Scratches 6: Getting Busy

At last I managed to get a bit of playing time in, after a Kirkus crush and some life events. OK. 

So I have to find a way to finish out Sunday. It's 5:00 and it turns out there are only a couple of things left to do before we get some fireworks going at night. I searched the whole house and finally had to go to the WT. Easy stuff. We just finally do what we haven't been able to do since we got there. Why try yet again? Except it's the only remaining possibility.

Now we have another exciting night. Not only do we have another dream (which sent me all over the freaking house except that I didn't go to the one room where the event occurs) but we have more scratching sounds to investigate.

And this time, without the WT, I went into the basement. There we get a nice good scare. I did figure out what to do down there, because the icons told me to enter a place I normally wouldn't enter. It was a quite nice effect, although fairly primitive. Don't blink.

But after that . . .

Now I remember why I didn't like this game all that much when I first played it.

In a word (well, two words): deliberate frustration.

The game designers leave things so open ended that you literally have to go everywhere and search everything and use every inventory item on every object in order to advance. Once in a while they give you a clue, telling you to go to bed for example. Now, they have included a personal journal that occasionally contains hints, but mostly it's stuff like, "I haven't explored enough yet." 

I have had to resort to the WT, sadly. Some of this stuff is just so obscure you literally never would think to do it. One spoilerific example: Begin spoiler. You need to find a way to get light into the bottom of the crypt in order to read a plaque. First, you have to find an obscure rock. It's in a close-up, so you won't find it if you don't search during that close-up, something that normally you wouldn't do. Next, you use it and it doesn't work. So you have to find the rock again and do it again. This time it works, but there still isn't enough light. So. You go back to the mansion and use a screwdriver on a little mirror that we've been manipulating since day one. NOW you have to detach the mirror. End spoiler.

I mean, who would think of that? It's just a way to add difficulty to an already difficult game. 

Had they given us just a few clues the game would be so much more fun.

I mean, I'll finish it. But I remember now why I didn't like it all that much when I first played it years ago.

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Scratches 5: Progress, But Now What?

OK! Over the last two days I've made some real progress in the game, and have reminded myself of Adventuring 101: when you're playing an inventory game, be sure to try ALL inventory items before giving up.

I could have accessed that kerosine when I found it. I had the item to do it. If I had adhered to the principles of Adventuring 101, I would easily have done it.

However, not only did I get my lamp working (and I have used it!) but I located the secret room and found my way into it! The combination to the safe simply is given to us. Then getting into the locked attic room becomes possible. I'm pretty sure I've picked up all the items I need. I had to look at the WT a couple of times, but oddly,  managed to figure out one of the major puzzles all on my own, by following the principles of Adventuring 101.  I got into that secret room!

There are some blocks there with letters and numbers on them, but the game is so darned dark that I can't really make all of them out. So if I need that, I will shamelessly go to the WT. No harm in that if you have figured out the puzzle yourself, but just can't make it work. 

I have also gotten into the secret room in the African gallery (again, Adventuring 101). The only stuff there is more letters to read, no items as far as I could find. And that's where the lantern worked! Yay!

Now I'm wondering if our intrepid character will use the darned lantern at night. It's clear that we can't go outside on this "day" in the game. There's a storm raging all day. The lightening strikes at least illuminate the dark game for a second or two, and that helps.

I watched more of the YouTube WT. I'll be able to grab some screenshots and insert them later. 

But now I've read the newspapers in the attic and talked to Jerry again. I've advanced to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. I have absolutely no idea what to do next except that it will be inside the house.

Maybe the game will tell me. Or, maybe I ought to read the darned inventory journal!

Anyway, till next time.

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Scratches 4: Stuckness, Unstuckness, Stuckness

Got a bit of playing time in today. I finished my latest Kirkus rush, and had a whole day to kind of twiddle my thumbs. Play Scratches! I said. So I did.

Of course, I had to pick up where I left off. Watching that YouTube walkthrough might be good for grabbing screenshots, but it's ruining the game for me, so I didn't do it today. I had to figure out what I'd done in the game and what I'd seen in the video, which was a bit confusing. Reading my previous blog entry helped a lot! So into the game I went. When I really came to a screeching halt and had exhausted all avenues, I looked up an online WT at Gameboomers and used that. 

