LOGBOOK: Beneath the Storm

Came into this expecting something akin to Obra Dinn or any Lovecraftian/Nautical mystery, but ended up feeling tired towards the end. Ignoring the AI usage, the gameplay is very tedious. At first it's interesting with the starting 2-3 chapters, but over time the word puzzles get bogged down by so many additional verbs, nouns, and names that it becomes noise. At times the rush of names becomes frustrating because it breaks the immersion and feels like it's putting out so many words just to fill up the screen. Not to mention the game-mechanic of click-dragging each and every word into place gets tiring. At a certain point my brain just started to give up and I began dragging a lot of words into place to force the solution, though kept trying in earnest. The only thing that breaks it up is the odd puzzle here or there which are neatly done but it can only do so much to make up for the core mechanic. The story is also interesting with the initial mystery and the different perspectives, but it loses its ability to really keep that attention as it goes on. So many characters just come into screen, more and more each chapter, and a lot of them have very little in actual importance that they come off as just additional names for the word gallery. The final 2 chapters is especially guilty, when it feels like there's very few clues to highlight who is who. It suffers from information-overload, just throwing so much in a way that it doesn't blend seamlessly into a decent mystery game. I think the story could've been simplified into a murder/occult mystery on a single ship, since the first 2-3 chapters are the strongest in capturing that mood. It's when it involves the admiralty, the pirate council and the daughters does it lose interest. A simpler story can go a long way. As for the art, it's very generic and at times hard to enjoy. Everything is presented in these flat images that feel very still, and even when there's action it's lackluster. Everyone is posed like they're intentionally taking a picture, and for how the AI is apparently used for consistency it fails at times (which for an investigative game is a major flaw) - especially with Caldwell at the end who looks unlike any of his previous appearances. Also the music is poorly matched for this kind of game/period, and is way too short and repetitive for chapters that demand a long period of reading and detail examination. If there's to be another game I think the writing needs to see some improvement; the amount of words and extra information should be scaled down; and the mechanics re-done so that the act of putting the words in place isn't so tedious and painful to one's wrist. There's potential, but a lot of work needs to be done to make this type of game really work. I can't really recommend this game. It was enjoyable at first, but completing it felt unsatisfactory.

This game is The Case of the Golden Idol - The exact story, the characters, the pacing, the plot, put through an AI slop filter. Not recommended at all.

I played the first three chapters and started the fourth before I decided to stop and seek a refund. Going into the game, I was aware of the AI-generated images as disclosed by the developer. While I have mixed feelings about that, we very soon see one of the biggest problems with this approach: the inconsistency in character models/appearance. One of the very most important rules for an Obra Dinn or Golden Idol-style game is that the characters remain distinguishable between scenes, unless their appearance changed dramatically for story reasons. LOGBOOK breaks that rule repeatedly. For example, we see a character in the first chapter with hair that extends a little past the ears, a mustache, and a beard. In the next chapter, he has the same hair and mustache, but only stubble across his chin. Next chapter, he's back to the full beard and mustache, but his hair is a few inches longer, almost shoulder-length. You just can't have that kind of unjustified inconsistency in a game like this. Also, I think the still scenes just don't feel very good in a game like this. I can imagine a very similar game with gorgeously animated pixel art that brings each scene to life, but this game feels cheap and outdated. I tried to keep an open mind and not let the art affect my assessment of the writing, story, or gameplay. Unfortunately, those aspects are substandard, too. The writing is uninspired: characters barely have any distinguishing speaking styles or quirks, and the whole thing reeks of AI-generated text. Again, that isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me if it's implemented well, but this has all the hallmarks of poor AI writing, such as nonsensical metaphors and similes, and the overuse of em-dashes. The scenes you investigate and keywords you gather are almost entirely driven by reading letters and diaries characters are holding onto. While this is a common occurrence in Golden Idol and similar games, there's still plenty of environmental clues to rely on to keep things interesting. The story early on is too similar to Golden Idol, yet lacks Idol's sense of intrigue because they immediately show you the idol in chapter 1, and that it can perform magic in chapter 2. This lack of mystery permeates every scene, as every character tells you exactly what's going on without obfuscation. For example, in chapter 2 the captain uses the idol and shouts something like "It works! But wait, that wasn't what I meant to do!" The Golden Idol games would have left it to the player to put in more work deducing that things didn't exactly go as planned. I can't recommend this game, certainly not at the base $14 price point. There's plenty of better Idol-clones out there to sink your teeth into that put more work into getting the little things right.

Instead of being a love letter to the styles of Obra Dinn and Golden Idol games, it feels too generic. Plot feels like it was put through an AI model and as a result lacks any charm or nuance that makes it worth playing. The devs even admit to using GenAI in some capacity, and it feels like they used it in every capacity. You're better off starting a new save on one of the Golden Idol games.

This game has no soul, that's the biggest problem. AI assets and some writing feel WAAAY out of place. But props to dev to finishing the game and publishing it. Even though it's ai slop.

I can recommend it but... with a lot of qualification. THe game is... fun. But it's very AI generated in the graphics. The mechanic is solid but the mechanic wasn't created here. There are a few interactive puzzles but most of it is VERY Golden Idol. In fact a few narrative screens feel directly inspired by matching screens. The story is... fine. Not to have too many spoilers but... it does not end in a way that feels... uplifting. I spent 4 hours on it and I paid $18.45 AUD for it. I don't feel I was cheated and if you wanted this kind of gameplay it's.. fine? But I don't feel good about finishing it, More... sad.

Lovecraft and Case of the Golden Idol had a baby. Loving the atmosphere and story. If you have played the Golden Idol series, you will pick this up real quick.