Been attacking my backlog hard. Just got through another one of my gifts from fellow gaffers. So here we go again (and by all means, if these are annoying, I can stop, just let me know!)
Where Angels Cry impressions:
This is a hidden object game more than a point-and-click. When I saw the "Cateia Games" logo I was filled with dread. They're the same people who made the execrable Hotel: Collector's Edition (though why you'd collect it is beyond me.)
The storyline: you're a monk tasked with investigating a supposed miracle (an angel statue that cries blood) at a monestary. Only, like Hotel, this is basically a red herring for yet another dark ritual that you have to stop. The storyline here is basically threadbare, taking second place to the minigames and puzzles.
The dialogue: People putting on phony Italian accents and peppering speech with "thy." It's as bad as it sounds. In the previous review, remember when I said not having voice acting throughout the game was a mercy? I was proven right. Although I did laugh out loud when someone used "Swounds!" as an interjection.
The graphics: more uncanny valley faces. They range from mildly creepy to downright kill-it-with-fire. The environments were passable.
The gameplay: Don't expect cluttered screens where you need lists of objects. This is much simpler. You'll need to pick up things like marbles to use iin puzzles as well as your basic quest items (tools, planks of wood, etc.) Pretty basic stuff.
The puzzles: I'll admit it. Better than Hotel. A lot of puzzles you've seen before, though. (Turn all the lights out, turn all these circles the same colour, switch the positions of these tokens by jumping them, play Simon with an organ that has one-fifth the number of black keys it should...for some reason...) and oh yes...everyone's favourite...THE SLIDER PUZZLE. I *hate* slider puzzles. To be fair, you're allowed to skip minigames but there are non-steam achievements for completing all the minigames without skipping - you know, if that's important to you. But I didn't skip it and eventually found a youtube of someone doing the slider puzzle because the official walkthrough at bigfishgames said "Complete the minigame and then exit through this doorway." Helpful!
There was one rotation puzzle I enjoyed and that made me feel accomplished when I got it, but given how all the other puzzles were retreads, it's likely this was just one that was new to me.
The verdict: Mediocre as a puzzle game, less than mediocre as a hidden object game. There are just better options out there. It wasn't Hotel bad, but I'm onto you now, Cateia Games.
