Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Dracula: Origin

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  3 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 202021
 

There was a time when I picked up a bunch of adventure games, one of which was Dracula: Origin.

Dracula: Origin is a point-and-click adventure game that puts the player in the shoes of Professor Van Helsing, on the trail of Dracula after an ominous letter warns that the vampire is coming for Mina Harker.

Despite what you might expect, it’s not even close to being an adaptation of the novel, though. In fact, partway through it introduces elements from H.P. Lovecraft, although as much as that made me smile, the story would have been fine without it.

The voice acting… isn’t great, but I got unintended joy out of serious, professional Van Helsing routinely crying, “Open!” upon unlocking a door or letting out a dismayed and confused “Closed…?” when he couldn’t.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward. You can click a spot to move Van Helsing there, or click on an item to pick up or a spot in the environment to interact with. Once you have an item in your inventory, you can make it your active item to use it in an interaction. There’s also a key that highlights everything that can be interacted with, always helpful.

Some of the item-based puzzles have questionable logic, and I admit I solved some of them by trying random items together until something combined (and one I had to look up entirely.)

Click for Dracula: Origin puzzle spoilers
You need uncontaminated water that “has never touched the ground.” I boiled water to purify it, but that wasn’t good enough. The solution?

Use the knife on the necklace to get a diamond.
Use the diamond on the mirror shard to get a rectangular mirror.
Use the mirror on the boiling water to get condensation.
Use the mirror on the flask to get a flask of condensation.

There are a handful of other puzzles as well, which can get pretty tricky.

Overall, Dracula: Origin was enjoyable enough. Nothing that really stood out, but entertaining enough if you enjoy classic point-and-click adventure games and are looking for a vampire story.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  3 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Oct 182021
 

A years ago, we discussed The Darkside Detective, a humorous point-and-click adventure game about a detective who investigates supernatural incidents.

I enjoyed it enough that when the developers began a Kickstarter campaign for a sequel, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark, I backed it and got a Switch copy. (It’s available on all major platforms.)

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark begins with Detective McQueen searching for his partner Dooley, who has gone missing, and once again features six lighthearted supernatural investigations.

Oddly enough, I found the first case to be more frustrating than the rest of the game, with puzzle solutions that felt illogical and sections that seemed to be unnecessarily drawn out. This might be because the first case has you visiting several different locations and traveling between them, while the others are more contained.

Anyway, most of the game was quite entertaining, and while I’m not sure it’s as funny as the original, it still had a lot of funny lines.

Bizarre situations, a bit of fourth-wall-breaking, and in general the cast of characters being a group of weirdos is where most of the humor comes from. While the cases have an occasional serious moment or two, this is a game that focuses much more on its humor than on its plot.

And of course, it’s perfect for the Halloween season, with ghosts, vampires, and other supernatural entities at the heart of every case.

Six cases are available now, but three free bonus cases are on the way. I’ll be sure to return to The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark when that time comes.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Echo Night

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Oct 152021
 

I guess this is ghost week for Celebrating All Things Spooky, because today’s review will once again see us quelling restless spirits as we discuss Echo Night.

I picked up Echo Night from the PlayStation Store during the shutdown concerns since it sounded like the sort of game I’d enjoy.

You play a man named Richard Osmond, who goes to his father’s house in response to a police report and from there is transported to a train, where he witnesses a strange encounter, and then to a ship haunted by ghosts of the people who died on board when the ship disappeared.

It plays a lot like a survival horror game or an adventure game, as a good portion of your time will be spent exploring, searching for items, and solving puzzles to access new areas.

There is no combat, but dangerous ghosts can appear in the dark and hurt you. This means the first thing you’ll want to do in any room is find the light switch and turn on the lights. Of course, sometimes you’ll find yourself in a place where the lights can’t be turned on, putting you in danger until you can find a way to get them working.

A major focus of the game is helping out the spirits you meet so that they can finally rest, which frequently involves being transported to a different time and place, while learning more about the mystery of the Red Stone that has caused so much trouble.

I enjoyed it, aside from the blackjack mini-game I spent too much time on in order to get the best ending.

Now, Echo Night is the first game in a trilogy. Echo Night 2 was only released in Japan, but Echo Night: Beyond for the PlayStation 2 was localized. Unfortunately, it was never ported to anything and is hard to find nowadays. If only the developer of these games was still around and a big deal nowadays, oh wait.

I’d be thrilled to see an Echo Night collection or ports, just saying. Until then, at least the first Echo Night is available on PSN if you want to resolve the mysteries of the vanished ghost ship.

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