Dimhaven - The Lost Source

After playing the other blue brain games ( house of Da Vinci trilogy ) that i all enjoyed very much this on fell short for me to the point that i regret the purchase. the good : atmoshere , story rich, soundtrack the bad : pixelized graphics the ugly : way too far fetched puzzles from midgame t il the end

Maybe you're smarter than me. There's a very real possibility. If you are, by all means, go for it. There's a strong basis for a game here, and yes, it warns you upfront that it's hard, but there are some puzzles, especially early on, where there is more than one logical solution, but unless you stumble upon the one the designer intended, you cannot progress. There are assumptions made (such as whether partners in a game of cards sit next to or across from each other, or I guess what "wraps around" means) that I did not find in evidence. Look, maybe I missed something, but there were at least two puzzles so far that I feel are not inherently solvable with the information provided. I had to find a walkthrough video for one puzzle, and I still don't understand how my answer was wrong. I say all of this with the humble acknowledgement that maybe this game bested me more than once; I am human. But I love puzzle and logic games, and either this one is too hard for me, or it is flawed.

Incredible puzzle game. I disagree with the negative reviewers saying that many puzzles were incredibly vague and expected you to know more than you should. It is a skill issue. There was really only one puzzle I wish gave a little bit more direction, but everything else was perfectly solvable (please add a 1 to the top of the cabinet puzzle chart.)

I really enjoyed the puzzles in this game.

Come on, feel the vibe of this place...

Dimhaven had the bones to be a modern adventure game classic. Unfortunately, it’s just excellent. So what happened, and what’s the game like? Dimhaven is a modern variation on the Myst flavor of puzzle adventure games. It is set in an incredibly interesting and atmospheric world, absolutely chock to the brim with genuinely engaging puzzles. The puzzles really are the highlight of the game. I can’t remember the last adventure game where I actually sat back and positively reminisced on the puzzles I’d just cleared without a walkthrough. There’s only one mediocre-to-bad puzzle in the entire game, and you can brute force it if need be. Graphically, Dimhaven is gorgeous with its pixelated vistas and 1980s technology. There was a wide variety of inspirations for the layout design from older adventure games, but it never felt like a pale imitation of some better source material. The sound design is great. Sound effects and ambiance establish a comfortable balance between a cozy, light-hearted mystery, and eerie moments where the isolation becomes more clearly felt. As for the music, you’re not likely to seek out the soundtrack on its own, but you won’t feel inclined to turn it off either. All of what I’ve described sounds excellent, and it describes maybe ⅔ of the game experience. The issue is the final third and the things you notice as the game wraps itself up. It becomes clear that the scope of the game changed during development. There’s several locked gates/doors across the map that feel as if there had been intent at one point for them to be an explorable area. Additionally, several puzzles from the trailers did not make it into the final product. I’d have been fine with that because the pacing is good for most of the game, but the ending soured me slightly. Everything accelerates at lightspeed in the final twenty percent. It suddenly feels like the game is fast tracking you to its conclusion and you start to really notice the weak dialogue. Maybe it’s just how the protagonist and one other character are written, but nearly every time they spoke it felt stilted. I suppose, given the ending (which I won’t spoil), it makes sense why there wasn’t a deeper exploration of the concept or more answers given, but I think it really would’ve benefitted the experience as a whole. It’s a shame that Dimhaven doesn’t quite reach the heights that it’s capable of. But is it worth the full price for admission? Yes, it is.

Pros: -A new and unique spiritual successor to Myst where I truly had no idea what I would find. Of course, I'd expect nothing less from the developer of Quern. -Puzzles were mostly integrated in the environment, not just an arbitrary escape room. -Appropriate level of difficulty. Never had to reach for the walkthrough, but was tempted several times. -The silly opening scene on the beach contrasts perfectly with the creepy mansion. Cons: -I wish they had brought back the beautiful realistic visuals from Quern rather than this weird pixellated hybrid. I got used to it eventually. -The ending was abrupt and left some loose ends. I wish there were more clues explaining what's going on and why I'm making the choices I'm making.

Short, but fun

If you like the genre you're aware there are very few good releases. This is one of them. I still like Quern more, but had a lot of fun with this one still. About the puzzles, there are one or two annoying puzzles, and there is a bunch of "meh" ones. But the rest ranges from good to great. Would buy the next game from Zadbox eyes closed.

Many interesting puzzles. A rather weird and circumvented story... but many great mechanics. If you love the genre, you'll probably enjoy that one too!