The Secret of Chateau de Moreau

This game offers a highly polished mystery game not unlike Professor Layton. The graphics are top notch, the puzzle well thought, and don't get me started on the different endings! All and all a must buy for puzzle and mystery fans

Even after getting every single ending, I'm still left wanting more! Here's to hope for a sequel! c:

When it comes to visual novels, we are usually familiar with the more or less "illustrated- book-with-choices" format or perhaps a "point-and-click-on-a-map" format. "The Secret of Chateau de Moreau" builds on what has been done before and goes further to create not only a story that you "listen to", but an experience that you invest in and feel you actually have influence over. PLOT (NO SPOILERS) To be sure, the story definitely has a specific direction of progression, but there are many ways to get there...and just as many ways to end the game (I'll explain this part in "The 40 Endings" section). The tale that the developers weaved into this game is, in my opinion, masterfully done. They balanced enough mystery and shadowy details to keep you invested and searching, while giving enough clear narrative details (and in good pacing) to maintain a feeling of satisfactory progression. And what's more, since you are playing in the first person, they really made sure that what you learned and when was in-character and in the right time that you should figure it out. In fact, some details you had to work out on your own to answer questions instead of them just handing it to you...like you would if you were really in Antoine's (protagonist) shoes. CHARACTERS Many colorful characters, here. You don't see them develop as much, but considering the context, it worked really well. But they still develop well in my opinion. Each is unique and intriguing in their own rights...& holds secrets that you should find. My personal favorite is Charlotte...Antoine's eldest sister. As another note...I really like the fact that the character designs were more natural and much less dependent on the "cutesy gimmick". That made the character designs even more attractive and plot-serving. THE 40 ENDINGS This game doesn't follow the "One-good-ending-and-all-others-bad" model...nor does it follow the "insta-gameover-screen"' for terrible mistakes. Rather, there are many good endings, many bad endings, and 2 real endings (I'll explain a later)...all totaling 40 different endings. The endings are influenced by the people you meet, the details and clues you get (and how you use them), and the way you respond in the dialogue. You can collect icons marking the endings you got, so as to keep track. They can be viewed under "collections" in the main/title menu. Just as a friendly clue, the endings you want to strive for ultimately is ending 39 and ending 40. 39 is the "normal ending" because it will be the first "real" ending that people can see if they properly make it through the game, Ending 40 is the "true" ending, and one way it can obtained is by obtaining the special items from the leading ladies of the story and using them on the stone hand (there have been a few other mentioned ways)...there are online hints if you need it (I myself am still working on getting ending 40). Also, once you gain those special items, they carry into the save data...so deleting saves (you will have to in order to go back) will not necessarily delete those items. One last thing to note is that the endings are not usually "just" tagged on, but are developed, full, and complete in of themselves. This is important because not all the endings tie in or lead in to each other...for example, some endings will have one person having killed the count, another ending will have another person do it (but remember that 39 and 40 are the real endings). EXPLORATION & PUZZLES You don't hit the "next" button or point and tap on a map...you literally walk around the chateau! That opened a lot of experiences and choices for you to make...to interact with some folks or avoid them altogether. You walk into rooms and inspect things. You have a great feeling of liberty, which helps the immersion factor. As to puzzles...the variety is quite diverse in both puzzle-type and difficulty. Some puzzles I figured out in a snap...others I spent some hours thinking about...and still a few I had to pull in a walkthrough. The clues for the puzzle are more than sufficient. The difficulty mainly stems not from inherent difficulty, but your ability to be creative, imaginative, and think beyond the usual. Also, you don't get that sectionalized "oh-it's-puzzle-time" feel...it's just so well naturally integrated into the rest of the game. They were not really a chore to do at all. THE 4 SENSES From the monotone noir visuals of the game, to the subtle but poignant music and well timed simple animations and sound effects, the developers really added to the power of their already strong narrative. Not distracting, but very influential. (and 4 senses because the 5th, smell, has not yet been integrated into mobile games haha) TRANSLATION there were a few (i noticed 5-8 in my 10 hours, maybe more but I didn't notice...that kinda gives you an idea how insignificant they were to the experience), but they didn't hamper the story or even the dialogue. FRIENDLY HINTS Just to give you some helpful things I learned from my 10 hours of gameplay: 1. There are 5 chapters and 4 save slots...keep one save for each chapter in your first run through. You will want to go back to them, later, to gain all the endings, or at least the character items for ending 40. Be sure to permanently keep one save for chapter 5, right before you meet the bearded man (you will need that one to apply the character items). 2. It pays to explore every nook and cranny. To use items when a room, click "search", then click your bag (top right), click the item, & hit use. Click on as many things & people as you can...you'd be surprised the responses and items you can get. 3. Be alert...everything you can find, and everything you can hear/read is useful to you. This may not be a game for everyone, but I hope you give this game a shot and I hope that you, too, will enjoy it. Here's hoping for a sequel

If you're looking for an interactive story, you'll love this. If you're looking for a puzzle game, it's not for you. It's pretty clearly spelled out for you what to do every step of the way, and the puzzles are very simple. Pretty much the only thing that determines which ending you get is your choices in the dialogues. I discovered this game on a list of games similar to The Room, which it certainly is not.

Omg!!!

I like this game so much, I bought a friend a copy. Comparisons to the Zero Escape series, Ghost Trick and other exceptional titles are dead on. This is definitely a great adventure game that I highly recommend to any fan of those series!

This game is fun yet it also makes you really think. Plus there are various endings to this game! The $2 spent on this game was worth it and the pricing is great!

Holy crap, is this a lame game! The 90s called & they want their game back!