I've finished "The Dagger of Amon Ra" in 5 hours!

Ace reporter makes headlines!

After my previous post, a couple more bodies showed up and suddenly I was catapulted into the end game. I remember when first playing The Dagger of Amon Ra that this is a timed chase sequence where you need to stall your pursuer so you can make your escape. Forget to block one door, and the culprit catches up with you and bashes your head in.

Nothing beats a good back rub!

I didn't make it all the way through this time either. There was a pixel hunt where I had to cut a cable by clicking on the exactly right spot, which took some tries of frantically clicking. I also found Steve Dorian passed out in the furnace room, and he had lost one of his boots somewhere, so he burned his foot as soon as he got up and fell down again. So I restored my game and this time made sure to explore the museum some more before entering that one room that triggers the chase.

Goin' down with Laura...

And good thing I did, because there were some more pieces of evidence lying around that I hadn't picked up yet. After the chase, I had to answer a load of questions during the coroner's inquest pertaining the killer and their motives, and my replies need to be supported by the items I collected. I had to give that another try too, and frankly even after getting the good ending I still don't understand the reasoning behind all the murders, though I did understand at least a lot more when I first played this game and didn't yet have such an extensive grasp of English vocabulary...

How big IS this place?

So I finished my replay in five hours! It's fast this time because I only did the essentials and didn't explore fully. It was amazing how I can't remember what I ate yesterday but most of the details of this game came back to me after probably twenty-five years since playing it last.

My next playthrough will be of a more recent game again, about some murders in some German city...

You can find The Dagger of Amon Ra on GOG!

I'm 3,5 hours into "The Dagger of Amon Ra" and my suspects keep dying!

Peekaboo!

After my first session of my "The Dagger of Amon Ra" replay, I spent an hour talking to all the guests at the museum fund raiser, and eavesdropping on their private conversations. Then I finally got the chance to explore the exhibits. Security guard Wolf Heimlich blocked the way at first, but had conveniently moved location. And that's how I discovered the first murder victim of the night...

Yvette admiring the modern art...

Yes, I do say, first victim, because the bodies keep dropping in this game! It felt like every time I turned a corner, one of my suspects would no longer be a suspect. I'm moving rather fast through this game since it's a replay, and I still remember all the times I died when I first played this game. So I already know where to go, what to do, and most importantly what to pick up.

Always dreamt of an office like this...

Which means I'm not really taking the time to enjoy the scenery, which is a shame. There is so much to look at in this game, so many elaborate descriptions, not just informative but also often funny. I really love the writing in this game, and I'm not just saying that because it's Josh Mandel... The artwork as well is amazing to look at, so detailed. You can spent hours exploring the museum and examining everything.

Ooh la la...

Besides the dead bodies, I've found lots of notes of appointments the different characters have with each other. Each time you make some sort of discovery, the in-game clock moves forward. You can then go to the respective meeting place for that time and eavesdrop on the people. You get lots of information this way, which I remember you need later on.

I feel I'm close to the finale, which I recall gave me a really hard time as a novice adventure gamer. Hopefully I can do a better job this time around...

You can find The Dagger of Amon Ra on GOG!

Classic replay: "The Dagger of Amon Ra"

Replay!

Time for another great classic point 'n click adventure. I'm REplaying The Dagger of Amon Ra. It's the second Laura Bow game after The Colonel's Bequest. It's actually one of the first Sierra games I played, (after Police Quest) and I'm still the proud owner of the big box and the booklets that came with it!

Is this Cruise for a Corpse?

I'm one hour into the game, running the files from an external drive through ScummVM. Immediately I'm thrown back in time, not only to 1926 when the story takes place, but my own teenage years playing this in my bedroom. I can hardly believe that since then I've actually visited New York City myself, and I didn't even get mugged! (I did get run over by a car, which is actually a random death you can encounter in The Dagger of Amon Ra...)

First death scene: getting run over by a car...

This first hour of gameplay is spent mosly visiting all the different New York locations jotted down in your notebook, and talking to all the people. There's your colleague at the newspaper, a desk sergeant in the police station, a stoolpigeon in a local speakeasy, a stevedore at the docks, Lo Fat the laundry guy. The interview system isn't that user friendly, though. Instead of automatic replies when you click the topics in the notebook, you have to close it first and then open it again to ask your next question. I'm glad later games - like Gabriel Knight - improved on that.

The Roaring Twenties...

Having played this game countless times in the past, I was suddenly stuck trying to get ready for the fund raiser at the museum. I found a dress, but no idea how or where I was supposed to change into it. So that cost me some time before I realized which location offered that possibility. So now I'm ready to talk to everyone at the party, as Act 2: Suspects on Parade, kicks off!

