Sanitarium 3: Curiouser and Curiouser

Finally got back to the game. I've actually played for short bursts for several days, but only now am getting to my write-up here.

The circus was really nice, although as always with this game, you have to keep a sharp eye out for teensy items that you need. At least there are some decent clues here.

In the big top

We have to play some games and visit some freaks. The games are pretty straightforward.

Got enough tickets?

Actually if you pay attention, you will find more than the number of tickets you need to get through the area.

Can you get into the roped-off section?

So I made it through the circus! I confess that I did get a couple of hints. It's a fairly extensive area, but it's quite entertaining. Upon exiting the area we get dumped into a cave.

Pixel hunting required here

The cave turns out to be an action area. Tried absolutely everything before I went to the WT and found out that I had to use an item on a very obscure spot. The main trouble with this game is that the hot spots and items are difficult to see. It really can turn into a pixel hunt. 

But, with the information I got from the WT I was able to get through the area.

That takes us into what clearly is another major piece of the character's backstory. Now it's fairly obvious that the goal of the game is to find out just who the main character is, what he did and how he got into the sanitarium.  

Is this backstory?

In the mansion, we meet ghosts of what will of course turn out to be our family. In fact, it seems that the little girl that took over in the last two areas is Max's sister, who died.

Now we're back to playing Max. 

Max is himself again

In the laboratory

The laboratory has a seriously bad puzzle. I suppose you could spend a week just trying things, but save yourself. Even with instructions this is hard to do:

Bad, bad puzzle

It's puzzles like that which caused adventure games to get a bad name—and this is a good game!

Once solved we get into an area where we have to solve anagram puzzles on blackboards. Again, just figuring out what to do is the real challenge. Once you have that the puzzle is fairly easy, and gets us into the next area.

I keep getting interrupted from this game and no doubt will be interrupted again, but according to the chapters I'm about halfway through, and I eventually will finish it! 

It is a good game!

Next Entry.

Blackenrock Preview Beta

A brief interlude. Jonathan Boakes and Matt Clark are really truly working on finishing Blackenrock, the long-awaited sequel to The Lost Crown, my favorite game. They decided to release the first couple of hours of the game in beta form for free! 

So I went back to Saxton today! This is the first time I've played a game in beta and there were glitches, but I have made it to what appears to be the end of the "demo," because I cannot go anywhere in Saxton except Harbour Cottage (on which Nigel owes rent he certainly can't pay). I can go to Saxton Shore and into the Fenland Eye, but not beyond that. However, there is a massive surprise inside the Fenland Eye! Whoa!

But I did two fun quests, which clearly were intended to get the new player used to the controls and gadgets. Got stuck at one point but managed to get myself out of it. The controls are the same as in Midnight Horror, and that's actually good. You really had to watch the cursor in TLC1 to see when it changed. This time it's larger, brighter, and much more clear. My only criticism is that when we pick a correct item from the inventory the item turns light blue instead of green, and the blue is far more difficult to see.

I do think that this sequel really doesn't stand alone. It assumes that you know the previous games. Perhaps I'm seeing that due to my experience with these games, but it really starts the day after Midnight Horror. It even references a several-minute long "game," called Halloween Haunting from 2013, now available as a YouTube video, in which Nigel and Lucy discover the word "Blackenrock" while using a Ouija board. The Darkfall games are standalone; The Lost Crown is a saga.

At the end of this demo we talk to Hadden, and he tells us something really super intriguing. Super intriguing.

The gameplay is a bit different. Nigel finally can run! If you double click you can advance to the next screen. There are a lot more cutscenes. We have conversations with people without interacting with the game at all, although we still have dialogue trees to click on when the game wants to give you choices. Fortunately, because this uses the old Wintermute engine, the mouse works correctly. No sensitivity issues of the type that plagued me in Ghost Vigil (which I mostly solved by turning down the video quality to medium) and Silent Night. EDIT: I completely solved my mouse issues by replacing my computer hard drive, which was failing. That's why I had mouse sensitivity--and controller--issues.

