Finished "The Crimson Diamond" in a little over 7 hours!

Watch out, Luca Brecel!

I finished The Crimson Diamond in a little over 7 hours! But I wasn't too happy with the result! There are three "report cards" so to speak. The first two weren't so great, but still okay. But I got zero on the third one! What?! Where did I go wrong?!

I haven't scored this bad since high school...

Also, I redid the final showdown a couple of times to get a better ending. There are several steps you need to be perfect at, otherwise you'll trigger quite a long cutscene followed by the Q&A sessions that result in those report cards. So, I had to reload a couple of times, but then for the last step it turned out I didn't have the necessary inventory item with me.

Indiana Jones did, to get some guards drunk...

So yeah, I went back in, tried to find that item before that final showdown, and tried to find some answers to the questions I missed as well. Or at least the evidence supporting those answers, since the game really expects you to be thorough in your investigations. Knowing that, I still failed to PICK UP some items I found and had to turn in as evidence, so I had to reload an earlier chapter again a couple of times, but at least I found lots more and could answer more questions, with a grand total of 9,5 hours on the clock. There are still some conversations I missed because I didn't realize I should hide somewhere when they were supposed to take place, but those are from very early in the game and would require almost a complete restart, so I'm leaving them for now, especially since they're not essential to the outcome.

Such a beautiful scene! Kudos to the artist!

But just like I had to play The Colonel's Bequest a second time before I got anywhere near a decent result, The Crimson Diamond is a joy to play. In itself it isn't such a difficult game, you just need to be aware of some strategies you can employ in how you can find the necessary clues and evidence. The game is addictive; I had a hard time letting go of it, and I would have preferred to play it in one sitting. It's a great location, an interesting set of characters, a cool Agatha Christie style and gathering clues type of story. I had great fun with it and I hope Julia Minamata will make many more games like this!

"Closer the Distance", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: Despite its heavy-sounding subject matter, I was completely charmed by this narrative-focused drama. The idea of a main character influencing the people left behind after her death really speaks to the imagination. Humankind has pondered the mysteries of death for ages; we can fear it or we can embrace it, and this game isn’t afraid to explore grief, loss, and depression without becoming too bleak or overly religious in the process. It’s hard to say a game dealing with these emotions is “fun,” but in some ways it truly is, confronting you with your own helplessness when dealing with others, because you can’t suddenly force people to behave differently simply because you want them to. As a simulation of life, Closer the Distance very much succeeds. Certainly it plays on the feels, becoming a bit dramatic now and again with its artistic cutscenes, trying very hard to make you cry. But overall, this is a narrative that fits in with novels like Reservoir 13, Everything I Never Told You and The Lovely Bones – all dramas about a community dealing with grief and picking up the pieces after a traumatic event. If people still don’t believe video games can be art, they really should play this one!

Three hours into "The Crimson Diamond" and I reached chapter three!

Geologist Respa in the dining room with the fork...

Dinner was served the last time I played The Crimson Diamond, so I went to grab a bite to eat. People didn't seem all that happy with me asking questions all the time, I think they were just tired and wanted to go to bed. I had heard earlier that Evan and Nathan wanted to discuss something in the study after dinner. But as far as I could tell, they never went there. They remained in the dining room, waiting for Jack to clear the dishes. But he was busy in the kitchen, however, and wanted my help. But first I went around the lodge to see what everybody else was up to, and that's how I listened in on another conversation between Nessa and Corvus.

Love in-game maps! Could use one of the grounds, too...

It's very handy that a message pops up about muffled voiced whenever you near a door with people behind it having something interesting to say. I remember in The Colonel's Bequest you were pretty much left on your own to figure out where to go, and there everything you saw, heard or found could progress time, and then the NPC's would move positions, so you might miss some things during the earlier time. I'm not really sure if The Crimson Diamond uses a similar technique or not. There's no in-game clock, but there definitely is story progression after doing certain tasks, usually indicated by an auto-save message. So I try to make sure to know every NPC's whereabouts before doing something I think leads to such a progression, but I'm sure I'm still missing lots of stuff. Like that study appointment. Eventually I helped Jack doing the dishes and that's when Evan and Nathan effectively left the dining room. No idea where Nathan went, but Evan went for a lie down in the conservatory. No study. I went around the lodge to see what everybody else was up to again. Most were asleep but others were engaged in... other... activities.

