Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders

Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders
by Square Enix - November, 2009

Available at:
Big Fish for PC
GameHouse
Fenom-Games
Steam



Travel to old Japan in Season of Mystery - The Cherry Blossom  Murders, and solve the unexplained death of an American diplomat.

It's  turn-of-the-20th-century and Richard Pemberton, along with his wife  Irene, has moved half way around the world to serve as a diplomat for  the American Embassy in Japan. Both live lovingly and comfortably in  this new and exciting land, until the night Irene comes home to find her  husband dead. Police close the case as a suicide, but Irene knows that  can never be. Now, alone and without any help from the authorities, she  sets out to unravel this mystery and bring a killer to justice.

Help  Irene find the murderer in this gripping whodunit. Search through the  majesty of 20 beautifully hand-painted scenes filled with cherry  blossoms and Japanese culture. Locate clues amongst 2100 cleverly  disguised items and by solving fascinating puzzles. Overcome intriguing mini-games, use stored inventory items, and follow the trail of deceit leading to an unexpected conclusion. Can you find justice and peace for Irene?

• Gorgeous scenes
  
• Intriguing plot
  
• Find the murderer!
  

Click images to enlarge

Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders (IHOG-lite)
Released in November, 2009

Options include Sound Effects, Music, Full-screen and Tips.

The music is lovely, and I just listened and watched the cherry blossoms on the intro screen fall for a while before starting.

There is a HELP button on the main screen that gives a brief explanation of how to interact with the game.

There is no misclick penalty, and HINTS are refillable. The game is interspersed with bits of story, but it's all SKIPPABLE if you decide you just want to get to the game. There is also a short bio for each character if you click on the Menu button during gameplay.

We start out as straight HOG, but there is some light interaction later in the game. You have an inventory bar, as well as a map that will allow you to move between locations with ease.

It's been a long time since I demoed this game, and my memory has not failed me! The graphics are just beautiful, with nuances of animation that make the scenes come alive. Combine that with the wonderful music and interesting storyline, and you have a compelling game that sucks you in and keeps you keeps you close.

The HOG scenes are very well done, with no "junk pile" distractions. Everything is well-hidden without being tiny or dark or jumbled. This is the kind of artwork where you may spend several minutes looking straight at what you're looking for and not realize it... or care, because the scenes are so lovely!

You do revisit HOG scenes, but the visits are far apart, and are often at different times of day (very nice!)

It is obvious that a great deal of care went into this game - localization, artwork, music and making sure that no pesky "out-of-time" objects appeared. Considering when this game was released, it really is outstanding.

All told, the game took me four hours (with breaks) to play. Make no mistake, this is mostly a straight HOG, yet quite engrossing. Very glad that I bought it... and finally took the time to play it!