The Hunter's Journals - Red Ripper

[i]''I never plan my novels because if I know what is going to happen, it bores me rigid. I let the story tell itself'' - James Herbert[/i] [b]Grindwheel Games[/b] second Halloween release of their [u]Hunter's Journal[/u] series of CYOA continues on with [i]Red Ripper[/i] which sees the Hunter hired to journey, alongside an Ambassador, to the once glorious city of Roche Divine of the Sunlight Alliance that is now a grimy, notorious shadow of itself. The Hunter's mission is to track & hunt a Broadsheet Killer (so called because a Broadsheet was a large sheet press that focused on Prime News of the day particularly serial murders, crimes and more) who gruesomely murders victims leaving a trail of mystery, dread and gore in the killer's wake. In this new adventure the Hunter requires a much more refrained approach as Roche Divine is a city of contrasts where etiquette, caste and a destitute population mean the wrong words or actions can have disastrous results even when the Hunter is proficient in the Enochian language. As with every Choose Your Own Adventure tale, each choice made can lead to many early deaths and it will be no different here as you try & learn from your wrong choices in earlier plays in order to gain further progress. The role-play battles are determined by randomised dice rolls while the Boss battles will feature 3-Staged battles that alter both you & the enemies status effects & Health so a solid strategy is needed to endure the long battles but, unique to this adventure story, is a new artifacts item list called the [b]Heirloom[/b] that is a list of various items featuring their own special defensive/attacking abilities while also having a side effect much like a Ying-Yang balance. These Heirlooms can be chosen at the game menu and changed throughout the story [u]but[/u] must be selected before a start of battle rather than during a battle particularly in the case of a 3-staged battle event. Continuing on the theme from earlier Hunter's Journal stories, you will need tact as you advance to different locations because you will have the opportunities to purchase items from the markets with your limited Gold and, it is the purchase of particular market items that will assist you further on so if you fail to invest in the required items it will make your Hunt more challenging by limiting progress or having your Health or Skill points impacted. The writing style is impeccable making it a pleasurable reading experience though it does feature mature graphic horror & is detailed in its lore based around Lovecraftian themes within a Steampunk world. This lore is unlocked as you complete each difficulty setting of which there are 3: Easy, Normal and Hard with the differences being your starting Skill & Health points as well as battle difficulty. Whenever the story is completed under each difficulty it unlocks reading material on the History, Monsters and more, alongside this you will also unlock images in the art gallery as you advance through each decision making tree path. All these are able to be seen on the Main menu where you also have a settings feature that includes VA read by [i]Anthony 'Storyteller' Wilson[/i] artwork by [i]Carlos Kobayen[/i] and music by [i]Cryo Chamber's Atrium Carceri[/i]. The options allow VA to be turned On or Off at any time. There is great value to this series of Hunter's Journals mostly thanks to the replay factor needed to unlock achievements, artwork and the encyclopaedia lore but what keeps this entertaining is the challenge because it is very rare you can complete the story fully in the first handful of plays while only managing with one save throughout. The beauty of reading CYOA's is evident in this series since it maintains the many ways you can approach the story by exploring every choice available until you unlock the correct sequence that leads to the finale. This is not for the faint-hearted or for the players who get easily frustrated instead this will completely appeal to puzzle solvers who thrive on trial & error, strategy and the patience of a Saint! Anyone who has experienced earlier versions of the Hunter's Journals will find this instalment contains a much tighter maze of choices where the Hunter is particularly vulnerable in the surroundings & a story that is more compact yet remains almost elusive in its 100% completion. I know I still have a long way to go to unlock this game's secrets but that is it's appeal to me! I'd love to see trade cards incorporated into this series as the Artwork is superb and it would attract extra attention to the gamer card collectors, outside of that this continues to deliver in a wide variety of ways. ~~~Liked what you see? You can find more at [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32839633/]Have a word[/url]~~~

Even on the easiest setting, it is extremely challenging and each point of health and items matters so much, find your way through this weird and crazy, but intense and memorable adventure :) If you'd like to see what we're playing next with regular updates, or request to review a game, feel free to follow us at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35688508-Ember-Works-Reviews/