My first inclination is to determine who everyone seems to be, from the inmates lined up outdoors to the jail guards inspecting the now-empty cells. Some first names are uttered in dialogue or scribbled on the aspect of the cell block in graffiti. Surnames might be present in formal letters and worker logs. Now it is a matter of placing names to faces, repeating conversations I’ve already had or trying via my notes to see who’s speaking to or about who, perusing an obscured be aware within the boss’s workplace, and rummaging via all the inmate’s belongings. As soon as I do know who everyone seems to be and during which cell every prisoner resides, I simply have to determine how one in every of them masterminded a daring escape.
Very like its predecessor, The Rise of the Golden Idol presents you with what is basically a diorama of a second in time–typically taken on the exact second, or within the instant aftermath, of a criminal offense. It is as much as you to infer what precisely occurred by pointing and clicking via all the obtainable proof to determine out–among different things–who was concerned, which objects are incriminating, and what the precise sequence of occasions was. Whereas 2022’s The Case of the Golden Idol revolved round a slew of murders associated to the eponymous Idol, the kill rely on this sequel is decidedly decrease. There are nonetheless various lifeless our bodies amongst its 20 circumstances, however you are additionally tasked with unraveling the occasions behind jail escapes, experimental lab assessments, and the backstage chaos of a expertise present gone awry.
Rise of the Golden Idol picks up 200 years after the occasions of the primary recreation, because the grisly historical past of the Golden Idol follows the artifact from the 18th century to the semi-modern setting of the Nineteen Seventies. As soon as once more, you are forged as an observer of those unusual circumstances; an omnipresent power given license to freely discover every tableau at your individual tempo, burrowing into folks’s pockets, opening any door, and utilizing logic to piece collectively the lurid occasions of its interconnected story.
Equally to the primary game–and contemporaries reminiscent of The Return of the Obra Dinn and Shadows of Doubt–The Rise of the Golden Idol would not maintain your hand. It rapidly teaches you to suppose for your self as you embark on fixing its many mysteries throughout 5 distinct chapters. There is a built-in trace system, however it’s not designed to easily inform you the answer. As an alternative, it is a device to push you in the precise route, letting you resolve if you would like it to ask you a number one query, present additional steerage, or provide you with a direct trace. Outdoors of this, you are by yourself. There’s a component of trial and error concerned at occasions, and it is potential to brute power your technique to some options, however for probably the most half, solely deductive reasoning will result in the precise solutions.
There’s nonetheless nothing else fairly like The Case of the Golden Idol’s distinctive model of crime-solving, but that does not imply The Rise of the Golden Idol rests on the laurels established by its predecessor, both. The interface has been reworked to make the puzzle-solving far more streamlined. Key phrases–like names, objects, places, and verbs–are now robotically added to your veritable phrasebook, saving you from having to click on on every one individually. The one draw back is that, with so many recurring characters, it feels redundant having to re-discover everybody’s names once more once they seem in new circumstances, even when the method is less complicated.
One other UI enchancment means you now not must consistently swap between exploring a scene and utilizing the previous “pondering” mode, in which you’d transition to a distinct display screen to pull and drop phrases into clean areas with the intention to clear up every crime. You continue to want to finish these fill-in-the-blank statements–“clean and clean found the physique of clean,” for example–and verify different info, reminiscent of who received what merchandise at an public sale or which noise agitated which unique hen. However now these statements seem as moveable pop-out home windows, letting you observe the scene and surmise the whole lot that occurred concurrently. It is a way more intuitive technique to piece the whole lot collectively and makes the method of cross-referencing particulars so much simpler. There’s even a quality-of-life toggle to reduce each window when the display screen will get too cluttered.
The Rise of the Golden Idol’s drastic shift in setting makes for a notable distinction within the kinds of crimes you will be investigating, too. To not point out a number of the strategies used to unravel them. In a single case, you’ll want to match fingerprints to the folks they belong to after which use this info to find out which characters touched a particular piece of kit. In a while, a distinct case sees you investigating a lifeless physique in a zoo, whereas one other entails medication on the set of a beachside photograph shoot.
The types of characters you will meet are additionally differentiated. Whereas the primary recreation handled aristocrats, a clandestine cult, and different period-appropriate figures, Rise of the Golden Idol options company profiteers, center managers, and an altogether totally different form of cult promoting itself on attaining enlightenment. I will not spoil the story with too many particulars, however one of many key themes focuses on the folly of human hubris–something that is all too relatable immediately. All of this goes a great distance towards making every vignette really feel contemporary and in contrast to something discovered within the earlier recreation.
There are a number of circumstances that simply did not click on with me, nevertheless, primarily as a result of absence of murder–or any type of prison wrongdoing, actually. These situations often present a tidbit of narrative to maintain issues transferring however are in any other case unremarkable as a result of the stakes are so low. The “Aha!” second that happens if you crack a case is not almost as satisfying if you’ve merely found out the trail a block of ice took rolling down a hill versus determining who killed one other human being. I admire the added levity these circumstances sometimes present, however they might really feel like filler if not for the pertinent info every one tends so as to add to the general story.
Happily, the underwhelming circumstances are firmly within the minority. The menagerie of partaking situations rapidly grows extra advanced as further characters are introduced–usually with nebulous motives–and unrelated clues are combined in to throw you off the scent. By advantage of being a sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol was by no means going to really feel as stunning as its predecessor, however it builds on these foundations with much more intricate puzzles, forcing you to suppose outdoors the field. Whether or not you are utilizing photographs and colours to decipher a coded message or rewatching a video time and again to determine the key which means hidden inside a dancer’s actions, no two circumstances are the identical.
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The environments themselves additionally comprise essential particulars that are not essentially marked as clues, but are crucial to seek out if you wish to piece your entire jigsaw collectively. For example, a band-aid on somebody’s finger may reveal who took {a photograph}, whereas the colour of a mannequin’s lipstick might level to their id. Every case might initially appear disparate, too, however just like the pink threads on a detective’s corkboard, connections finally start to disclose themselves as you uncover the overarching narrative unifying all of them.
This brings us to a different new function that crops up on the finish of every chapter. Right here, you are tasked with finishing a brand new assertion that summarizes the whole lot that occurred within the underlying story throughout the latest batch of circumstances. With such a tangled net of mysteries, it will be straightforward to really feel misplaced or overlook essential particulars with out this–as was the case within the first recreation. However this prevents that from occurring by tasking you with absolutely analyzing the whole lot that simply occurred, making the story far more cohesive and straightforward to comply with.
A number of underwhelming circumstances do little to dampen The Rise of the Golden Idol’s unmistakable high quality. It is a worthy successor to one in every of 2022’s greatest video games, placing a contemporary spin on its singular idea with one other assortment of difficult and creative puzzles. With a compelling story tying all of it collectively and good adjustments to its interface, Rise of the Golden Idol is the whole lot you can ask for from a sequel; it is a superb continuation of a singular concept, and there is already extra on the best way. Armchair sleuths are consuming effectively.