At last I have experienced actual scratches! Our main character can't get the electricity on (and it turns out the water isn't on either). So he goes to bed at about 7:00 p.m. Around midnight he has a dream that takes us into the African room, where we see a door and pick up a hammer that does not stay in the inventory. We hear the scratches coming from the fireplace. Use the stethoscope on that, and confirm that's the source. Go downstairs and use the stethoscope on the downstairs fireplace, and yep, it's louder. Must be coming from the basement.

Hah. No way am I going down to that basement. Turns out that was the right decision. Had I tried, the game would have told me it was too dark. So we go back to sleep in the awful bedroom. 

Next day it's storming so badly there's no way the electrician or Jerry is coming, and we can't get out of the house at all. That leaves inside exploration. I explored the basement again, this time without the chilling music. I explored the African room, where of course the door is covered up by a cabinet that contains elephant tusks. 

I decided that the upstairs was the most logical place to look for stuff. But I still couldn't get into that door. That's what finally sent me to the WT. Sheesh. You only have to pick up a paper that's under a paint can right there by the door. Did that, and you STILL can't get the darned key! (Why insert more frustration into your game for no reason? Your game already is difficult enough, thank you.)

And there's a safe in the master bedroom. The WT told me how to get the combination. I think if I had read the "journal" in the inventory it might have clued me into that, but no matter. From now on in this game I must remember always to do two things before allowing frustration to eat my brain: Look in that inventory journal, and call Jerry. Other than that it's just a pixel hunt.

So I got the combination of the safe, got the key to the room, and got into the room. And here's a mistake in the game: we're in the room. We've just poked the key out and it's fallen inside the room. We ought to be able to get that key. I mean, finding keys is a major task in this game. But that one disappears. 

And yet they're being as realistic as possible in other areas. I have found a lantern, but it doesn't have oil. Now I've found a can of kerosine, but the game wants me to find a funnel or something with which to pour it into the lantern. 

So that's my next task--looking for that item. I kinda doubt it's in the kitchen because this game lets you pick up items long before you need them. So it'll be either up there somewhere in the attic or that key will work on other locked doors and/or drawers. There have been a few locked drawers. I've also got an oilcan with which I might be able to unstick some stuck doors and/or drawers. 

Lots of exploring inside the house to do. 

I note also, by the way, that in addition to no electricity and no water, this guy doesn't appear to have any food. 

No real reason for the ghosts to get him. He'll die of thirst or hunger or cold right there without any supernatural intervention.

Because I'm not using the YouTube WT any longer, I'll write without screenshots. Perhaps after I've finished this section of the game I'll go back to the video and grab some shots and insert them. The game isn't completely linear, but you do have timed sections, so it ought to be safe to watch those portions of the video.

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Uninvited: My First Adventure Remembered

I was hunting around on YouTube and remembered that I'd found a complete walkthrough of Uninvited from 1986--the very first game I ever played, and the one that got me into adventures in the first place. Naturally I have to embed it here.

I still have the game on disc, packed away. I still have my old 
Mac SE that I played it on, although I removed something vital on that poor computer years ago and rendered it inoperable (but that computer--my first--got me through most of my doctoral studies). Someday I'll get it fixed. It's just a software problem. So I can't play the game again (although rumor has it that it's being redone!).

This actually was not an easy game. Lots of the puzzles were fairly obscure. But they were all inventory puzzles, so if you've got the correct item and you just keep trying stuff eventually you're going to get through the game. (Hmmm. Probably why I still like inventory puzzles to this day--you actually can figure them out eventually.) I managed to finish the game way back then when I didn't even know what I was doing. There were no walkthroughs available then. Folks, there was no internet then. I even wrote a walkthrough myself, writing out every move. I was just entranced with the thing.

The game caught me when it scared me half to death the first time I touched the ghost. This is what happens the instant you click your mouse on her:

The original jump-in-your-chair moment

I mean, the Mac SE had a 9-inch screen and the graphics played in a small window inside of that, so you kind of had to put your nose right up to the screen to really see what you were doing. The effect of that gave me probably the most shocking moment I've ever had in gaming. This was so completely unexpected (and came right at the beginning of the game) that I not only jumped in my chair, I think I might have yelled. Goosebumps broke out on the back of my neck and spread down to my toes. It was a highly emotional moment, and it hooked me on adventures right there. Finishing the game hooked me completely. (I recall giving my Dad the same experience with the game! Later I got him into Shivers, which he really enjoyed.) 

