I’m a steadfast fan of point-and-click games. That person who will shove them down your throat and tell you to play all my favourites from the ‘90s, even if you don’t really care, all because I want them to be appreciated. Part of that is likely fueled by the feeling that point-and-click games are the underdog now. We don’t see them as often amongst the glitter and glam of more popular genres, and an🐟y that do 𓃲appear can often struggle to steal the limelight from bigger names. Yet point-and-click games persist.
In recent years we’ve seen brand new titles receive high praise, such as Lucy Dreaming and Thimbleweed Park, while golden oldies like Monkey Island and Broken Sword have made comebacks, with the latter aiming to make the genre more acceꦫssible to a new generation oꩲf players. However, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Phoenix Springs reminded me of a more classic era of point-and-click. One where yo👍ur blood, sweat, and tears went into solving puzzles because you weren&rsqu🌠o;t given the luxury of tips or walkthroughs.
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Set in a neo-noi🥂r world, Phoenix Springs follows reporter Iris Dormer as she attempts to track down her estranged younger brother Leo. One of the most striking things about Phoenix Springs is its bold and stylish visuals, featuring hand-drawn art and animations and a limited colour palette to create an unforgettable look𒁏. The next best thing is that it doesn’t do the brainwork for you.
Most games these days are intuitive enough to piece clues together for you. As the🐼 character learns something new, they immediately pair it together with existing knowledge and make that leap for you, usually saying something out loud to announce that fact. While Phoenix Springs stays true to the genre with its narration, it doesn&rsquꦰo;t do the solving for you. You need to literally pair the information together yourself.
One example of this is that you know Leo’s neighbour told you that he🌺 went to a university that had a three-letter acronym. You then find pens scavenged from your brother’s house that say ‘UCL’ on them. You immediately understand this is the clue you need. By most game standards, the protagonist should immediately understand this too, but Iris doesn’t. You have to open up your clues — unlike most classics, this is an inventory of words rather than random items — and pair the word ‘University’ with the pens on the ground for her to make the connection.
This concept of𓆉 the clues being words instead of inventory junk is a great twist on an old classic. You’ll still get just as many red herrings to toss aside, but♊ you need to find new clues by digging around and pairing your existing thoughts and clues with the environment, rather than just picking up some tat from the street and seeing if you can smash it together.
It might feel a bit tiresome to point out the obvious to Iris, like pairing the idea of a protest with a poster that reads ‘Say no to the new lab’, butไ overall I appreciated the concept. It made Phoenix Springs all the more difficult to fathom at times, and I love a puzzle that is capable of leaving me absolutely stumped. After all, you feel a greater sense of accomplishment when you complete a worthy challenge.
There doesn’t seem to be a hint or tip system in Phoenix Springs, though that might change by the time it launches, but I also don’t think it’s a bad thing to forgo this. If anything, it further emphasises the idea of Phoenix Springs ✱having that old-school level of challenge. For longtime fans of point-and-click games who remember having to grit their teeth and just spend hours figuring things out rather than call a premium number, Phoenix Springs will be a welcome throwback to a golden era.
In a day and age where it’s harder to peel people away from their shooters, RPGs, and action games and try point-and-click games for the first time (I literally had to bribe my son to try his first one),𒉰 raising the bar in terms of difficulty might mean that Phoenix Springs isn’t the best entry point for new players to the genre, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing that it’s not juggling catering for both classic fans and newcomers. Besides, there will undoubtedly be walkthroughs written online for those who get stuck, and Calligram Studios even linked to a walkthrough for the preview.
I’m not ashamed to admit I had to peek at it a couple of times to set myself on the right track purely because I couldn’t spend days stuck on missing the fact I could use the projector twice to get a new clue when I have a looming embargo.
But as much as Phoenix Springs scratches that classic point-and-click itch for me in providing a challenge, it strives to create something new as well. It’s not just th🎀e visuals and revamped clue system that sets Phoenix Springs apart from point-and-clicks from days gone. Its streamlined UI mirrors its minimalistic yet striking style for a modern feel, but much like its word inventory, it puts a new spin on a classic element of the genre. The narration.
Narration is common in point-and-click games. After all, you need something for the character to loudly announce when you’ve missed something, to tell you you’ve done something right, or more often than not, to tell you’re barking up the wrong tree trying to combine two random items. Phoenix Springs leans into the narration more than usual, providing what feels like an audio reading of a book rather than just a character narrating their movements and thoughts. You only ever hear Iris’ voice, so when other characters appear and speak, it is from her point of view. You learn what they are like based on her perception, and she tells you what they s🎐ay with ‘he says’ instead. It’s an interesting and fresh perspective that deviates from the norm.
Phoenix Springs somehow manages the impossible in that it pays homage to the past while simultaneously embracing the ꦿfuture with a sleek, modern style and 🌌reimagining of classic point-and-click tropes. This unique balance of old versus new makes for an intriguing combination that I can’t wait to see more of. More importantly, I want to see which other puzzles will have me tempted to reach for a walkthrough and which I’ll be able to muscle through myself.
Phoenix Sဣprings launches on September 16, 2024 and can be .
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