Lost Crown (6): A Whole New Area!

I've finished one of the most intriguing areas of the game, with the sweetest ghosts, more mystery from Mr. Russet, that damned organ puzzle, and the least threatening action sequence (if that's what it is) in the game.


Not to say that the Ulcombe crypt area isn't scary. It is. The effect of the green view through the night-vision camera is enough for that. Add in the sound effects from the camera and some plague victims (could they still be contagious?), a nifty little puzzle with spinning panels and you have a nicely creepy effect. It's just that the monster-looking thing that we encounter is a bit cheesy--too much so to belong in this game. The rock throwing doesn't do much either. Aside from those two things, this is a nifty area to explore.


But before we get into the crypt, we meet the best ghosts in the game. Solving their puzzle really is nice. Very rewarding. Great emotional shot in the arm.


Also, we meet Mr. Russet again (I love this character, and Jonathan did a wonderful job with the voice, too). It seems that Mr. Russet speaks Old English. I would think that he was a native speaker, except that the book in the museum library identifies his name as French, which would mean that he came over after the conquest. I always found that rather odd. If anyone should be Anglo-Saxon it should be Mr. Russet.


Hmmm. I wonder if Nanny Noah and Bob Tawney speak Old English too? Perhaps the Saxtonites have tried to keep up with the times? At any rate, they're all pagans, which would make them extremely early Anglo-Saxons, before Christianity moved in.


Also, there's another huge clue in the background of the screen in which Nigel talks with Mr. Russet. I actually didn't see it the first time I played (nor the white flaw in the Northfield churchyard). Apparently it didn't fit in with my concept of the game world at the time, so I tuned it out. But again, Nigel walks behind this interesting clue. I will speculate later.


This area also has the game's most difficult puzzle. At least, I found it so. There are some excellent clues lying around. We get a recording of the tune we're supposed to play on the church organ--once we get the steam engine working--but that tune isn't enough for the player with only an average musical ear (my sister would have solved it instantly with just the tune to go by). Combining notes from Nathaniel Ager's book and a diagram of keyboard notes, it's solvable. 

However, I learned this time that you have to solve the puzzle twice if you do it too early. Before the organ puzzle, we need to get into the crypt. That turns out to be another sound puzzle. Hard-of-hearing players will just have to consult a walkthrough on these. It's well worth it though, because the payoff we get from finishing the Ulcombe area is the best in the game.


I won't spoil it, but: Hooray!


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