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Genre: Adventure Developer & Publisher: Postmodern Adventures/enComplot Released: February 3, 2026 Requirements: OS: Windows 7 or higher Processor: Minimum, 1 Ghtz/Recommended, 2 Ghtz Memory: Minimum 8 GB RAM; Recommended, 12 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX compatible card Storage: 3 GB available space
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By flotsam Postmodern Adventures / enComplot Pixel art isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so if that is you this Lovecraftian adventure set in 1930’s Arkham, Massachusetts won’t be either. But if pixel art is on your beverage can-do list, and chatty point-and-click inventory quests are something you enjoy, there is plenty of both to be had here. You play Jack Foster, a detective with a troubled past, who is investigating a case involving blackmail, the mayor and some apparent hanky-panky. A seedy hotel is of course involved, one which harbours a familiar stench. Having accessed the relevant room, so much more than blackmail unfolds. Jack is fairly soon introduced to his new partner Harvey Whitman. An expert in arty things black and dark, Harvey is very much Mulder to Jack’s Scully. They make an interesting pair. I know of Cthulhu but am not a Lovecraft aficionado, but some googling confirms that certain other characters and settings will be familiar to those of you that are. A bit more googling suggests that there is much that might be discernible by a fan. Indeed, the credits state it is based on Lovecraft’s works. It remains though a detective led investigation, and Jack is just the detective you need. Street smart and pragmatic, he has a healthy disdain for rules and proper procedure, much to the chagrin of Harvey. Between them both however they make relentless progress towards whatever is going on Played in the third person, it is entirely point-and-click. Many scenes are limited to what you can see on the screen, but some scroll left and right as you walk Jack around. Scenes are explored with the mouse, and the curser will ‘ripple’ when moved over an active hotspot. You can’t highlight hotspots so explore carefully. The curser won’t change in response to a hotspot (look, take etc), but a little description will pop up and you simply click to interact. Whatever can be done there will happen, which might effectively be nothing, or Jack might rummage and find things, or simply pick up an item, or talk if you clicked on a character. It’s all very straightforward. I did find some of the items I needed a tad difficult to discern amongst the pixels, but there weren’t too many of those and careful mouse searching unearthed them anyway. All the items you find will be in a ribbon that appears top of screen when the mouse is moved there, and hovering the mouse will elicit a description, and then click to use, either on another item of in the game world. You will use them at a hotspot, but again there is no curser indicating that an item can be used at any particular hotspot. Much were either obvious or discernible within the game (e.g., someone tells you relevant information) and while there were definitely times I needed a push, I didn’t find this aspect unfair or overly contrary. You will gather a lot of items but they will be removed from your inventory when no longer needed. I don’t think I had more than a dozen at any one time, and usually less than that. You will also collect items whether you know why you need them or not (i.e., you don’t need a reason to render them collectable) and items you need in one place might be gathered from somewhere completely unrelated. I learnt to do a lot of visiting the various locations to find and learn what I could before thinking I was stuck and resorting to a walkthrough. Speaking of which, learning stuff will often come through conversations and there are plenty of those to be had. Quite a few are triggers in moving things forward so be thorough. They can also result in new locations being added to your map, a little pop-up in the top right corner indicating that this has occurred. Accessing the map occurs by exiting certain scenes. The curser will change to a large arrow indicating you can exit a scene, but it may be an exit to another scene rather than the map. As you progress you will learn where the map exits are, and double clicking any exit arrow will jump you there (Jack doesn’t like to run). Once in the map, click your location of choice. Some locations have maps within the map (e.g., the port, the jail) and the little turned down corner top right is your link back to the broader location. All the puzzling involves having the right conversation or finding and using the correct items. As always with these types of games I kept a walkthrough close at hand to keep things moving along. I did think a bit more direction at times would have helped (gathering a key late in the game stands out), but fans of this sort of game will likely be well pleased with the eight or so hours that it will keep you investigating. It isn’t the highest-res pixel art, but it still delivers a richly detailed game world. A many but muted colour palette is well suited to the goings-on, whilst still allowing the more grisly scenes to be impactful. Check out the screenshots above for more detail. There is no spoken word in Dark Rites, every conversation being read. I never mind this in games, as you don’t have to rely on good voice acting. I know just how Jack sounded, and he didn’t disappoint. In the absence of spoken word, the ambient sound and soundtrack assume more prominence. Both are excellent. The sights and sounds of several street scenes stand out, and the varied musical score gels perfectly with the relevant setting. What else? The story is richly sensational as you would expect in something with its pedigree, full of symbols and rituals and cults and portals and the possible end of the world. Suspend your disbelief, strap in and enjoy the ride. It autosaves (when I don’t know), but you can save at will in as many save spots as you like, and as you don’t seem to be able to die the autosave becomes largely irrelevant. It is possible I missed something but I went back to one sequence to try and die and it just wouldn’t happen. Steam achievements occur, not all a result of progress (I ended up with 20 out of 30). On the strength of this I went back and purchased their earlier two games, which perhaps says it all. I played on: OS: Windows 11, 64 Bit Processor: Intel i7-9700K 3.7GHz RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 32GB Video card: AMD Radeon RX 580 8192MB
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