Interpreting classics in a new way is an idea that many independent games use. And if you're a fan of the tribute, there's an innate affinity when you get started with this type of game. For example, "The Mystery of the Secret House", which borrows a set of frameworks from the old biochemical, uses the perspective of God to interpret a new story, and thus has some different flavors. Now that the second generation of this work has also been released, what will be the characteristics of this new work? Follow my perspective to find out.
Secret House Suspect 2 | Heaven Dust 2
Developer: One Gruel Studio
Publisher: indienova
Launch date: January 6, 2021
Platforms: Steam, Switch
Attributes: Puzzle, Horror
※This review is based on the Steam platform
As the visuals suggest, just looking at the graphics may not reveal that it's a "biochemical" game. But after actually entering the game, it only takes two minutes to understand it all. The zombie theme is different, and the interface and gameplay logic are the same. You play as a survivor who wakes up in an unfamiliar facility (i.e. a mansion) and needs to collect props, weapons, and solve puzzles step by step to open doors and passages in more areas.
In this process, the biochemical flavor is undisguised, such as the classic red and green grass and prop crafting system for blood return, the typewriter for safe houses and storage, limited resources and bullets, and the simply use of titles such as "Western-style House". The elements and processes of puzzle solving also have an old biochemical and hardcore style. You can treat it like a resident evil little outsider without any sense of violation.
Combat/shooting is the most important gameplay, but in the form of perspective, in this game, it can not be made into a very delicate system, so actually shooting here has become a tool to test the offensive strategy. In general, you can automatically aim, then wait for the crosshairs on the opponent's head to gather (2 to 3 seconds), and then pull the trigger, you can directly hit the opponent's head. However, because this system is very simple and powerful, the enemy is not a headshot with a single shot. The most ordinary creeps also have to shoot two or three shots by this method. The process is more utilitarian, so there is a sense of refreshment, but it is good to have a sense of accomplishment based on the skill level.
The styles of the four weapons are very classic, pistols, submachine guns, trolls, and high-power military pistols. The shooting sound is also exhilarating. Bullets need to be saved, because there is no setting such as dropping, and they are picked up in fixed scenes, so the total number is limited. This also prompted my "escape" strategy, and I skipped a lot of enemies who didn't fight and worried about bullets.
There are some more characteristic enemies that need to be dealt with in a special way, such as the kind wrapped in skeletal armor, the pistol needs more than ten shots to burst the armor, then you have to change the troll, and then change back to the pistol (save bullets); there is also a type of enemy, such as the monster that re-raises the cell, which is that ordinary weapons can not be killed at all, and can only be burned with grenades or lightning; the most disgusting thing is not these, but zombie dogs, the design of this dog I think is a bit extreme, that is, you must first hit it, otherwise you run faster than it, It will definitely be caught, and it is too uncomfortable to change bullets and guns and be in place. More than half of my GG has been bitten by dogs.
Because of this, it also shows a kind of playing style of thinking, it is still the same old way, leading to strange single-handedness. There are a lot of zombie swarms in the game, and you can grind a little bit like a hate, seduce one by one to solve one. Later, I basically hit like this, otherwise don't say two dogs, three or four people are also very troublesome.
The boss in the game didn't impress me much. This is because the process is not very long (5 to 6 hours at the surplus point) and there are few bosses in total. Among them, there are two bosses that are repeated, which puzzles me. All bosses are very regular, and are the type that can be harmless by thinking about it (except for the final boss). So in general, the difficulty of the boss is not very high, and no matter how bad the situation is, it is no problem to take the medicine pile in the past.
The map design is a bit deep into the biochemical essence of the feeling, that is, you are initially locked in a closed facility, and then through a series of operations, you come out, come to an open area, and then go to other facilities to continue to solve puzzles and fight. The three-dimensional sense of this process is very strong, giving me the impression of going back and forth and finding something new. The same is true of the design of the bonus house, where new keys are constantly obtained during the adventure, which can be used to open the small doors in the bonus house one after another, and key items such as backpacks are here.
There are not many hidden elements in the game, and in terms of importance, it is mainly based on plug-ins that enhance the performance of weapons. Therefore, sometimes there is no need to persist in pursuing. Of course, plug-ins are still very powerful for weapon performance enhancements, and if you play with high difficulty, they will be more necessary. For example, the magazine expansion, after I used the military pistol, the magazine was directly expanded from 10 to 20, which is a very impressive improvement.
Puzzles are the focus of the game. From start to finish, the process is made up of tight puzzles. Compared to other aspects, this game is old-fashioned in puzzle design, belonging to the kind of single way and only weak hints. After getting one thing, go to find another thing that activates it, and there is no obstacle to the operation, such as square stone slabs against square holes, such as flame keys to flame holes, and so on. I can also feel that this game is deliberately lowering the difficulty of solving puzzles to try not to jam the player. For example, passwords, there are many links that require passwords, and almost nothing is hidden, and many times look at a slide, turn a note and directly display it.
But even so, sometimes some puzzles have sills. It is not difficult, it depends on how to understand. For example, after getting a square stone slab, you can't find its use, because there is only a triangle mouth; in fact, you need to put it on the cutting machine and cut it into a triangle. The lack of hints at this time is not a great experience. Similar to the puzzle of the statue in the main building, it is easy to be confused in the process of various directions. I also have a colleague who stuck at the shooting range for half an hour, because he thought that the bullet could hit the target (also shed blood, that is, it could not be broken), but in fact, it was necessary to aim and wait for the red heart to gather and then pull the trigger, a process that was not prompted and easy to misunderstand.
A9VG Experience Summary
Unlike those works that choose to pay tribute to the simple form, "Secret House Mystery 2" directly applies many classic settings of the old biochemical, from the interface, puzzle solving to the gameplay logic, to details such as typewriters and red and green herbs, which appear to have a different flavor under the framework of the new perspective and the new story, and also make people have an inexplicable sense of familiarity. If you're an old biochemical player, or interested in its derivatives, it's worth a try.
A9VG scored 7.5/10 for "Secret House Mystery 2", and the full score is as follows: