Rate top gamesPuzzle games, how I both love and loathe thee. Sometimes a game can start so promising and enjoyable, yet end up with me utterly loathing its very existence, and The Case of the Golden Idol is definitely one of these.
The Case of the Golden Idol starts with short, sharp little investigations, where you are presented with a single scene and, using your cursor, learn certain names and words related to the crime from interacting with the people and items on-screen. You must then put together what happened in the scene, and utilising the words and names you learnt from exploring the area, input your investigation into your journal.
It’s, I suppose you could say, a ‘lovely’ looking game too, with the artwork of each scene looking a bit like the brain of a manic depressive but in MS Paint. This may sound like I’m having a dig, but I am absolutely not. The art style looks and works fantastically for what is essentially a game about a lot of awful people doing a lot of awful things.
Story-wise, you’re thrown into meeting this cast of characters who are all horrible in their own special way, trying to do horrible things to each other to ensure they’re in control of the Golden Idol. From here, you delve into a story of secret societies, dark magics, a Black Mirror-esque fascist takeover, and finally civil war. It’s a story I didn’t quite get my head around until the final epilogue mission where you piece it all together.
Over the course of the first few levels, these initially single-screen investigations expand to two or three scenes, but it all still feels tight and very intelligible. You feel smart, which is very important in puzzle games like these, even as the difficulty slightly ramps up and the journal becomes seemingly a lot more open-ended as to what could possibly have happened. These early scenes are where I got the most out of The Case of the Golden Idol, when I still had a grasp of what was happening and before the possibilities of what occurred and the cast of characters became sprawling.
And sprawling it really does become by the convoluted last levels, especially when you’re trying to interpret what the developer even wants you to do and put in your journal. The finale and epilogue are both boresome chores that feel like you’re blindly thrashing about in a dark room rather than enjoying a nice tingly brain teaser. Never have I ever wanted to quit a game on the last level more than in The Case of the Golden Idol. I’m also not even sure the perseverance was worth it.
I honestly really liked what The Case of the Golden Idol was initially trying to do, and I would have loved it if they had kept the tight feeling of the early to mid scenes throughout, but ultimately I think the game becomes far too stodgy and convoluted for its own good by the end.
https://questtozero.com/game-review/the-case-of-the-golden-idol-review/
The Case of the Golden Idol starts with short, sharp little investigations, where you are presented with a single scene and, using your cursor, learn certain names and words related to the crime from interacting with the people and items on-screen. You must then put together what happened in the scene, and utilising the words and names you learnt from exploring the area, input your investigation into your journal.
It’s, I suppose you could say, a ‘lovely’ looking game too, with the artwork of each scene looking a bit like the brain of a manic depressive but in MS Paint. This may sound like I’m having a dig, but I am absolutely not. The art style looks and works fantastically for what is essentially a game about a lot of awful people doing a lot of awful things.
Story-wise, you’re thrown into meeting this cast of characters who are all horrible in their own special way, trying to do horrible things to each other to ensure they’re in control of the Golden Idol. From here, you delve into a story of secret societies, dark magics, a Black Mirror-esque fascist takeover, and finally civil war. It’s a story I didn’t quite get my head around until the final epilogue mission where you piece it all together.
Over the course of the first few levels, these initially single-screen investigations expand to two or three scenes, but it all still feels tight and very intelligible. You feel smart, which is very important in puzzle games like these, even as the difficulty slightly ramps up and the journal becomes seemingly a lot more open-ended as to what could possibly have happened. These early scenes are where I got the most out of The Case of the Golden Idol, when I still had a grasp of what was happening and before the possibilities of what occurred and the cast of characters became sprawling.
And sprawling it really does become by the convoluted last levels, especially when you’re trying to interpret what the developer even wants you to do and put in your journal. The finale and epilogue are both boresome chores that feel like you’re blindly thrashing about in a dark room rather than enjoying a nice tingly brain teaser. Never have I ever wanted to quit a game on the last level more than in The Case of the Golden Idol. I’m also not even sure the perseverance was worth it.
I honestly really liked what The Case of the Golden Idol was initially trying to do, and I would have loved it if they had kept the tight feeling of the early to mid scenes throughout, but ultimately I think the game becomes far too stodgy and convoluted for its own good by the end.
https://questtozero.com/game-review/the-case-of-the-golden-idol-review/
«Oh God i managed it»
«Game over at last!»