New game: "Foolish Mortals"

New game!

I've started playing Foolish Mortals by Inklingwood Studios. I'm Murphy McCallan, auditor in charge of finding the lost assets of the Bellemore estate. Three brothers and one sister used to live in the Bellemore manor. When the sister got engaged to be married to a sailor in the employ of the brothers, the brothers mysteriously vanished one by one. The wedding still went on, but instead of the sailor, the sister suddenly decided to marry someone else. Before the new couple could say their vows, however, a green light made everyone inside the manor disappear.

The quaint little town of Deadnettle on Devil's Rock.

Having arrived on the island of Devil's Rock where the manor is situated, Murphy quickly learns the tale isn't simply a ghost story. A local fisherman sends him to Doctor Moray, a voodoo priest with the knowledge of how to find the lost treasure of the Bellemores. Why exactly he didn't go find the treasure himself and instead sends Murphy to do his bidding, I don't know. So I don't really trust him.

I hope there's no crazy lady named Medusa on this boat...

But, Murphy is a good chap, like Guybrush Threepwood in the first Monkey Island game before he became too much of a doofus. So he follows the Doctor's orders, fetches him something from the manor to convince him he's got what it takes, and now goes on a big quest of completing a voodoo spell which will help find the treasure.

What secrets will this haunted mansion hold?

Foolish Mortals starts with an eighty minute Prologue chapter where I first reconnoitered the island. You examine things with a right click, manipulate them with a left click though mostly that only gives a second, more detailed description of the hotspots. The game features beautiful artwork filled with small animations, excellent voice-overs - with A.J. LoCascio in the lead whom I know best as Marty McFly in Telltale's Back to the Future game - and straightforward inventory puzzles.

Yay, a big island to explore!

The only nitpick I have with the game is Murphy's slow walking speed. I double-click on everything so at least he jogs a bit. But it looks like this game is going to be right up there with old classics like The Curse of Monkey Island and Broken Sword as well as new titles like Old Skies and Rosewater. Now, let's start Part One and see how good I am in locating the seven ingredients of that voodoo spell...

You can buy Foolish Mortals on Steam and GOG!