Still Life

I played this about 15 years ago and remembered it fondly. It's still good, but not great. The good: Interesting story. Great atmosphere and locations. Interesting dialog and a diary that gives background. The bad: Most locations have 1-2 interactable items and that's it. Compared to Lucas Arts games where you can click on about 20 things in each location, that's disappointing. Some items can't be picked up until the moment when you need them. How would you know that you can suddenly pick them up? The story has some plot holes towards the end. -> The story is continued in Still Life 2 and 3. Unfortunately those are reviewed as being not exactly fun. If you can get it for 2-3 € at a sale and if you want some old school adventure game, you can buy it. Otherwise, get some of the many, way better, other games such as Monkey Island, Black Mirror, Sam&Max etc.

Like that.

i remember back in the day this was "one" of the point and click adventure title of its time. but i never gotten around to it, so i thought i would try it now. Aaand it turns out past me had better instincts because this game is just awful. plot is stupid, puzzles are stupid and are either too easy or too tedious, and you don't even properly solve the killer's identity by the end. even for free its not worth your time.

Great atmosphere, very absorbing, but an incredibly frustrating and counter-intuitive menu and inventory system that was already driving me nuts after only a short period. I played this coming off the back of The Curse Of Monkey Island, and so that game's great mechanics really highlighted how faffy this one's is. The conversation system is lame too, with no real dialogue choices. Not for me.

Good atmosphere of foggy 1920s Prague and 2004 wintery Chicago - great settings for noir mystery. Great art direction, both of the game itself and in-game macabre art. A couple of puzzles are pure pain though (cookies and lockpick) - so don't be ashamed to look up solutions for those. And the game ends on a cliffhanger, but considering the price it goes on sale, definitely check it out if you're into point and click games.

Still Life is a 2-D point & click adventure game that, while flawed, offers an experience that dedicated fans of the genre might still appreciate. Unlike the open-ended narratives of Sierra or LucasArts titles, Still Life presents a very linear story. The game gives the illusion of choice by allowing players to travel to various locations on a map, but ultimately, you’re funneled through a rigid sequence to progress the narrative. The graphics are outdated, and getting the game to run on modern systems like Windows 11 requires a 3rd party tool, which can be a hassle. The puzzles, while challenging, often feel more like roadblocks than engaging gameplay elements. These mindbenders are frustratingly difficult and do little more than delay your progress. I believe the game would have benefited from either omitting these puzzles entirely or providing an option to skip them. Adding to the frustration is a cliffhanger ending that leaves the player unsatisfied. While there is a sequel, I haven’t played it yet to see if it resolves any of these loose ends. Despite these criticisms, I still recommend Still Life to fans of point & click adventure games. The atmosphere and narrative, though linear, have enough intrigue to keep genre enthusiasts engaged—just be prepared for some rough edges along the way.

I had a very hard time playing this game, the story was fine, but I had a game breaking bug show up often while I played. The characters would not move from one scene to the next, its like they would get stuck or hit a wall. While I was able to find a work around, it was still very annoying to deal with.