PC – Chickpea Chronicles

Inheritance of Crimson Manor

I found myself playing as private assistant to a famous railroad owner, known as Hadley Strange (a very strange name indeed!) and it seems that I have been working for him for the past 10 years. As soon as I arrived at his beautiful mansion, I found an envelope addressed to me at the gate with cryptic instructions to follow. Something about helping Hadley Strange with a mission of his or bringing it to fruition.

Where was everyone, I thought; why is this place deserted? Well a newspaper by the door gave me the answer I was looking for. It seems an accident took place, which resulted in the mysterious disappearance of 5 members of the Strange family.

The Victorian manor is a joy to navigate and it is packed full of secrets—hidden passages, underground cellars, and a fascinating shape shifting library. It appears that Mr. Strange is a very peculiar sort of person with many secrets. One telegram found at the parlor addressed to his name reveals a research he’s been working on outraged the Victorian scientific society and as a result was rejected.

It’s difficult not to point out the resemblances between Crimson Manor and Resident Evil—from the map layouts, to the mechanical puzzles, to the overall atmosphere. It felt like walking into a more polished Spencer Mansion. Am I complaining? Certainly not! The massive house was a joy to explore. They’ve done an excellent job with the setting.

Each room was littered with puzzles. I would say straight forward puzzles—nothing too complex. At times, they were buggy, but nothing a quick exit and re-login couldn’t fix.

The entirety of the story is related through the family’s correspondences and journal entries. At times the game tries to be inventive and uses environmental storytelling. Around the half-mark I pretty much predicted what the ending(s) is going to be.

Overall it was a decent game, but I found myself feeling slightly bored at the lack of action. To be fair it is purely a puzzle game, but then I didn’t really get the same reaction playing The Da Vinci House or The Room games, which were also puzzle games. What made Crimson Manor slightly disappointing for me was how the tension builds up slightly at the beginning, giving you the impression that there’s something sinister going on, but it never really delivers to fulfill the atmosphere and vibe it’s triggering. On Steam, it is categorized as a horror game, which only contributes to setting false expectations for it. I would describe it as more of a mystery/puzzle adventure. The only eeriness you get is from navigating an empty house—no jump scares, cut scenes, or queued animations. It’s a good choice of game for someone looking for a relaxed puzzle mystery.

My final score is 3/5 ★★★

3/5 for gameplay
4/5 for design
3/5 for Puzzles
3/5 for plot
Game Platform (played on): PC
Game Link | Click Here

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Bells

Another hidden object game in the same week (I don’t learn, do I?) Especially when I’ve said it a thousand times on here how I’m not a big fan of hidden object games but sometimes you’re just in the mood for an easy point and click game to pass time, you know?

Well anyway, I heard the Dark Tales series are popular so I gave this one a shot especially when it’s an Edgar Allen Poe game. I knew it wasn’t going to be The Dark Eye material in any way (THIS Dark Eye in case it skipped your radar; a fantastic classic Edgar Allen Poe game back in the 90s). I figured at least we might get a fun twist of Poe’s poem. I even read it before playing it to be prepared; it really made no difference.

Story wise, I suppose the plot is slightly more interesting-ISH than the average H.O. game. The plot has a couple of twists, though predictable. There were also a few hysterically funny moments like the punching scenes, although now that I think about it I’m pretty sure they weren’t meant to be funny.

The way you find and collect your items inventory also resembles a hidden object game in a way, which is a nice change. The mini puzzles; however, were laughably easy except for the final puzzle which I spent a really long time trying to solve. It wasn’t even that difficult but required a reset which didn’t occur to me. I guess in puzzle games the RESET button is the equivalent of kicking a vending machine when it swallows your coins and nothing comes out. I need to make a mental note of that.

Is it worth playing? Maybe. If you like hidden object games, then you might enjoy this one. The graphics are nice, there’s that. And while it’s considered a short game, they do give you extra content upon completion (which I’m afraid I didn’t bother to try). That says everything I guess.

My final score is 2/5 ★★

2/5 for gameplay
3/5 for design
2/5 for Puzzles
1/5 for plot
Game Platform (played on): Steam.
Game Link | Click Here

True Fear: Forsaken Souls II

Just completed Forsaken Souls II; a sequel of True Fear Forsaken Souls I, which I reviewed last week. The game is a huge improvement from its prequel! I didn’t expect to like it this much but I was really blown away.

The story took its steady time to unfold and so much has happened since FSI. New characters, new events, and new leads. I love how things are not rushed and the main character lets the player know what she thinks about everything. For once there’s actually a good use for the diary in these games.

It’s very refreshing not to hinge the entire game on hidden objects. And I have to say the mini games in this installment were absolutely WONDERFUL! Some are straight forward mini-games and some others are very inventive like the use of night vision goggles in various places, swapping items through a time machine, and using a library cart to retrieve books with an RFID-like mechanism. You’re never bored!

I also absolutely love how items picked up at the beginning of the game stay with you for a very long time, which is unusual with this genre of games. Your inventory grow, which lets you think about how to use the items at your disposal. Some of them can be reused many times before disposing them.

The graphics are superb. The music and sound effects are also top notch. Some find the sequel to be less spooky than the prequel. I personally found this one scarier (that basement part!).

The game is surprisingly massive and there’s a lot to uncover. Using the map to fast travel is definitely a good option.

Overall I’m super hyped about this installment and I really can’t wait for the third part to come out. I really hope it won’t be too long. Based on the rumors I’ve read online it’s not promising but definitely worth the wait.

This game is part of a trilogy and they’re closely tied. Playing the first part is a must. If you can tolerate the clunkiness of the prequel then you’re in for a treat for the sequel. I bet the third will even be better!

My final score is 4.5/5 ★★★

3/5 for gameplay
4/5 for plot
4/5 for puzzles & exploration
4/5 for overall experience

Game Platform (played on): PC, Steam

Game link

Game trailer

True Fear: Forsaken Souls I

This game is part one of a trilogy, two of which are released and the third still in development.

The game begins with the lead character Holly receiving a letter from her sister, whom she hasn’t seen in ten years. The letter informs Holly to visit a house in order to unravel the truth about their family. Shocked and elated at the same time, Holly makes her way immediately to the given location and begins following the leads.

The game is described as a hidden-object with mini games. The puzzles are not traditional hidden-object and the game tries hard to be inventive but perhaps a little too innovative, at least to my taste. I didn’t find a logical pattern to the hidden objects and overall they felt flat to me. Thankfully, the developers opted out of hidden objects all together in the second part of the trilogy.

I think what stood out the most to me was the story itself. Often a garden-variety of these games lack depth and the plots feel rushed. In fact, many people I know just skip through the scene sequences to get to the puzzles. In this game; however, the story is engaging. Without saying too much, there are many aspects of the game’s playability that make the narration of the story interesting.

The atmosphere of the game is spooky with a few jump scares here and there but not more than that. The music, by far, is what keeps you on your toes. And it just happens to be that this game is one of the first games I got to play testing my new gaming surround system. Let’s just say I kept my volume at the lowest at all times!

Overall the game is decent and memorable. I heard the sequel is good so looking forward to playing that next. One thing that I absolutely hated, though, was the navigational system. Clicking to maneuver out of places can easily unlock your inventory display by mistake, which happened A LOT. It made moving around a total nuisance to be honest. I’m one of those people that prefer keeping my inventory opened at all times so having it unlock every couple of minutes was seriously annoying. Hopefully they got that sorted out in the sequel.

My final score is 3/5 ★★★

1/5 for gameplay
3/5 for plot
2.5/5 for puzzles & exploration
3/5 for overall experience

Game Platform (played on): PC, Steam

Game link

Game trailer

The Painscreek Killings

The Painscreek Killings is a 1st person, point-and-click, free-roaming, mystery game. You begin the adventure as a journalist who wants to find out exactly what has happened in Painscreek to write a compelling story. Upon arrival; however, you find out that the town has been abandoned, gated and many investigators before you were tasked with similar missions but for one reason or another ended up unheard of.

As soon as the main menu came up, I felt very pleased with what I was seeing. The music is soothing and the graphics look like they’ve been filtered with a vintage lens. In a way the game resembles a walking-simulation but eventually you realize there’s a lot to tackle beyond the surface. I play PLENTY of adventure and mystery games and I consider this game probably the closest I got to a real detective-experience.

The village is very charming and immensely enjoyable to explore. This is a good thing because you’ll find yourself going back and forth through many of its locations. The layout, design and lore were carefully laid out. The various locations are interconnected and will definitely require you to write things down.

The game doesn’t depend on AI interactions, neither is it a straight-forward puzzler like most detective adventures these days. It heavily depends on visiting each destination, reading journal entries, letters and notes left behind by the village inhabitants and forming a picture. Eventually each location will augment pieces missing in another place until you draw a clear map of who the killer is, what weapon was used and where did the incident take place. In fact, you aren’t bound by a set of events taking place in this game to the point where you could end the game at anytime and immediately solve the mystery if you think you’re ready.

I truly loved this game. It felt pleasantly immersive and from the moment I started the game to the very end it kept me hooked. The horror factor in the game isn’t associated with goblins and monsters but there is a very prominent creepy theme going on. I consider games with subtle touches of horror far more effective than those that deliver it to your face.

While playing this game the weather wasn’t that great and we encountered a big storm that left us staying at home for days. This game was the perfect companion. I really enjoyed getting to know all the characters and following up with their leads. I also had a lot of fun experimenting with different note-taking apps to help me organize my thoughts & solve the investigation. Google Keep & Simple Mind mapping helped a great deal. The following is a mind map that I created for the game and it really helped to keep track of who’s who and who’s related to what. Although it doesn’t include the answer of the mystery, you might not want to zoom in too much to avoid spoilers.

My final score is 5/5 ★★★★★

5/5 for gameplay
4/5 for plot
5/5 for puzzles & exploration
5/5 for overall experience

Game Platform (played on): PC, Steam

Official Site

Links: Trailer