The Tale of Doris and the Dragon: Episode 2

 

 

 

Genre:    Adventure 

Developer:  Arrogant Pixel Ltd.

Publisher:    Arrogant Pixel Ltd.

Released:   February 7, 2020

Requirements (minimum):

 

  • OS: Windows XP SP2 or later 
  • Processor: Pentium 4 or equivalent or better
  • Memory: 512 MB RAM
  • Graphics: DirectX 9 capable graphics card or better
  • Storage: 300 MB available space  
  • Sound Card: Any
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c 

 

 

 

By flotsam

The Tale of Doris and the Dragon: Episode 2

Arrogant Pixel

This is three hours or so of gentle pixelly point and click capers, involving a dead old lady, a dragon and the realm in between worlds. It never reaches any great heights but is a reasonably enjoyable way to pass its playing time.

Episode 2 picks up where Episode 1 left up, which is helpfully recapped before you start. I hadn't played the first but while the recap is brief, it provided the salient points. Doris is looking for her husband, who died ten years ago, and having crossed the river Styx, she has arrived at a kind of after-life departure lounge where things get sorted before crossing over. Norb the Transitional Support Dragon has come too. The Management complex stands before her, and off she goes.

Not everything though is all as it seems.

Episode 2 ends with "to be continued" so don't expect any resolution. Nonetheless, at the end of the instalment you will know a little bit more about the mystery surrounding Albert, and Doris will be off to the next location.

It's graphically minimalist, yet whilst nowhere near as detailed as say a Wadget Eye game it provides a cheerful canvas for Doris' adventure. Ambient sound and a musical score are both present, and can be tweaked in terms of volume or even turned right off. Both probably outscored the voice acting, which never got much better than OK, but taken as a whole it suited the game's overall sense of home grown frivolity.

Everything is point and click. Right click to examine objects, left to use or collect them. Double click to scurry Doris about in her leg waggling way. You also get to play Norb late in the game, so get the wings ready.

There aren't a lot of things to find, and any hotspot will likely be relevant. Move the mouse to the top of the screen to activate the inventory ribbon, and you can then examine or use items, and occasionally combine. Like any such game, not everything conundrum solution is logical, but there is usually enough information available in the game to suggest a way forward. I did though try a few things with everything here and there.

Doris likes to chat, and there are quite a few characters to chat with. Many have more than a few things to chat about. Doris can also call Nord, which may result in an insight as to what to try next.

What else?

Doris herself is rather likable and well crafted. I particularly liked her red trolley. Save at will, and a puzzle near the end might be a little frustrating. The game can be humorous, and being able to speak whale could be helpful.

It is clear when you watch the credits that the makers had a good time with it. You might too.

 

I played on:

OS: Windows 10, 64 Bit

Processor: Intel i7-9700k 3.7 GHz

RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 32GB

Video card: AMD Radeon RX 580 8192MB

 

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