That ghost got me numerous times before I finally bypassed her and went upstairs and found the bottle of "No Ghost" in the closet. She still got me a few more times before I figured out that I had to open the bottle before I could operate it on her. 

Whew!

And of course, whenever you do something suicidal, the game shocks you with this screen and does the only voice it has: "I've got you!" There are other extremely primitive sound effects. 

This happened fairly frequently as I recall . . .

The graphics look primitive too, but they were amazing to us back in the day. I remember being absolutely astonished that by clicking on the old Victrola in one of the rooms, you could hear a recording of "Winchester Cathedral." It was just amazing technology!


Notice, of course, that there are holdovers from text adventures that came before. You still have to read the narration at the bottom of the screen. And of course, you still have to open the mailbox in front of the house! That mailbox meme began with Zork and used to pop up fairly often in adventures, as I recall.

Anyway, here it is: the entire Uninvited. Watch and experience the very beginning of graphic adventures. Be sure to watch it in full screen!

Scratches 3: Playing on Halloween

Well I had to play a little bit of this horror game on Halloween! Didn't play long though. Yep. Too scary, even though nothing's happened yet. 

I got the two items I'd missed earlier and did more exploring. That's the scary part--going into new rooms when you don't know what might jump out at you. Now, of course I know nothing's going to jump out at me this early in the game, but the atmosphere is just creepy enough to be worrying. I must assume that our author is writing horror, or he wouldn't want to work in this setting. Alone.

I explored upstairs, including the tower. In that I was able to open a window. Then I found a door that I ought to be able to unlock. I have the tool I need to poke the key out of the lock on the other side of the door, but apparently the piece of paper I've already got in my inventory doesn't work there. Maybe I can pick up another piece of paper from my desk in the blue bedroom. 

I also found a room with a sort of camp stove in it. It's quite apparent that's what the matches work on, but it's too early to fire the thing up. When I tried to light it, the dialogue said I didn't have anything to burn yet. 

Messy rooms upstairs, left in mid-construction decades ago. Really depressing. Might as well be in a Carol Reed game, without the sunshine. Of course, it all adds to the atmosphere in this game.

I wandered around outside and found the greenhouse, the chapel and the crypt, all locked. No doubt I'll be able to get into all of them eventually (I seem to remember that the greenhouse is important). That appears to be the extent of the grounds, although the video WT also located a garage. I did find that earlier, so I'll have to explore that next time.

No screenshots on this post, because the WT hasn't gone to the places I went tonight. I've still barely begun the game. I think the next task is going to be trying to get into that third-floor room. 

I do remember bits of this place, especially the rooms upstairs. However, I can't remember even a little bit of the story, so this really is like playing for the first time. 

See? Adventures most certainly are replayable! 

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Scratches 2: Setting the Stage

Just did a bit of exploring in the house, and got into the reading. There's alotta reading in this game. That is one of the things that I don't usually mind (well, it sure ain't literature) but puts many people off adventure games. Really slows down the action, having to spend 15 minutes reading somebody's decades-old journal, which generally is written in teensy handwriting that is difficult to decipher in the first place.

I gotta say, though, that even though I played this game years ago, I can't remember it at all. Yeah, some of the stuff looks familiar, but so far it's like a new game to me. I open doors worried that something might jump out at me. I do not want to go into the dark alone.

I have pretty much roamed the house. I've been upstairs (except the third floor) and looked in all the bedrooms, one of which is mine. I've found objects, such as matches and a stethoscope and a rag and a pen, plus telephone numbers that were in my own luggage. OK.

And I have read and read an read. Here's what I mean about a long journal:

Difficult to read and goes on for pages and pages

So I know that one of the previous inhabitants went to South Africa and encountered a mysterious tribe that literally tore one of its own people apart in some sort of ceremony involving masks.

