I had to restore, but this sequence is a timed event and you only have precious seconds to perform just the right actions so you can escape.

Turns out the solution to this is found in the game's manual...

Next, I learned that the big villain of the story, Leona Humpford, has taken all the frogs to their mansion for dinner. Well, not to serve them dinner, they ARE dinner. So of course I need to rescue them. I think this mansion alone took me an hour of gaming, with a talking parrot first giving away my presence, then Leona herself and her henchman Louis, and of course the knife-throwing chef in the kitchen catching me time and time again. Once again, there's a set series of actions you have to perform to get past this sequence. Do one thing wrong, and it's game-over. I kept saving (over older save files by now) every step I took. And when I finally succeeded, I didn't believe it and I restored again thinking I still did something wrong, because the final cutscene starts in exactly the same way many of the game-over scenes do, with Willy getting caught by Leona and Louis and thrown into an aquarium as a new treasure ornament.

Still don't know what's so appealing about frog legs...

So finally I escaped the mansion with all the frogs - or, well, they escaped with me, I should say... Now I'm back on the west side of town where I'm supposed to save my dad, but I have absolutely no idea how to go about that, and if the gameplay is anything like the last two hours, I'm sure to be busy for at least another two!

"PRIM", my Adventure Game Hotspot review

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "While it does have a few creative tricks up its sleeve, PRIM is very much a traditional adventure game that takes what its classic predecessors did well and updates it for modern audiences. The result is a highly polished, entertaining new coming-of-age story about a wonky father-daughter relationship that will make you laugh and maybe even cry, offering plenty of fun but also connecting on an emotional level. PRIM does a masterful job of combining its serious themes with the right amount of humor, and everything about its production, from the artwork and interface to the music and voice-overs, screams excellence, an eye for detail, and a true love for both adventure gaming and storytelling. That would be impressive for any developer, let alone a small team making their very first game. I most enjoy playing games like this, but rarely are they done as well as it is here. Leave it to a game set in the Realm of the Dead to show that there’s still lots of life left in the point-and-click adventure genre." 

"Murder on Space Station 52", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

 

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "Sci-fi games usually aren’t my cup of tea, but Murder on Space Station 52 is a mystery game first and science fiction game second, so it doesn’t bombard you with loads of alien lore or technical/scientific stuff. As such, it succeeded in not only holding my interest, but actually making it a lot of fun. Despite its extraterrestrial setting, it’s a pretty straightforward, well-acted detective-style point-and-click investigation combining fetch quests and problem solving and information gathering through examination of hotspots and talking to possible suspects. Most of the puzzles are quite easy, and the logic needed to be applied is pretty much common sense, albeit with a couple of blatant exceptions. It’s too bad there isn’t more actual detective work involved in ultimately pinpointing the murderer in the bunch, but it nevertheless succeeded in making a non-sci-fi gamer like me boldly go where I never really liked to go before."

2 hours into "Willy Beamish" and I caused an explosion and fought off a demon bat!

Hard to "just walk away" when you can't touch ground...

Two hours into Willy Beamish and I took the ferry to grab myself a registration form for the frog jumping contest! The big plan is to win this contest, then use THAT prize money to register for the Nintari championships. But seriously, who in their right mind would enter a competition that demands a $2,500 participation fee? You just HAVE to be a ten year old cartoon character from a video game, right?

Well that was unexpected...

I spent day two hanging out with my buddies Dana and Perry. We went and had an explosive meal at the local pizza joint, then practiced in the park for the frog jumping contest. Horny is a bit like his name when Dana's pet frog is around, jumping much farther. We'll just have to figure out how the make the opponent jump LESS far... Back home, my parents had a surprise in the form of a babysitter from hell. I had a lot of trouble with this sequence when I was young, and now I died several times as well before I vanquished her.

To infinity...

Besides the main storyline, there are also optional things to do that might influence your "trouble meter". This thermometer-type gauge pops up whenever you do a good thing (like picking up your little sister after she fell out of her bed) or a bad thing (crashing your dad's miniature trains). If you do too many bad things, your parents will send you to military school and then it's game over. Doing an extremely bad thing (like launching your little sister from her swing set) will lead to an immediate deportment.

Ooh, area unlocked!

Day three finds me on the other side of the river to get myself an entry form. I met a sweet Japanese family on the ferry, which was pretty random. But I remember from my youth I'll see them again somewhere...

