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Genre: Adventure Developer & Publisher: Geo Games/Restless Corp Released: October 17, 2025 Requirements: OS: Windows 10, 64 bit Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2500Z or equivalent Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti or equivalent DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 10 GB available space Additional note: An SSD is required for installation.
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By flotsam Geo Games / Restless Corp A self-described 3D point-and-click psychological adventure, and five years in the making by a two person team, there is more here than initially meets the eye. Simplistically, Detective James is summoned to help in the investigation of a homicide at Highburn Mansion. Having gained entry, you explore in the first person, solving puzzles, gathering items and opening up new areas until you reach ‘the truth.’ It will probably take about half a dozen hours. You might also meet a ‘bad ending’ somewhere through the game. Suck it up and move on. You move through the mansion node to node, each node identified by a blue shimmering column once your mouse alights upon it. You can toggle the nodes on and off (which means the blue column won’t appear), but you can’t move if they are off, so while I thought that visually the columns were a bit odd, leaving them on is the only practical option. At each node you have complete 360 degree viewing, and there is a lot of detail in the environment, particularly inside the mansion. Things and places you can interact with will highlight in response to the mouse (unless you choose to turn that off), and clicking will engage with the particular hotspot. This might result in you e.g., opening a cupboard or drawer, picking up and examining an item in more detail, or adding an item to or using an item from your inventory. It goes without saying that searching carefully is required, not just to uncover appropriate clues but also to trigger the way forward. The searching challenge is augmented by two items you will find. The first is a torch that has a UV filter, the second is a video camera. Both will enable you to see things not otherwise visible, some of which it is necessary to find in order to get to the previously mentioned truth, while some are just for fun. Regardless, both items each add a layer to the notion of searching carefully. Searching is also impacted by the fact that the mansion can change. To quote the Steam page “old hallways lead to new places, doors bleed through walls, and whole rooms slide into view.” Which also means that ways that were open can be closed, not everything is as it first seemed and weird stuff can happen. You have a backpack which contains your inventory, your map (once you find it) and a journal, the last being the repository of all sorts of information. Your various objectives are here, as well as investigation notes, musings and a help menu. You will be notified when a new entry has been made. Character modelling is a bit wooden, and voice acting leaves a little to be desired, but it didn’t really impact the overall experience. I enjoyed the exploratory nature of things, and the puzzles that were encountered, none too difficult but all requiring a degree of thought. I needed a nudge once, but found the truth without breaking into a frustrated sweat at any point. I confess though to not being sure about things that went on, which might be the point. According to the Steam page, the game world is intended to mirror a crumbling mind, and Detective James is afflicted by artificial dementia and haunted by a demon. Tablets you need to find early on hint at not everything being straightforward and visions he experiences seal the deal. A bit of Googling indicates a layered narrative is intended, one that won’t reveal itself on a single playthrough. Or even the second, as the Steam page says. There are many bits and pieces going on, and suffice to say that I ended up thinking it was a tad too convoluted for its own good. But to go back to the basics, there was an investigate line through the game that I followed and which gave me a positive experience. That I didn’t appreciate the more detailed narrative didn’t matter; I had a good time getting to the end. You might feel differently, and I don’t intend to play it again to perhaps see what insights might be revealed. But I enjoyed the time that I spent as Detective James. 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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