Plus, I have found a room full of African artifacts, including three masks. Ooooo. There was intimidating African-sounding music in that room. Don't have a screenshot just yet because it hasn't come up in the YouTube walkthrough I'm using for screenshots (I've learned that I missed getting a couple of useful items from that walkthrough. Have to go back next time and fetch 'em.)

The rest of the place just looks awfully run down. The wallpaper in "my" bedroom is really awful (yes, even worse than the stuff Carol Reed put up in her living room). One wonders how anyone could sleep in it, except that at least it's blue. 

Could anyone really sleep in here?

One fun thing in the reading was the back cover of the book the main character (us) has written. He's at this place trying to finish his second book. The write-up on on the back of the bestselling first book is all about Fetch Rock. I love it when games make these little references to other games. Jonathan Boakes does a voiceover in this game, which was released a couple of years after the release of his second Darkfall game about the lighthouse on Fetch Rock. Nice.

A reference to Darkfall 2: Lights Out

So I also explored the kitchen (wherein I missed getting a necessary knife). But I found the servant's room with the camera equipment, and the door to the basement. Of course, we know that, as in all horror games, we're really going to get into the horror in the basement. We know that because the door to the basement is currently locked:

Locked. Of course it is.

I went outside for a bit but decided to stick to the house for the present. I'll go outside and look around when I find a reason to do it.  Next time I have to go get those two items I missed (one in the study and the knife in the kitchen), and take a look at the third floor. Maybe I'll call "Jerry" again too, or perhaps my secretary, as I have their numbers now.

So I'm set up to go! Next session ought to get me into the real Act One of the game. 

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Scratches 1: Trying the Director's Cut

I got the Director's Cut of this on GOG recently for about two bucks during one of their major sales. I have the original CD version of the game and played it when it came out. I remember enjoying it, but didn't think it was as good as many old adventure players remember it today. This one ought to have more content, so we'll see. The original game was released in 2006, and I'm pretty sure I played it when it was new. So that's eight years ago.

Hey! It has Jonathan Boakes doing a voiceover! In fact, he's "Jerry," who will be calling us from time to time. Second billing! Not bad!

I cannot understand why, but the game won't let me take screenshots. That is completely weird, and issue I've never before encountered. I can get around it by grabbing shots from YouTube walkthroughs, but it will take a bit of extra effort. The video I like has got text all along the top, so I'll have to crop those shots. The other major difficulty is that the game controls use a large hand icon right in the middle of the freaking screen. So, unless it's a close-up, I'll either have to have the hand in my shot or only post close-ups here. It is a very weird issue.

So here's the mansion as we drive up for the first scene (this shot is from the lead-in movie, so there's no hand icon:

A bit fuzzy from the video, but there it is.

Now I normally like to look all around, but I thought I'd just go ahead and plow into this game, so I used one of the two keys I have on the front door, and in I went! 

The very first thing that happens is the phone ringing. It's Jonathan Boakes playing Jerry, the real estate agent who put us into this place. As so often in first-person adventures, the phone close-up is just the receiver floating in the air. 

Talking to Jonathan. Nice phone!

I left off there, just having started the game. Note that this game will take me longer to play and post about, because I have a Kirkus book crush this week. However, after having really gotten back into playing and blogging recently, I wanted to continue. So I chose my next game (this one), and started!

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Dracula Orgins 6: Well that was . . . Different

Actually Dracula is better looking than the above kitty cat, but that pic seemed relevant to the game.

I didn't even try to figure out the stupid complex puzzle. Honestly, I don't know how anyone is supposed to figure that out. So I just found out the method you have to use. The puzzle appears to be randomized but it's easy once you know how it works.

After that I faced two more ridiculously obscure puzzles. One is a math puzzle that yields the number to a combination lock, and the next wants you to apply the clue that I did find on my own, and figured out on my own, except that the clue is so obscure it would take a freaking miracle to get the thing right. Hint: the clue only applies to the middle of the puzzle. With that information you might be able to get it, but the puzzle still has too many moving parts to make the thing work with just the one obscure clue that you get inside the game.

OK. Quibbles. Those three puzzles are too obscure. The rest of the stuff was fun. Here, for example, is the crypt, in which we have things to do and to collect:

Clues are here

After this we get to the great hall, which has lots of interesting stuff in it, but again, the clues here are so darned obscure that I honestly cannot understand how the game designers expected anybody to figure it out. Nice room, though:

Nice room. Big.

