The Lost Crown (1): Replay

I first played The Lost Crown when it came out, and enjoyed it, perhaps, more than any other game I've played, which is saying somethin'! As we await the next game in the series, The Last Crown, I decided to give this one another replay. After all, I hadn't yet played it on my new iMac. I've played it at least four times--once for Dad and a couple of times because I just enjoy it so much.

Yes, I had intended to start Gray Matter, but it wouldn't install on my XP program, so I have it on Dad's Vista 'puter. He's been using the 'puter during the daytime to listen to some marvelous old radio programs from the 40s (complete with wartime commercials) that I found for him at the library, and I've been drowning in Kirkus books, as usual. Gray Matter will have to wait.


So, replaying Lost Crown seemed like a good idea. I'll want to have the whole trilogy on this blog eventually anyway! I know the game very well by this time, yet I've already managed to find one or two things I missed (the phone in the museum elevator, for example--I never tried it before). Mostly, I'm looking for intriguing questions that weren't solved in the first game. We'll see if they're addressed in the next one. I should be able to zip through it pretty quickly. Plus, I think I'll include some screenshots, in addition to the cat pictures. I've discovered that even in full-screen mode in my virtual XP, I can take screenshots from my Mac base that land on the Mac desktop. Here's the first one:

Arriving in The Lost Crown
(click photo to embiggen)

The first thing you notice about this game is that it's in black and white, except for some splashes of color. That choice, I think, is absolutely brilliant. It not only gives a unique atmosphere to the game, but I suspect it may say something about the mysteries in this series. (Note also, the wonderful "particle effects" added by Matt Clark--they enliven the game with drifting fog, smoke, etc.) The grayscale, is, I think, a clue. Boakes did the scenery from photographs he took of the town of Polperro, Cornwall, a well-known tourist town that fairly reeks with old-world charm. (See Jonathan's website on The Making of the Lost Crown--scroll down on that link and click). Whitewashed houses and narrow streets. No cars. Perfect for a village that apparently has become lost in time. Birds fly overhead and insects swarm and buzz. Despite the fact that Lucy Reubans and a few other Saxton inhabitants appear to be contemporary characters, I don't think Saxton is a place we could find on any map. Everybody there appears to come from different time periods, all living together. Another part of the mystery. Where are we? When are we?

View of Saxton (my fave shot in the game as dandelions gently drift across the scene. I think this is a photo of the real Polperro.)

Nigel Danvers (a nod to Daphne du Maurier, who lived just up the coast?) was a character in the original Darkfall game, but this time he's the star. Obviously, he's modeled on Jonathan Boakes. I think it's rather a nice idea to have a main character that looks like a real person, frankly, instead of some impossibly handsome freak from the cover of a Harlequin romance novel. Helps us identify with the story.


Nigel slides along (it's Boakes' first attempt at third person) rather slowly at times. You can't double click and speed him up. That would drive me crazy in other games but in this one it's fine. There's so much to look at in the scenery that I really don't mind taking the time. Getting in to Saxton takes a bit of time, but not inordinately so. The "fens" are not a maze--there is a map. We do have to solve one puzzle to get through the Fenland Eye, which contains an intriguing gate that appears to lock in ghosts--something that isn't resolved in this game.


And do you notice that George the Dog has left footprints on the sand, but Nanny Noah and Nigel do not? (Nor does Lucy at the endgame.) That can't be an accident. I will speculate later.


Once we get into Saxton we have to find a place to stay, and we land at Harbour Cottage--a real place in Polperro. (The real cottage was up for sale last year and interior photos were posted on the web. They, of course, looked absolutely nothing like the interior of the cottage in our game. What a shame that Jonathan couldn't buy the place!) Inside we find a terrible mess and possible ghosts. That will become a major plot line in the game. Nigel is in the ghost business. He's stolen some papers from his employer, the ubiquitous (in Boakes' games) Hadden Industries (do visit Jonathan's fake websites). Mr. Hadden himself will be joining us in parts of the game, and appears to be guiding things along.


At first, in good adventuring fashion, we're limited in where we can go until we've completed some actions that advance the plot. Once new areas are opened up, there will be clues to lead us on. For example, when we finally can get to Celtic Corner, the little curiosity shop that will answer many of our questions, we'll be following a cat that suddenly appears (and Mr. Tibbs is a character in the game).


Speaking of cats, one of the major themes in the game is the cat kidnappings. A truly nasty character operates somewhere, in the shadows, and it isn't only cats that are threatened. However, at night cats perch on the rooftops, watching over everything in the town. I love that.


There is a maze in the game in the Saxton Caverns, but for maze haters, really, truly, it isn't that bad. I never got lost. Just keep going straight, folks. There are places to turn, but they're fairly obvious. This is the first time we get a first-person viewpoint in the game, as Nigel navigates by using one of his devices. Some excellent ghosts are here in the Saxton Caverns, in Grindle's Maw. We take a ghostly photo of them by the fire, and a ghostly recording that's a snappy sea shanty song. Very nice touch.


Speaking of time shifting, notice that when Nigel gets the equipment from Hadden Industries, the date of April, 1978 is on the lid of the box. Just something that's rather intriguing. Note also in the opening sequence of the game, the date that Nigel joined Hadden Industries, displayed on the right-hand computer screen.

Ager House on Raven Lane in Northfield

So far in my replay, I've advanced to the second night. I've explored Northfield, met the Karswells at Ager House (pictured above), explored the church, met the vicar (Nanny Noah says, "The vicar, at Northfield? That was quick."--Nanny knows something about time in this game, methinks) and Mr. Russet, one of my favorite characters. Mr. Russet always has a mask over his face. Nanny Noah says he's "as old as these fens," and I think that's probably quite right. (I also greatly enjoy Nanny Noah herself, and the Station Master voiced by Matt Clark. Great jobs. I do not like Matt's rendition of Professor Hardacre. Better to have found an older voice for that part, I think.)


I've explored the Museum, met the extremely odd Mr. Gruel and his "Jemima," and the wonderful Victorian handyman Bob Tawney, and his pig. I've experienced a nasty episode in the cottage bathroom and photographed Nigel as a ghost in the mirror (another clue?). I'm about to go exploring in the Northfield churchyard, at night, truly the scariest portion of the game.


I will add, though, another major, huge clue to the ultimate mystery in this game. When Nigel first enters the Northfield churchyard, there is a white scar running down the side of a tree. It looks like snow. But it isn't winter, is it? And Nigel walks behind the scar. Now, that isn't a mistake in the game. It's deliberate, and there are two other clues later in the game similar to that one. What could it mean . . .?


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