Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse

for how unserious this game is i cant lie i have cried twice to this. its so good easily my fav in the trilogy 10/10 and noir sam is in this so like extra points cuz he's cool

Season 3 is perhaps objectively speaking the best Sam & Max season, although my favourite remains the first. These 5 episodes go a little more over the top in terms of setting and narrative structure, while still retaining all of the classic things that made the series great to begin with. For one, not everything is anchored to the main street anymore - save for Episode 1. This certainly allowed for the adding of extra dynamics, and Episode 2 especially happens almost entirely in new locations, but to a degree I did miss simply going inside the office. The narrative also feels more of a complete unit rather than a bunch of quite distinct stories thrown together - which, to be fair, Season 2 had already started to do towards the end. Max's toys of power are definitely fun to use, and bring some complexity to the puzzles, but without making stuff feel dumb or difficult. Actually, I found this to be the easiest Sam & Max game, despite the added layers. I loved all the returning characters, the references, and some of the new characters as well - although I didn't really find General Skunkape interesting or funny. With its bittersweet ending and no new games planned, I am slightly scare that this will have been the last we'll see of Sam & Max for quite a while. I hope to be wrong, though.