Update One Hundred and Seventy-Eight: 29 May 2018

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

I think the colorfully named Tuttifruitti Interactive out-Artifex Mundi’d Artifex Mundi. Darkarta is up there with one of my favorite hidden object games I’ve ever played. It’s also certainly one of the longest and most involved, with a lot of everything - a lot of hidden object scenes, never re-used, a lot of puzzles, a lot of location, and a LOT of cutscenes. There’s a lot of story packed into this game, and I ended up liking it a great deal!

You play a Strong Cool Mom on a quest to save (sorry, but it’s true) the uncanniest little girl of all time, with a twist - your devious actions in your past life cursed you and your family, and has caused undue suffering and the deaths of a handful of people. That’s a really fun twist on the standard ‘you’re just a nice plucky mom’ HOG storyline. The dev team is mostly Indian, and the story draws a lot from Indian folklore, stories, and art style, all to a really beautiful effect. There’s tons of characters and voice acting and the 2D animatic animation is done skillfully - really it’s only the little girl that’s the only thing that’s unpleasant to look at in this game. I think her face is just too detailed.

Is it Shakespeare? Naw, but it’s still good, and certainly great for the genre. I’m really looking forward to the next game from this team.

Next up:

See you soon!