I've finished the game now (it's nice and short, even with the commentary tracks turned on!). I'll wait for the final write up before adding my own thoughts/review. I do fully agree that the cartoony art for the photograph close ups feels like it's from a completely different game.
This post was last modified: 10-02-2025, 09:31 AM by LeftHandedGuitarist.
I've just finished the game. Yes, there isn't much to it, it's like a prologue to a bigger game.
I thought the puzzles were OK, but there were so few of them and so much info dumping that it almost felt like a visual novel.
That said, I got stuck for five minutes because Joey kept telling me to go back to Kelly's room to search for clues that I had apparently missed, when the solution to move the plot forward was in an entirely different place.
I thought the puzzles were OK, but there were so few of them and so much info dumping that it almost felt like a visual novel.
That said, I got stuck for five minutes because Joey kept telling me to go back to Kelly's room to search for clues that I had apparently missed, when the solution to move the plot forward was in an entirely different place.
Gary mentioned some parts of the game feeling dated; a purple-haired college student with a KISS poster seems straight up anachronistic to me.
I agree MenhirMike, the game is like an elaborate introduction to what the author set out to do. Maybe the promise was part of its appeal.
The telephone trick is funny and clever.
I agree MenhirMike, the game is like an elaborate introduction to what the author set out to do. Maybe the promise was part of its appeal.
The telephone trick is funny and clever.
Last time, we learned that Susan Lee is still alive and in the Bellevue hospital, so we hope that she can tell us more about The Deacon and what happened to her and her two friends, JoAnn and Alli. The guard in the hospital will only let approved visitors see her though, and unfortunately, Rosangela is not on the approved guest list.
This is one of the two "bad" puzzles in the game, because it's pure 100% video game puzzle. We can ask the guard again to see Susan, but then claim to be someone else because we have a bad memory, or because Susan calls us by a different, name, or because of a system issue that causes our name to not be on the guest list until now. I get it, there needs to be a way to infinitely retry, but so far the game did a reasonably good job to avoid the video game trope. But that's not what makes this puzzle "bad" in my opinion, it's the actual solution.
None of the names on the list work. However, when I select "Adrian", Rosangela introduces herself as "Adrienne". Which is a hint to the correct solution. Naturally, I tried "Alexander Davenport", but Rosa shoots that idea down because "That's a man's name". I will admit, it took me quite a while to figure out what to do here, because I actually thought that I had to get on the guest list myself. So I tried talking to Joey (which is actually possible if I'm at the far end of the location) to no avail. I tried to go home and use the PC in an attempt to Hack the Gibson (that movie just had it's 30th anniversary a few weeks ago, and Angelina Jolie was correct when she said that the RISC architecture is gonna change everything - I'm writing this on one). I tried talking to Alli, Kelly, and Adrian in an attempt to coax yet another name out of them that might be on the guest list. I even tried to talk to Nishanti. I tried combining anything in my inventory and looked at every photo and note before.
The solution? Open the Notebook and combine "Adrian" and "Alexander Davenport", and Rosa ponders that because "Adrian" could be confused for a girls name, "Alex" could also be one, and now we can introduce ourself to the guard as "Alex Davenport", who is on the list and we can see Susan.
When I solved this, I groaned. The solution is perfectly simple, uses mechanics that we already know (combining notebook entries), and is somewhat hinted an when we introduce ourselves as "Adrienne" when clicking on "Adrian". But it feels so arbitrary and video gamey, really like a "Oh, we need to add another puzzle here, let's shoehorn one in!". Maybe it's me being a doofus and not immediately recognizing the solution and spending a good 25 minutes trying other things, but it's the one thing I truly dislike about the game.
Anyway, time to talk to Susan. She's very tight lipped and doesn't want to answer any questions, until we tell her that we know what happened: They summoned the Deacon with an Ouija board, and we do believe her. She tells us that the Deacon is still around, during the night when the drugs that the hospital gives Susan wear off. All three of the girls tried to end it to get rid of the Deacon, who was constantly pleading with them to help him. Susan tells us that Alli really loves dogs, and wanted to become a veterinary. I guess that explains why she's in the dog park now.
This part is pretty sad, because I found it pretty relatable, and the fate of the three friends is tragic. It's pretty hard to write suicidal characters without it coming off as shallow, sensationalist, or too much of a plot convenience. For as short as Blackwell Legacy is, I think that Dave Gilbert did a pretty good job with relatively little to paint a picture of three college student friends that had their entire life and future ahead of them, and then took a wrong turn. And even though I know nothing much about the Deacon yet, he's got some explaining to do.