Like flies on a turd...

You can find The Dagger of Amon Ra on GOG!

Finished my second playthrough of "The Colonel's Bequest"

Analyzing the heck out of this game...

This one took me about 10 hours, meticulously keeping track of all NPC's during all time slots on a second computer, trying to compile a perfect path through the game. This came with a lot of saving and restoring but hey, it's a Sierra game after all, you HAVE to do that with them (though usually only to survive till the end...)

Jeeves keeps telling me to get out of his room, but he doesn't really seem to mind all THAT much...

And it worked! I didn't reach Super-sleuth, but I am a Seasoned P.I.! I'm very much satisfied with that result, even though I still missed some things (didn't examine enough items with the monocle, didn't use all items where I could, stuff like that...)

 

I'd like to try some gumbo, please. No idea what it tastes like actually...

I spied on loads of interesting conversations this time, AND I found my way in some unexpected locations as well! Like the butler's room, Celie's house, the attic, and even an underground cave system leading to a couple of surprises!

 

Okay, this is getting creepy...

Truly a great game! I had loads of fun with this one, can't believe I waited this long to play it!

 

Yay, seasoned P.I.!

 You can find The Colonel's Bequest here!

I reached the ending of "The Colonel's Bequest" after 4 hours or so...

 ...but I only got an "Absent-Minded" rating on the Sleuth-o-Meter!

Bummer...

There's a lot of stuff I missed, as was obvious when Laura goes over her notebook at the end of the game. Lots of things I should have uncovered are left incomplete. And I even got the bad ending!

 

Wasn't expecting this!

I restored to see the good ending, but that didn't change much about my score, if not to say nothing!

 

The End? I don't think so...

So I'm diving back into the game for a second playthrough, and this time I'm going to make sure to find out where all NPC's are during every time slot!

 

Aha! I finally know how to spy on people during my second playthrough! No more secrets for me now! Mwahaha!

Let's rock that Sleuth-o-Meter this time!

You can find The Colonel's Bequest here!

Two hours into "The Colonel's Bequest"

Uh-oh...

I already found three dead bodies, which immediately disappear so people are hiding them either down the well, or in the cellar, or up the attic, or perhaps they're just throwing them into the swamp to sink, I don't know.

 

Trying to eavesdrop isn't all that succesfull in this game...

I realized there's not really much else to do in this game than walk around and try to find interesting things to see or hear that will progress time. I'm currently in Act V and I've already witnessed lots of strange things; the dead bodies of course but also arguments between people, harrassment, fisticuffs, a drunk woman zigzagging all over the place, ...

 

No, they're not doing the tango...

I've also died a couple of times. Someone pulled me inside a closet, and I was so proud when I found an oilcan that I sliced myself in half fixing the rusty armor in the main hall.

 

Bam!

Really wondering where this will all lead to. Is there one murderer, are there several, will I have to point them out in the end? I've found a handkerchief, a poker, and I'm seeing boa feathers all over the place, so that's not much for gathering evidence...

 

The cheek!

Time will tell!

You can find The Colonel's Bequest here!

Classic time: "The Colonel's Bequest" playthrough

New game!

I'm 1 hour into Sierra's The Colonel's Bequest, aka Laura Bow 1. I've never played this game before, so it's about time I got around to it, since the game dates back to 1989!

 

Welcome to the mansion!

Laura's friend Lillian invited her over to her uncle Henri's mansion for dinner. The entire family is gathered, and Henri drops a bomb on them: he doesn't have long to live, and he's splitting up his inheritance equally amongst any surviving family members.

 

My first (intentional) death scene...

This game is typical whodunit fare and makes me think in the first place of Agatha Christie, but also Cluedo and Knives Out. After one hour of playing, I explored the entire mansion and a little bit of the outside. I think I met most cast members (11 NPC's so far...) and tried asking them about each other. I found a soup bone in the kitchen's ice box, and I already died twice (once intentionally)!

 

Lots of weapons in this room...

There's an in-game clock which starts at 7 pm. The clock has advanced a couple of times and it's now 7:45. It hasn't advanced in a while now, and I feel like I'm back on the ship in Cruise for a Corpse, searching far and wide for that one clue that will advance time.

 

Sorry, couldn't help myself... They told me she was into it!

I have absolutely no idea what to expect, except certain death around every corner. It's wild playing a text parser game again after so long and not having pre-chewed dialogue options, nor a one-click mouse interface to examine and interact with hotspots.

 

My first (unexpected) death scene!

I also have no idea where to go next, or what to do, so I guess I'll just go around the house again...

You can find The Colonel's Bequest here!