Broken Sword 5 - The Serpent's Curse....

The more I play the more the game gets weird, wacky and 'out there'. The last time I posted I'd only scratched the surface on so many levels; Or so it feels. On the face of it, this game is a slow serious mystery puzzle solving story; But the more you play the more you find that those puzzles get strange and the resolutions weird if obvious and sometimes stereotypically corny in ways. Yea I get the franchise buffoonery 'take' of certain law enforcement... Some though are plain over the top crazy and bizarre. It's hard to explain in context and keep brief. If you can accept all the crazy then there's motivation to keep going(for the most part). I think I'm already too time invested that I have to push on, accept the crazy, embrace the skits and mow through. 

Some story elements are 'timeless', others 'obvious'.

At the end of what could be called the first act, your investigating a room with Nico..... The 'investigation' scene is the left hand side of a loft area.... For all the time you spend and as well lit as it is ... You don't notice the dead body on the right hand side of the room till you get prompted to walk over there. It's elements like that I just find sloppy design, never mind story telling.

Even a hint at believability is lacking in a lot of ways and for me the game suffers because of it. It's a fine line and very much a player subjective thing. There's a lot of weaving either side of that line and for me and my experiences with this game it's too much. A lot of which changes over the way some scenes play out. It can get confusing as to what they are going for..... serious..... silly.... dark humour or just being stupid.....

There's also a lot of co-coincidence and synchronicity never mind a slathering of serendipity.... At times it's a bit too much to take. Yea my suspension of disbelief is well shot and I've no idea whats next or how it's going to be done.... So I guess that's a good thing for the type of game?

That said some situations are mindbogglingly bizarre. Like disguising yourself as a dead man to dance with his distraught and drunk wife to get a key from her(while he's in a casket in the room).... 

Dancing to a song that's played via a musical card....(which you had to go and get). 

If that's not off the wall then the lead up to it is .... wax strips to take the fur off a stuffed dog to make a goatee and mustache disguise.... Never mind taking the flower from the dead man's lapel...

Yea, yea context is king but it's out there with the bizarre.

I guess I like my 'puzzles' a lot more grounded(Sherlock Holmes this is not). Then again the game is a game that takes all that with franchise nostalgia, 90's point and click in general and gives entertainment; I really shouldn't be complaining. I'm getting an experience for sure. Maybe more in the way of WTF is going to happen next(in the game as a game) rather than to solve the story and 'the case'.

If it's an item that's clickable, click it/pick it up and then 'read' all other information.... I've been bitten by a few scenes where it felt like I'd missed something. Click it, it 'will' be useful in the future!

Alasdair Beckett-King

The game is compelling(like I said I'm all in now) but there's a lack of overall fulfillment..... One mystery always leads to another and something bigger to solve/explain. The ending better be 'something' worth it. That said this is a game about the journey. A game to solve as you go with brains but not to think about too hard(no hope for me there). A lot of story and indeed puzzle resolutions are plain 'out there' for sure. Some are semi solvable by conversation after an 8 part clickable move along, with an end not really a resolution done for story and/or puzzle completion but for the sake of expedience(like some things were left on the cutting room floor). Time will tell where this game leads me....

Unlocking more achievements, the player stats(>28% or so from one to the next... So players seem to be hanging in if the game clicks with them(pun intended). Interesting and all fair enough.