We've talked about everything we could with Susan, so as we leave her room we notice that it's evening now.
With all the new information from Susan, I went back to the dog park to talk to Alli. To my surprise, there's nothing new to talk about. She repeats the same lines as before, she confirms that they summoned the Deacon with the Ouija board, but she doesn't admit that she's dead and wants to move on.
This took me a while to figure out. We know that she likes dogs, and the only dog in the game is Moti, our neighbors dog. So I guess I should bring Moti to Alli? So back to Nishanti, who is making dinner in the Kitchen. We can feed Moti a biscuit, but can't do anything else.
After trying a bunch of stuff, I eventually went back to visit Susan again. She tells us that the drugs the hospital give her keep the Deacon away, but make her retain water, so she also takes diuertic pills that make her pee all the time. Since she's sick of that, she gives the pills to us so that the orderly doesn't find out that she's not been taking them. Since this is an adventure game, I figure that I can combine the pills with the dog biscuit, which causes Moti to go out urgently. Since Nishanti is busy in the kitchen, she asks us to take the dog out, which we gladly do.
This is the second "bad" puzzle in the game, because it's once again so arbitrary. We JUST talked to Susan, and the proper choice is to immediatly go back to her so that we can get the pills. There's no other puzzle or action in between these two visits. I reloaded a save game and it's possible to immediately go back to her without leaving the clinic. There's also no indication that we should visit her again - if I missed a hint, please tell me. Because this was pure trial and error where it looked that I should be able to do something with Moti, then just go back to Susan because all other locations don't help, then get a water-letting pill, which we then just combine with the dog biscuit since it seems that it's the only remaining choice.
We also get to become a proper adventure game protagonist by adding another ethics violation to our rap sheet: First we stole JoAnn's notebook, and now we're drugging a poor dog so we can take him to the dog park. The Ents justify the needs or something like that.
Bringing Moti to Alli makes her all excited once we mention that he's not feeling well. While trying to examine the dog, Alli remarks that she doesn't feel the breath. Or anything. And now she remembers, remembers how the Deacon haunted her, asking for help, and how she took pills to end it. Alli is ready to move on, so she and Rosa grab Joey's tie to bring her to the doorway to infinity, for Alli to fulfill the cliche of going into the light. Joey remarks that Rosa is lucky for getting one of the easy ones, that are happy to move on.
In the last post, I mentioned that Day Two starts with a massive into dump and that the tie and doorway to infinity could've waited until this moment. Now, I'm not a game designer, and it's all to easy to sit in my armchair and claim that I could've done it better. I don't want to be THAT guy. But with the power of hindsight and knowledge of how the series would succeeed and evolve, I do at least want to ponder out loud if the introduction to the tie and doorway would have been better placed here. It could have been used to put something in between the two Susan visits (Visit Susan, then visit Alli and learn that she's still not willing to move on, have Joey talk about the tie but also mention the need to get Alli interested, remember that she loves dogs, realize that Moti doesn't want to go out, and then be able to visit Susan again).
That said though, I really liked this scene. Alli's realization, her being genuinely relieved and happy to put it all beside her, Rosa being a bit flustered and yet empathetic. It's a sad tragedy, but a bittersweet ending. Despite my gripes with the two Susan puzzles, I enjoy the dialogue writing and Alli's voice acting.
With Alli being in the next world, we return Moti to Nishanti (apparently, we were gone a LONG time, but our neighbor doesn't mind because she's awesome) and now have only one thing left to do, and that's The Deacon. Time to visit Susan again, which I'll do in the last posting of this playthrough, along with my final thoughts now that I got to experience the game again after so many years.
Now, this visit to Susan is great. We have an obvious reason to visit her, and we had an obvious passage of time. As we enter the clinic, we are being told that visiting hours are over, and the guard will not let us see here. But Joey makes it absolutely clear that we have to do it now, since the Deacon only comes around when Susan is sleeping. Unlike the visit to get the pills, this visit has a logical and consistent setup.
Throughout the entire game, we could interact with the fuse box (which is locked) and the keys next the the guard (which contains a key marked F.B. for fusebox), but Rosa didn't actually want to do anything with them. So it's obvious that now is the time to pull the breaker. What's not so obvious is how to get it, since the guard doesn't allow us to just grab the key.
