Samuel Sage: The Mystery at Penby Inn

Samuel Sage is a mystery story that starts, and then ends in the blink of an eye, with little to no fanfare. It follows the titular Samuel Sage. After his Uncle Ed dies, Samuel inherits his hotel, the (again) titular Penby Inn. Samuel arrives at the hotel to get up to speed on how it's being run, and also finalizes the ownership transfer with Ed's lawyer, James Wang, who is staying at the hotel for a few days. But, the next day, James is found dead in his room, and the receptionist Gemma is arrested for his murder, so Samuel investigates to find out what really happened. Samuel Sage (the story) really only has the bare minimum necessary to be considered a mystery. There's a death, there's some investigating, and there's a final "parlor room" scene where Samuel reveals the true culprit, but that's it. There's no red herrings, no misdirection, no last gasp from the culprit to try to pin the crime on someone else, just a bare-bones "mystery" that comes and goes in (for me) barely an hour. (And that's not to mention to extremely unnatural-sounding dialogue—the whole time I was thinking, "No one talks like this!") Speaking of bare-bones, the presentation of Samuel Sage is also …

Hmm... It's not that this game is overly bad... I just think it can benefit from improvements. Many of them that is. For one, the text is super slow to appear. I am a VN reader and if the text speed can't be increased... I start to fall asleep. Thankfully there is a workaround: Enter + Tab and the text insta appears. You will still have to snooze through "A few minutes later..." Which became an irritant. The characters, while well uh... Designed/animated/created... All stare blankly at nothing. I had to stop looking at them entirely. The game is linear and if you missed something... They will make sure to repeat it for you 3+ more times. That isn't the problem. The problem is that the evidence is useless. As in... You don't need to freaking read or examine it in your inventory... All because the MC will just freaking lay it out anyway... Sure you need it for the *reveal* at the end... But otherwise... MC's motives... Uh... At first he doesn't give a sheet, whines about it and then suddenly he ends up resolving a mystery. Thanks [spoiler]dead[/spoiler] uncle and a hot woman. It's just strange. While the story was okay and a quick read, there are glaring i…

Samuel Sage: The Mystery at Penby Inn begins with a classic hook: a young man unexpectedly inherits a luxury countryside hotel from an uncle he barely knew. What should have been a pleasant windfall quickly unravels into suspicion as small incidents—strange noises, unexplained accidents, unsettling rumors from the staff—suggest that something is deeply wrong within the inn’s ornate walls. From the outset, the game establishes an atmospheric tension that blends cozy mystery with a hint of the supernatural. You are thrust into this world as Samuel, both the bewildered new owner and the reluctant investigator who must navigate a web of secrets hidden beneath the hotel’s polished exterior. The gameplay unfolds as a visual novel-style mystery, focusing on reading, dialogue choices, light exploration, and the gathering of clues. As Samuel, you speak with employees, interact with guests, examine CCTV logs, uncover physical evidence, and assemble a timeline of events surrounding a sudden death that occurs shortly after your arrival. The inn itself acts as the central stage—its dim hallways, locked rooms, neglected corners, and lavish guest suites all serve as small mysteries waiting to be…

Una aventura de misterio entretenida y bien hecha. El problema es que es extremadamente corta (1.5 horas), muy lineal, sin decisiones ninguna. Si lo pillas en un bundle barato como en Fanatical, vale la pena.

Its a decent game especially if you remember the initial CD-ROM era and still like point and click adventures / detective games from their heyday. The only problem is that it's a hotspot hunter only, you never have to deduce anything like newer games force you to do which make the more satisfying and still would have been possible under the engine's capabilities if the game design was better. Maybe a lesson learned for the devs now that they have the "engine" done for the next game. One thing to be aware of is that the game only about 2 hrs long and needs to be priced accordingly. This could be a good thing for busy people / "forced adulting" gamers

Very enjoyable detective story. Has a subtle supernatural element to the plot. Game play is linear but nevertheless enjoyable. Recommended.