New playthrough: "Roots in the Sky" aka "The Hand of Glory 2!"

New game!

Back in 2022, I played The Hand of Glory, a point 'n click adventure game that - to be honest - didn't look like much at first view, but once I got past the rather simple character designs I discovered it was an amazing story filled with intuitive puzzles that could definitely compete with the likes of Broken Sword and Gabriel Knight. Now, Madit Entertainment and Daring Touch are back with the sequel! I received an advanced copy since I backed it on Kickstarter, but I waited posting about it until the game was officially released. So here goes!

Nothing better than a dead body to start an adventure...

Surprise, surprise! Lars "Lazarus" Bundy is back from the dead! The main menu of Roots in the Sky offers a handy recap of the first game, and then the new game catches up with our main character in Rome five years later, in a new life, with a new identity, away from the people he loves in order to protect them from possible harm. He has become a bodyguard, but his latest client gets shot under his watch, giving us a new case to investigate. But not before we play through a little flashback scene to Bundy's childhood to show us how he became the man he is today.

No kid's room without a lot of trinkets...

After the first hour of gaming, nothing else much has happened, except for me cursing at the inventory interface. Roots in the Sky employs a one-click interface, so when you open up your inventory to choose an item, first you need to choose whether you want to actually pick up said item or examine it further. Being more used to two-button interfaces, with the left mouse button to manipulate and the right button to examine, I kept simply clicking on the object in question, and then leaving the inventory again thinking I had already selected it. I kept forgetting that extra, second click...

When in Rome...

Other than that, I totally love the game. There are many hotspots to interact with or examine, Bundy's character design has greatly improved since the first game. And this is an adventure where you really need to take your time to explore, talk to people and figure things out. It has a slow rhythm but that means you can really submerge yourself in this world, take it all in. And you have to, if you want to figure out what you are supposed to do exactly! At the same time it's a very cinematic experience, playing out as if you're watching a movie, with a captivating soundtrack and excellent voice cast.

And now it's time to really dig into this mystery!

You can find Roots in the Sky on Steam, GOG and itch.io!