Classic time: "The Adventures of Willy Beamish" playthrough!

New game!

I've started replaying The Adventures of Willy Beamish and I'm 1 hour into it!

The game is like a cartoon version of an early '90s John Hughes/Chris Columbus movie. I played this for the first time as a teenager, aged somewhere between Willy himself and his older sister Tiffany. I only ever finished this game once, but I started replaying it several times, always up to the point where I got hopelessly stuck. I enjoyed the fun and cozy atmosphere of the game, the "real world" setting (I will always prefer that over fantasy or sci-fi settings), and Willy's voice actor, Michael Zibelman.

Not your average breakfast club...

It's the last day of school before summer vacation, and Willy finds himself in detention. First job is to get home early and intercept a bad report card. Your cursor changes into a big red arrow when there's something to do. You can pick up items, use them somewhere else, combine them... Typical inventory puzzle style. It took me a while to realize, but clicking the other mouse button changes the cursor into a magnifying glass, and when it becomes transparant a narrator will give a description of whatever you're looking it. But that doesn't mean that object is a hotspot that can be manipulated. Actual hotspots are limited, but each screen is loaded with background items you can examine.

I was so jealous of Willy's house...

Willy's house might not look like much compared to today's standards, but when I was young, I really wanted to live there myself! I loved the fact that you can move from room to room in a circle and wind up back where you started. There's not only the house to explore, but also part of the city. The main story of the game is that Willy wants to enter the Nintari Championship, but he needs a whole lot of money for the participation fee. When his dad comes home that evening and says he's been fired from his job, Willy have to look for different means to finance his big dream.

Frighteningly similar to what my own son's room looks like...

During this first hour, I played through the first day and up till the next morning, when Willy meets up with his two friends Dana and Perry in a nearby treehouse. At the breakfast table, dad got himself an interview at the local Tootsweet company, but an ominous cutscene showing the Tootsweet management in a hot tub doesn't promise anything good. There seems to be some kind of conspiracy afoot that will disrupt life in the city of Frumpton...

I never had a treehouse when I was young :(

A series playthrough: "The Blackwell Legacy/Unbound/Convergence/Deception/Epiphany"

Let me tell you about the Blackwell series by Wadjet Eye Games. If you're new to adventure gaming, or have only played the old classics, this series is considered a must-play. And it all begins with The Blackwell Legacy.

It's such a beautiful game. I love how it's set in New York. I've walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and through Washington Square Park myself. I really like the characters, I love Rosa's red hair and that she wants to be a writer too. Joey looks a bit like Mark Ruffalo in Shutter Island.

The story is amazing and I was so disappointed when it was over so quickly. I had no idea what these games were about, from the cover I knew there had to be a ghost involved, but this goes so much further. It reminded me a bit of Odd Thomas, the hero in a book series by Dean Koontz. It was a bit weird to have 25 pages of letters to read in the game itself, but it does add some backstory. And I had a feeling what would happen to the pictures you find at the beginning of the game. I lost some time not knowing how to use the notebook. Whenever I got stuck, it usually solved itself once I combined elements in my notebook to give new information. Something I probably would have known if I hadn't skipped the tutorial part... Stupid ol' me...

Where I lost the most time was finding the name to enter the hospital. I mean, it was so obvious how to use the fake name, I never thought to play with it in the notebook. Left clicking to use objects, right clicking to look at them also took some getting used to, and I still mess up there occasionally. I've played a lot of games with primarily inventory-based puzzles; this one focuses on dialogue and finding information to advance the story, but I kept automatically scrolling through the inventory to see where I could use things. I was surprised that it was such a short game. I've heard a lot of good things about this series, so I thought it would be bigger. It only took me a little over four hours to finish this one.

Blackwell Unbound was even shorter for me, taking me only 3.5 hours. This time it wasn't the notebook I didn't know how to use, but the phone book. It just didn't occur to me to look people up that way.

I was stuck almost immediately, because I couldn't get away from the balcony; no matter what I tried, she kept wanting to finish her cigarette. Then I saw the letters in the interface. "Oh, you can switch between them!" So as Joey I finally got the game started properly.

I didn't like the "map" screen. I mean, the skyline is nice, but I liked the map with the buildings on it in The Blackwell Legacy better. I did a lot of running back and forth between all the places.

