The Séance of Blake Manor

Very enjoyable

I personally have never played any game like this and will definitely be seeking others like it in the future, currently trying zero parades for dead spies and the golden idle game. If you enjoy deep engaging mysteries that keep you guessing till the very end this is for sure something you don't want to skip out on. It has a deeply developed and unique cast of about 25 characters if you include the player character as well. As you flesh out each of their mysteries and reasons for attending the seance you begin to slowly piece together the story like a dark and much more extensive game of clue. The ending was great, if you think it looks interesting go for it you wont regret it.

A very substantial and fun mystery game. I loved the characters and thought the comic book-feel was super cool. I will admit that the time mechanic did stress me out a lot at the beginning, but there is ample time to solve every mystery and plenty of clues scattered about to keep each thread going. The game does a great job overall at weaving Irish folklore, Irish history, and the supernatural into the story as well [spoiler](though I would recommend paying close attention to the mythological elements presented for the ending to make sense)[/spoiler].

Disappointed. The atmosphere is fantastic. The manor, the gardens, the dark tone, and the mystery surrounding the disappearances create a very compelling setting from the start. The problem is that the gameplay consists almost entirely of talking to characters and gathering clues to form hypotheses. Since every action consumes limited time and much of the information feels like filler, the investigation often ends up feeling random: you rarely know what will matter and what won't until you've already spent your time on it. There are also very few actual puzzles. Aside from a handful of simple ones, most of the game revolves around conversations. This is especially disappointing because the environments are large, detailed, and visually interesting, yet they are barely used for gameplay. Instead of environmental puzzles or meaningful interactions, exploration usually amounts to clicking on furniture, books, clothes, and other objects that consume time but rarely lead anywhere. The manor itself feels like a missed opportunity. The clue-tracking and document systems are good ideas, but I encountered several issues, including important clues and documents not always being recorded properly. Overall, a decent game with an excellent atmosphere and a promising premise, but a frustrating investigation system, very few puzzles, and an execution that never quite lives up to its potential.

I seriously really liked this game. It is definitely an extremely good refurbish of Gabriel Knight 3. I am just frustrated with the game as I ended up dropping it due to its time mechanic. I really wish every action was not timed and the game would have an internal night/day cycle based on progression instead. Despite having a timetable, timed events were too stressful for me on top of finding the clues. I think the game even gives you a head's up about managing your time, and if time management was too difficult of a mechanic to handle, I think it would be better off not being implemented all together. If you don't mind managing time and want to play something similar to GK3, I would highly recommend this game.

while not on par with the best in the genre, i very much recommend this game for anyone who loves solving puzzles and mysteries.

The Seance of Blake Manor takes us back to the late 1800s, to a remote manor in the Irish countryside. There, in a few days, a seance will be held in hopes for the attendees to chance speak directly to a spirit. After the disappearance of one of the guests, an anonymous sender mails us a letter and money, asking us to come investigate. A wide cast of characters, history, secrets, and, of course, a spooky atmosphere awaits us. As a lover of point-and-click detective narrative games, I became obsessed. I cozied up on my couch, pulled the curtains closed, and ran around the manor grounds for hours searching for clues, admiring decor, laughing at small jump scares, breaking into rooms, uncovering the cast's personal stories (enjoying how the voice actors brought them to life, when voice over was available), learning about Irish mythology, and discovering the bounds of magic. It's reminiscent of the old Nancy Drew games to me, although much less puzzle heavy. Now, the game does have puzzles, but they've a narrow focus of learning to create sigils or putting 2 and 2 together about which codes go with which lockboxes. Typically, you are talking to guests, rooting through their personal belongings, confronting them, cross-examining things they say with others, and so forth. When you've fully unlocked their history and reasons for attending, you're able to determine whether they fit the box of our culprit or not. This is all timed; 1 minute usually = 1 action or 1 dialogue topic choice. I see a lot of other reviews say they zoomed through the game so fast they had hours and hours of idle time to waste by the final day. I will admit, I did not. I had to tie up most of the guests' stories within the last 2 hours of the final day, ending with 30 minutes to spare before the dinner that takes place right before the seance. Reflecting back on that, I definitely overlooked some obvious clues and topic points that would have progressed things more smoothly for me, but I usually don't stress on these sorts of games and tend to meander, so I typically play in a non-efficient way. Like many modern games, you also get a "use this button to highlight all clickable things in the area," if you like that sort of thing. I purposely ignore it so the game feels more natural to play. Still, was able to get a perfect game after all that; I would say it's not a hard game by any means for players used this genre. If you want an atmosphere that really tries to put you in the characters' shoes in another time and place, and you enjoy reading about their personal problems and situations, I think you will really appreciate the characters. I personally did. As far as what players may not enjoy or what could use improvement . . . The story is very on the rails, as others say. Doesn't bother me, but you need to know in case you don't like "story games." Deducing the characters' intentions is hand-holdy. It's a fill-in-the-blank sentence that even if you didn't pay attention, you could guess because of grammar. There are instances where you will already know what's going on, but you are missing one random clue or document before the game will let you solve their intentions. It is very hard to fail in the game -- perhaps it would have been nice if at times when you are snooping, if things had more ways of going wrong? Or perhaps if there were ways to incorrectly deduce things that led to consequences? It did feel strange too to go through a person's things and face no consequences over it. I really did not have to be careful about what I say at all or to whom. If you like this game, here are some others you may enjoy: Detective Instinct, Farewell my Beloved Best Served Cold Overboard! Centennial Case: A Shijima Story Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker Contradiction: Spot the Liar!