The game tells us where to use the audio recording and the camera, so we won't be missing any evidence. Plus, we carry our "case file" with us always, so all of our "evidence" is constantly available.

There is a brief action sequence! (Well, there is a brief action sequence in TLC1 too, of course.) This one is more exciting than the "fight" on the train tracks.

The "demo" is available for free form Shadow Tor Studios. I had to break down and finally configure my email on my PC laptop in order to get it. (I use the laptop just for games; my main computer is a Mac which cannot play this, but also could not download the link, which is transferrable via FB Messinger! Instead of a link you just get the download.) I think I'll just delete the account now that I've finished. (Which I did. That was easy!)

I was unable to take screenshots at all. I will have to wait till the game comes out on Steam for that. However, fun fact: there is a QR code on the Saxton Times in the case file. Scan it into your phone and you will get a marvelous result!

But it was so so so lovely to be back in Saxton! How wonderful! The game has exactly the same immersive feeling as the original. I am really looking forward to the full game! I suspect it will still take several months, but I believe it is moving forward!

Cannot wait!

Sanitarium 2: Freaky Fun!

Hooray! I have made it to Chapter 4 and now the game is really taking off into highly inventive weirdness!

But first I had to get through Chapter 3, which mainly involves turning on the water to fill the courtyard fountain. I'm proud to say that I only needed two hints, and one of them pointed out something (very small) that I had simply missed. I figured out how to get the thing, just didn't spot it when it turned up. That is a problem with this game: it's all in a top-down isometric view so items can be quite small.

Landing in Chapter 3

First, of course, we have to go around talking to everybody. Then I realized that I could only manipulate one thing, which turned out to be the right thing to do. If you spot the necessary item it's pretty easy to figure out what to do with it, which gives you another item, which is also easy to use.

The crazy preacher and his very stiff congregation does fit into the puzzle, but only marginally.

Interiors simply reveal themselves when you enter.

That brings us to a real puzzle: turning levers to get the water flowing. This is where I needed help. No, not to do the actual puzzle, but what constituted winning it.

The clue is pretty obscure.

The trick is to know which of the four water levels you have to fill. Once you get it the puzzle really does tell you that you've won. And, again, much appreciated, if you quit in the middle the game saves your progress. You do not have to restart the puzzle every time, as far too many games would have you do.

Once the fountain is filled we get another cutscene, again in very grainy video, which I was unable to get a screenshot of. But it certainly does give some backstory to our character.

In fact, our character has changed radically once we get to Chapter 4. And that's when I got excited about the game! 

Well this is unexpected!

We land in a very freaky circus, somewhere outside of the asylum (I guess?)

It has a big top and one ring.

Let's go in!

A one-ring circus

I did just the first bit of dialogue and stopped for the day, but I am vastly intrigued! This is the kind of imagination I appreciate in a game--something totally unexpected.

Loving it!

Next Entry

Sanitarium 1: A Really Old Horror Adventure

So I decided to try a really old horror adventure game that I'd been unsuccessful with in the past, but always wanted to play. Sanitarium came out in 1998 on CDs. First I had terrible trouble getting the discs to load, and once I did I couldn't figure out how the mechanics of the game worked. How are you supposed to walk around and talk and pick up and use items? 

Actually it's fairly straightforward. Once you learn the antiquated system it isn't difficult. The game is only partially point & click, with walking done manually. The got away from the WASD movement system by using the mouse exclusively. Walking can be a tad tricky because you have to hold the right button down as you try to navigate your way around the screen.

Welome to the game!

Well finally I found a copy of the game on GOG, so I don't have to deal with physical CDs anymore. The game runs pretty well except for one time when the screen went black and I had to reload and replay for a bit.

We start out after the very grainy opening video, in an unusual asylum. We're covered in bandages and appear to have amnesia. Somehow we make it out to a courtyard filled with children, all of whom are injured or deformed in some way. There are no adults in the area. 

