We hope you’ll listen to this podcast so we don’t have to wipe your memory again.
Welcome to Mystery May! This week, we’re going to be talking about Gemini Rue, a detective point and click adventure game with a cyberpunk setting. This game came out during an era that you could call the Adventure game revival period, if you think the genre actually was revived at some point, but the important thing is that it is obvious the design was inspired by classic adventure games. There are several ways to interact with objects in the environment, an inventory system and progress is made by solving puzzles. There are a few wrinkles here, a gunfight mechanic as well as the ability to swap between two playable characters, but these don’t act to really shake up the basic functionality of the genre and the result is something that feels very retro. While the adherence to the old adventure game style is a strength if you are a fan of the genre, the real appeal here is a very competently told story that, yes, contains its fair share of mysteries. It could have done more to work the detective angle and make the player work to figure out the solutions to those mysteries, but watching it unfold is still an entertaining experience. We’re going to be talking about economic use of assets that work from both a design perspective and also fit thematically within the game world itself, voice acting taking the story telling potential of the game to another level, and we construct a food metaphor so deft it will finally get us the recognition we deserve.
Thank you for joining us this week! We’re having a truncated Mystery May this year with only two episodes, but I think the game selection ended up pretty strong nonetheless. Have you played this game before, or were you compelled by this episode to pick it up? Do you find point and click games boring and obtuse, a genre that only appeals to sleepy old men and pedants? Let us know down in the comments or over on Discord! And while you’re over there, drop us a suggestion for a game to play, which I mention because… our next game is the inspiration for Fanbruary (which we’d recommend checking out if you haven’t already), Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures! We hope you’ll join us for that.