European Mystery: Scent of Desire Collector’s Edition

[h1]Short version: 70%[/h1] Scent of Desire has nice and easy hidden object scenes and puzzles, a handy map system, and a tight-paced serial murder alchemist storyline, but somehow the lack of characters makes it feel empty. [h1]Long version:[/h1] European Mystery: Scent of Desire is a good hidden object game with a perfect art style; however, it had the potential to be much greater if it had better writing. The plot and premise is sensational: we play as a detective in 18th century Paris who tries to solve the disappearance (and murder) of several young women, leading him to the trail of a master alchemist. In true HOG fashion, his investigation encompasses a lot of running around to find key-like items, solving many easy puzzles, and sifting through a plethora of pleasant hidden object scenes with large and clear art. Thing is, despite taking place in Paris and London, two of the busiest cities of the era, the story is sorely devoid of people—we are traversing empty, dead towns that look great, but have no soul. This means the only motivation beyond gameplay is maybe getting another short cut-scene, but this eventually loses its charm even when the antagonists turns into an actual super-villain to add some excitement in the bonus chapter.

First of the series, you are a retired (or retiring) detective, who has suddenly received a request for help from Paris. Several young women have been found dead, from noble to destitute. Thinking this might be an interesting challenge you decide to investigate. Note: the main authorities are a bit busy with a cholera outbreak. Will you be able to solve this mystery? The minigames are challenging, the HO scenes fun, and the plot engaging.

First off there is a character named Gaston so that’s good in my book. Voice acting was pretty decent and had a good variety of puzzles in varying difficulties. Game features a potion mechanic which is much more interesting than other potion-based HOGs, you get to look around for scents to collect and have an easy potion mixing process. While not in my top level of HOGs, this game is overall an enjoyable time for a chill afternoon playthrough.

Ich finde das Spiel gelungen. Eine stimmige Geschichte, abwechslungsreiche Mini-Games und HOPs sowie die vergleichsweise große "Bewegungsfreiheit" des Hauptcharakters machen es recht unterhaltsam. Das Preis- Leistungsverhältnis ist m.E. gut: Meine Spielzeit von mehr als 6 h (inklusive Bonus-Spiel) im Advanced- Modus wiegen den Preis von knapp 10€ auf.