Jackie Hart: Headhunter

Jackie Hart: Headhunter is a very enjoyable narrative adventure game from the developer of Drawn Down. It's not a very typical one, since we don't get many narrative adventures of the 2D side-scroller type. There are a few easy puzzles, but mostly the game is about following the narrative and occasionally making choices. The writing is good, the dialogs are witty, and the characters are interesting (Keith is probably the star of the show). There are many funny moments, especially when the world of paranormal crimes suddenly clashes with some mundane but awkward situation. The game maintains a satisfying pace; there are no infodumps or exceedingly long dialogs, and bits of lore are introduced sparingly. The game also has high-quality voice acting. Some of the dramatic moments suffer from the graphics and animations being too simplistic, and also it's too easy to accidentally skip a dialog line during those more dynamic scenes. One other minor issue is the lack of volume controls.

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost? If the answer is yes, then don't wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call... Jackie Hart. Which is more or less how this excellent point-and-click starts. When a girl is found murdered and missing her head, the Taiwanese police pop our resident paranormal PI a call and the adventure gets underway. The story is extremely compelling with a huge collection of twists and turns that keep things interesting throughout. I found myself only putting it down when life commitments called, which is always the mark of an engaging game. I'm not normally one for point and click adventures - particularly those with wildly random puzzles like Simon the Sorcerer or (dare I offend everyone) Monkey Island - but what's here is more of a narrative driven game with a handful of logical and well worked through puzzles that don't break the flow of the action. There's an exceptional cast of characters too, with very unique personalities and although a few could've done with some more exposition and backstory, they're all memorable and just about every scene has high points of dialogue - humour or drama. With that said, the story does track along at a fair old lick and sometimes doesn't give itself room to breathe and lean into the wonderful world crafting effort that's gone on here. Alongside that, some of the scene transitions are a little jarring and could've absolutely done with some linking elements to make it feel a little more seamless. I ran into a few crash bugs here and there as well as grammatical mistakes in the subtitles, but nothing game breaking and thanks to a frequent autosave, loss of progress was virtually zero. All in all, I had a great time with this and left wanting more come the credits. If I had paid for it (I did get it for free, as I have tagged), £7.50 for 3 very enjoyable hours = a damn good time.

* I would like to thank Studio Hazy for providing a review copy of this game * I played Jackie Hart: Headhunter in one sitting, unable to let it go and completely engrossed in its mystical lore and many plot twists. Despite the animations and character design reveal the indie nature of this solo-developer game, please don't let that refrain you from playing. The setting is absolutely captivating, and you will feel immediately drawn in this modern, yet eerie and supernatural Taipei, where Taiwanese mythology and a more urban setting collide and co-exist. When you start the game, something seems off: Jackie's character sprite is much smaller than her mate Tian. But this is no error in perspective or character design. You will soon learn that in Taipei magic, spirits and human beings live among each other, and it will be up to you, a paranormal investigator, solve grisly crimes involving Yaoguai spirits, in all their shapes and forms. There is no inventory for the items you collect, but the game offers a quite creative mechanic instead: a "spell" wheel, from which you can perform actions needed to solve puzzles, via special psychic skills learned as you go. I thoroughly enjoyed this quite frankly unique game mechanics! Last but not least, I was very surprised by the presence and especially the quality of voice acting. This game prides itself with a full cast of voice actors, who did an amazing job. This almost NEVER happens in a solo-developer indie experience. This alone is totally worth your time and money, and I commend the developer for this bold decision. It definitely increases immersion in the game universe and lore. As I was looking for more information on the game development and reviews from fellow gamers, I was shocked to see how few people have played it. Please don't let this one go unnoticed! "Jackie Hart" has a lot of heart (forgive the pun), and I highly recommend grabbing it and playing it in one go. I wholeheartedly hope we will see more of Jackie Hart's adventure, perhaps with a more significant budget and more polished character design and animations. Great job, Studio Hazy! *** My Steam Curator Page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43938467-TheGamingMom/

You are Jackie, an investigator called to a crime scene involving a decapitated head and evidence suggesting the murder is connected to a ritual. Unusual by most standards, but not in this game’s world, where demons, spells, and other paranormal creatures and objects are perfectly normal. The gameplay delivers the standard experience you would expect from an adventure game, but in a more streamlined form. Although both a gamepad and keyboard are supported, playing with a mouse feels far more natural and hassle free. You move the cursor around the screen in search of hotspots. You need to pay close attention because the cursor does not change to indicate a hotspot. Instead, a name appears only when the cursor hovers over something of interest. Fortunately, each scene contains only a few hotspots, so progression is quick. Interactions use a single button, with a default action assigned to each hotspot. Most of the time, Jackie comments on an object, speaks to a character, or picks up something that might be useful. The focus is clearly on the story rather than puzzle solving. There is no inventory, and experimenting by using items on every object in a room is not part of the experience. You move from one location to another according to the story, with little freedom to explore. Even when you do pick something up, it is used automatically when you interact with the appropriate spot. The overall difficulty remains low, including two simple logical puzzles that involve finding a number and pressing elevator buttons. Conversations are big part of the game, and characters have decent voices. You can only go through each dialogue once, and you cannot revisit topics, restart conversations, or recover from a poorly chosen response that ends the exchange. To get the full picture and gather as much information as possible, you need to choose your answers carefully and avoid irritating the person you are speaking with. As a paranormal investigator, you have several spells at your disposal. The first is Focus, which acts as a hint system that points you toward your next objective. You also have the Sleep spell, which allows you to enter people’s minds and control them within their memories. These sequences are simple, as you can only enter a couple of characters. And lastly, a Reveal spell exposes demons in disguise, while Open grants access to a portal. But all of them are part of natural progress, so you can’t use them freely. Saving is automatic, with no option for multiple manual save slots. As a result, you must live with your choices and cannot return to select a different dialogue option. Although the ending remains the same regardless of your decisions, a second playthrough is necessary to unlock all achievements, since certain scenes can unfold in two different ways. Overall, it presents a nice story and an engaging world that deserves further exploration in future installments. However, due to its emphasis on straightforward progression, those seeking a traditional point and click adventure packed with items and demanding puzzles will need to look elsewhere.