I have a genuine question here: is this the same developer team that has presented us [i]Portal of Evil: Stolen Runes[/i]? Because both games carry the banner of 8Floor, and if so, this game is an unacceptable decline in quality compared to their previous title, coming as a mediocre and bug-ridden disappointment.
Here, we take the role of Kathleen Wilson, a young lawyer whose boyfriend; Danny has the obscure hobby of collecting and researching occult artifacts. One evening, Kathleen receives a phone call from Danny, explaining that he's been accused of murder by the police! As you rush to his side to prepare a defense, Danny tells you that he is being set up by an unknown perpetrator who also stole a set of ancient Indian totems from him. At this point, you prefer to go back to Danny's hotel room to investigate the phenomenon and flush out the perpetrator in hopes of helping Danny, rather than staying by his side to actually prepare a defense like a sensible lawyer. So, this murder investigation turns into a paranormal yet obscurely constructed, absurd little journey as soon as you step into Danny's room. Soon, you'll be dealing with Indian curses, generic eerie little girls, mad researchers, agoraphobic pilots and murdered cabaret dancers.
First mistake: the story construction is completely malformed. Sure, I've seen worse in HOG genre, but the story is so full of holes, it fails to present a consistent story altogether. One moment, you are in the hotel room, in another the protagonist mentions travelling in time, and in the next chapter you are helping a pilot. If you go back and read your journal carefully, you manage to come into the conclusion that you are somehow going through time depending on the former actions of your perpetrator. But while the story unfolds, you are rarely given the reason WTF you would be doing there. Plot resolutions are sloppy, characters are nearly cardboard and the ending is a new level of ridiculous.
The previous game from the developers was surely no award winner, but its display qualities were exceedingly good. Here, it feels like that they didn't even try. Artwork is generic, character designs are forgettable and there is no voice acting at all. There is not even a single scene that you'd particularly enjoy. The narrative both in dialogues and in the journal are so dry, that it bores you. As someone who'd especially enjoy fictional settings and character designs, this was the first time that I genuinely got bored of a HOG.
Gameplay is on the low side within the genre too. HOG scenes are amateurishly matched stock pictures, with many item labelling and even logic mistakes. In one scene, there are 6-7 lightbulbs within the picture, yet for some reason the game expects you to click on a particular one without giving any indications. Most puzzles are dreadfully simple, yet some fails to give you decent explanations so you keep clicking around until something happens. The backtracking is also horrendous.
Oh, and the achievements in this game are bugged, be warned. Even though you wouldn't click on the hint button it recharges every time you start the game, and if you are to accidentally leave a HOG or puzzle scene to look around, the game registers you leaving as if you've used a hint! If you want all your achievements you gotta wait for the button to charge completely before clicking on anything. It is purely ridiculous. I've been lucky enough to check discussion forums before starting my playthrough but many others who wouldn't would be annoyed. This issue is yet to be resolved.
Got the game in a bundle and feel like giving it a try? My condolences. You'll be either bored or annoyed with this one. There are truckloads of other great HOGs to check out here on Steam. Make yourself a favor, pass this one.
Please also check out Lady Storyteller's Curator page [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ladystoryteller#curation]here[/url] - follow for regular updates on reviews for other games!