I figured that just like with Kelly, I had to distract the guard somehow. And just like with Kelly, there's a telephone. But Rosa doesn't want to use it to call. The solution here is the radio. Whenever Joey is close to the radio, he's affecting the signal, which causes the guard to try to adjust the antenna. Throughout the game, you might have noticed that, but it's not been relevant until now. And because you don't control Joey directly, it's a bit random. Still, I don't hate this puzzle. Of course, a radio with an antenna definitely ages the game a little bit in this age of streaming services, although regular radios are still around in many places.
With the guard distracted, we grab the key, unlock the fusebox, and turn off the lights. We have to hide in the alcove with the telephone (so it was good to be aware of it), but once the coast is clear we can just walk into Susan's room again and bring the game to an end.
Susan's asleep, but just like how Joey came from the photo in our apartment, the Deacon appears from the mirror in the room. He immediately floats over to Susan and pleads to her to help him, because he doesn't wanna burn. And wow, with that kind of voice, I get why the girls couldn't handle it. Part of that has to be deliberate (adding a bunch of reverb to the voice), but part also seems to just be a low-ish quality voice recording, the voice is very "crunchy", almost like it was recorded at 22 kHz or something like that. It's grating, not neccessarily in a good way, but at least this is the character to do it with, I guess.
We offer him the tie, but he refuses because "It" is following him, but hasn't caught him yet. What is It? The Deacon refuses to say, and Joey offers to handle it. We're getting some spectral violence and learn that It is the Devil, out to get the Deacon.
Now, there's an achievement to solve things (relatively) non-violently, but I kinda get Joey's angle here. The Deacon effected the death of two girls and the near death of a third. He's obviously a tortured soul, but it's hard to find sympathy yet. Still, Rosa is the empathetic one once again, and we manage to convince the Deacon that because we're the first ones that actually offered to help him, we're his only hope. He eventually agrees and grabs the tie, and we're at the doorway to infinity again, ready for the Deacon to go into the... HOLY CRAP, it's Dave Gilbert voicing a demon!
Unfortunately, this Demon is not interested in the best song in the world, but just like any good villain, he gives the Deacon a moment to prepare for the eternity to come. The demon is willing to tell us that the Deacon has killed many with his madness, and never renounced his sins. When we answer "Yes" to the question of whether the Deacon deserves mercy, we're being told that our heart does not believe it. I like this, because the Demon isn't wrong. The Deacon has caused the death of people, and that's not just something to gloss over.
Throughout this, the Deacon has been drinking from his flask, "out of habit". We have one last notebook puzzle, combining the only two terms "Deacon's Sins?" and "The Deacon's flask", which makes Rosa realize that the flask is the symbol of his sins and then asks the Deacon to drop the flask. Unfortunately, that is not enough for the Demon. And he warns us that taking the flask would make us take his sins as well, and thus be taken by the Demon as well. Unfortunately, there's no alternate ending/game over condition here where Rosa would take the flask and doom herself.
Conveniently though, there's a stone here. I'm not sure if that's a statement about Rosangela having rocks for brains, but it's awfully convenient that there is one here, because we can use that stone to smash the flask. And that's enough for the Demon, the sins have been abolished from that place. No idea if that's a statement of how confessing ones sins leads to absolution or just an awfully convenient way to add another puzzle to the game. The Deacon accepts that he might deserve Hell for his sins. When disease took his wife, and he found the bottle, he strayed from his path as a holy man.
But now he goes into the light, and we finish with Rosa and Joey standing on Brooklyn Bridge. Joey tells us that our Aunt Lauren stopped the spirit business in order to take care of Rosa, which didn't work out so well for here. Cue the credits, and that's the end of The Blackwell Legacy. We're being given a code to unlock a blooper reel, and a post-credit monologue from Joey telling us there are more lost souls to save, whether we want to or not.
I couldn't help but feel that the end was rushed. The Deacon wasn't really fleshed out well, and it's awfully convenient how easy it was to get the demon off our back. There is a good idea here. But it needed more fleshing out.
And that is true for most of the game. Back when I played it, I picked it up along with it's sequel Blackwell Unbound, so I could jump into the next one immediately. And doing that elevated Legacy a lot, because a lot of the groundwork that is being laid here was fleshed out in the next four games. As I wrote in my opening post, Blackwell Legacy was an early example of a "modern indie game", for lack of a better term. It has voice acting that is at times very professional. It has great looking character portraits. It has great writing. But it also has some voice acting and graphics that aren't great. It's very short (my playthrough clocked in at a bit over two hours, and that includes 25 minutes of trying to figure out the Alex Davenport puzzle), there is exactly one inventory puzzle, and the central idea of the notebook is both excellent and underutilized.