I didn't know what to do with one task, so I started exploring the other and that was pretty easy. Then back to the first task, trying to look for things I missed. It took me a while because I didn't explore one item enough and missed an important element there. After that it was easy.

This certainly seems like the next chapter of a great game. I wish they would make an edition where it all plays as one game, and you automatically go to the next chapter. I tried looking up the Blackwell series in the Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures and was sad to see that it barely gets a mention, a small line in the afterword. These games deserve so much more; I wish the book had a sequel, with all the adventure games from the last ten years.

The Blackwell Convergence is the third book in the series. I really like Rosangela, although she sometimes gives a creepy grin after she says something. I'm at least glad that the character portraits during dialogues are back; I missed them in Blackwell Unbound.

I like the jazzy music. Working on the computer is fun. I dig into the story, had some unexpected surprises. The interrogation through the notebook reminds me of Gabriel Knight, although I wish it was clearer sometimes when you've exhausted a topic with someone.

I like this "map" screen better than in Unbound, it gives a better perspective on where all the locations are in the city. I finished The Blackwell Convergence in 3.5 hours of playtime spread over two weeks. It was an easier game than the previous two, because the interface was simpler. No notebook to make connections and no phone book to look things up. There are some very small inventory puzzles added, which I liked as well. I love how in the credits the voice actors have pictures next to their characters. It's so much more interesting than just a name. I wonder if the character designs were based on the actors' performances.

The Blackwell Deception is harder than the others. I got stuck a few times with no idea where to go or what to do. I had to run back and forth between locations a few times.

I like how the notebook is replaced by a phone, but not how you have to re-establish connections. I like how the character portraits end up facing the same side as the characters and even turn around if necessary, which bothered me in the previous games.

 

I don't like the "map" screen, because it doesn't even look like a map this time. You just choose your destination on your smartphone, no idea where those locations are exactly in the city. I'm also not a fan of Rosa's outfit in this game, kind of bland, and there's also something wrong with her character design. All the characters look a bit thin.

There seem to be more ghosts in this part. The hardest part is finding clues so you unlock the right conversation topics/answers.

I finished The Blackwell Deception with 6.7 hours on the clock. So that's almost double the playing time it took me to play Unbound and Convergence. I got seriously stuck twice. I wasn't aware of the extent to which Joey could walk through doors and walls; apparently he can also stick his head into smaller spaces that are otherwise inaccessible. The second time I got stuck was because I wasn't aware of the full extent of how Joey's tie could be used. So I got stuck because I didn't know those things were options

The Blackwell Epiphany is the conclusion of this series. I feel like I'm constantly fighting an invisible enemy here. It's a long game, with nice surprises. Rosa looks better than in Deception, she's cute with her earmuffs.

The "map" screen is something else again. I like how the animated artwork looks, but the locations lack a visible distance from each other, which was at least evident in Legacy and Unbound. The phone has a new feature that lets you download information, which you can then use in your notes to look for cross-references.

I finished The Blackwell Epiphany in eight hours of playtime. This story never ceased to amaze me. I'm sad it's over, having spent a total of 27 hours in this universe (and apparently 682 footsteps in this particular episode).

I don't think I'd ever be best friends with Joey, but Rosa found a place in my heart. An aspiring writer who finds a very different calling, and red hair to top it all off. Yeah, I'd definitely go for coffee with her.

This is very well written, good puzzles although it took some getting used to with the notebook and search engines. The music is perfect, the artwork is beautiful, this series is indeed a huge game.

Wadjet Eye Games will be releasing Old Skies in 2025. I already had the privilige of playtesting it, and the look and feel of Blackwell is apparent throughout. Old Skies is easily as big a game as all Blackwell games combined. So if you want to prepare yourself for Old Skies and want to get a taste of how Dave Gilbert's puzzling mind works, I can definitely recommend the Blackwell series.

"Echoes", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "The different graphical styles throughout the game’s five chapters might not fully distract you from the sparing use of music and sound effects, but if you like a good mystery/thriller with a horror edge to it that keeps you second guessing, the characters and their stories here will certainly pull you in. Echoes definitely isn’t for those looking for a typical puzzle-solving adventure game, but if you want to spend a few hours clicking through an interactive graphic novel with some light adventuring sprinkled in, making some conversational choices along the way that subtly impact the outcome of the story, you’ll be solidly entertained the first time through and may even decide it’s worth coming back for more."