The Courtyard of the Children

We have several tasks here: talk to all of the children thoroughly to get the beginning of a storyline. Then find out who the mysterious "Mother" might be. She's controlling the children and won't let them explain anything. 

Also, this is an inventory game. Picking up stuff is easy. It turns out that accessing the inventory is easy too: click on your character and you will see the inventory items that you have. Once you've used an item it disappears, which is good.

The dialogue system

Eventually we will make our way across a stream and meet a girl named "Maria," who tells us more than anyone else, but stops when she senses that "Mother" has awakened. OK. That takes us into the pumpkin patch that Maria has warned us about.

Maria. Nice kid.

The dangerous pumpkin patch

It turns out that there is combat in this game! In this first area it's pretty easy. When you get killed the game puts you back at the beginning of the fight, but any enemies you've killed remain dead. That is appreciated, thanks!

Once we make our way through the pumpkin patch we will meet Mother, and have to figure out what to do. I actually got a bit of it by myself, but I relied on a walkthrough for this chapter. Now that I know what I'd doing, sort of, I might be able to wean myself from it. After all, inventory games are all quite solvable, even though a few of these puzzles are a bit obscure.

So I will continue! I have made it to Chapter Three out of eleven. Most folks say this game takea 10-12 hours to complete. Let's see how I do!

Next Entry

Geospots 3: Going to the Correct Barn

So it turns out that you need to be in the correct barn. You want the barn. I was in the stable. There is no other door out of the stable. You need to be in the barn, which is not the same location.

In the barn, you can find what you need. In the stable, you find the clue to what you need in the barn. There. Solved.

Yes, I was pretty close to the endgame. I followed clues and found my missing person. Then it was a matter of going to the correct locations, which isn't all that difficult to figure out.

The correct location

But I had forgotten that there's just one more puzzle box. I confess that I did need not one but two (blush) hints on how to solve it.

Once that's done, there isn't all that much really to do, except enjoy the final screens which always seem to send us to some lovely night scenes:

The river

A statue that figures in the game

An interesting thing: now Carol needs money. I read through my blog about the earlier games and found that Carol had received a lot of money after her first case that made her financially independent. Now, however, she appears to be living off her detective work.

And that's great! Carol is now more like one of us. Plus, she has fifteen years of experience now!

Well that was really fun. I mostly stayed away from the hint system, but was glad I used it those few times. 

Really, I think this is the best Carol Reed game so far! It had a good story and great locations, and did not spend any time at all in abandoned buildings (well, except for the barn).

So! Adventure on! 

Geospots 2: Caches and Barns

OK, so there just isn't any way out of this barn. 

Actually I've been having enormous fun with the game all day, but I appear to have reached a true dead end in the second barn that I have found in the game.

Yes, I checked the hint system. It says to go out the last door you encounter. Fair enough, except that there is no door. I have checked every screen multiple times, using the space bar and everything.

Of course there is a door and I haven't found it yet, but I've had enough trying for the day. Instead, I'll focus on all the fun I had before my stuckness.

We get to travel through some really nice scenery. I especially enjoyed this gorge!

Don't get lost!

And we find informative signs! 

At last, Bigge is back! And it really is his same voice as in the earlier games. I was incorrect about the voice of the other guy yesterday. Bigge always gives us some kind of mission to do before he'll help us at all, such as letting us into the area, as in this game.

Actually his mission was a bit problematic. Most of it was pretty easy, but the final bit involved chasing down an item that I did have to look up in the hint system. It's a huge area, divided into two parts (the item is not in the part where you need it, naturally). Once I got it though, I was able to solve the puzzle on my own easily enough.

Bigge is back!

Much of the game involves finding these metal tubes. They are the geocache items that often have puzzles on them, as this one does.

Is there a message in it?

Some have messages that send us to the next location, but many are basically red herrings. The missing person is running the geocache game, and a lot of these merely are part of his game, not ours.

As always, we go into people's houses and apartments. This one was especially nice. And there are plenty of detail items that give a real sense of place. I'm doing quite well with finding things and solving puzzles! Got through plenty of puzzles today without looking anything up! That's what makes the game fun, when it isn't easy, but still can be solved.