And yet, I cannot help but to adore this game. What's here is mostly good, sometimes great. Listening to both director's commentary tracks is hugely insightful. The game is historically significant despite its problems, and it would lead to many future greats by Wadjet Eye, and I assume it has also inspired other creators to make their own adventure games.
As unlikely as Joey started out to be at the end of Day One, by the end of Day Two I was looking forward to learn more about him and the Blackwell family. So I think that if you have five bucks and two hours, it's worth the investment.
So, what are your thoughts about the game? Am I crazy for adoring it, or am I underappreciating it?
This is one of the two "bad" puzzles in the game, because it's pure 100% video game puzzle. We can ask the guard again to see Susan, but then claim to be someone else because we have a bad memory, or because Susan calls us by a different, name, or because of a system issue that causes our name to not be on the guest list until now. I get it, there needs to be a way to infinitely retry, but so far the game did a reasonably good job to avoid the video game trope. But that's not what makes this puzzle "bad" in my opinion, it's the actual solution.
None of the names on the list work. However, when I select "Adrian", Rosangela introduces herself as "Adrienne". Which is a hint to the correct solution. Naturally, I tried "Alexander Davenport", but Rosa shoots that idea down because "That's a man's name". I will admit, it took me quite a while to figure out what to do here, because I actually thought that I had to get on the guest list myself. So I tried talking to Joey (which is actually possible if I'm at the far end of the location) to no avail. I tried to go home and use the PC in an attempt to Hack the Gibson (that movie just had it's 30th anniversary a few weeks ago, and Angelina Jolie was correct when she said that the RISC architecture is gonna change everything - I'm writing this on one). I tried talking to Alli, Kelly, and Adrian in an attempt to coax yet another name out of them that might be on the guest list. I even tried to talk to Nishanti. I tried combining anything in my inventory and looked at every photo and note before.
The solution? Open the Notebook and combine "Adrian" and "Alexander Davenport", and Rosa ponders that because "Adrian" could be confused for a girls name, "Alex" could also be one, and now we can introduce ourself to the guard as "Alex Davenport", who is on the list and we can see Susan.
When I solved this, I groaned. The solution is perfectly simple, uses mechanics that we already know (combining notebook entries), and is somewhat hinted an when we introduce ourselves as "Adrienne" when clicking on "Adrian". But it feels so arbitrary and video gamey, really like a "Oh, we need to add another puzzle here, let's shoehorn one in!". Maybe it's me being a doofus and not immediately recognizing the solution and spending a good 25 minutes trying other things, but it's the one thing I truly dislike about the game.
Anyway, time to talk to Susan. She's very tight lipped and doesn't want to answer any questions, until we tell her that we know what happened: They summoned the Deacon with an Ouija board, and we do believe her. She tells us that the Deacon is still around, during the night when the drugs that the hospital gives Susan wear off. All three of the girls tried to end it to get rid of the Deacon, who was constantly pleading with them to help him. Susan tells us that Alli really loves dogs, and wanted to become a veterinary. I guess that explains why she's in the dog park now.
This part is pretty sad, because I found it pretty relatable, and the fate of the three friends is tragic. It's pretty hard to write suicidal characters without it coming off as shallow, sensationalist, or too much of a plot convenience. For as short as Blackwell Legacy is, I think that Dave Gilbert did a pretty good job with relatively little to paint a picture of three college student friends that had their entire life and future ahead of them, and then took a wrong turn. And even though I know nothing much about the Deacon yet, he's got some explaining to do.
We've talked about everything we could with Susan, so as we leave her room we notice that it's evening now.
With all the new information from Susan, I went back to the dog park to talk to Alli. To my surprise, there's nothing new to talk about. She repeats the same lines as before, she confirms that they summoned the Deacon with the Ouija board, but she doesn't admit that she's dead and wants to move on.
This took me a while to figure out. We know that she likes dogs, and the only dog in the game is Moti, our neighbors dog. So I guess I should bring Moti to Alli? So back to Nishanti, who is making dinner in the Kitchen. We can feed Moti a biscuit, but can't do anything else.
