Emerald City Confidential™

This is a detective noir game that takes place in Oz 40 years after the events in The Wizard of Oz. The writing is absolutely top-notch. The plot, the twists, the noir vibe, the setting, all beautifully executed. It's a joy to play! The game is old and doesn't completely agree with the new Windows versions, but there was nothing game-breaking (some visual bugs and a couple crashes, but the game autosaves when you enter a new area so I didn't lose any progress). It was still playable, at least for me. I played this game when I was a kid and I didn't realize how formative it was for me, and how it really got me into noir, detective, and mystery genres, which are now my favorites! It took me about 8 hours to complete the game. It is absolutely worth the money when on sale, and even when not, if you've got $10 burning a hole in your pocket and some love for old, point and click mystery adventures, I highly recommend it!

good game pretty cool

Loved this game and its nostalgia!

played this when i was a kid back when games had trial times before being cut by a paywall now that i'm older, i can say that this is one of the better playfish games i played :3 there's a deep overarching plot and the characters are all interesting ! if i ever finished this back then, the ending would've blown my mind a shame they never got to make levels for munchkin and gillikin country though :( a 9/10 for me only bec i wish they kept Dorothy's hair from her concept sketch

Picked this game up as a fan of Wadjet Eye and, unsurprisingly, I ended up loving it. Emerald City Confidential is the perfect cocktail of a great story, witty dialogues, memorable character designs, high-quality voice acting, and well-designed puzzles. Petra is such a fun protagonist and she keeps the pace of the game quick and lively. I loved even all of the very minor characters, as they all felt memorable and thoughtfully created. Some mechanics show their age in their clunkiness, but otherwise the game holds up pretty well against the sands of time. Now, if only Wadjet Eye could be given the rights to the game back...

Being a sucker for a cheap game isn’t always a good thing. You’re gambling with your money if you’re picking games that aren’t being played by everyone else. It’s a roll of a dice whether the game is good, average, or just plain bad. Used to be that one didn’t have to chance it when there were demos still around. Nowadays, one has to because developers refuse to put out demos since they’re worried that players won’t buy the full game. Utter ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if you ask me since demos are a great way to see if the game is actually playable. Emerald City Confidential is playable if you ignore the weird cursor glitch, the game turning itself off when you click to advance through the dialogue quickly, and other issues that other players dealt with. It’s still an average game with amazing graphics and voice cast even with those issues. Having pretty graphics and an amazing voice cast doesn’t excuse an average game’s issues. They just make the mediocrity stick out like a sore thumb. And sticking out is the last thing that any average product should do when trying to persuade potential customers to buy future products. The one good thing that this game has is that there’s no mindreading the dev’s head for the answer to a puzzle. Fans of the point and click genre would argue that means that this game isn’t really a point and click if it doesn’t have those puzzles. And that it’s the main selling point of the genre. I would agree with them and call this game a visual novel with the occasional point and click gameplay. Is it a good visual novel then? Compared to say the likes of Doki Doki Literature club, the answer is clearly no. Does it do anything with its setting to standout from the other average visual novels? The answer remains the same old negative no. Would it appeal to a fanbase that has a limited selection of games to play? Maybe, the desperate fans would buy this then end up being disappointed with it. Then they too would warn other fans about this game’s painfully average gameplay. A never ending cycle of mediocre games being pumped out to sell to rabid fans who warn other fans of them. That’s a sad state for licensed properties of franchises. Not surprising when foolish fans buy anything to support an idea, even terrible ones. A mere average game that coasts on its unique setting to get consumers interested in it. Fanatics of the Oz series or point and click genre would be served better elsewhere. As someone who loathes the point and click genre and plays the occasional visual novel, I cannot suggest any other game that would satisfy the itch for either fanbase. Googling or posting in any forums should get you the answers that you seek. If you still haven’t received the answers that you seek then do not buy this game. Wasting your time to while away the hours isn’t always a good thing to do. Time isn’t a thing that you can get back nor store in a bank.

A nice game! I first played this as a kid, and I enjoyed it a lot again as I replayed it now.