The Seance of Blake Manor

2025-01-02
At the end of the day my favorite part of The Séance of Blake Manor was as a medium to transmit Irish culture and history. Bah off with ye about some abducted lady--tell me more about the Tuatha Dé Danann and how even those ancient myths were corrupted by the influence of invading Christianity. Time and time again I'd look forward to hearing another lovely Irish accent from the cast or read some book in the library about what pricks the British were instead of sniffing out yet another pair of shoes to see if so-and-so wears a size Medium. Ultimately I think it's the vibes cooked up by the passionate Irish team that is Blake Manor's crowning achievement.

That's not to say the detective gameplay isn't good, it just never ascends to exceptional. I think the core problem is what initially presents itself as a complex web of facts and clues, turning into a long game of deduction to Uncover The Truth, is in reality just a game of clicking on every object in the world until you've amassed enough facts that the game tells you who did it. Initially the central caveat of every action taking "1 minute" of time to complete meant I thought I'd have to be conservative. But in reality it just means you can do everything--you just have to make sure you do it immediately.

And that brings me to my biggest complaint: the pacing seems almost entirely tied to the keys you've found. The manor you start in is all locked doors. And behind each door is the alluring prize of new clues with which you can progress all the little personal side quests for each character as well as your broader investigation that underpins it all. But some of these keys are just completely gated--and heavily sign-posted as such--behind certain times. Ah yes the basement opens up Friday and the residence Saturday. There's no reward to figuring out little mysteries on your own. You'll always just be given what you need when you need it. Not only this but even if you're clever enough to puzzle out certain mysteries the game will stop you and say "Nuh uh uh" and make you wait because the last evidence piece of 16 for this character is in a drawer behind a door that only opens on day 3. Ass.

It's all this hand-holding that honestly made the game feel like a visual novel more than anything. And on that front we're back in vibes territory and because of that I think it's a good time. The web of relationships between the various characters--who's boning who or who wants to kill who--and digging up their motivations and back stories delighted me continuously. Especially when they intersected with each other and you had to figure out the right person that could help them with their little dilemma. Mr. New Orleans with his voodoo troubles needs the help of a disciple of Brigid, well who could that be? Time to rummage through some more panty drawers!

If I had went in expecting a supernatural mystery visual novel instead of something closer to Obra Dinn I think I'd be a lot happier. And once I realized what I was playing and stopped trying to min-max my mystery-solving I had a lot more fun. But part of me wishes they had married the immaculate vibes with gameplay that was just a bit more engaging and less frustrating. Well, slán go fóill, Spooky Doorway. I look foward to what y'all make next.