FOOLISH MORTALS

One of the adventures that had been on our radar for a long time and that we were eagerly awaiting was Foolish Mortals by the newly formed Inklingwood Studios. After all, it could hardly be otherwise, as the game, during its successful Kickstarter campaign, promised most of the elements that make us love point 'n' click adventures so much. An attractive setting (1930s Louisiana), an intriguing hunt for lost treasure, a remote island full of secrets, and many influences from Monkey Island and Broken Sword.

Of course, this isn't something we're hearing for the first time: Foolish Mortals isn't the first or last game to cite the aforementioned classic adventures as its main influences. However, the big question is whether it has creatively assimilated these influences and presents its own noteworthy proposal. Watching the end credits of Foolish Mortals, we can say that the creative duo, David and Sophie Younger, have won the bet – and with flying colors.

As mentioned above, Foolish Mortals sets us to an island off the coast of Louisiana in the early 1930s: Devil's Rock. The central character of the story is Murphy McCallan, a young man whose (rather unremarkable) profession led him to this small island in order to locate the lost treasure of Bellemore Manor. Much has been said about both the value of the treasure and the manor itself. According to legend, Bellemore Manor was, some thirty-odd years ago, the residence of four siblings: the three males—Xavier, Cecil, and Yardley—were among the most important residents of the island, possessing wealth, knowledge, and power, while being overly protective of their younger sister, Abigail.

Everything was going perfectly for the Bellemore family until Abigail fell in love with a sailor, whom she decided to marry. At first, her siblings objected to the marriage because of the social difference, but eventually they agreed to it. However, after this decision, for some inexplicable reason, the siblings began to disappear one after the other. And the worst part was that no one could find any trace of them. As a result, Abigail was left alone, the sole heir to the Bellemore family's vast fortune. However, the disappearances of her siblings did not prevent the wedding from taking place, with one notable difference: on the night of the ceremony, both she and all the guests disappeared from the face of the earth!

Since then, many residents of Devil's Rock have reported ghost sightings in the area, leading to the abandonment not only of the manor but also of the island itself, which now bears no resemblance to its former glory. Murphy McCallan, being a "down-to-earth" man and a lover of logic, does not pay much attention to the superstitions of the residents of Devil's Rock and is determined to find the treasure, which, among other things, will solve his livelihood problem. However, earthly logic has no place in Devil's Rock, and Murphy will soon realize this. In fact, he will have to... die for it!

The plot of Foolish Mortals is quite interesting, both in the way it unfolds its virtues and in its essence. Although an experienced player may suspect where it is heading, the truth is that the plot twists are clever and very well placed, and even though they border on the supernatural (voodoo, anyone?), they are explained adequately without leaving any questions unanswered.

We would venture to say that it is one of the best-crafted stories we have seen in a game of this genre. It manages to combine mystery and old-school adventure with spooky elements and plenty of sarcastic humor (British, after all), with carefully crafted writing that is neither laconic nor verbose. And all this stands proudly on a delicate, fragile balance, which admittedly could very easily be broken – but that is not the case here.

Getting into the game now, Foolish Mortals is split into four chapters, and in each one, we've got a specific and clear goal to finish. Primarily, this goal is to collect certain items, which we must acquire in the traditional "adventure" way. That is, either by locating them in one of the many locations we will visit, or through conversations with the various characters in the adventure, or even by putting our minds to work a little harder, combining items or solving puzzles (such as the one with the "dance," where you may need paper and pencil). The variety of puzzles will leave no player disappointed, while their difficulty gradually increases as we progress towards the end of Murphy's story, without ever reaching moon logic levels. Finally, an adventure where a knife or a pair of scissors is enough to cut almost any kind of rope!

The third chapter is particularly challenging, as the game will keep us busy collecting the items it asks for, with combination puzzles that extend to many different locations on Devil's Rock, as well as the manor itself. After all, this is an island that is not lacking in points of interest and certainly cannot be described as uninteresting. Especially when it is easy to navigate around, thanks to the game's built-in map that takes us directly where we want to go, or by double-clicking to immediately move to the next screen.

It is evident that the game's creators left nothing to chance, and the controls in Foolish Mortals are exemplary. Everything is done using the left or right mouse button, there is of course a hotspot indicator (fortunately, because in some places it is easy to miss an object), and if we get stuck (which will inevitably happen), there is a detailed hint system that can be adjusted to the level of help we want. Needless to say, there are no dead ends, and red herring objects are conspicuous by their absence. Despite the fact that our inventory will be filled with objects of all kinds and sizes, everything will be useful somewhere, often more than once.

We don't think it could be any clearer that Foolish Mortals is an adventure brimming with quality. It's one of those games where the more you engage with it and get to know its characters (there are quite a few "special", we won't reveal any more, you'll discover them for yourself), the more you become attached to them, and ultimately they leave you with a bittersweet taste when you reach their cathartic finale. Bittersweet, because such a beautiful adventure comes to an end (at least 11-12 hours for a normal playthrough, without any help), along with the fact that it will probably be quite some time before we see anything else from Inklingwood Studios, considering that Foolish Mortals was in development for about four years.

This may be their first work, but it is impressive that the Youngers have managed to combine the beautiful story they offer us with exceptional handmade graphics, well-designed characters (our only objection is to Murphy's run animation), a two-hour original soundtrack reminiscent of film productions (the blues/jazz song that plays at one point in a puzzle is particularly memorable), and high-quality voice-overs.

It may sound far-fetched, but Foolish Mortal leaves you with the taste of a great adventure, like the ones we used to play in the 90s and get excited about. Just like its "mentors" did.

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