Once we get through the puzzles, we can get into Dracula's real lair, where we'll find more good stuff. And it's kinda red, too, like the bedroom in London:

More good stuff in here

And now we get to the endgame! Once you get in, you have everything you need to solve it. Just hunt around, not forgetting to use the space bar, and the endgame gives you a really nice cutscene.

But wait. There's another cutscene just after that. Yes, you won the game, but the final ending may not be what you expect! I really liked that! Intriguing and . . . different.

So, except for a few too-obscure puzzles with not enough clues (that difficulty could have been alleviated by giving us more clues), this was a really immersive puzzle adventure game. Good story, well executed, excellent artwork, fine voice acting, for the most part very good puzzles, and even some unexpected humor.

It was good! Well worth the time. Just be sure you have a good walkthrough available, unless you enjoy frustration. Yeah, Dracula done quite well indeed. I had lotsa fun!

Dracula Origins 5: Into the Castle Depths

Ooooh! I have made it to the final portion of the game, obviously. Got to Transylvania, and am dealing with the rather nasty inhabitants there. But first, I had to finish the Vienna section.

The only comfortable room in the game. Nice fire too!

Good puzzles in Vienna! With one simple hint I was able to figure out the chemistry puzzle, which leads to a combination puzzle, which leads to the key to the door and an item. That gets us into the library.

Once in the library (which is quite nice, actually), I had to figure out how to open the secret passage into the forbidden monastery. There I hope to find the ancient but still-living monk who can read the even more ancient document I found in the evil tomb in Egypt.

The Library. Very nice.

First, I have to fine a bunch of wooden bats (or are they angels?) that fit into a pattern. The puzzle gives you about half of them, including the one we found with the key. Yes, they all have to be in that library, because it's the only location to which we have access. So they're all there. Naturally, there will be some we can just pick up, and some we have to extract from hidden places. I managed to get all of them except the last. But it had to be there. There was only one place in the library that I hadn't been able to do anything with or to. So I picked a likely inventory item and poked around with it in that place. Voila! There was the bat (or angel--it's hard to tell the difference in real life too!).

So I made it into the monastery, and pretty easily opened the desk, revealing another nifty logic puzzle that kinda looks like the one on the front door of The 7th Guest. Sadly, no, it doesn't work like that. I'm going to confess that this one stumped me. I kept winding up with two dots I couldn't access. Yes, I decided not to be frustrated and got the solution from the WT. Even after that I still couldn't figure out the secret to the thing.

However, I zoomed through the rest of the puzzles quite nicely! It was really just a matter of searching for inventory items, sometimes combining them inside the inventory screen (that, it turns out, is the real secret to this game). There is some serious violence I really didn't expect in this game. We are confronted by a mad monk, and the solution turns out to burn the guy alive. Really. There's a cutscene. I will not include a screenshot of that.

Then we find a satanic mass going on there in the monastery, with the poor good monk we've come to see imprisoned. I was able to figure that one out fairly easily, and then we got a nice cutscene traveling to Transylvania: 

I continue to be impressed with the artwork in this game

And we arrive in Transylvania! Of course we do! The introductory screen is very nice of the castle:

Nicly stormy. just as it should be!

First we arrive at the only inn available. Not very nice, but somewhat picturesque:

Puzzles in here too

There's a fairly nice set of puzzles here. First, we have to get into the stable. After that we have to find out how to stow away in the carriage that's obviously going to Dracula's castle. This involved a buncha steps. Trial and error solves it. Our reward is another nice cutscene:

Stowaway Van Helsing

There's yet another complicated, many-step puzzle in the castle stables. That one almost stumped me, but again, if you just keep hunting around you'll get it. One thing's for sure: if you can't leave an area, that means you've got everything you need there in that scene. It's just a matter of finding it all and putting it together in the right way.

So I did that. However, I have now run up against what initially looks like one of the most complicated puzzles I've ever encountered in any game. I am not in the mood. I will tackle it later.

That puzzle opens the door to the crypt, so it's pretty clear that I'm nearing the endgame. Yes, there's even more stuff in an adjacent large hall (where I encountered one of Dracula's vampire "brides," but I don't think she's going to threaten me very much.

