Be careful, different video video games, as a result of there’s a brand new GOTY contender on the town. A minimum of for my private style, that’s. The Case of the Golden Idol was my favourite sport of 2022 — it’s a brief, haunting, supernatural thriller sport made up of particular person chapters that every felt tremendous satisfying to unravel. Its sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol, is outwardly popping out on Nov. 12. It’s coming to a bunch of platforms, together with on cell through Netflix; the announcement trailer additionally lists PC (through Steam), PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Change.
You’ve got a month to atone for the unique sport, which is loads of time, provided that it isn’t lengthy (6-8 hours, relying on how briskly you might be at fixing the mysteries). It’s, nevertheless, a sport you’ll take into consideration endlessly afterward and need you may scrub out of your reminiscence and play once more as a result of it’s so creepy and funky.
Right here’s the way it works: Every chapter of the sport depicts a unique crime in progress, as rendered within the unusual and unsettling artwork fashion of this sport. You don’t ever get to see all the crime play out; you simply see the occasions instantly beforehand, throughout, or after, depicted in a quick repeating cutscene that’s in regards to the size of a typical animated gif. In that transient animation, you may have all of the clues it’s essential to perceive what occurred, and you’ve got a pocket book with a collection of phrases you’ll be able to choose to spell out what you assume that was. The mysteries begin out easy sufficient, however then they carry on getting stranger, every one stacking upon the following to construct out a connective narrative throughline.
Watching this trailer for The Rise of the Golden Idol has me very excited as a result of, on the finish of the primary sport, I had no concept the place the story may probably go subsequent. It appeared like each free finish had been defined and settled. This subsequent sport appears to be like comparable, however the idol — this time, a stone monkey statue — appears to be like very completely different, as do the characters and occasions at hand. So I’m guessing this will probably be a collection of interlocking mysteries in the same fashion, telling a unique story a few completely different mystical object.
For those who like mysteries with a supernatural bent, otherwise you like word-based puzzle video games like Obra Dinn or Baba Is You, circle again and play Case of the Golden Idol and mark your calendar for its sequel when it drops subsequent month. There’s already a demo out now for The Rise of the Golden Idol that features a prologue and the primary thriller chapter, too.