After trying a bunch of stuff, I eventually went back to visit Susan again. She tells us that the drugs the hospital give her keep the Deacon away, but make her retain water, so she also takes diuertic pills that make her pee all the time. Since she's sick of that, she gives the pills to us so that the orderly doesn't find out that she's not been taking them. Since this is an adventure game, I figure that I can combine the pills with the dog biscuit, which causes Moti to go out urgently. Since Nishanti is busy in the kitchen, she asks us to take the dog out, which we gladly do.
This is the second "bad" puzzle in the game, because it's once again so arbitrary. We JUST talked to Susan, and the proper choice is to immediatly go back to her so that we can get the pills. There's no other puzzle or action in between these two visits. I reloaded a save game and it's possible to immediately go back to her without leaving the clinic. There's also no indication that we should visit her again - if I missed a hint, please tell me. Because this was pure trial and error where it looked that I should be able to do something with Moti, then just go back to Susan because all other locations don't help, then get a water-letting pill, which we then just combine with the dog biscuit since it seems that it's the only remaining choice.
We also get to become a proper adventure game protagonist by adding another ethics violation to our rap sheet: First we stole JoAnn's notebook, and now we're drugging a poor dog so we can take him to the dog park. The Ents justify the needs or something like that.
Bringing Moti to Alli makes her all excited once we mention that he's not feeling well. While trying to examine the dog, Alli remarks that she doesn't feel the breath. Or anything. And now she remembers, remembers how the Deacon haunted her, asking for help, and how she took pills to end it. Alli is ready to move on, so she and Rosa grab Joey's tie to bring her to the doorway to infinity, for Alli to fulfill the cliche of going into the light. Joey remarks that Rosa is lucky for getting one of the easy ones, that are happy to move on.
In the last post, I mentioned that Day Two starts with a massive into dump and that the tie and doorway to infinity could've waited until this moment. Now, I'm not a game designer, and it's all to easy to sit in my armchair and claim that I could've done it better. I don't want to be THAT guy. But with the power of hindsight and knowledge of how the series would succeeed and evolve, I do at least want to ponder out loud if the introduction to the tie and doorway would have been better placed here. It could have been used to put something in between the two Susan visits (Visit Susan, then visit Alli and learn that she's still not willing to move on, have Joey talk about the tie but also mention the need to get Alli interested, remember that she loves dogs, realize that Moti doesn't want to go out, and then be able to visit Susan again).
That said though, I really liked this scene. Alli's realization, her being genuinely relieved and happy to put it all beside her, Rosa being a bit flustered and yet empathetic. It's a sad tragedy, but a bittersweet ending. Despite my gripes with the two Susan puzzles, I enjoy the dialogue writing and Alli's voice acting.
With Alli being in the next world, we return Moti to Nishanti (apparently, we were gone a LONG time, but our neighbor doesn't mind because she's awesome) and now have only one thing left to do, and that's The Deacon. Time to visit Susan again, which I'll do in the last posting of this playthrough, along with my final thoughts now that I got to experience the game again after so many years.
Now, this visit to Susan is great. We have an obvious reason to visit her, and we had an obvious passage of time. As we enter the clinic, we are being told that visiting hours are over, and the guard will not let us see here. But Joey makes it absolutely clear that we have to do it now, since the Deacon only comes around when Susan is sleeping. Unlike the visit to get the pills, this visit has a logical and consistent setup.
Throughout the entire game, we could interact with the fuse box (which is locked) and the keys next the the guard (which contains a key marked F.B. for fusebox), but Rosa didn't actually want to do anything with them. So it's obvious that now is the time to pull the breaker. What's not so obvious is how to get it, since the guard doesn't allow us to just grab the key.
I figured that just like with Kelly, I had to distract the guard somehow. And just like with Kelly, there's a telephone. But Rosa doesn't want to use it to call. The solution here is the radio. Whenever Joey is close to the radio, he's affecting the signal, which causes the guard to try to adjust the antenna. Throughout the game, you might have noticed that, but it's not been relevant until now. And because you don't control Joey directly, it's a bit random. Still, I don't hate this puzzle. Of course, a radio with an antenna definitely ages the game a little bit in this age of streaming services, although regular radios are still around in many places.
With the guard distracted, we grab the key, unlock the fusebox, and turn off the lights. We have to hide in the alcove with the telephone (so it was good to be aware of it), but once the coast is clear we can just walk into Susan's room again and bring the game to an end.
