I've finished my replay of "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis"!

How devious of me...

After playing through both the Wits and the Fists path in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, I reloaded my game to the point where you choose your path, and continued on the Team Path. This time, Sophia tags along for the ride, though it once again takes us through the same locations, although the experience is a bit different. It feels like it combines elements from the two other paths a bit, while still adding some new things as well.

Around Algiers in 80 days...

I often wondered what a movie adaptation or novelization would be like, how it would combine elements from all three paths, especially when it comes to Sophia since she always shows up somewhere. There actually is a novelization out there, a fanmade project you can read for free. But I own a whole bunch of Indy books and I would very much like to add a physical copy of a genuine "Fate of Atlantis" book.

I imagine the real world location to be a kind of theme park now...

After dealing once again with Trottier and Al-Jabbar, the adventure takes us back to Crete. While most of this path you keep doing things on your own as Indy, I'm glad there are several instances where you actually need Sophia to continue. Of course that's what the Team Path is about. I'm guessing it was a tough balancing act, though. Naturally gamers want to play as Indy as much as possible, but you need to make sure Sophia is essential as well.

Up, up, and away!

As I reached Atlantis, this time I continued playing and searched the second maze in this game. I didn't realize it before, but now they remind me of the mazes in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: the catacombs in Venice, the castle and the zeppelin. Thankfully the mazes in Atlantis are far more forgivable and put more focus on exploration instead of trial and error surival.

A game of hide and seek...

I like how the rooms in Atlantis are randomized each playthrough, except for the dungeon of course. This is where your actions also define which ending you get; I didn't try them out for my playthrough, but if my memory serves me correctly, I think there are three of them.

Be careful what you say, now...

I finished this playthrough of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis in rougly 4,5 hours - playing through all three Paths, of course, and remembering most of the puzzles. It's still quite a fun game which I think really captures the essence of an Indy story without making it too much into an action game. It also reminds me that I still need to finish Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on the PS5... Hopefully in the new year!

The End!

My next playthrough will be a game released in 2025 but I didn't get around to yet; there are still a couple of those I want to finish before we're bombarded with loads of amazing new releases again. I think I'll finally go looking for a bunch of long-lost relatives in a particular family...

You can find Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis on Steam and on GOG!

Played through two of the "paths" in "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis"

Typical Indy-travel view

When I first played Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, I spent hours on figuring out all the puzzles. Mostly the dialogue ones gave me trouble, not being as fluent in English back in the day, and of course not as experienced in adventure gaming. This replay, however, is going very smoothly, even after so many years.

Follow the little red dot...

After the first part of my replay, I continued onto the Wits Path. This took me to Algiers and Monte Carlo, getting in touch with Sophia's contacts. I had to find a way to follow Omar Al-Jabbar's assistent to the home of his boss, locate a dig site deep in the desert on camelback, then save Alain Trottier from his kidnappers in a chase sequence you'd actually expect for the Fists Path.

High speed chase through the streets of Monte Carlo...

Finally I ended up in the Greek isles, first on Thera - or Santorini - and then on Crete and the labyrinth of Knossos. I think this is one of the rare in-game labyrinths I actually enjoy. It's been so long since I played this game, most of it I still remembered but navigating the labyrinth felt like it was the first time again, and it took some searching around.

Finish him!

Finally I found my way into Atlantis, and that's when I reloaded my game to the point where I get to choose which path to take, and this time I continued onto the Fists path. At first this felt like some kind of Easy Mode, visiting all of the same locations, but a bit further on the path's difference became very much apparent when I had to fight some soldiers and actually met up with Sophia again, which you'd only expect on the Team Path.

Did this inspire that Dial of Destiny scene?

After two hours and forty-five minutes of total playing time, I had completed both the Wits and Fists path up to the point where I reached Atlantis. Now it's time to reload again and finish the game following the Team Path!

You can find Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis on Steam and on GOG!

Classic replay: "The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel"

Replay!

After playing Casebook 1899: The Leipzig Murders, I was in the mood for some more sleuthing. Coincidence has it that in my list of classic playthroughs I had just come to an old friend from my youth again: The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel by Mythos Software. As is the case with many classic adventure games, I lost count of the amount of times I've played through this game. It's been a while now, so let's see how much of it I still remember during this replay!

Severe case of sciophobia...

London, 1888. A woman is attacked and killed in an alley behind the Regency Theatre. Inspector Lestrade requests Holmes's presence and so, accompanied by Dr. Watson, I make my way there. This point 'n click adventure uses a verb interface. Every piece of dialogue is recorded by Watson and can be read again under the Journal button. There are lots of hotspots and each one has an elaborate description. The game hails from a time when there weren't any voice-overs, though the cutscenes ARE voiced.

The scene of the crime...

After an hour of gaming, I've searched the crime scene and the victim's residence, conducted some chemical experiments on some pieces of evidence, sent Wiggins on an errand, and found a couple of leads which led me to several locations across London. Each time you think you're getting close, a new clue pops up taking you even deeper into the case.

This travel map taught me my way around London...

So far, only one thing bothered me a bit and that was an artificial lenghtening of the game by having you bump into some bureaucracy, forcing you into some back and forth between NPC's to get past some red tape before you can actually continue your investigation. All that stuff had nothing to do with the murder, but in hindsight perhaps it's an authentic and realistic obstacle to run into. It isn't fun, though.

Ugh... Sports...

My search led me to the Kensington rugby field. I found some evidence leading to one of the players, but the coach won't let me come near him unless I can tell him a name. I haven't found a name yet, though, but thankfully I've just found another lead that might prove fruitful in this regard. Back to late 19th century London it is! 

As far as I can tell, The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel isn't currently available for purchase anywhere, though you CAN vote to put it on GOG!