[i]Dark Heritage: Guardians of Hope[/i] is one of those earlier hidden object games, that doesn't feel like a run-of-the-mill product which the genre has several of; it's old-fashioned, but in a good way. There are plenty of minigames - some I haven't encountered before, has a unique atmosphere and is surprisingly text-heavy (relatively, within its kind).
It doesn't come without problems however: the culprit's identity can be guessed fairly easily and a bug may result in being unable to progress (it can be easily avoided, if we refrain from using fast travel).
The style, the setup and the similarly spooky mysterious island it takes place on reminded me of [url=steamcommunity.com/id/atisz2/recommended/284890/]Left in the Dark: No One on Board[/url].
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We receive a medallion from a professor of ours which seems to be the key to finding the legendary Philosopher's Stone. It's not as easy as it seems though: only the Chosen One can find it. We must travel to the mysterious island of the Order of the Rose (also mentioned as Cannon Rock) near the coast of Scotland. There's someone else trying to snatch the artifact, who if manages to succeed, darkness will consume the world.
The game begins on the mainland at the professor's address and soon (after we get knocked out on a boat for unknown reasons) we get to discover the island [spoiler]and help ghosts of some of the unfortunate inhabitants[/spoiler] and search for 4 elemental jewels to complete our medallion with which we can locate the artifact.
The game has a diverse selection riddles, much better than the ones seen in some later made HOGs. Besides the common minigames, there are many which are unusual and intuitive to some extent, which need us to use the diary, as our character records found clues there that are not or barely mentioned otherwise or at least would require convoluted thinking to figure out. Thus our diary isn't just for decoration and for showing the current objectives, but very useful and informative, where even vague cutscenes are explained, hints are displayed and in general there are lots of points of interests with many descriptions, making the game more immersive than usual within the genre.
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There's attention to small details - a note in the rain with animated raindrops on it and - not just in graphics, but regarding riddles, like when we have to collect fireflies to be able to see in the nearby darkness, an inverted puzzle, where we have to block electricity instead of restoring it, or when we actually get back to the starting location on the island after finding an axe with which we can remove a tree that's blocking our path.
Yes, we can pretty much walk around (a rare thing in hidden object games, as certain sections tend to be closed off for good, with no possibility to go back) the island, which means we have a chance to pick up missed collectibles... too bad, there are no separate things to collect, although we have to find some story related scrolls and read certain notes which count as such (there's also a special one on the starting screen).
While the first half of the game is intriguing, after the landslide the game slows down with twice-used HO scenes becoming common and hunting them down is quite tedious (on expert mode where we get no sparks hinting their location) as they can literally be anywhere, so due to this there's a lot of backtracking.
During HO scenes some of the listed items are near the very edge of the screen, which is unusual since most HOGs don't place any objects there, but it's fine, since the hint button is small enough, so we don't have to be afraid of accidentally clicking on it. Some of the items are hard to spot though in HO scenes due to how blurry some are displayed.
As usual there are some illogical item uses here as well, like when we have to use a fish-shaped rock to break a glass board, while there are several ordinary rocks lying around or to use pliers to cut a thin rope, instead of any kind of bladed tool... and we still can't remove cobwebs with our bare hands, because God knows what would happen if we did -_-
The mentioned bug, which can be quite severe as it can prevent us from progressing - the strange blackbird we free at some point comes (regularly) to our aid in a cutscene and points out a vital item, may never appear - can be avoided if we WALK back NORMALLY from the entrance of the mine, WITHOUT using the fast map travel.
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There are several points in the game, when we seemingly get stuck and we have to wander around until this bird appears and points out another important item.
The game features a classic, hand-drawn visual style and provides great looking environments (with an obligatory shipwreck and a lighthouse), which makes walking around the deserted, but still picturesque island an enjoyable experience.
I liked the full-motion video cutscenes, but the real actors don't really fit into the drawn backgrounds at times + the characters' mouths move completely differently than the spoken dialogue would suggest. Character movement animations are very choppy, but in the case of a small sized game such as this one it's forgettable.
The mysterious and melancholic music fits well to the general spooky atmosphere (only the one in the fire department doesn't), but some are cutting out where they're set to loop.
There's also a bonus chapter taking place right after the main game, where we visit some of the same locations on the island, but now in sunshine and help one last ghost and discover the identity of the blackbird. It's about half and hour long and we get to explore the previously closed-off forest area and the lighthouse, with new cutscenes as well. Shame that the rotating puzzle on the gate right at the start is quite tedious :/
All in all, [i]Dark Heritage: Guardians of Hope[/i] is a pleasant little 4-5-hour-long old-fashioned hidden object game, despite a potentially game-breaking bug, which - again -can be easily avoided, if we don't use map travel. Due to its unique atmosphere and minigames, I'd definitely recommend it to lovers of the genre.
PROS
+ an atmospheric and spooky-looking island to explore
+ some unique intuitive puzzles which make good use of found clues
+ relatively text heavy, despite its simplicity
+ a fairly good quality bonus chapter
+ very good, fitting ambient and music...
CONS
- ... that cuts out sometimes, when it loops
- the villain's identity is quite obvious
- the 'no-fast-travel-or-else' bug
RATING
7.5/10