Susan's asleep, but just like how Joey came from the photo in our apartment, the Deacon appears from the mirror in the room. He immediately floats over to Susan and pleads to her to help him, because he doesn't wanna burn. And wow, with that kind of voice, I get why the girls couldn't handle it. Part of that has to be deliberate (adding a bunch of reverb to the voice), but part also seems to just be a low-ish quality voice recording, the voice is very "crunchy", almost like it was recorded at 22 kHz or something like that. It's grating, not neccessarily in a good way, but at least this is the character to do it with, I guess.
We offer him the tie, but he refuses because "It" is following him, but hasn't caught him yet. What is It? The Deacon refuses to say, and Joey offers to handle it. We're getting some spectral violence and learn that It is the Devil, out to get the Deacon.
Now, there's an achievement to solve things (relatively) non-violently, but I kinda get Joey's angle here. The Deacon effected the death of two girls and the near death of a third. He's obviously a tortured soul, but it's hard to find sympathy yet. Still, Rosa is the empathetic one once again, and we manage to convince the Deacon that because we're the first ones that actually offered to help him, we're his only hope. He eventually agrees and grabs the tie, and we're at the doorway to infinity again, ready for the Deacon to go into the... HOLY CRAP, it's Dave Gilbert voicing a demon!
Unfortunately, this Demon is not interested in the best song in the world, but just like any good villain, he gives the Deacon a moment to prepare for the eternity to come. The demon is willing to tell us that the Deacon has killed many with his madness, and never renounced his sins. When we answer "Yes" to the question of whether the Deacon deserves mercy, we're being told that our heart does not believe it. I like this, because the Demon isn't wrong. The Deacon has caused the death of people, and that's not just something to gloss over.
Throughout this, the Deacon has been drinking from his flask, "out of habit". We have one last notebook puzzle, combining the only two terms "Deacon's Sins?" and "The Deacon's flask", which makes Rosa realize that the flask is the symbol of his sins and then asks the Deacon to drop the flask. Unfortunately, that is not enough for the Demon. And he warns us that taking the flask would make us take his sins as well, and thus be taken by the Demon as well. Unfortunately, there's no alternate ending/game over condition here where Rosa would take the flask and doom herself.
Conveniently though, there's a stone here. I'm not sure if that's a statement about Rosangela having rocks for brains, but it's awfully convenient that there is one here, because we can use that stone to smash the flask. And that's enough for the Demon, the sins have been abolished from that place. No idea if that's a statement of how confessing ones sins leads to absolution or just an awfully convenient way to add another puzzle to the game. The Deacon accepts that he might deserve Hell for his sins. When disease took his wife, and he found the bottle, he strayed from his path as a holy man.
But now he goes into the light, and we finish with Rosa and Joey standing on Brooklyn Bridge. Joey tells us that our Aunt Lauren stopped the spirit business in order to take care of Rosa, which didn't work out so well for here. Cue the credits, and that's the end of The Blackwell Legacy. We're being given a code to unlock a blooper reel, and a post-credit monologue from Joey telling us there are more lost souls to save, whether we want to or not.
I couldn't help but feel that the end was rushed. The Deacon wasn't really fleshed out well, and it's awfully convenient how easy it was to get the demon off our back. There is a good idea here. But it needed more fleshing out.
And that is true for most of the game. Back when I played it, I picked it up along with it's sequel Blackwell Unbound, so I could jump into the next one immediately. And doing that elevated Legacy a lot, because a lot of the groundwork that is being laid here was fleshed out in the next four games. As I wrote in my opening post, Blackwell Legacy was an early example of a "modern indie game", for lack of a better term. It has voice acting that is at times very professional. It has great looking character portraits. It has great writing. But it also has some voice acting and graphics that aren't great. It's very short (my playthrough clocked in at a bit over two hours, and that includes 25 minutes of trying to figure out the Alex Davenport puzzle), there is exactly one inventory puzzle, and the central idea of the notebook is both excellent and underutilized.
And yet, I cannot help but to adore this game. What's here is mostly good, sometimes great. Listening to both director's commentary tracks is hugely insightful. The game is historically significant despite its problems, and it would lead to many future greats by Wadjet Eye, and I assume it has also inspired other creators to make their own adventure games.
As unlikely as Joey started out to be at the end of Day One, by the end of Day Two I was looking forward to learn more about him and the Blackwell family. So I think that if you have five bucks and two hours, it's worth the investment.
