"Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness": my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

 

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot. 

Excerpt: I’m not a big fan of bloody horror and jump scares, but I do enjoy being chilled by suspense and psychological mind games, and Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness largely succeeds in this respect. The adventure game tasks involving locked doors and scavenger hunting are fun, and except for the final sequence, the combat segments shouldn’t bother non-action players too much, and the ones who do enjoy the adrenaline rush can easily switch to a more challenging mode. The story of a former circus troupe meeting up again years after a shared tragedy keeps you wanting more, and the mysterious circus director combined with the main character’s mental state really pulls you in. For only a four-hour game, the story is filled with surprises, and when it was over I wished the mansion had been bigger, with more rooms to explore and more puzzles to solve. Still, I had a good time while it lasted, and can heartily recommend Vlad Circus as being well worth the price of admission.

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!

Finished "Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit" in 7 hours!

This background has some pretty groovy crowd movements.

I'm actually surprised I already finished it, because I was expecting a bit more puzzling in the end... So last time I travelled to Belarus to hijack a hockey game. After that I travelled to Italy for a plot twist. I finally got my hands on the second key after a Full Throttle style action sequence. Then I went back to Vilnius to finally gain access to the location of the last key - turns out I could've spent hours trying to get in there earlier in the game and it would never have worked.

Told you. So where are the Polecats when you need them...

After a little bit of comparing notes, which in my opinion is very underused in this game, I found my way to the finale. First I had to traverse a cave system in pretty much the same way one particular pirate wannabe finds his way in one particular island forest. Then what looked like the puzzle of all puzzles welcomed me at the final showdown, only... I didn't have to do anything. I got some kind of Indy and Elsa, Gabriel and Malia moment but that was it. I assume it has to do with the profession I chose at the start of the game (the photographer) and that this choice influences the puzzles you get. Perhaps one of the other professions really does have to do more in this finale, I don't know. I hope so, otherwise, that entire room seems like too much needless work from the art department.

How come there are never any secrets to dig up in the churches I visit for real?!

Anyway, I did enjoy this game very much. There were some tricky puzzles, not that traditional, but nothing all too hard. The only thing that really set me back somewhat was one small instance of pixel hunting. I had to look up where exactly to find one particular item I needed. Turns out it was in plain sight, I just didn't see it and Milda hadn't made a comment about it before. In my view you could only be led there by an assumption. All the regular puzzles were pretty much on the light side, and the game ended too sudden in my view, but it was very funny and certainly enjoyable! And who knows, some day I might play it again, choosing a different profession that time... 

In any case, now the wait can begin for the further development and release of the sequel, which I hope will be an adventure of the same quality, but perhaps a bit longer. I for one have already wishlisted Crowns and Pawns: Amber Road!

You can find Kingdom of Deceit on Steam and on GOG!

And you can find the upcoming sequel Amber Road on Steam and GOG as well!

Busy hunting for keys in "Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit"!

On my way to Belarus! I actually know some people in real life there, so I'm curious to see what the country looks like in this game.

When I started playing Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit, it didn't take me long to realize this was going to be my kind of game! I'm five hours into it now I've encountered some doozies of puzzles, like trying to get my hands on a librarian's password, catching a cat, juggling metal cubes, and finally a good use of the in-game notes system to find three particular churches in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania.

A maddening puzzle in this room that took me way longer than it should have. It almost made me nuts...

To continue my quest, I need to locate three keys. I already got one of them. I know the location of the second, but I can't enter it yet. And I know who has the third one, but I can't get to them either. So instead, I'm pretending to be a hockey fan and travelling to Belarus to meet a guy named Vlad who should be able to help me. I'm not sure if I'm actually supposed to go to him at this time in the game, but it feels like there's some kind of hidden linearity to it all so I'm just taking it as healthy progress, and all other obstacles will be met in due time.

I love librarians... Especially redheads.

So far, this game keeps living up to my expectations. It feels like there's still loads to do, so I'm hoping for a longer playing session soon! Milda is a great main character as well, and in my view fits perfectly with other female adventure game protagonists like April Ryan, Sam Everett, Nina Kalenkov, Erica Reed and Nico Collard. I'm really looking forward to her further adventures!

No good adventure game without a good inventory!

You can find the Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit on Steam and on GOG!

And you can find the upcoming sequel Amber Road on Steam and GOG as well!