"The Beekeeper's Picnic" - my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "Its little blemishes show there’s still room for improvement, but these are more than made up for by the beautiful artwork, funny writing, and audiobook-quality voice cast. While the puzzles don’t hold much challenge, the writer’s commitment to providing unique and funny responses add even more charm to this cozy point-and-click adventure. Just be sure to set your expectations accordingly: Sherlock Holmes is retired here, after all, so don’t expect a dazzling mystery with blood spatters all over the place. Instead it’s the tale of a man finally trying to show his appreciation for his dear friend after years of rudeness and neglect. The story won’t go into the annals of literature with The Hound of the Baskervilles or A Study in Scarlet, but if you are in the mood for some lighthearted fun, The Beekeeper’s Picnic is good for a cozy afternoon of breezy adventuring with some honeyed tea and biscuits."

I finished "Old Skies" and yes... this is instant classic to me!

Sadly I had a different view when I visited Washington Square Park...

If you are a fan of Wadjet Eye Games, your zeal will be transformed into divine adoration after playing Old Skies. I reached the end in 15 hours!

Since last time, I finished chapter 4, which was basically an example of the proverb while two dogs fight over a bone, a third runs away with it. It was a very fun chapter, almost to the silly side.

"Old Skies" took me on a rollercoaster ride, alright!

Next came chapter 5. Oh man, this one brings back memories. Real life memories. It takes place right before (and after) an event a couple of decades ago of which I still remember where I was at the time (and always will; it was Disneyland in Paris). This case is a corporate conspiracy story. I felt some John Grisham vibes there. And just like with chapter 1, I had to make a very difficult decision. Which doesn't really affect the outcome, but it's more of a moral decision you carry with you. That's a very strange feeling, especially for people used to more straightforward games with obvious causes and consequences.

Chilling on the beach...

Then finally it was onto chapter 6, the last chapter. For some reason this chapter makes me think of Stephen King. Both him as a person, as well as his novel 11.22.63. And yet again Dave Gilbert succeeds in introducing a new gameplay aspect: yes, even in a time-travel story, you have to race against time once in a while.

Credit where credit is due! These people are artists indeed!

Wow. What an experience. There are many games from the 80s and 90s I've replayed often. I never really felt that urge with modern titles, moreso because there are way many more games to play these days, there's always a backlog, new titles coming out. But Old Skies? I have a feeling that's one I'll return to as well. This is just instant classic to me, and it should be instant buy for anyone who's serious about playing adventure games.

You can find Old Skies here.

I'm 10 hours into "Old Skies" and the game isn't afraid to mix drama with comedy!

This subject definitely has a peacock attitude

Chapter three of Old Skies brought me to August 18, 1923. A museum curator wanted to verify whether a favorite painting of hers was indeed painted by this famous painter. Color me impressed with the artwork that went into creating these in-game canvases!

Ah, young love...

Of course some more things went wrong, I got caught up in a type of Bonnie & Clyde scenario, and witnessed a twist in the story I definitely didn't see coming! Let's just say Old Skies isn't just a series of standalone time-travel missions... There's an overarching story as well, because... you know, butterfly effect and all that...

From the distant past to the... not so distant past...

I'm currently into chapter 4, in which two people are vying for control of a company. There's a change in tone in this chapter, and it seems to aim to tickle your funny bone after a more dramatic halfway-point event. It's another take on the time-loop gameplay, but at least here you're not repeating the same tasks over and over again. Instead, you take on more of a stealth role...

The further I get in this game, the harder it becomes to remain spoiler-free. Hence the shorter post this time! Rest assured, this is a story you really want to discover for yourself!

You can find Old Skies here!

"Brassheart" - my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "Brassheart is a game of layers. It’s instantly and obviously brilliant on the surface, but just below that veneer are enough minor glitches, bugs and mistakes to take off some of the shine. Fortunately, beneath those are lots of fun character interactions and puzzles to make it well worth looking past its shortcomings. The story is interesting enough to keep you entertained, and the gameplay experience is classic point-and-click adventuring but with a thoroughly modern hi-definition look. It would be even better with a bit more polish, which prevents me from giving it a higher rating it would otherwise completely deserve. But I very much appreciate what it’s trying to do and believe most adventure fans will have fun accompanying Pola and Pascal on their world-saving journey."

I'm 5 hours into "Old Skies" and time is getting loopy!

Back to the Future taught me this headline will probably change...

I'm five hours into Old Skies by Wadjet Eye Games and I've just finished chapter 2!

You won't collect many inventory items in Old Skies!

