Mystery of the Malign

As much as I like detective games, this one ain’t it. I have a lot of complaints, but they largely fall into two categories: usability and arbitrariness. Usability is the more frustrating one, especially because of how trivially avoidable the annoyances could have been with slightly better design decisions. Mystery of the Malign is a mix between classic retro detective games, where you go around asking people about various topics, and modern games like Obra Dinn or Golden Idol, where you fill in missing words to show that you have grasped what the game wanted you to grasp. There are a lot of topics you can ask about -- up to 70 choices. The choices are presented as a list you have to scroll through. The list is sorted by how recently you've unlocked each topic, with the most recent ones at the bottom. So if you find something new and want to ask people about it, you have to scroll all the way down, every single time. The game has a bookmarking system, but for some bafflingly bizarre reason, the game won't let you filter the choices to your bookmarks on the one screen it would be most useful to do so. When filling in missing words, some of the "wrong" options seem like they should work just as well as the option the game arbitrarily considers to be correct, so some bruteforcing is required. Some of the puzzles do not tie into the bigger investigation at all, and are just there to be filler content. There is no reason to solve them, because, as it turns out, they don't unlock anything or lead to anything or provide any useful information -- but you don't know that until it's too late. Yet, solving them is a big undertaking, and a big chunk of the game is devoted to them. The worst offender is the artefact categorization puzzle on the wall by the upstairs offices, which I'm pretty sure is just broken. Nothing about it makes any sense. Some of the clues are arbitrary, the solution is arbitrary, the reason it's a puzzle in the first place is arbitrary. All of it feels very artificial, and finally getting it right does not feel rewarding at all. The ending is arbitrary and doesn't make any sense either. A page in a book bought from a store is just randomly missing. Parts of the content are hidden [spoiler]behind hidden doors in arbitrary places that I'm pretty sure you just have to guess, and you have to go into the inventory and use an item to check for them every time.[/spoiler] The running speed is too slow. There are no manual saves. The game gives you the choice to advance time at one (and only) point, giving you the impression that everything is going to stay put until you choose to move things forward, but then they end up moving forward by themselves anyway. Some things never get any explanation. The correct answer validation chime the game tries to copy from Obra Dinn just startles you instead. It's a mess.

Initially, i enjoyed playing through this game. The investigation seemed interesting, the writing and characters seemed fleshed out, and it feels like the creator has taken his time to establish the mythos of the world this game takes place in. However, this kind of all gets ruined by the game's ending, which i feel is extremely unsatisfying. While the level design is creepy in the last level, it's also very disorienting and annoying. But worst of all is the fact, that when i reached the last level, I truly felt that the game was just starting to ramp up, and was going to expand further on the mysteries already investigated. Unfortunately, the game just sort of ends, and gives you a couple lines of text to address what happened to the characters after the ending. (Which you can barely change at all it seems, no matter your actions) For a game that seems very specific for most of it's information, i felt like the Case File answers, and the solution to the mystery as a whole felt a little vague, while somehow also several times having answers that are so specific, that you almost roll your eyes when you actually figure out what the game wants you to answer. This is especially true when it turns out you have been overthinking the solution, or answering using a clue that feels more correct than the actual clue you should have used. My theory about the sudden, disappointing, ending, and other shortcomings, is that the developer either didn't want to work on this game anymore, or just wasn't sure about how he should end the game. While the game is an impressive feat, for what i assume is a solo dev, it just doesn't hold up to the standards set by games like Obra Dinn, the Golden Idol games, The roottrees are dead, etc. I do find the world interesting, but the actual gameplay could definitely be improved. A sequel, with the same main characters investigating a different case, could be interesting, but only if the developer learns from his experience with this game, and improves on it's weaker elements. If you like investigation games, and can get this game on a discount (over 10 euro is too much for this game, sorry..), then perhaps give it a shot. Otherwise, i would probably steer clear of it.

Квест-детектив, наверное, один из самых сложных на рынке. Как по мне, играется гораздо лучше Обры Динн, до золотого идола не дотягивает - контента маловато. Из хорошего сюжет, крутые навороченные головоломки, и нелинейность - к разгадке основной тайны можно прийти разными путями, даже пропустив важные улики. Из плохого медленная скорость перемещения, обязательное использование физических ручки с бумагой для заметок и пара неоднозначных головоломок, как в обрадине - когда по логике можно подставить несколько слов, но игра разрешает только одно.

