The Crimson Diamond is a correct old-school type puzzle journey. It is 2D pixel artwork, with a restricted color palette as in EGA video games, and also you management it with a textual content parser, like King’s Quest or considered one of them different Sierra adventures previous males like Graham keep in mind. It is essential to say this up entrance as a result of it’s totally potential that, regardless of The Crimson Diamond’s story of betrayal, homicide, and mineral rights in 1914 Canada, the textual content parser ingredient shall be a Rubicon you immediately cannot be arsed to cross. A not unreasonable stance – although I believe the textual content parser in The Crimson Diamond is improbable. Such beef that I’ve with this journey sport is all the way down to the specificity required to unravel among the puzzles.
For those who’re unfamiliar there is a tutorial, however principally what a textual content parser means is that you do not press buttons, you kind stuff. Put in LOOK – though you do not have to make use of caps, I am simply doing it so this evaluate is not a nightmare to textual content parse itself – and press enter, and the sport offers you a textual content field describing the room you are in. This is likely to be, say, ‘an previous research with a big carved fire. To the appropriate of the hearth is a tapestry, and to the left of it’s a show cupboard, and there is a desk within the centre of the room.’
And then you definately go as much as the desk and kind LOOK AT DESK, and the sport will let you know the desk has two drawers, a pen and ink set, a inexperienced lamp and a blotter. EXAMINE BLOTTER and you will find out it is inexperienced leather-based worn easy from lengthy years of use. As I stated, this may occasionally instantly appear to tedious to you, however The Crimson Diamond has a extremely good record of shortcuts, like ‘a ab’ for ASK ABOUT once you’re speaking to somebody, or utilizing SEARCH to undergo an entire chest of drawers in a single go quite than OPEN DRAWER on every drawer and LOOK IN DRAWER individually. Though you are able to do that if you would like. The parser has accounted for a great deal of inputs as properly (it accepts BIN for TRASH CAN, for instance), and enjoying round with it’s spectacular.
A lot as I’m impressed, I’ll admit that there are occasions that the parser wants a peculiarly particular output, and the verb USE is not in play right here, even when it would really feel pure to, aha, use it. You may POUR KETTLE INTO SAUCEPAN however you possibly can’t USE THE HAMMER ON THE CLIFF. There are additionally occasions when the reply is disarmingly easy. I used to be caught for a bit as a result of I stored attempting to interrupt off a small chunk of ice within the ice field, once I ought to have simply TAKEN ICE. However nonetheless! I believe the parser is nice, and notably loved the excellence between LOOK and EXAMINE. There’s even a shortcut to depart a room by the closest exit, and every character has a double letter code assigned to them for the parser.
There are eight characters in complete, not together with the participant character Nancy Maple, a Canadian novice geologist who needs to check it for actual. Nancy’s objective of getting some subject work below her belt takes her to Crimson, Ontario, the place a large diamond was discovered within the stomach of a fish. Nancy finds herself stranded at Crimson Lodge, the place the landowner Ethan (EE) and his new girlfriend Margot (MM) reside with the prepare dinner and basic helper Jack (JJ), with Native handyman Nathan (NN) whose household have ancestral claims to the land the lodge is on. However Nathan’s sister Nessa (SS) has turned up together with her lawyer Corvus (CC) to contest Ethan’s declare to the lodge (and in addition indicate that Margot is a floozy). In the meantime, Kimi (KK) is there to take a look at a colony of uncommon cormorants, and Albert (AA) is an official geologist despatched by the federal government to examine if there are any diamonds within the Crimson river.
A number of characters have an curiosity in diamonds being discovered, whereas others would like not. And when a personality who’s seemingly un-diamond-related is killed, Nancy turns into a reluctant detective. Though truthfully, not that reluctant. She appears to take to it shortly, and begins eavesdropping on night time one, when the one conceivable peril is that she and Kimi cannot get house by way of practice and are invited to remain the night time within the luxurious lodge. Nancy is a Canadian superhero whose energy is LISTEN AT DOOR WITH GLASS.
Within the early chapters of the sport you end up doing a spot of extra respectable geology, and should discover the instruments Nancy wants for a makeshift subject package – get the ice select of the frozen ice field? The right way to get Kimi away from the cliff face so you possibly can take a pattern of the rock? – and puzzles of that nature. In a while they change into extra advanced, like a puzzle the place you need to get a fingerprint pattern from everybody, utilizing strategies as different as combining scorching wax with cookie dough, or simply, you recognize, asking.
There are a couple of little turnabout bits after the homicide the place you possibly can listen in on individuals, however provided that you strategy from the appropriate path, or miss conversations solely since you elected to observe another person. Later nonetheless you may run into puzzles the place you may not have the reply as a result of, for instance, you did not discover a key and what it unlocked in earlier chapters. The puzzles are largely enjoyable and properly conceived, and The Crimson Diamond has some intricate trails to observe – generally actually – and considerate callbacks, as occasions within the lodge layer up.
The lodge itself is very well put collectively, with two flooring of rooms which might be all designed to be memorable, whether or not that be via wallpaper as patterned and gaudy as a William Morris x Liberace crossover, or via a thriller that nags at you (the desire should absolutely be within the research!). In distinction, the surface grounds really feel a bit extra of a maze, with many an outhouse to come upon, however this makes it really feel extra unsafe. The EGA type artwork works fantastically each indoors and outdoor, although. And really Nancy can fall into the river and insta-death drown within the nice custom of hydrophobic sport characters in every single place, so beware the outside certainly.
So, I am a fan, typically. However there are a few locations the place the puzzles journey you up with a easy resolution that, nonetheless, feels a bit unfair. One occasion that will hang-out me till my dying mattress concerned needing some clear adhesive. I a ab adhesive’d each character, wracked my brains, went down solely the mistaken path, and finally simply grid searched every bit of furnishings in each room, at which level I discovered a roll of plasters in a bedside drawer. No one had stated they’d plasters! The plasters weren’t evident within the pixelated rendering of the room! Howmst was I to know the place to search for plasters? I swear, the plasters took up no less than an hour of my 6-ish enjoying the sport.
I would not usually be so particular a couple of puzzle, however that second was much less a Crimson Diamond and extra a White Whale that I might hate to see anybody else chasing. In any other case I believe The Crimson Diamond is a phenomenal piece of labor, combining a love letter to the previous with a contemporary implementation, all wrapped up in a thriller that will not have big, stunning twists, however stays a web page turner all through. And there are bonus geology details, too! Contemplate PLAYING THE GAME.
This evaluate relies on a evaluate construct of the sport supplied by the developer.