Yes, go up the stairs!

Nice plate, but just a detail.

Nice kitchen!

I think I have finally figured out why none of the clocks in these games have any hands. The game doesn't know what time we're in the location, or what time it is when we might come back. So the hands are gone. Frankly, I think it would have been a better solution just to take the clocks down. But it does add an element of mystery.

We always have nice scenery, and I'm pretty sure this park with huge chairs was in another game, or at least something similar to it.

Chairs for giants!

I enjoy the museums, and we almost always go to one. This one was medieval, but after that we went to a beer can museum. No, seriously.  There are photographs.

The medieval museum

Beer cans? Seriously?

And of course we are often looking across rivers to views of, I assume, Norrköpping.

Pretty town!

So I left off, outside the barn (not pictured). I will try to find the door tomorrow. I will make a systematic search of each and every screen in the place! 

Actually I think I'm getting pretty close to the endgame, if the locations that are disappearing from my map are any indication. Also, it feels about as long as these games usually are. Plus, we've met at least one villain, maybe more! 

So we'll see if I have to fight a baddie tomorrow!

Assuming I can find him.

Next Entry.

Geospots 1: Finding the Cache

What a fantastic surprise to find that a new Carol Reed game has been released! Of course I went to the MDNA website and bought it immediately.

This time Carol is moping around a bit because she doesn't have any cases to solve. Fortunely her friend Stina has a new hobby that she asks Carol for help with: geocaching! I reveiwed a children's book some years ago that had geocaching as a major activity, so I knew what it was. 

As with all Carol Reed games, we start by finding new places to go and new addresses, which show up on the map used for navigation:

Always a slightly different map for every game

Newly discovered locations appear on the map, and we click on the place names to go there. First we go to a bit of a maze, but Stina does give Carol a map showing where her cache is located. If you, the player, follow the map by looking at it after each move you will not get lost. If you, or for example, me, does not look at the map you will get lost. Look at the map.

Finding the cache leads to a puzzle, which is actually fairly challenging but doable if you just look for clues around the area.

We get to go to such nice places in these games. I would love to live in this house:

It has a pool!

And we always go wandering in nicely forested areas featuring beautiful landscapes. The scenery is a big part of these games.

Pretty, yes?

Don't miss this guy!

As the plot thickens, or rather, as we uncover new locations and new clues, which usually lead to new locations, we always encounter various kinds of puzzle boxes.

This first one was easy to solve, but I haven't yet cracked the second one:

A cinch.

Not a cinch.

I'm doing my best not to look at the hints. Normally they just nudge you in the right direction, but often they send you to somewhere you have missed. I confess that I missed three things, saved by the hints. 

To not miss things you really do have to carefully examine nearly each and every screen. It's really easy to just walk right by something important.

The game won't let you proceed without finding these clues, but it will let you wander around into infinity until you find the elusive hot spots. Hitting the space bar frequently should help, and I have not been doing that.

I think I will do it today! 

I have already met Carol's boyfriend Jonas, who turns up in all the games, and what appears to be the comic relief character, which used to be played by "Bigge." Bigge disappeared in the last game, but the same voice actor is still here for another character.

Jonas always helps

Not Bigge, but the same voice

Judging by how many locations I have on my map, I might be about a third of the way through the game. That's great, because I really want to play for awhile today! 

And hit the spacebar. 

Next Entry.

Dark Fall: Ghost Vigil 11: The End of the Ending

Well that was quite a trek! The endgame is really kinda tough.

I confess that I did watch CJU's latest video (as of this writing--he hasn't finished yet) and saw that I missed the final clue to the order of the lyrics. So, it's a good thing I watched it! I would have had to look it up and I hate to do that. But he left off at the entrance to the underground passages, so I finished ahead of him.

