Classic time: "Heart of China"

New game!

I've started playing Heart of China and I'm one hour into it! This is my first time playing this game, which was developed by Dynamix and released by Sierra On-Line in 1991. I got into adventure games a year later, I think, and even though I often saw this title, I never got around to it. I did play two other adventure games by this company, Rise of the Dragon and Willy Beamish. So I knew I had to be in a good mindset to play this one: save often!

Cool, real actors...

Nurse Kate Lomax is kidnapped in the Chinese province of Shendung. Her father hires me, "Lucky" Jake Masters, to go rescue her. Of course, if adventure games have taught me anything, it's not to dash in unprepared. So for the first hour of the game I'm in Hong Kong where I had to convince this guy named Chi - a ninja - to accompany me, and to gather some necessary inventory items.

My Cadillac of the skies...

Heart of China has beautiful graphics and the characters are stills of real actors - or, well, friends and family of the developers. The backgrounds have little animations. The puzzles are mainly of the dialogue variety (so far), so I saved and restored until I found the optimal configuration of the available options; took me quite a bit of trying.

Ho's Bar. I kid you not...

The user interface takes some getting used to. There are no hotspot labels; your cursor changes into an arrow when you can pick something up, or a dialogue balloon when you can talk to someone. You can right click wherever you want to get a description. Clicking on Jake's picture in the bottom right corner opens up the inventory. You have to drag the items to use them. But you also have to drag them back into your inventory, otherwise you drop them on the ground wherever you are.

The streets of Hong Kong...

So together with Chi, I managed to leave the airport and land near Li Deng's castle where he is supposedly holding nurse Kate. It was interesting to see that, when Chi joined me, I could switch between the two characters, each with his own inventory. I already solved one puzzle this way and I'm sure there are more to come... 

You can buy the game on GOG.

"Quantum Witch", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "Like most narrative adventures, this game features freedom of choice as its most important aspect, though I loved the fun retro art and catchy music as well, and totally appreciated the main character standing up to religious doctrine (if I wanted). A lot of supernatural – or quantum-sciencey – things happen in the story that I didn’t really understand, possibly because I didn’t see all possible scenes. But I went with the flow, laughed at the jokes, and tried to give Ren the best ending I could. And then the worst. And then something in between. The game might still hold more secrets for me, but I’m totally fine to leave the rest for completionists. It’s definitely worth playing, though, and playing more than once, as it’s a challenge to unlock the various alternative versions of the story, and often a joy to experiment. Go in with the right expectations and you’re sure to be charmed by Quantum Witch."

I finished "Life is Strange: True Colors" in 11 hours!

Joy to the world!

What an amazing game! Without a doubt my favorite of all Life is Strange games. Then again, I've probably say that of every LiS game I've played ;)

So, after last time, Alex discovered that not all emotions she can read are bad. Joy has the power to change the world around her. This led to some great scenes. I really enjoyed the LARPing in chapter four, with everybody in town helping young boy Ethan have the time of his life. This was such a fun with all the battles and finding scrolls, but also touching sequence. It's something I would love to do in real life.

FIGHT!

Other than that I tried very much to woo Steph during the Spring Festival. I know the game lets you choose between Steph and Ryan as the main romantic interest, and for some reason Steph made more sense to me. Ryan's a good guy, but he just didn't have the spark for me.

Bewitching...

Chapter five was both awesome but also a bit underwhelming. There wasn't really much gameplay there, simply going through some flashback scenes and then the final showdown, where all the little sidequests with the other characters paid off (still missed getting one right, it seemed...) And then the final decision on what the future would bring for Alex.
 

No guitar playing mini-game? Aw shucks...

I decided to stay in Haven, and Steph decided to stay with me. I hope that the vision of the future Alex received will become true. This was a great pay-off of a great game with amazing visuals, endearing characters, awesome music (even some licensed songs like Kings of Leon and Dido) and of course the fun gameplay the Life is Strange games are known for. Great to play a narrative game like this after a game filled with inventory puzzles.

Life is Strange: Double Feature is next in this series, but for my following playthrough I will be going back to the classics with Heart of China!

"Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "This is not a game you want to rush through, as from the get-go I enjoyed running around Ambrosia Island. Never lacking for something to do, I found myself often overwhelmed with possibilities, but in a positive, elated sort of way. Usually I’m not into achievements or collectibles, but in Mythwrecked it is central to its gameplay and highly rewarding, so addictive is that feeling of finding hidden items. The fetch quests themselves are satisfying to complete because they offer more lore about the world of these unusual gods without sifting through pages and pages of reading material. These Greek deities kept me entertained every step of the way, and this loveable bunch will no doubt steal your heart. I only wish the succinct revelations about them were linked to some actual puzzles, making the whole adventure more interactive than simply collecting things and returning them. Still, if you enjoy scavenging for lost items, doing so on a beautiful island filled with quirky Greek gods will keep you happily entertained for hours, feeling like your prayers have been answered."

I'm 5 hours into "Life is Strange: True Colors" and things are getting very emotional

Can I just go live here?

What a stunning game is Life is Strange: True Colors. I love everything about it. I'm five hours into it and I just reached Chapter 3. I discovered there's a run button, but who wants to hurry through this beautiful world? I'm totally enjoying walking through the fictional Colorado town of Haven Springs.

These aren't the flowers you're looking for...

And going from Chapter 2 to Chapter 3 I also noticed there were lots of optional quests I could have done. But I didn't know they existed. Which means I didn't even explore enough! Now, I do blame the game for that, because there's ANOTHER button that lets Alex use her powers on people, but this was never tutorialized. Because most of the time, the game automatically shows when it's possible to use your power, except not for these optional quests (like finding a man's lost dog, or helping out a birdwatcher in the park).

I can't even make decisions in real life, so why do I play games like this?

As far as the story goes, something unexpectedly tragic happened, so now it's a month later and I'm trying to uncover a conspiracy behind that accident. Meanwhile I'm going around helping people out, even in little things like playing a student's favorite song on the jukebox while she's studying in the bar. It's very hard hitting the brake like that on the main story. I'm not really a completionist like that, I just don't think it's fair that the chapter summaries are almost "blaming" me like "you didn't help so and so" when I didn't even realize those options were there to begin with!

Let's kick some foosball butt!

I really like all these characters, even taking pity on some of the more "disturbed" ones, once you use your power on them and figure out what's really going on. Of course now I'm starting to wonder whether it's possible for someone to totally fool Alex regarding their emotions, or if her powers are foolproof. Perhaps I'm thinking too much about it. Thankfully sometimes there are some mini-games to take your mind off it all, like playing foosball, the jukebox game (a version of Twenty Questions) or simply picking out another outfit to wear (I quite enjoyed that option in Crown and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit as well...

You can even choose Alex's outfit for the day!

I've played through some very tense scenes, several funny ones, but also quite scary ones. The one that struck me most is helping out someone suffering from dementia. When Alex sees the world through that person's eyes when she connects with them, that's an amazing piece of cinematography. But I also quite enjoyed figuring out how to help them remember everything. Still, many decisions you have to make feel like the game is twisting a knife in your heart. So, I'm just trying to play the game being as honest as I can.

Really wondering what the second half of the game has in store!

You can find Life is Strange: True Colors on Steam!

Another year of reviews!!!

Time flies when having fun! This week marks the two year anniversary of my first review being published on the Adventure Game Hotspot website!

I'm currently working on my 58th review for AGH, with 56 already published on their site and linked to my very own author page and one scheduled to be released soon!

In case you missed them, here's the list of the 29 games I played and reviewed these past twelve months (in alphabetical order):

 

Arsène Lupin: Once A Thief

The Beekeeper's Picnic 

Bent Oak Island

Brassheart 

The Brilliant Coup

Closer The Distance

Copycat

Devil's Hideout

Echoes

The End of the Sun

Farewell North

The Haunting of Joni Evers 

It's Grim Up North: Chapter 1

Just A To The Moon Series Beach Episode

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer 

Midnight Margo 

Murder on Space Station 52

Neon Hearts City 

Nosebound

The Operator 

Ramas' Call: Twisted Timing

Rosewater 

PRIM

Slender Threads

Tachyon Dreams Anthology

Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss

Tourist Trap

Without A Dawn 

"Without a Dawn", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read the full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "Based on the developer’s previous games, I was disappointed that there wasn’t much else to do in Without a Dawn than clicking through dialogue choices. Especially when these don’t prove to be real choices to begin with. This is a pure visual novel that wants to tell a chilling story while dazzling you with its unique graphics. In that it definitely succeeds, as it almost made me afraid to go to bed, nervous that someone could be standing outside my own window or the man with the gas mask might appear in my dreams too. But I do wish there had been at least a bit more interactivity, more direct control of the main character, to pull you in further instead of making you feel like nothing more than a spectator. And perhaps be a little longer so I could admire the impressive art style and haunting soundscape. It may not be much of a game, but nobody can argue that Jesse Makkonen isn’t a storytelling artist."