I have to tackle that door puzzle. Tomorrow.

So far, an excellent puzzley adventure game! Great artwork, solid story, decent voices, really nice puzzles and clearly, not too short either! Although I may change my mind about the game if this puzzle is as bad as it initially looks.

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Dracula Origins 4: Playing with Crocodiles

Just did a little bit on the game today. I knew I was almost finished with Egypt (and found out that Vienna is the next location), so I decided to do that. I had this one major puzzle that was supposed to get to the mysterious document hidden in the evil tomb. 

The gold-weighing puzzle was just math. Then there was a puzzle to figure out which of the many little pyramids I'd picked up along the way were the correct ones. That wasn't tough once you played with the puzzle screen for a bit. Then we had to figure out in what order to place the pyramids (I'd already done the blood puzzle). After that the secret door opened, but I realized that there was more to do in the room, and figured out how to deal with the ancient boat on the far end of the tomb. 

Once we brave the dark doorway, we get a nice cutscene with a hungry crocodile:

This guy must really be hungry after millennia in this tomb!

After that I still wasn't done. I got by the croc, but then faced a black mist that Ven Helsing thought was a supernatural force stopping him. I tried every item in my inventory with no luck. OK, the WT. Turned out I need to modify an item before I could use it. I admit, there was a very obscure clue in the documentation, but I don't feel badly that I didn't suss it out.

From there I only had to talk to a couple more folks and I was automatically transported to Vienna. Yay! I had to go through the initial dialogue in the first scene there before I could save, but save I did, and put the game on the shelf until tomorrow.

I gotta say, this is a good game!

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Dracula Origins 3: Chasing the Evil

And there is plenty of studying to do in the game! Now that I'm in Egypt, naturally I'm encountering hieroglyphics, all of which must be deciphered. My only really impossible puzzle was deciphering the hieroglyphics. It shouldn't have been impossible, but they gave you about three obscure clues to a couple of dozen hieroglyphics, turning the puzzle in to trial and error. I finally went to the WT. I'd had enough. That's what WTs are for.

However, another trial and error puzzle was plenty of fun. This one involved moving dots around a screen in order to open the door to the thief's house. At first I couldn't figure out how to do anything at all (you click on the arrows, not the dots). It wasn't entirely straightforward, but it was eminently doable and I had fun with it.

The rest of it is just inventory stuff, for example, finding out what's made Mustapha's camels sick. Mustapha is a neat character who provides quite a bit of humor (not what you'd expect in a Dracula game).

Can you save Mustapha's sick camels?

All the rest of the stuff I haven't really found to be terribly difficult. There are a few more scavenger hunts once we get through that locked door to the thief's house. There is danger! Van Helsing gets trapped in the evil temple. He isn't all that worried about it though, and it was only about midway through the game (as I figured), so I just picked up the items available, combined stuff in the inventory, came up with the solution(s) and got out!

I did have one anxious moment in opening the door to the inner sanctum of the evil temple. The game gives you five of the six things you need to open the door. I was pretty darned sure which item was number six, but I couldn't get it to work. Had to go to Google for that, because neither WT I found gave the solution (you have to go through a two-step process on the inventory screen to make the item fit--then the game will give you the item).

Now I'm in the inner sanctum of the evil tomb!

Careful. Stuff in here is baaaaad!

I have all the items I need. I know that because this game doesn't let you proceed until you have everything. I've been picking up little pyramids.  I have gold dust and weights and a scale. I have already got the evil blood from under the evil altar. 

But I appear to be facing a math puzzle. I am not good a math. I will tackle that tomorrow.

Till then!

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Dracula Origins 2: Dealings in the Night--and Day

After dealing with another complex puzzle--and I figured it allllmost out all on my own--I have been just kinda zooming through the game.

Interesting. The game starts out with some really complex puzzles. I didn't mention the four angel puzzles in the graveyard, but they were really quite good, once you realized that you need to click on the stone inscriptions for your clues. Each one is different, but there's quite a nice animation with sound effects for them. 

Once I made it into Dracula's London house and cracked the safe I had to manufacture a wooden key to get into his lair. You bet I needed the WT for some of that. It just isn't straightforward. You need to remember that you saw a vise in the basement and go back there. The game does at least choose four tools that you'll need to make the key. Trial and error does a lot, but the final step is not readily apparent.

