PwerlvlAmy

User Score
9.0

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.0
Value - 9.0

One last time.

Enigmatis 3: The Shadow Of Karkhala is the third and final entry into the engaging point and click adventure series by Artfiex Mundi. Everything that you have done from the previous entries has all lead up to this moment in time and everything, including the fate of the world, relies on you as the detective one final time. Will you save the world?

Story:

The story of Shadow Of Karkhala continues after the events of the second game. You,as the detective are in search of the whereabouts of the evil priest from the last game. The priest has escaped and is planning something extremely sinister and you just know it! but what is it?. You partner up with your old buddy,Rick, from the previous game and set off to Karkhala in order to find the demonic priest and stop his plans, but you know things never go quite as planned.

Game play:

Enigmatis 3 follows in the same foot steps of the first two games. At it's core it once again retains its search and discovery aspect, while also doubling as a mystery detective game. But what sets this entry aside from the previous two is that the game play is actually expanded on more than it was during the previous games COMBINED. Sounds crazy right? well that is what I said too when I first started playing this game, because the entire game, while staying true to its core, was completely restructured and new game play mechanics were introduced for this game. As uncle Jess would say, ''Have mercy!''

Everything that the developers brought you in the previous games is still here but amped up x5. The animations are more crisp and there's more game play variety than ever before. If you've read my previous reviews for this series, which let's be real here, you better have, otherwise I wrote everything above this review for nothing! Don't do this to me! ahem.. excuse me.  I will explain this in more detail because it's quite a bit to go over than what I was used to when I first started interacting with this iteration. 

The previous games only allowed you to move your cursor around the screen and interact with items one by one and there wasn't anything more to it than that, it was basic, straight forward, but fun. However this game feels a bit like both a puzzle game and a cinematic game at the exact same time, and the intensity level is pushed ten fold. For instance at the beginning of the game you're involved in a plane crash and you must think on your feet and look around your area,then make multiple moves in succession order to complete your survival objective. This was not present in the previous games. 

Here you're giving more ways to move about your environment and more options to use than your standard ''just click on this screen''. The drastic change in game play is also made abundantly clear by the addition of a moving reticle that is displayed on some of the in game puzzles that requires you to time your movements correctly in order to properly complete the objective it wants you to complete. You're met with this first change in the series game play within the first 10 minutes of the game, it involves a situation where you must find a crossbow with a rope, it is then your job to aim at a nearby tree and wait for the reticle to go back and forth across the area that you need to get to and then press the firing button at the appropriate time. If done correctly, you will trigger the objective completion and be able to move on with the rest of the story.

In also a series first, the game takes a cinematic role for some of the mini games as well. For example, in one of the games environment settings you must find a way to bring down a tree that's currently blocking your path. You need to pull it down so that it can make a bridge across a huge gap on the cliff. Once the tree is pulled and your bridge is made, you then have to walk over it and when you do, the camera immediately goes to a first person view where you have to balance your main character as she treads over the log. This is really cool considering this type of thing was not in the last two games, and this brings the level of immersion higher than its been previously. It's a small but extremely welcomed addition that was added. 

The puzzles in this game are also amped up more than the previous games as well. Each puzzle you find in the game, minus the collection mini games, are all brand new and require more thinking in order to solve them. Every puzzle I came across in this third game seemed more thought out and more elaborate than any previous puzzle I experienced in the other two games. This was actually by in large thanks to the combination system put into place in this entry. With the combination system, you're able to have multiple items in your inventory that can be checked and joined together to make one solid new item that is usable for certain situations. This gives a ton of depth to your puzzle solving as you're always thinking of unique combinations to use in order to get yourself out of a sticky situation. When you do find the right combination, it makes you feel like a bad ass for figuring it all out.

The story of the game is also raised a notch from the previous games as well. In this game they set you up with the feeling of more dread and more hopelessness that I didn't feel in the previous entries in this series and it really kept me intrigued. While they repeat the same tropes as the first few games, such as protecting and finding little girls, it ups the ante by providing plot twists you might not have seen coming and puts you in situation you never thought could've existed or even taken place after playing the first two games in the franchise. It's hard for me to talk about it without giving away major plot points and spoiling it, so i wont do that, Its something that needs to be experienced yourself, so maybe you too can have your ''what the hell'' moment upon playing.

Environment/Graphics:

I touched upon this a bit earlier very slightly when I mentioned the animations were more crisp this go around and yes,that is indeed the case. This time around you can tell they really went all out in the graphic and animation department, because instead of having static images with no movements at all, this time every character during an acted scene is constantly moving and everyone has an animation of their own. All environments,rooms and characters are also way more detailed than previously and everything is much more vibrant and colorful. Attention to detail was paid attention to in a big way this go around and all you can do is commend the team for their great work on this title.

Overall thoughts:

Yes I know, this review wasn't as long as the previous entries, but I didn't want to dwell too much on the same things and become redundant. However, my final thoughts with this third and final game in the series leaves me with the feeling of satisfaction. The developers really went out with a bang with this title and their love and devotion for the series shines through with this title. My only real negative I have to say is the ending of the game seems a bit rushed to is conclusion, but other than that, solid entry. 

So to end this trilogy off I just have to say with the brand new puzzles, better game play mechanics, more detailed scenes/environment and more cinematic approach, this series capped everything off on a high note and it's definitely a trilogy I would recommend to any fan of this genre to play.

Enigmatis 3: The Shadow Of Karkhala is out now on Playstation 4.

https://www.gamenchickgaming.com/blog/enigmatis-1-2-and-3-trilogy-review-ps4-switch