After catching up with the guy that went awol in chapter 1, I returned to the present to prepare myself for the next assignment. This time, a famous boxer wants to travel back in time to the guy who inspired her, to ask him a question. That sounded simple enough, but it turned out to be anything but.

A cozy night to prepare for the big fight!

So we traveled to the year 1871. First of all we had to track him down, then he turned out to be a completely different person than we'd anticipated. Very different. So different, in fact, we had to activate an emergency protocol, rewinding time for a short period so I could try something again. But rest assured, these are short scenes and not as annoying as other time-looping games where they have you replay entire sections over and over again. I really don't like playing those, and I can honestly say I never once felt like I wasn't having fun with Old Skies!

These close-up scenes are really gorgeous!

These scenes are actually part of the fun. They are very well written, and Fia's personality really comes to the fore in these extreme situations. They are also part of the puzzles, and usually come down to discovering the right information, which you can then use in the correct dialogue options. It takes some figuring out, and even some time-hopping between two different dates, but it all happens with the right amount of humor and doing so gives a great feeling of accomplishment.

New York museums have always astounded me...

So after a lot of unexpected stuff went down in 1871, I returned back to the present, where I was put on a third assignment which took me to the art gallery. The curator wants to find out if an anonymous painting truly belongs to this famous painter in the 1920's. Yet another era to visit, no doubt with its own challenges!

You can find Old Skies here!

New Game: "Old Skies" playthrough!

New game!

I've started playing the new Wadjet Eye game, Old Skies, and I'm one hour into it!

Got any Belgian beers in this place?

My name is Fia Quinn. I work for a company called Chronozen, which works as a kind of travel agency, only across time instead of across the geographical world. It's my job to accompany travelers and keep them (and the time they're traveling to) safe. Think of me as some kind of Time Police. Of course, this wouldn't be much of an adventure game if things didn't go wrong!

Weeeeeeee!!!!!

After one hour of gameplay, I'm still on my first mission. This dying man - a pretty famous inventor, as well - wanted to go eat at the burger joint of his college days one last time, but then tricks everyone and vamooses for some kind of covert, personal mission he didn't tell us about. So I need to track him down, the slippery git...

A real restaurant would cram THREE tables in that spot...

Old Skies doesn't feel like a game; it feels like a work of art. It's entertainment of a whole other level. Its graphical style doesn't look anything like other Wadjet Eye games. There's a constant jazzy, bluesy soundtrack that's just waiting for the game equivalent of an Oscar nomination. Fia is voiced by the incomparable Sally Beaumont, who also worked as a writer on this story.

Always love search engines in games!

The puzzles feel very much like those in the Blackwell series. It's mostly figuring things out and progressing the story than actually "solving" puzzles, combining items, etc. You talk to people, you look up things in Chronozen's archive system and even on a regular computer if they happen to exist in the time you've traveled to. The first real puzzle in the game is figuring out the combination of a door lock. The story progresses at a natural pace through dialogue and cutscenes, and I'm basically loving this type of gameplay. I'm playing, but it doesn't feel like I'm playing. I'm experiencing, and so far I haven't cursed getting stuck on some obtuse puzzle obstacle or other. Simply put, I'm enjoying the heck out of this game, and I'm having a great time with it!

The map or travel screen, always era-appropriate.

And no, I'm not just saying that because Dave Gilbert honored me with the chance to test it before release. I gave him plenty of feedback of things I thought could be better ;)

You can find Old Skies here!

My 50th Adventure Game Hotspot review: "The Haunting of Joni Evers"!

 

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "The brief time I spent playing through The Haunting of Joni Evers stirred loads of emotions in me. But then, I am quite susceptible to the feelings of others. I still enjoy reading the occasional young adult novel, which often involve dealing with other people while searching for your own place in the world. And that’s exactly what Joni’s quest here entails. She went through some bad stuff with her family, and because of that has lost track of the good stuff. She doesn’t understand the decisions her family made, because she’s never truly grasped who they are and what drives them. Instead of being just a terrifying boogeyman, the demonic Skull Man is a means to finally open her eyes and see the essence of her parents, sister and grandmother. Perhaps this entire process is meant to be completely symbolic and nothing but imaginary; who’s to say? Either way, it’s real to Joni, and in guiding her through the game, it is good fun to search through her family’s massive house, gather nostalgic items and perform rituals, constantly on your toes for manifestations of the Skull Man. The gameplay is simple and rather formulaic, but it’s more than a simple horror game, with a lot of drama to wade through as well, making this a very intimate-feeling experience that is sure to tug on your heartstrings."