After that we get into the lair, which is nicely red:

Fortunately Drac's not home

There is a nifty puzzle in the bedroom. We have to figure out, through trial and error, how to open Dracula's own personal journal. Just by messing around with the hot spots on it I was able to get most of it. But I was left with five colored jewels. I knew where they went but not which order they went in. Tried and tried and finally just looked at the WT. I did quite a lot on that puzzle and mostly earned it.

However, it contains about 20 pages of Dracula's musings over the centuries, and the last several pages are written in cursive that is really difficult to read. No doubt you don't need to read this stuff to play the game, but it does provide the backstory.

After that we have an actual encounter with Dracula himself! Yay! Drac has, however, already attacked Mina. Here's a very nice shot of Van Helsing at Mina's place, then a nice close up of our resident monster:

I really like the art work here

A nice cutscene

Now I've made it to Cairo, Egypt, and rather easily solved a few puzzles there--collecting inventory items in the Museum and finding a cure for sick camels. And I've made it to the cursed tomb where I'm supposed to find important information--if I can survive!

Careful! We've been warned repeatedly about this place!

So this seemed like a nice place to stop for the night. I've been enjoying the puzzles. I don't know why they suddenly got so easy. No doubt the game will rectify that quite soon. But it was nice to just make a lot of quick progress.

Until tomorrow!

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Dracula Origin 1: Trying a New One for Me

Having finally finished playing, replaying and blogging the entire Carol Reed series, I noted that I had another game I'd never tackled on the XP side of my computer: Dracula Origin.

I had played Dracula Resurrection many years ago and had lots of fun with it (and, in fact, finished without getting a hint). This one clearly is not from that series, but made by a completely different company. It has generally good reviews from the ones I found, and I own it. Now seemed as good a time as any to play it. It came out in 2008. Yes, I manage to stay pretty well behind the times. It's point and click and that's what I like. So far the atmosphere is perfect. Here's Van Helsing in a nicely gloomy graveyard:

Complete with buzzing flies, too!

And ooooh, this one is far more complicated than Resurrection! We've got all the dialogue recorded (that turns out to be a really good thing, actually). We've got an inventory that likes to get a bit sticky (can't get rid of an item without multiple clicks). We do have to use the keyboard for two essential things: first, to access the main menu you have to hit "escape." With the complexity of this game, I find I'm doing that often.

But more than that, you really do need to hit the space bar to locate all the hot spots. This game is extremely finicky. You have to be exactly on the correct pixel to get the hit. Plus, the screens are quite busy, so you'll spend all day clicking on everything--and still missing hot spots--if you don't use the space bar. It even gives you clues on where to step so you get to see the other side of a room, or continue down a path, for example.

Lots of stuff to click here--don't take all day!

Puzzles! This is absolutely a puzzle game, and they're tending to be fairly complex so far. I just had a serious bit of trouble opening a safe in Dracula's London house. I figured it out--I found both spaces, used the correct item on both, and even figured out what to do with the information--but it still didn't work. I finally had to look at the WT. I had left out one step: I had to click on the information to enter it into my records book before the puzzle would work! Turned out I had it right--I was just missing that one step. As soon I a made the second click the safe opened. I already had all the little dials set correctly.

That's just a bit too finicky for my taste. These puzzles, as in all good adventures, don't come with directions either. So not only do you have to solve it, you have to figure out what you're supposed to do with it in the first place in order to solve it!

The game appears to be all from Van Helsing's viewpoint. He's our main character, and fortunately they got a decent voice actor for him. It's a pleasant voice with a touch of accent that fits the character nicely. I've only met a few other characters and they all seem to be at least adequate.

Plus, the artwork is really good. These is a complicated game with complicated puzzles and has complicated scenery. I'm really enjoying that aspect of it.

Is that blood on the floor?

So this looks good! A full-blown adventure game with major puzzles to crack. I have no doubt I'll be needing the WT from time to time. I'm quite happy about my puzzle-solving ability so far, but I admit to getting a few hints to get me started. Now that I have a better feel for the game I might need fewer of those. 

We'll see!

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