Mansion of Hidden Souls for Sega CD
Review #12072
Mansion of Hidden Souls
So, you wanna be a butterfly?
Gameplay
This Myst rip-off has simple controls. Just use the d-pad to turn, move forward, or zoom in to look at something. Occasionally you add something to your inventory which can be accessed via A and used via C. That's it. For most of the game you can can take it at a leisurely pace but the endgame features a ticking clock. I appreciate the simplicity on display here.
Level Design
The mansion you're trapped in a tiny. There are only two floors and maybe 8 or 9 rooms. Your objectives are ambiguous and unintuitive but simple enough to achieve. There are only a handful of puzzles - most of your objectives involve looking at everything to find the key that will open the next room. You can beat the whole game in about 30 mins and there's no replayability.
Theme
So bad it's good. The story sees you following your sister into a mysterious mansion filled with talking butterflies who used to be humans but were trapped by a paranormal hunter. Your sister is captured and transformed so you need to rescue her. Basically, it's Coraline. The bizarre dialogue and laid-back pace conflict with the ominous setting to create an equally tranquil and mystifying ambiance. The mansion reminds me of the one from Eternal Darkness.
Art Style
Animates at no more than 5 frames per second. Good looking artwork is ruined by terrible quality video, dithering, and a host of other visual problems.
Audio
Music is sparse. Most of the time it's just you and your footsteps. The voice samples are quiet, particularly the Hunter's evil monologue which is barely audible and horribly garbled.
Comments
Post a Comment