Ghosts and Mysteries with Myst-like UI
The Delaware St. John series, of which this is the first chapter, has three great strengths: beautifully painted visuals, characters you come to care about--and stories that get creepier the deeper you get into the game. Fans of adventure games and gentle horror will find a lot to like here.
Beautifully painted visuals have, however, a drawback; they are difficult to animate, so games that feature them, like this one, and like Myst, represent motion through the world by cuts from one visual to another. And in addition, they provide first-person views, and try to avoid representing other characters on-screen, since that's hard to animate in this environment. Myst solves the problem by providing an unpopulated world; the Delaware St. John games instead have the eponymous protagonist explore abandoned (but haunted) places. Delaware does Myst one better, however, by having the protagonist's friend, Kelly Bradford, available by cellphone--she can do online research from her computer, and provide hints. So unlike Myst, the Delaware games have a degree of enjoyable character interaction and banter as well.
The Developer Says:
Delaware St. John is a young man with a gift for seeing the extraordinary. His adventure, this time, leads him to the decrepit remains of an abandoned building, nicknamed Midnight Manor.
Eerie voices call to Delaware for help to right the wrongs of their past. What he finds here is a mystery that has gone unsolved for almost one hundred years.
Delaware is not alone in the rotting building. A sinister force is at work to keep him from figuring out the secret of The Curse of Midnight Manor.
Languages
Este juego se puede también jugar en español.
Reviews
"From the excellent graphics and musical score to the intriguing storyline, it is well worth playing this game."
- GameBoomers.com
"One thing I’ve gotta give this game-- it scared the heck out of me... Rated A."
- Just Adventure
"If you're an adventure game fan, or even a fan of murder/ghost mysteries, you need this game... Rated 9/10."
- Cosmos Gaming
"It might provide a fright or two, and the heart might beat a little faster in the chase scenes as the beast gets closer."
- Quandary
"The Delaware St. John series is an ambitious venture that is reminiscent of past adventure game series such as Gabriel Knight and Shivers."
- Dark Realms Magazine
"The game can easily be recommended to anyone who enjoys adventure games. If you especially enjoy games with a scary theme, you will be in for a real treat... Rated 91/100."
- Adventure Lantern
Our Review
Paranormal Dilettante or Avenger?
Submitted by DrJ on Sat, 2006-08-12 02:28. The Word
If the Delaware St. John games were a book series, they would fit quite nicely on the YA fiction list. This isn't intended to denigrate the games or the stories, just to suggest that this is the sense one gets when one first boots the game and hears Kelly Bradford’s cheery voice. In fact, considering that some of the hottest selling fantasy books are to be found on the YA shelves (does Harry Potter or The Golden Compass ring a bell?), this may not be a bad thing. The young 20-something protagonists of the Delaware St. John stories will appeal to teenagers and up.
Voice of the Masses
Delaware St. John Volume 1No posts