Couldn't help myself; I just had to jump off...

The next morning it turned out I wouldn't be able to leave the lodge after all, due to... circumstances. So after looking around what everybody was doing again, I started my task of improvising a new mineral investigation kit and go about the countryside finding samples. This was quickly achieved after some easy puzzles, and I even found a couple of death scenes. No rewind function here like in Beyond the Edge of Owlsgard, though, so remember to save!

What a cozy place this is... for now...

Dinner is served again on day two at Crimson Lodge. Afterwards, I fall asleep in the conservatory only to wake up at the ruckus that leads me into chapter 3. The plot has indeed thickened, and it looks like I'll finally get to do some investigating!

New game: "The Crimson Diamond" playthrough

New game!

I've started playing The Crimson Diamond and I'm 1 hour into it!

I'm Nancy Maple, a mineralogist student sent to the town of Crimson to investigate the discovery of a large diamond in the belly of a fish. When I arrive by train, my luggage has been stolen and it turns out the inn I was supposed to stay at isn't an inn anymore. Its owner, one Evan Richards, is so kind to allow me to stay the night, but he will send me back on the first train in the morning.

Apparently they're a girl's best friend or something?

It's a text parser game, which means you have to type in what you want Nancy to do instead of clicking on hotspots. It's heavily influenced by the first Laura Bow game, The Colonel's Bequest. You also find yourself in a huge mansion with lots of people whom you can eavesdrop on. But next to being text parser, it also uses the old EGA graphics style with a limited, 16-color palette. You can move Nancy with the directional keys but it's also possible to click with the mouse where you want her to walk.

Lots of snooping in the game; love it!

There are several people staying at the lodge. There's the owner, Evan Richards, and his best friend Nathan Cardinal. Evan's sister Nessa Crabbe showed up with her lawyer Corvus Shaw; they're looking to contest the inheritance from Evan's and Nessa's father. There's Jack, the, well, jack of all trades in the household. Albert Respa is another expert who has come to investigate the diamond. And he's from Antwerp, yay! (Thank you, Julia Minamata, for adding a Belgian character to this game, even if he's a bit of a douche!) And lastly there's Kimi Kishiro, whom Nancy met on the train and apparently came to Crimson to observe the cormorants.

Ooh, a missing will, excellent!

In my first hour of playing, I talked to everyone, and even eavesdropped on a couple of them. Only Albert refused to talk to me. Thinking himself the big man, being from Antwerp and all. Big git is what he is. Anyways, dinner is served now, so I'm sure the plot will thicken soon!

"Bent Oak Island", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: Bent Oak Island is very rough, and not just around the edges. Limited animation and sound effects, a glitchy user interface, and loads of spelling mistakes prevent you from being completely absorbed by the story and its puzzles. And yet there is certainly some fun to be had, especially in the writing. The sibling chemistry is hilarious, and the multitude of silly NPCs are good for many laughs as well. And while the 80s-style graphics are not exactly to my personal tastes, I’m sure there are many old-school gamers who will appreciate its nostalgic charm. The story starts out all in innocent good fun, but eventually the stakes are dramatically raised, with lots more hanging in the balance, concluding with a somewhat fulfilling ending to five hours of breezy adventuring. A little more depth and some additional polish would have gone a long way, but even with its limitations, it’s made me start to miss having a sibling by my side, “enriching” my life by commenting on everything we see and do. Perhaps I’ll give my sister a call, and hope she’s not still mad about the shoe. 

"Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss", my Adventure Game Hotspot review

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss tells many stories from beyond a watery grave. Walking around exploring the titular sunken vessel is an amazing experience. Finding all the clues to the ship’s tragedy satisfies that guilty pleasure of snooping through other people’s belongings, even if that feels a bit morbid knowing what happened to them. And uncovering the truth by means of the deduction board is very rewarding, if not particularly challenging. The wonky camera when closing in on hotspots, and the fickle volume of the voices are only minor holes in the hull. It won’t tempt me to put on a wetsuit myself, but with its high-quality production values bringing it to life, so to speak, this game offers a deep pool of emotions just waiting for gamers to dive in."