As to my mouse sensitivity, I did try using my controller and it did definitely help, although even that jumped around a bit in certain areas. I actually never knew that you could use a controller in place of a mouse, but it really isn't that different. Because we're just moving one click at a time it doesn't weave all over the place. I didn't need it to get through the miasma, because winning the trials opens that up. I switched to it when the mouse got too out of control, so that made things better.

Now then. The trials.

First, you have to find stuff in all that rubble. Warning: not as straightforward as it seems. Yes, those elusive stones are there, but you kind of can't look for the actual stones. Instead, look for the hand icon, because the stones are quite well camouflaged. I finally found the last one by just getting a flash of the hand icon for about a quarter of a second, and then had to keep sweeping the area until I got it again, and got the cursor to stay put on it long enough to click it.

So, a challenge.

Get the right stone on the right pedestal

I started with the sound puzzle. It's randomized, and you do get good clues, but the problem is that the patterns on the stones are quite difficult to match up to the clues. Once you get that right there is a brief sound clue. After that it's really not that tough, and I love it that it's the same sounds that were in the original Dark Fall: The Journal. (If you have not played that, for heaven's sake, play it! Fantastic game and it costs less than $5.00 these days.)

Then we have the standing stones puzzle. Yeah, the PDF walkthrough says that the clue is in Harwood's study, but we can't get back to Harwood's study, because after we solve that puzzle, the time-travel icon disappears and we're just in the nursery again.

The standing stones, however, aren't that difficult to solve if you just use common sense. Really, it might take a couple of tries, but no more than that.

For the final trial puzzle I really did have to look up the clue, at least. With that I was able to figure it out on my own. 

The Dark Fall Pit!

And then we get into the Dark Fall chamber! There are supposed to be three endings. However, if you have done the Saxton puzzle in the boys' dorm you will get the Saxton ending. That is the one I wanted and I got it, and it was deeply satisfying!

Home!

However, I would like to have won and freed my colleagues and the other souls trapped in the place. Plus, I don't know how to lose. I tried to lose. Nothing happened at all. I might go back and try again, but I'd like to see all three endings if I can.

Well, I will certainly replay the game again all on Steam just for the achievements. This time I won't do the Saxton puzzle and we'll see what I get after that.

And I finished ahead of CJU! Ha!

MAJOR MASSIVE UPDATE: I went back and did what the caretaker told me to do and this time I won! Hey ho! There's a lot more to come when you win! And we do get out:

Escape!

Still haven't lost yet, but CJU just uploaded his final video of the game so we'll see how that works.

I never did hear my name in the game, but I'm now wondering if the names might just be randomly said by Matron (Nanny Noah) as we wander around on the upper level. Never heard my name but I suppose it could be there and I just didn't get it. Well, yet another reason for a second playthrough!
 

I will say that the cursor sensitivity for me was a major problem. CJU hasn't had that problem at all in his videos, and I've looked at several other videos of playthroughs and nobody else has the problem either. So somehow it must be just me. I cannot understand why. I must have something set improperly on my PC, because the problem persisted even with the trackpad. Only the controller helped, and even that wasn't perfect. The problem was in both the Shadow Tor and Steam versions of the game, for me, anyway.

MAJOR DISCOVERY: I solved my cursor sensitivity problem by going into options and turning video quality from high to medium. If only I'd figured that out early on!

But I also went back and replayed to get all of the Steam. achievements. That was fun!

Musings: This really may be the best Darkfall, although game one is quite competitive in that way. This one is newer and far more polished, of course, with greater depth to the story. I absolutely loved it that so many little memories of that game were in this one. I almost wish I had made a list! 

Of course, nobody has to play the original game or any other to fully enjoy this one. It's just that you will get these little fun reminders, especially if you know the games well. I even saw one reference to something in DK2: Lights Out (a little poem). If there was anything from DK3: Lost Souls, I missed it. And of course, there are plenty of references to The Lost Crown. The Saxton ending was perfect, because this game was made mainly to get the financing they needed to finish TLC2: Blackenrock. 

So, a great time with this one! Really took me back to the days when I was just immersed in PnC adventures. This is the kind of game I'm always looking for.

Absolutely loved it! Yay!