I first came across The Last Door when I was having a nostalgia day and looking for old flash games I played when I was younger, this led me to the Deeper Sleep series, and you can check out my reviews of those games here, here and here. Anyway, after I played those games I was just in the mood for more suspenseful point and click games with a horror feel and after searching around the web a little I came across The Last Door and was hooked.
Now a little about the game before I get onto the actual review, the first episode of season 1 was released on the 15th March 2013, with the subsequent three episodes being released on the 25th June 2013, 19th October 2013 and 18th February 2014. The Last Door was developed and published by The Game Kitchen and is available on Android, Web browser, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Linux, Macintosh operating systems and Windows Phone. You can find out a little more by checking out this interview I did with game programmer Mauricio García.
Anyway, The Last Door is set in Victorian England where we play Jeremiah Devitt who receives a letter from an old school friend Anthony Beechworth that appears to have a hidden message, this worries him enough to make him travel to Beechworths Mansion which is abandoned. Unfortunately, going there is only the start of his troubles because he uncovers things long since buried and perhaps discovers what’s behind the veil.
Okay so first off, despite being released in 2013 the animation style/graphics are fairly simplistic, low resolution pixels but the game uses this to it’s advantage, instead of the clear and present you are provided suspense through the unseen and unclear, it leaves just enough that your imagination does the work and fills in the blanks.
Inexorably linked to the visuals are the sounds, which are beautiful, and were expertly composed by Carlos Viola so that they perfectly support the story and manage to be haunting, memorable and engaging all at the same time. It really sets the whole Gothic/horror feel of the story and reinforces things without being too heavy handed.
The story is also rich, driven by the dark and complex inspirations of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, but while you can feel the bones of these macabre masters this story has its own heart and soul and we feel that running through each episode of season 1. It’s truly enchanting, with secrets and Easter eggs, but always throughout their is this building dread, hidden just beneath the veil, just behind the door.
All in all it utilises the point and click adventure medium well, you traverse the various locations, inspecting things, collecting items and solving the various puzzles which present enough difficulty to be challenging, but not anything you’d be stuck for days. It’s fairly intuitive as things go, and you really feel a sense of accomplishment as you progress, finding keys to locked doors and later travelling the map in an effort to uncover what’s going on.
So overall this game won’t challenge you exceptionally with it’s puzzles but it has the power to cast a spell on you with it’s story and mood, to the point that even three or four years on from my first time playing it I remember it fondly. I strongly suggest that you grab yourself a copy, which you can do on Steam for £6.99/$8.83.
First Published on: https://offtherecordblog.org/
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