New game: "Life is Strange: True Colors"

New game!

I started playing Life is Strange: True Colors and I'm one hour into it! You play as Alex, a young woman who grew up in foster homes and is suddenly contacted by her long lost brother. She goes to meet him in the town of Haven Springs. But of course, Life wouldn't be Strange if there wasn't something peculiar with Alex, which first shows itself when she sees what appears to be a blue aura surrounding her brother Gabe when she meets him.

Meet Alex. "Hi, Alex!" "Hi, gamer..."

I'm not far into this game yet, but immediately Haven Springs is a place I want to travel to myself and spend some time there. When it comes to graphics, I can't think of any other games that have such a high quality and level of realism. A perfect game for me would be this style of graphics coupled with a point 'n click interface, since that genre of adventure games still has my preference (but of course that's a bit hard to combine with a 3D open world).

Welcome to Haven Springs!

True Colors is best played with a controller. As you walk around the scenes, hotspots will highlight automatically and you can interact with them with a click of a button. Which leads me to the story and worldbuilding. These games are so detailed, it's like you're actually transported into a novel or a movie. There's lots to explore, lots of little things to see. Not everything is linked to the main story, and most of the exploration is optional.

Cool music in this game, and not-so cool cats...

The first hour of gameplay ended with a bang: my brother was suddenly assaulted by a jealous boyfriend of someone he'd been helping out. A red aura flared up and Alex seemed to take over his aggression and went She-Hulk on him, like an extreme case of mirror-touch synesthesia (I've learned that from the TV-show Brilliant Minds!)

Usually the "good" choice comes back to bite you...

After that episode, I now find myself on my own in my brother's apartment, and I can finally unpack. No idea what this all will lead to, but I do expect some backlash from a choice I made a bit earlier, about keeping a little boy's secret or not...

You can find Life is Strange: True Colors on Steam!

"The Operator", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "While the artsy cutscenes might seem like nothing but filler, this desktop investigation game kept me thoroughly entertained. Not only is the story thrilling, if predictable in its major beats, but it’s complemented by different gameplay elements with which you, as the person in the chair, become crucial to your team's success. It’s a shame you can’t spend more time with all your tech toys in extra cases that aren’t linked to the main story. I would definitely welcome a more sandboxy type of sequel or DLC, without a big conspiracy to uncover but just a bunch of standalone cases you as The Operator help solve. As it is, the emphasis lies on delivering a taut, intriguing cyberthriller that is highly linear but very well put together, and is sure to leave lots of gamers wanting more."

I finished my replay of "Police Quest III: The Kindred"!

I wasn't even tailing him so close...

Police Quest III: The Kindred was a replay for me, so I remembered most of the game, which is the only reason I could finish it in three hours time. And even then I had to restore several times, because I got killed or because I forgot to take along essential items.

What an ominous shadow...

After that first day on the job, things picked up pretty fast, resulting in a couple of very short days. I thought it very peculiar that Sonny leaves for work when it's already 1 pm, reaches the office in 6 minutes, then quits again around 4 or 5 pm only to get back home at 10! I really wonder what the guy is doing in those missing hours...

There goes my evidence...

As far as the case is concerned, turns out there are some pentagram-loving serial killers on the loose. I was able to locate a witness of the mall attempt, found my suspect in a bar but then the following chase went awry. Then suddenly a ghost from the past popped up, leading to a final showdown with lots of driving back and forth, followed by some treachery as well though luckily I came prepared for that (though I did get shot down for not paying enough attention first).

Incoming!

I finished the game with 447 out of 460 points. It's so easy to miss stuff in this game! It's not always obvious where to go and what to do, the clues are very subtle, and it's all very procedural. Before playing you really should read through the entire manual and study the police procedures described there, and then when you encounter something hopefully you realize how you have to act. I don't recall how long this game took me when I played it for the first time in my teens, but I can imagine it was quite a while before I figured out every little aspect.

You can find the Police Quest Collection on Steam!
It's also available on GOG!

