The Case of the Golden Idol Reviews
The Curse of the Golden Idol keeps you guessing right up until the end. It smartly connects its cast and cases, really immersing you in its mysteries and intricacies. Some minor UI issues aside, this is a must play for adventure game enthusiasts or anyone looking for a good, memorable journey.
While I do think there was room for some additional quality of life features here, and it sometimes gets a bit too clever for its own good, The Case of the Golden Idol took me back to my childhood, reminding me of the puzzles I once loved while putting its own spin on things that would only work in a video game. This idol might be cursed, but you should still take a chance on it.
Everything that I love about Return of the Obra Dinn is present in The Case of the Golden Idol and more. Things are never as straightforward as they seem, and the story is so absorbing that I once again spent all night delving into each case. My only wish is that the game was longer, as I eventually completed it in four hours. But when the only flaw is that you wanted more, can it really be considered a flaw?
I will commend The Case of the Golden Idol for being an excruciatingly smart game with a neat method of developing its lore and world-building, but its mystery solving gameplay loop, while engaging for those into whodunits, features some flaws worth pointing out. Solving a case is really rewarding, but getting stuck in a particular puzzle feels punishing, with the game nearly starting to treat you in a condescending way if you start using its (tiresome) hint system too often.
Color Gray Games could never release another game and they'd still be a team I'd remember years down the line. Case of the Golden Idol is an incredible first showing that may just revolutionize the mystery game genre in the way that classics like Return of the Obra Dinn did at launch. When I was done with it all, I was left with this hunger to create art, because that's what happens when I consume a piece of truly great art.
Truly a bit of an odd bird, with its own pretty minimalist style on point-and-click adventuring, but daring to tell an overarching story its own way
"Murders and mysteries in pre-industrial England."
Review in Finnish | Read full review