So, what are your thoughts about the game? Am I crazy for adoring it, or am I underappreciating it?
This post was last modified: 10-03-2025, 04:40 AM by MenhirMike.
Finished the game at this instant !
I can understand why some people love it so much. It definitely have charm. For the puzzles : missing clues aside, I don't find them very engaging.
I love the concept of the notebook the most but it's not used enough for my taste. It's a me problem however.
The pacing couuuld be a little better ? Info dump at the beginning and rushed ending make it a little wonky (also having to arbitrarily go back to the hospital for the pills when it was never mention made me sigh).
Overall it's good and I like it ! It's a prologue that take the time to show the settings, the characters and the overall mood.
I find it interesting, and I'm okay with having a slow beginning. The info dump could be a little less brutal tho.
This game make me want to know more about Rosangela and Joey and jumping into the second game, so it accomplished it's job, and that's a lot more that some games do/
I can understand why some people love it so much. It definitely have charm. For the puzzles : missing clues aside, I don't find them very engaging.
I love the concept of the notebook the most but it's not used enough for my taste. It's a me problem however.
The pacing couuuld be a little better ? Info dump at the beginning and rushed ending make it a little wonky (also having to arbitrarily go back to the hospital for the pills when it was never mention made me sigh).
Overall it's good and I like it ! It's a prologue that take the time to show the settings, the characters and the overall mood.
I find it interesting, and I'm okay with having a slow beginning. The info dump could be a little less brutal tho.
This game make me want to know more about Rosangela and Joey and jumping into the second game, so it accomplished it's job, and that's a lot more that some games do/
I find the first Blackwell game really quite enjoyable for what it is. As an indie point-&-click game, it also has some historical significance for being an early part of the resurgence of the genre. It's damn impressive for a first effort made by such a small team, even if the amateur indications do bleed through. What the game has is charm, and the way it sometimes stumbles can be part of that.
As others have said, it does feel like an introduction to something larger. Like it's testing the waters. There's some good puzzle design and some awkward ones. The infodumps bring the game to a halt, but the game is short enough that the pacing isn't massively affected. The art is plain but effective, helping the cosy feel. The music isn't to my tastes, but that's more a personal thing.
I have to admit I've never been quite as won over by Wadjet Eye's games as many have, and I often find it hard to say exactly why. I could accuse them of feeling empty in regards to how populated their worlds are, but that feels like harsh criticism for such small projects with limited resources. I might have picked up on some more reasons here though - I definitely don't like the voice acting in their games, outside of Rosa here I don't think I enjoyed anybody else's performances (to my shame, I've actually played some later Wadjet Eye games with the voice audio turned off!). Particularly grating here was the voice for The Deacon.
And it stood out to me that the characters outside of the main protagonists tend to not feel very realised, they are one-note with stilted dialogue. I think it boils down to the fact that the games don't make me feel anything and fail to engage me outside of small moments (and I feel really mean saying that, because it's clear that a lot of passion goes into everything they release).
So in that regard, the first two Blackwell games might be my favourites of the series. I like their focus and short lengths, and as an introduction to the world of Rosa and Joey they do their jobs well.
As others have said, it does feel like an introduction to something larger. Like it's testing the waters. There's some good puzzle design and some awkward ones. The infodumps bring the game to a halt, but the game is short enough that the pacing isn't massively affected. The art is plain but effective, helping the cosy feel. The music isn't to my tastes, but that's more a personal thing.
I have to admit I've never been quite as won over by Wadjet Eye's games as many have, and I often find it hard to say exactly why. I could accuse them of feeling empty in regards to how populated their worlds are, but that feels like harsh criticism for such small projects with limited resources. I might have picked up on some more reasons here though - I definitely don't like the voice acting in their games, outside of Rosa here I don't think I enjoyed anybody else's performances (to my shame, I've actually played some later Wadjet Eye games with the voice audio turned off!). Particularly grating here was the voice for The Deacon.
And it stood out to me that the characters outside of the main protagonists tend to not feel very realised, they are one-note with stilted dialogue. I think it boils down to the fact that the games don't make me feel anything and fail to engage me outside of small moments (and I feel really mean saying that, because it's clear that a lot of passion goes into everything they release).
So in that regard, the first two Blackwell games might be my favourites of the series. I like their focus and short lengths, and as an introduction to the world of Rosa and Joey they do their jobs well.
This post was last modified: 10-03-2025, 03:59 PM by LeftHandedGuitarist.