Classic time: "Police Quest III: The Kindred"

New game!

It's been ages since I played Police Quest III: Kindred. I used to love this series, and I kinda still do, even though growing older I've learned about all the discrimination, prejudices, stereotypes and racism that hangs above it like the sword of Damocles. You just don't see those things as a kid... I know it's not the most popular series Sierra ever released, but I've always preferred games in more realistic settings and characters above fantasy and sci-fi games.

The struggles of leadership diplomacy...

In this third title in the series, Sonny Bonds has been promoted to Sergeant and thus has to take on a leadership role. The game starts with you giving that day's briefing, then interviewing one of the officers about a complaint against her. Said officer also needs help later on when a chauffeur she pulled over refuses to sign her citation, and procedure calls for a superior on the scene.

Never heard of this field sobriety test before...

This first day in Lytton you need to take care of an almost naked man upsetting some people in the park, and then patrol the highway. You need to pull over a couple of speeders, one guy driving too slow and holding up traffic, and another swerving from one lane to the other and back. Nothing truly exciting happens until at the end of the day you get called to the scene of an assault on the mall's parking lot. 

Uh-oh...

After one hour of playing, I reached day two. It's a replay for me, but I was a bit rusty and I had to restore my game a couple of times. First I forgot to pick up my nightstick in the changing room. Then I forgot to retrieve my gun after leaving it in the locker outside the prison. Finally I got run over on the highway.

A cop's salary seems to do you okay...

At the start of day two, I'm assigned back to homicide to investigate the previous night's murder attempt. So bye bye uniform, we're ready to hit to street plainsclothed! I found some evidence on the crime scene, so let's see if we can figure this case out again!

New game: "Intruder in Antiquonia"

New game!

Amnesia stories are usually good entertainment. Movies like Memento and The Long Kiss Goodnight. I've put off playing Intruder in Antiquonia for so long because the graphic style and character designs weren't really up my alley, but in the end I have to admit it was a really cool conspiracy story, albeit a bit on the cozy side. I finished it in a little under two hours, though I did have to do some digging regarding some puzzle solutions. Eventually I figured it all out and even though I'm still not a big fan of how it is all presented, I definitely had fun with it.

But I didn't do anything wrong, officer, I swear!

I'm Sarah Campillo. Or at least that's the name on the ID I'm carrying. Until the local police figure out it's actually fake. So who am I, and where did I come from, and what exactly am I doing in this small town called Antiquonia where people seem to hate everything that has to do with computers and the internet?

No quaint town without some old guys on a bench...

It's a mystery ready to be unraveled by resourceful adventure gamers. Probably too easy for most, but it will probably challenge newcomers to the genre. There are plenty of inventory puzzles and even one cool mechanical puzzle where you have to redirect wires in a breaker box. 

I'd probably die if I had to do this in real life...

There aren't any voice-overs, but you can click through the dialogue manually if you don't want to wait for it to automatically progress. There's an autosave feature but you can also save manually (yay!). And you can double click on exits for fast travel. There's also a handy, though very basic map if you really want to jump between locations, but not all locations are on the map. For instance, you need to jump to the town centre and then enter the guesthouse or the store the regular way.

Now THAT's a subtle modern reference!

Aruma Studios, developer of Intruder in Antiquonia, is currently working on a more old-school style, pixel art point 'n click adventure, Shadows in the Afterland, which looks amazing and which I hope to play one day, too!

You can find Intruder in Antiquonia on Steam!

You can find Shadows in the Afterland on Steam as well!

Joe Richardson time: The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything

New game!

I never played a Joe Richardson game before. Since his last game Death of the Reprobate came out last year (November '24), the adventure game community already started laughing with the anticipation of laughing with everything the game would have to offer. Instead of playing it immediately like everyone else seemed to have done, I decided to travel back in time (not literally) and play through ALL of Joe Richardson's games available on Steam, starting with The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything.

Not the most dashing main character...

After playing for 9 minutes, I got tired of it. I knew the graphic style and character designs would need some getting used to. And yes, that was the case. Also, stupid me got "stuck" by not realizing the screen could sidescroll. So after I don't know how much time and other games went by, I decided to return and lo and behold, the game actually grew on me. I started to appreciate the social, political, anthropological, philosophical satire -- and of course the plain silliness of it all. Though is it really silly? I think a part of me really thinks it's brilliant.

Guy's got some dance moves...

