Simon the Sorcerer Origins Reviews
Simon the Sorcerer: Origins is a heartfelt and comical return for one of point-and-click adventuring’s most endearing icons. It absolutely nails the witty tone, the clever writing, and creative puzzling that helped define the series, all whilst adding enough modern polish to make it accessible for today’s players without losing what made it special in the first place. A few overly obscure puzzles and the absence of a hint system occasionally make the experience more frustrating than it needs to be, but these hiccups don’t overshadow what is otherwise a genuinely charming revival made with a clear love for the source material.
In my final thoughts, Simon The Sorcerer Origins is a title that successfully captures the magic (no pun intended) and honours the games that came before it. With a beautiful hand-drawn visual style and a 90s inspired soundtrack including songs from the legend that is Rick Astley to complement it. The world Simon inhabits is wonderful, vibrant and full of small details that bring it to life. The colourful cast of characters you meet are all well animated and have their own voices and dialogue that fit them perfectly most of the time. The user interface is clean and intuitive, showing that the developers took great care in making the title accessible on console aswell as other formats. If you’re a lover of ‘Point-‘N-Click’ games like myself or just looking for some good old fashioned, puzzley adventure goodness to soak up a few hours, then you can’t go wrong with this. Definitely recommended for fans of the genre and who loved the original!
I’m sure many Simon the Sorcerer fans will appreciate the trial and error approach to the problems, be thrilled to hear Chris Barrie bring Simon back to life, and laugh at the humour which fills the dialogue. And whilst I appreciate the passion, dedication and effort put into Simon the Sorcerer Origins to rekindle those 1990s classics, the lack of a hint system ruined my experience and highlighted the other shortcomings of the game, which in other situations would have been overlooked.
I can say without a doubt that Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a celebration of what makes video games special. From the hand-crafted art and composed music to the voice acting and the humor that accompanies us from beginning to end… everything here screams authenticity. It's a tribute to the past and proof that there's room for the genre in the future. It's essentially a title for those who grew up with graphic adventures, but the truth is it also has enough elements to stand out and attract new players. In the end, a fun, beautiful, and soulful game appeals to everyone!
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, we've given Simon The Sorcerer Origins a high rating because we really enjoyed it, but never more so than in this case is it right to put that number into context. We wanted to give it a special rating to show fans of LucasArts adventures and the like that this is a title designed for them.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Simon the Sorcerer Origins fully captures the spirit of the very first episodes of the point-and-click saga of the teenage wizard. It seems like 30 years haven't passed since Adventure Soft's adventures full of comedy and fantasy, and Smallthing Studio has skilfully picked up the baton, giving us a good adventure, full of jokes and nostalgia.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Witty, weird, and wonderfully nostalgic, Simon’s still got it.
I’ve quite happily played through and enjoyed Simon the Sorcerer: Origins, and for fans of the series, this is genuinely a pretty great return for this 90’s adventure game anti-hero. In many ways, it feels made by a group of fans that loved these classic games, and as such, is made with a fair amount of care and passion. I hope they get to make another one.
Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a delightful return to a nostalgic series. It's a loving prequel to a classic that never quite lost its magic. The beautiful 2D style, Chris Barrie's returning voice, the sharp humor, the strong writing, and the old-fashioned, challenging puzzles make this an absolute must-have. There are a few minor flaws, but you'll quickly forget them. After fifteen years, it feels like Simon never really left.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a good work to revive the genre, while still providing a fresh and classic entry at the same time. I feel it lived up to its promise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Simon the Sorcerer Origins is such a brilliant revival of the series. Letting it be a prequel, letting things exist with you knowing them and the cast pretending they don’t was an excellent move. It’s got plenty of puzzle complexity, a lot of fun achievements to discover and some amazing extras where you can see the conception of the character designs and motifs.
Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a finely crafted and gorgeous throwback to the heyday of the genre. It is witty, fun, and wholesome in a way that should delight gamers of all ages. I loved it more than I could have anticipated.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Simon the Sorcerer: Origins is an adventure game aimed primarily at fans of adventure games and the series in general, and we would not recommend it to someone new to the genre, due to the way the puzzles are implemented. It will not change Simon's status in the adventure world, but it is a fine addition to the series, which respects the material it is called upon to manage.
It's clear that fans of Adventure Soft's games were at work here, achieving with their prequel more than 30 years after the first installment what Silver Style's two German spin-offs from 2005 and 2009 failed to achieve: a worthy sequel to a legendary adventure series. A few gameplay flaws and the overall disappointing graphics, however, prevent "Simon the Sorcerer Origins" from achieving a level of quality that would warrant a recommendation beyond fans of the series or genre.
Review in German | Read full review