Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit

Kind of disappointing and boring overall. The graphics were better than usual for a point-and-click adventure. A few puzzles didn't seem fair and a few seemed needlessly convoluted. I'm a veteran of the genre and had to consult a walkthrough seven times. I appreciated the dialogue choices, the choice of profession and being able to choose the wardrobe of the heroine, but the last two features were not used enough. It's not a horrible game, but there are better choices.

I would like to give this a neutral review really. I enjoyed the settings and the history, and it works pretty well as a classic point and click adventure, the puzzles were varied enough. However, I found the characters generally unpleasant and one dimensional (the villain had a point that the heroine was treating priceless history like a get rich quick scheme), the storyline was predictable - I kept waiting for a betrayal from the love interest to shake things up but no. Possibly most annoying, the soundtrack was incredibly irritating. Some of the puzzles were not intuitive at all and by the end I'd lost patience and resorted to a walkthrough, mostly just to get away from the soundtrack loops. Due to these elements I can't recommend it. But it was all stuff that is personal taste, so your mileage may vary. It has the bones of a great game, and I would consider checking out more by this dev, but not with these characters!

Game was ok up until the stupid and unsolvable scooter race. Very dissapointing. Do not waste your money.

This is a pretty middle-of-the-road point & click adventure game. It has some great things (some puzzles, and the method for combining clues to get new insights was nicely done), some very annoying things (not being able to run or skip cutscenes or animations in a modern p&c is practically a crime, and making you through the entire game 3 times (!!) to get every achievement without any way of speeding up the process is just mean), and a lot of meh things (the story is pretty farfetched, the characters are not really three-dimensional, and the soundtrack is mid at best). I decided to recommend it because it has just about enough good stuff in it to tip the scale, but it's definitely close.

I’ve got it 70% off and it still feels like too much money. The story is short, slow-paced, the lack of sprint is killing my soul. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, only Dana showed some kind of personality. But instead we are pushed to romance some random dude, can’t we simply romance Dana, or, actually, nobody? Why the mother is ♥♥♥♥♥? Does the father even exists? Can I take the librarian for a date? So many questions, no satisfaction.

Un point n' click traditionnel qui s'inspire grandement des classiques du genre (Les Chevaliers de Baphomet & co...) avec une histoire sympathique mélangeant humour, enquête & mystère... avec son lots de puzzles loufoques & de dialogues détonants. Du déjà vu & des petits clins d’œil seront de la partie dont un puzzle avec une chèvre...d'où le lien avec le fan-game Broken Sword 2.5... Des graphismes assez cartoon qui auraient pu être plus détaillés...(surtout lors des zooms de décors) Quelques petites nouveautés comme pouvoir modifier librement les vêtements du perso pour certaines énigmes... De même, on aura le choix au début du jeu entre 3 professions différentes mais mise à part une seule énigme qui devra être résolu de 3 façons différentes en fonction de la profession, ce n'est pas exploité du tout & tant mieux dans un sens, vu qu'on peut faire une partie des actions de chaque professions en même temps, ça peut mener à confusion... Il essaye d'être plus moderne dans sa narration tout en étant profondément ancré dans les clichés de ses classiques... Pas parfait & pas trop long non plus, il aurait pu être plus dense avec des passages & pays bien trop vite expédiés... Il se termine avec une fin un peu bancale, au goût d'incomplet & d’inachevé... [spoiler](sérieusement Indiana Jones!!??)[/spoiler] !!!!!

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Ich fand es wirklich richtig anstrengend. Das tut mir leid, so hart sagen zu müssen. Ich liebe Adventures, aber dieses hier hat mich geärgert. - mega lineares Spiel - so linear, dass man untersuchte Gegenstände zu einem anderen Zeitpunkt erneut untersuchen muss, aber beim ersten Untersuchen keinen Hinweis darauf bekommt - absolute Verzweiflung, was denn jetzt noch gemacht werden muss, wenn das Offensichtliche erledigt wurde - keine Hinweise, Notizbuch, Merken von Dialogen oder Ähnliches - ätzende Action-Quick-Time-Events - ich habe teilweise überhaupt nicht geblickt, was ich machen muss, es gibt null Erklärung zur Steuerung - ewig lange immer wieder zu ertragende Animationsszenen bei Dialogen oder Rätseln, oder immer wieder ganz von vorne Anfangen, statt mir dem, was man sich im vorigen Versuch erarbeitet hatte - mit eben ewig lange Animationen jedes einzelne Mal - extrem wenig Interaktionsfläche, kaum untersuchbare Gegenstände, winzige Schauplätze was soll ich sagen: es fehlt alles und hat nichts. Nicht mal liebenswerte Charaktere, Story auch nicht so spannend. Die Optik (abseits der Klamotten der Protagonisten) ist aber wenigstens ganz nett. Ich habe es nicht zu Ende gespielt, beim Vespa-Rennen hatte ich einfach keine Lust mehr. Spielen soll ja Spaß machen, Stress habe ich genug auf Arbeit. Wer ist überhaupt auf die besch...ene Idee gekommen, dass jemand, der ein Adventure Game spielt, sich auch nur minimalst über ein Quick-Time Element im Spiel freuen würde? Ist doch ein Widerspruch irgendwie...

more of a neutral rating than positive. i was pretty stocked for this game after playing the demo, but the game itself was overall as disappointing as i couldn't even bring myself to play through it. after few hours gameplay the story revealed itself as quite bland. but what really turned me off was the game pushing onesided politics while i just wanted an adventure. there are so many good adventures out there, no real need to put up with this one.

[h2]Introduction[/h2] Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit is a point-and-click adventure game that features charming graphics and a manageable number of interactive objects. If you are not a fan of this genre, you may not find much appeal here. … If you are still interested, let's delve into the aspects of the game that I found less satisfying. … [h2]Game Duration[/h2] The length of the game is relatively short, taking between six and eight hours to complete. For a point-and-click adventure, a more appropriate duration would be around ten to twelve hours. [h2]Story and Plot Issues[/h2] The narrative is problematic—not in terms of writing quality, but in the pacing and structure. Some sections feel rushed and would benefit from additional development, while the introduction feels more like filler than a meaningful start. There are also illogical moments, such as the protagonist traveling without ever having money in the inventory or the grandfather acquiring a moped while being chased on foot, with no explanation of how he managed to do so without being caught. [h2]Puzzle Design[/h2] Certain puzzles lack sufficient explanation, making them difficult to solve through logic. Instead, players may have to rely on trial and error or consult a walkthrough. Specifically, the selection of the three places of worship for the keys, the hockey game (which assumes knowledge only hockey fans would have), and the riddle involving eight statues all suffer from poor clarity. For example, the hint "follow the leader" is unhelpful when the leader is only identified by a finger pointing down, which is far from intuitive. [h2]Other Gameplay Frustrations[/h2] Some actions, though not entirely illogical, end up wasting the player's time and often lead to consulting a solution. For instance, the requirement to pick up an old jersey at grandfather’s house in order to be recognized as a hockey fan seems arbitrary. Similarly, the presence of a cat in the library, which serves no purpose at that moment, can be misleading. [h2]Replay Value[/h2] There is nothing in the game that would motivate me to play it again. [h2]Recommendation[/h2] Would I recommend Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit? The answer is not straightforward. Steam would benefit from a "meh" rating, as my opinion falls somewhere between yes and no. If you are a dedicated fan of point-and-click adventures, you might enjoy this game, but do not expect it to reach the heights of classics like Monkey Island or the Sierra adventures of the ‘80s or ‘90s. For everyone else, there are better ways to spend your time.