I come from a time where games like Day of The Tentacle and Escape from Monkey Island were my go-to games when I needed some of that sweet-sweet point and click adventure booty. And why, you may ask? Because the stories were well thought out, the voice acting (yes, you heard that right! In those days the voice acting was done right as well!) was on point, and the quips towards others were just downright funny. I don’t know when this genre suddenly became obsolete though. Some developers still managed to squeeze out a few in the past few years, but for some reason, it never really got that much attention. So, each time one came out? It was a bold statement by developers! It clearly meant to say, “We still believe”. And boy, Epic Llama made a statement alright!
In Darkestville Castle, you play as an Anti-Hero. You are Cid, the local demon that haunts, you guessed it? Darkestville. His mission? To terrorize the denizens and take care of his pet fish. Of course, each Anti-Hero needs a Hero, and this guy brings in a skilled team of Demon hunters to finally get rid of you. Will they succeed? Who knows…, well… I do! And that’s what I’m going to talk to you about in this short review of Darkestville Castle!
As you’ll quickly come to notice in this game, Epic Llama has its heart set in the right place. They’ve churned out a, what is in my opinion? One of the best homages to-date towards this genre! Now, where to start first? The voice acting is honestly top-notch. The script that they’ve gotten is funny, no one has phoned their text in whatsoever, and each actor just does an amazing job into bringing their character to life and setting the right mood for that said character! Its also not shy from making sly remarks to other games and/or franchises! So keep those funny bones tickled there my dudes and dudettes because Cid’s a practical jokester and will not bat an eyelash when it comes to witty puns! The look and feel of the game are just wonderfully done as well!
Each sector is colorful and vibrant and leaves a lasting impression. Not one piece is boring to look at! The animations are smooth and not wonky. We’ve all seen how bad some animations tend to look if not executed properly. I mean… If there’s a pendulum swinging? It shouldn’t be a jerky motion from left to right, but one smooth ride. God, how I annoyed myself with that metronome in Monkey Island‘s bar, where you’ve got to trick the monkey in playing by putting a banana on it … But I digress! For most of the game, everything is straight forward, get X so that you can complete Y and thus proceed with objective Z. Buuuut there are a few stinkers here and there, that aren’t just explained to you, like… At all! One huge pointer/tip for anyone out there? Because, I didn’t notice this one until, like, the very end of the god damn game because I just couldn’t find what I needed to do to proceed… Is that, if you pick up any book in the game? You can read the god damn thing! There’s nothing that points this out! When I was about to rage-quit the game because I just couldn’t find any other clues as to how I should do a certain part in the game? I was mashing through my items and suddenly… Poof… I opened the book and… Voila, there was my clue! So, UI wise? A few minor changes would’ve made this more obvious! But oh well… Let’s not be too nit-picky here!
Darkestville Castle is by all accounts an amazing adventure game that’s got all the right kinks in all the right places. With some A-grade voice actors and amazing art style and some quality one-liners and quips to other games? You’ll be bouldering through this amazing work of art by Epic Llama! I, for one, hope that they keep up this good work, and bring more games like this to the forefront. It’s been too long since some decent and quality adventure games that were point and click came out, and I will welcome them with open arms if they ever do decide to make more!