Overall an awesome experience. It follows the "investigation fill-in" style mechanically, but rather than spreading the story over discrete snapshots and scenes, it generally sticks to the main set piece of the museum, leaving you unravel parts of the mystery as you come by them. This nonlinear investigation approach, along with the visuals, lore, and worldbuilding scattered throughout, lends to the eerie atmosphere of not knowing the nature of what is behind the game's central mystery (which I found very enjoyable). That said, there were a handful of moments where I felt that I had solved one of the mystery's pieces, only to find that the word needed wasn't in my word bank because I hadn't taken a certain action/discussed it with a particular character/revisited a certain concept, which can make a few moments of progression feel a bit on the opaque side. However, these moments were few and far between, and I enjoyed that this depth of investigation that was demanded elsewhere. Would definitely recommended for fans of mystery and investigation games, especially those looking for a more open-ended and nonlinear pace!

[b][i]mystery of the malign[/i] - [i]return of the obra dinn[/i]'s second cousin thrice removed.[/b] [i]mystery of the malign[/i] is some real ass detective work. i'll admit, as with most puzzle games for me, i needed to use a light guide on some later parts when trying to close out some of the smaller cases, and frankly I think there are some aspects that are TOO narrow or out of the way, but the overall game and main case are very engaging to explore and the characters are varied and fun to talk to, along with very fun puzzles when actually getting down to logging evidence down in the case file. i can't really say much else unfortunately. this is a game best gone into blind. the single dev is also very active on the steam discussion forms, and when I got softlocked, he told me to email my save to him to get me unstuck while also fixing the bug in a very timely manner. that doesn't affect this review. i just thought he deserves appreciation for that. again, recommend for fans of [i]obra dinn[/i] or other similar puzzle games like the [i]golden idol[/i] series.

It might be a good game, but it has its fair share of annoyances that ruin the overall experience for me. Some examples: - You find a bundle of keys, so you have to go around and try to open every locked door - At one point you find yourself in a dark labyrinth, so you have to try and light all the lanterns you find (not all of them can be lit) - The points above are exacerbated by the slow running speed of the main character - When interviewing people, the newest clues are found in the last page of the clues menu, so you have to constantly flip to the last page I'm stuck in the dark labyrinth section and I don't plan to finish the game since I'm not sure what I have to do and I'm not having fun slowly walking in the literal dark. Also, from a topic in the discussions, if you end up in this section of the game "early" (like I did), there is no way to go back and finish up unsolved case scenes unless you restart the game

A short but interesting detective game heavily inspired by works like Return of the Obra Dinn. I was impressed by how much the game required you to pay attention to details to figure out the case, including a lot of reading and understanding the world, there seems to be a lot built up in this games world and I'd be interested to see more from it, as well as solve more interesting cases. Another thing I'd like to mention in hopes the developer see's this, but this game honestly showed a lot of potential to make a a horror game, the atmosphere, music, lighting and tension was very top notch, and made me feel afraid to visit some areas in the game that are literally covered in darkness. I was expecting at any point to see figures moving or things happening throughout to add more to the tension. I think there's a lot of potential here. Overall, short but good. Id recommend it. I did have to use some hints in the later half of the game because it really doesnt give you any direction of what to do to progress, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.

A fresh take on the investigation genre which is overall excellent despite some minor flaws with the controls. The very ordinary setting with some supernatural elements is an excellent design choice, as it extends the plausible answers you can speculate during play. The designed mystery fits well to the visual aesthetic, which is in itself part of the gameplay since it makes finding small things in the levels much fairer. I liked it a lot, and while it is not on the level of obra dinn, it is a worthy addition to that legacy.

enjoyed it a lot, i really appreciated the lack of handholding for the most part, except for the stuff relating to artifacts and their classifications, which i found to be a bit too complicated and hard to wrap my head around.

Decent detective game, though with some missable clues. Also encountered some situation where I got guesses wrong too many times and was not allowed to try further because I was using up too much time or something.