So you play a guy on an island, you find old rocket parts and you decide to engage everyone to build it up again. A couple of other islanders grab leadership, however, but don't really succeed in getting anywhere with society since they take turns in being elected and spend all their time nullifying all progress of their predecessor; basically the way actual politicians conduct their business today.

These storybook segments stole the show!

The game is very short, I finished it in 97 minutes. It has some inventory puzzles, some dialogue puzzles, some main character trickery onto non-playable characters. It doesn't have a manual save function but autosaves whenever you make some progress. Its cutscenes are storybook-style text and pictures that are quite fun to read. Joe Richardson truly is a funny guy who gets his message across.

So in the end, not a bad game at all, and I'm looking forward to the next one, Four Last Things...

You can find The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything on Steam.

I've finished "Martian Memorandum" in 6,5 hours!

Getting some "Total Recall" vibes here...

Wow, that wasn't easy... It was like travelling through time, to an age where you didn't just have to save your game if you wanted to continue playing at a later time. You had to save your game to continue five seconds later! I finally found my way to Mars, after dying several times. On the red planet I could finally follow up on some leads and talk to some people I couldn't before. But I was so anxious by then I kept saving each new room I entered.

This makes the Willy Beamish maze look eazy...

Then suddenly I found myself in a classic adventure game maze! But I didn't get it: I really tried picking up the blueprints I found earlier, but I swear Tex didn't want to pick them up. No problem, I thought, I had encountered many things he didn't want to pick up before. But suddenly I had ventured into the maze way too deep to find my way out again (I know, stupid of me...) so I had to reload and I swear, this time Tex DID pick up the blueprints!

Cowabunga!

Finally I found my way into the office of the local crime boss. I had to pilfer his safe because it contained something with which I could persuade another guy to spill the beans. But not before I had to surf through a gauntlet of laser beams to reach it! This was very tricky and resulted in lot of reloads as well.

The elusive Alexis!

As I continued getting the right answers from the right people, I finally found the kidnapped Alexis! By then I had discovered WHY she had been kidnapped, and that her father, the guy I'm working for, had a lot of secrets... But no sooner had I discovered a means of escape and we were gassed and locked up behind a forcefield by the big bad guy in the story, once a good guy though, but corrupted by the promise of power. As often happens.

Mars is home to some strange people...

Reload after reload and using all inventory items all over the place finally forced me to look up a hint. Turned out I had gamed my way into an unwinnable state, because I had missed a key item way back when. So, reload to a much earlier safe, move one item to find another, then play through to the finale again and yes, finally, mission accomplished! The girl is saved, we're both still alive, and nobody has entirely blown up either Earth or Mars. I'd say, that's a good day in the life of Tex Murphy! A hard and difficult day, extremely at that, but good nonetheless!

You can find Martian Memorandum on Steam.

"Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer" - my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "I really enjoyed Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer, which, just like its predecessor, is like a continuation of the classic point-and-click adventure game genre in its heyday. It’s got a great story, with fun puzzles, amazing graphics, and a wonderful voice cast, and what more can anyone really ask? From the moment I entered Kathy’s office all the way through to the finale, I felt the awesomeness of a beautifully compiled work of interactive fiction. That’s no exaggeration: I was glued to the screen, eager to finish the story and discover the identity of the Soothsayer as fast as I could, even though I wanted the experience to last as well. For fans of the first game, this is exactly what we wanted from a long-awaited sequel. And now the wait begins anew, as I really hope Kathy Rain becomes a bigger ongoing franchise with even more cases to solve."

"Neon Hearts City" - my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "While I wish Cosmic Void would start to make longer, deeper games, because I really think its solo developer has the right stuff, there’s surely an audience for short games like Neon Hearts City. Even I often enjoy playing through a quick game between larger behemoths, just to relax the mind a bit while still enjoying a cool story and some fun puzzles without demanding any major commitment. In this case, however, I thought the ending came even more abruptly than in Devil’s Hideout, leaving me wanting more. At least the story makes you think about life, its most important question being who you would choose to be if you couldn’t remember anything and had a chance to start over. But when it comes to sci-fi tales of androids and lost memories, I fear this one might wind up as just one more among many, even with stylish pixel art, music and voice overs combining to bring it very much to life. Which would be a shame, because if Philip K. Dick were alive today and fancied a career in adventure games, his work might bear some similarities to Neon Hearts City."