Resonance

"Resonance seems solid and extraordinary."

 

 

Publisher: Wadjet Eye
Developer: Xiigames
Platform: PC
Genre: Adventure, Point-and-Click
Release Date: Spring 2012

 

 

Not very long ago, I stated in a review that Wadjet Eye has what it takes to make incredible point-and-click games. With titles such as the Blackwell series, Gemini Rue, Da New Guy: Day of the Jackass under their sleeves, this time; they are widening their ideas with something different. A game that unites numerous incidents into a single end, narrated with stories that seem exceedingly interesting. ‘Resonance’ is what they are calling this title.

The gameplay in Resonance will consist of two major activities - dissecting and conversation. You must perform these activities to advance the story. There will be puzzles featured in each sequence, and solving one leads on to the next – leaving no little-to-no downtown for your brain.

You control four different characters in multiple circumstances, with the basis of the story pointing towards one very specific direction. A tab on top of the screen shows the character you are controlling and in certain situations when you need to control multiple characters you can select them as essential. These characters will then interact with each other, and when both are present in a scenario their discussions can relate to almost anything visible in a particular environment. These particular discussions are needed most when you need to work your way out from a situation.

While managing a character, you’ll have access to three different types of inventory. One is the regular inventory, which is used for keeping useful materials. The other two inventories are STM and LTM. STM standing for short-term memory and this inventory allows you to drag and drop substance or sight from the surroundings; which can be used for analyzing or discussing with other characters. LTM referring to long-term memory which has similar purpose as STM, but the use hasn’t been vastly practiced throughout this version of the game. STM has limited slots for placing substances, where LTM will work automatically for any character whenever any such memory is unlocked during the play or discussion.

If you are familiar with Wadjet Eye games, a lot of the voices used in this game will sound familiar with similar voice actors making a welcomed return. Besides the main characters, there seems to be a good mix of additional characters found in each scenario. Some of these characters funny, some rude, whereas a few are annoying to deal with, and fit in well with the situations you’re presented with.

 

 

What seems a little improper is that you can approach a character and ask the same thing again and again, receiving the same reply. As these are part of a major gameplay element, a little more effort from the developers would make things feel that little more realistic. Obviously it’s not possible to build a game to a completely realistic state without having a few hitches, but when certain mechanics are a major part of your game; these little annoyances get highlighted more than they normally would.

The outlook of this game seems promising, supported by a very good voice-over, and smooth gameplay. Other than a couple of small niggling issues with the conversation everything else seems solid enough to support it. There’s no doubt that the fans of this genre will want to play this game – coming to a PC near you soon.

 

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed