Crime Secrets: Crimson Lily

As a casual fan of Artifex Mundi and their well-known style, I couldn't stand this game at all. First off, a HO misspelling that completely changes a scene: "Bowl" should be "Bow." You'll know when you get there. The rest of the typos probably won't stump you at least. * The graphics are fine: They are in the typical AM style, inoffensive, and I would now suspect AI generated, but back then were just generic. Very little flash or polish, but at least things look like they fit the time period (which appears to be the 80's) and are pretty visible without being distractingly out of place. * Voice acting is pretty bad. Sometimes they even misread their lines, but mostly they suffer through bad writing and earn a paycheck. * Puzzles have some variety but no challenge. Occasionally they throw in classics, since none of their original ideas are much good, but * Story is abysmal and absurd, the plot and the writing are just cringe all around. It could easily be ripped from an early Nancy Drew book, only making sense to kids who have no idea how anything works in real life. Particularly with concussions and soaked rags being used to knock the player out; the 1940s want their tropes back. …

This was annoying. However, the game works, has a map, and I enjoyed most of the minigames. The killer's motivations were poor (not that they weren't understandable, mind, just that the killer seemed to be already willing to kill and only used their motive as an excuse), the deaths were arbitrary and weirdly elaborate, and the protagonist has all the wits and detective skills of a soft-boiled egg. Also, why the lack of urgency when you KNOW A MURDER IS CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE? Are you afraid that you will catch the murderer? Or do you just hate the victim you've barely met? What possible reason do you have to be this dumb? Whatever the answer, this protagonist is terrible at her job. There was also a LOT of backtracking (thank goodness for the map!), several paths that make no sense from an architectural standpoint, and most of the hidden object puzzles changed either the shape or color of the objects you were looking for, instead of actually hiding them. All in all, not terrible, but it was annoying.

Great AM game, however, the narrator starts to get dehydrated over time and her voice starts to creak like an unoiled door hinge. This might sound trivial, but trust me you WILL notice. Other than a few trivial translation issues this game is quite enjoyable.

[i]<Game native resolution: 1600x900>[/i] I don't think I've played a hidden object adventure game published by Artifex Mundi in a year or two... my HOAG time has been occupied with the many, many Domini/Do games I've purchased for outrageously low prices. It's nice to play a HOAG with butter smooth gameplay again, without the quirks of Do Games' formula. Beyond the usual gorgeous artwork expected from Artifex Mundi, “Crimson Lily” has the worst voice acting for a main character since Sarah Hamilton of “Mystery of Neuschwanstein.” The actress for [unnamed private investigator] creates a grating, ugly mixture of a gruff, emotionally-jaded private eye from film noir, with a modern vocal frying young woman. It's absolutely terrible. Despite all the puzzle, adventure and hidden object games I've played, “Crimson Lily” was able to present a couple of puzzle types I've never seen before. Making progress was smooth and casual. I have to shout the gameplay section with brewing a hilariously over-complicated cup of tea. With no bonus chapter to extend the story or playtime, the anti-climactic ending doesn't cause me to end my time with this game in an enthusiastic mood. I'll still…

This is a pretty good game! The voice actors do a good job, and the music and noise are solid. There are some interesting types of puzzles that break up the standard and I quite enjoyed them.

I like hidden object games and I've played many of them. This is better than most! The visual style is consistent enough and the objects mostly stay inside the theme of the story. Only in one instance, in my opinion, they use objects that don't fit the theme: the chemical lab objects. Some characters look too much like each other, they should look more distinct. It's not too hard or too easy. It's a good game.