(10-03-2025, 03:59 PM)LeftHandedGuitarist Wrote: I could accuse them of feeling empty in regards to how populated their worlds are, but that feels like harsh criticism for such small projects with limited resources.
I think it's somewhat fair because Blackwell Legacy might have taken a step back from The Shivah, which came out a couple of months earlier. I'd have to find and play the original 2006 version of that game to compare (the later Kosher Edition was a complete remake with significantly higher production values). But the games definitely feel more, for lack of a better word, intimate than some other games that are grand adventures.
Agree!
It's been a while since I played the game for the first (and second) time. I still appreciate the game as well, while noticing more and more of its flaws.
I appreciate Dave Gilbert not being afraid of going a little sinister with Joey. He has dents, some character, he's not just a personality.
When I played this game for the first time (after the demo), I was expecting more of a psychological thriller. The whole setup was there. Ghosts are real, but acting like they are is seen as an illness. It's part of the backstory, setting, our current predicament, several characters and at least one of the puzzles, but it doesn't really get at anything below the surface. I don't mind, I like the tone of the game as is. It just leaves its moral, psychological and spiritual undertones a bit muddled.
Same goes for the ending, though it lacks the charm and direction of the earlier scenes. After the final scene, you get a little wrap up and a "see you next game!"
I don't know if this was added in the remastered version or if it was always like this. It seems to emphasize the introductionary nature of The Blackwell Legacy.
Speaking of the remastered version, if you've played the original, did you notice any changes? There's one substantial difference, but it's hard to notice if you're looking back on the series.
It's been a while since I played the game for the first (and second) time. I still appreciate the game as well, while noticing more and more of its flaws.
I appreciate Dave Gilbert not being afraid of going a little sinister with Joey. He has dents, some character, he's not just a personality.
When I played this game for the first time (after the demo), I was expecting more of a psychological thriller. The whole setup was there. Ghosts are real, but acting like they are is seen as an illness. It's part of the backstory, setting, our current predicament, several characters and at least one of the puzzles, but it doesn't really get at anything below the surface. I don't mind, I like the tone of the game as is. It just leaves its moral, psychological and spiritual undertones a bit muddled.
Same goes for the ending, though it lacks the charm and direction of the earlier scenes. After the final scene, you get a little wrap up and a "see you next game!"
I don't know if this was added in the remastered version or if it was always like this. It seems to emphasize the introductionary nature of The Blackwell Legacy.
Speaking of the remastered version, if you've played the original, did you notice any changes? There's one substantial difference, but it's hard to notice if you're looking back on the series.
This post was last modified: 10-05-2025, 06:11 AM by BobVP.
I completely forgot that the game got remastered, I thought it was just to add the 5 year anniversary director's commentary and update the engine. But wow, looking at the original REALLY changes some remarks I have about the voice acting.
LHG mentioned the characters besides Joey and Rosangela were underdeveloped. That was probably the weakest point of the game. The doodles in the notebook make the character out to be underdeveloped in more ways than one. The next games will do a better job in this regard.
The best part of this game was the dynamic between Joey and Rosangela. After the experiences of earlier generations of women in her family, this could've been another tragedy. But Rosangela's awkwardness with the living make Joey a welcome companion.
A couple of years ago things kind of derailed and I had a nervous breakdown. I felt like a ghost for a while. I think the concept of this game is relatable: breaking through denial, sadness and anger, letting go and moving on.
Thanks MenhirMike for leading the CPT! I really enjoyed the little jokes and references, as well as rediscovering a game that managed to draw me in once again. Despite its flaws, perhaps with the help of a little nostalgia, definitely driven by a lot of heart and one of the best AG duos of all time.
The best part of this game was the dynamic between Joey and Rosangela. After the experiences of earlier generations of women in her family, this could've been another tragedy. But Rosangela's awkwardness with the living make Joey a welcome companion.
A couple of years ago things kind of derailed and I had a nervous breakdown. I felt like a ghost for a while. I think the concept of this game is relatable: breaking through denial, sadness and anger, letting go and moving on.
Thanks MenhirMike for leading the CPT! I really enjoyed the little jokes and references, as well as rediscovering a game that managed to draw me in once again. Despite its flaws, perhaps with the help of a little nostalgia, definitely driven by a lot of heart and one of the best AG duos of all time.
This post was last modified: 10-08-2025, 12:47 PM by BobVP.