Players of the point and click genre, should take a closer look at the latest game from developers Elf Games and Luna2 Studio, who worked together with publisher Daedalic Entertainment to release their game on 11-01-2023. I checked out the game on PC and was already familiar with the Steam Fest demo. What you can expect and how I liked it, I would like to tell you now.
Story and plot:
In a world haunted by fear and monster stories, there is no salvation, no hope, and no happiness. You'll take on the role of Lucy, a girl who has permanent nightmares at night or is awakened by the roar of the monsters that search for victims in the village who don't obey rules. As Lucy, you can freely explore the village, Silentown, play hide-and-seek with your friends, help your mother cook and do many other "forbidden" things that are necessary. The story is very interesting and heart-touching. There are four endings in total, but you will only discover them if you currently complete the game four times. There is no choice of chapters, once you are through with the story, a New Game+ starts, but there are no differences. Here I still hope for a better solution on the part of the developers, because three of four endings can already be viewed on the first playthrough (you make the choice at the end which song you want to play, the first three songs are not missable), on the fourth ending then all notes are needed, which you can then find in the second run-through, if you have not already collected them.
Various puzzles await you
Typical for point and click games are of course various puzzles and yes, in Children of Silentown you can also use objects or combine them. However, there are not many puzzles. Especially at the beginning you will be confronted with the button and mill puzzles, which should be no problem with a little trial and error. In the button puzzle you have to sew buttons together to find your way into the broken memories of the villagers, whereupon they become a bit friendlier and also reveal some secrets. In the mill puzzle, on the other hand, you have to find a way to let the water flow into the gates. A little later, this puzzle is made more difficult by red vines that should not be hit with water. The last puzzle you'll get late in the game is the eye puzzle, where you have to bring light into the darkness, but you must not blind the eyes that are illuminated. The puzzles are well done, but get a bit repetitive and can be frustrating if you don't find the solution right away. There are no hints and skipping the puzzles is also not possible.
Graphics and Sound:
Graphically Children of Silentown is very nicely done, sure the white eyes, missing hands and feet take some getting used to, but fit the story and the atmosphere very well that they want to hit here. The hand-drawn style is very nice and detailed, I had a lot of fun looking at everything. Even more beautiful than the graphics and gameplay is the soundtrack. It really creates the right atmosphere and brings the story to life. It's a pity that you hear so little of the narrator's voice, because it captivated me from the very first second, and I would have loved to experience more passages here.
Trailer:
