The days are getting colder and the nights are getting longer. Going out is becoming less and less attractive, so I spend more of my evenings sitting in front of my computer, which is basically a a little heater for my lap, while I play with Rise of the Golden, the new detective puzzle game from Color Gray Games and Playstack Stay warm while Idol warms my brain. This is the sequel to the 2022 game “The Golden Idol Case”.
I haven’t played The Case of the Golden Idol, but the review speaks for itself. It’s an interwoven mystery set in the 1700s, following gruesome deaths that also center on a golden idol. Two hundred years later, we pick up the story of this icon again, in a new world still plagued by horrific deaths and crazy accidents. It is also a world defined by an unusual art style. The look of The Case of the Golden Idol seemed to be inspired by photographs from the era, while The Rise of the Golden Idol takes this and changes it to fit the 1970s. The people are extremely disgusting and ugly, and their facial expressions are turned up to 11 to express their emotions, madness, and more. This helps The Rise of the Golden Idol look instantly appealing, and while you may find the visual effects a bit jarring, especially when the lazy characters rise , they are a beautiful design work in which they not only feel completely. unique, but There are also guidelines for your situation.
So, what exactly do you do on The Rise of the Golden Idol? Well, you are put in a situation where you find details and clues that give you a series of key words that you can use to solve the events that happened in the situation. You often have to look at multiple locations, associate names with individuals in the scene, and often also have to identify a secondary goal, such as the name of a character in a movie being shown, or the name of some symbol am Mad A woman has attached meaning to an object. The paths of objects, the relationships between the characters you see in front of you, are all important, and you usually have to solve them all before you can deal with the events of the scene. In each setting, you’ll build a chapter-wide story, meet familiar faces and discover shocking tasks committed to achieving a greater goal.
Here’s a hint:
This is a challenging game because you can’t just focus on what is being said and what you read in the ads. You also have to pay close attention to the map and do a lot of extraction yourself, especially over time. You can never get frustrated with The Rise of the Golden Idol, though, because there’s always something else to do, another piece of the puzzle you haven’t paid enough attention to yet. In addition, there is an element in the game that allows guesswork to work, as if you are near the end of a scene and all the answers but two or less are correct, you could something you were not sure about about change.
You also have ads, and the game doesn’t really want you to abuse them. It solves the frustration of pressing a cue request by forcing you to do a breathing exercise before receiving the cue. A fun way to make players ask themselves again if they want to do everything for themselves. I am not ashamed to say that I have used tips more than once and I have not found them all equal. Some are very helpful, while others will jump right into suggestions but still leave you feeling like your questions haven’t been answered.
Aside from a few naff tips, my only other complaint about the game is that the UI gets clunkier as time goes on. When you need people’s names, where they are, what they are doing in front of you, and all the other words you have collected along with the events of the scene, it can be difficult to see anything, and you always click away. from one thing, Just to call it back again. It’s a small hurdle, but it will speak for itself in the long run if addressed. Otherwise the UI is very readable, as Color Gray Games has ditched the parchment look of The Case of the Golden Idol for yellow printed paper in this sequel.
Here’s a hint:
These two minor complaints aside, The Rise of the Golden Idol is a delight as a detective game and the perfect way to spend those cold winter nights. It’s a short experience, depending on how quickly you can solve the murder, but as you go further into the way the overarching story unfolds and adds more pieces of the puzzle together, it can keep you hooked until you finish everything.
