Another review, another first paragraph of info you need before reading more. Darkestville Castle is a point and click adventure game where you play the villain instead of the hero. I received a review code for Xbox from the publisher for free, with no expectations for this review. I played it for about 8 hours, which was enough to beat the game. I am mostly blind, so some things I have trouble with may not affect your experience with the game. Darkestville Castle releases August 13th on several different platforms.
Now for the good stuff! I really enjoyed the game. The art style was great, with bright, contrasting colors that made seeing things easy. The voice acting was good as well, which meant that I didn’t have to read the subtitles, even though they were easy to read most of the time. The story felt fresh from its new perspective. The length was about right for me, though I do hope there will be a sequel.
It had act breaks that would be perfect spots to stop playing for a bit. These breaks also changed the map in big ways, signaling the need to explore again. The story is awesome as well with twists and mysteries to solve. The humor is fantastic with its jokes and a few good fourth wall breaks. The characters are interesting and have plenty of extra dialog if you want to learn more about them.
The puzzles were just about perfect. Not too easy and not too hard. I never felt like it was a breeze nor did I feel frustrated. I got a good feeling of accomplishment by completing them, especially the bigger, multipart ones. There is also a hint button that will display the things you can interact with. I found this to be just enough help to figure out the puzzles on your own, with just that little bit of guidance, without feeling like you cheated. The last puzzle in particular was especially good. You are forced to run from room to room, in an infinite loop while being chased. This meant that you had little time in each area to find the proper clues. You had to use your knowledge gained from previous puzzles to to complete it, which was a nice touch.
I know this is a short review, but I am trying my best to have it available as close to the launch as possible. If you like point and click adventure games or a good humorous story, then this game is definitely for you! Next time I get a chance, I’ll be replaying the game in Cat Mode… even though I don’t know what that entails!
