Dark Strokes: Sins of the Fathers

Dark Strokes: Sins of the Fathers
by Alawar Friday's - March, 2012

Series links: Dark Strokes 1: Sins of the Fathers, Dark Strokes 2: The Legend of the Snow Kingdom

Available at:
Alawar as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Big Fish Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
GameHouse Platinum Edition / Standard Edition
iWin Collector's Edition / Standard Edition



When Evil comes for the people you love, what will you do?  That moment of reckoning has arrived for Ethan Black, a young man whose bride-to-be was snatched up in the blink of an eye by a terrifying menace known as the Faceless Ones.  Guide Ethan as he explores a decimated city,  interacts with its remaining inhabitants, searches for clues that will  lead him to his beloved Clair, and peels back the layers of a chilling  supernatural mystery that began with the stroke of a paint brush and  will end in a dramatic confrontation near a fiery abyss.

The Collector's Edition includes:

• 58 locations
  
• 16 mini-games
  
• 20 hidden object scenes
  
• Step-by-step walkthrough
  
• Concept art and desktop wallpapers
  

For the Standard Edition

• Strategy Guide
  
• Walkthrough (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
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Dark Strokes: Sins of the Fathers CE (IHOG)

Options include separate sliders for sound effects and music, plus system cursor, fullscreen, and widescreen.  We can also choose between Casual and Expert modes, and the tutorial is optional.  I was really happy to see NO sparkles in expert mode (except to indicate a HOS), and there were messages to read just clicking on random items -- nice touch, there!

The hidden object scenes are lightly interactive, but the colors on the list are opposite what we're used to seeing:  Items in YELLOW text indicate items we can "see", and items listed in WHITE are the ones that are interactive.  This is only the second game I've seen that does that, and it confuses me!   Once you reach the main game (we play through the intro!) you will gain one or two useable items per HOS.  After you reach the main game, no more interaction on the HOS!  There is a rapid misclick penalty, and HOS will repeat, eventually.

Hint refill depends on which difficulty mode you choose.  Using a hint during the adventure portion will give you a directional arrow, and does not discharge your hint.

I really like the main character.  Strong and sensitive, tall dark and handsome... what's not to like?   The story progresses via a combination of cutscenes (gorgeous, as usual for an Alawar Friday's game,) various notices we find along the way, and by placing figurines (which will make sense to you after you've been playing for a while.)  The journal documents the story as we go along, nicely summarizing what we've learned without giving spoilers.  We have a MAP (in the journal), but in expert mode, there is no jump-to option, nor does it show where the active areas are.  There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the game, and if you're concerned about it, you might want to demo the game on Casual mode to see if these options are available to you.


WARNING:  There is a point where we have to scare some rats away, and we do it with poison.

I have only one gripe with the game, and that is that I feel the demo was a bit misleading, but just a bit.  During the beginning of the game, the HOS are lightly interactive, but once you get to the main game, there is no longer interaction -- just your usual hidden object scenes.  Not a big deal, I just don't see why they bothered if it wasn't going to be for the full game.

Still, despite this one gripe, this was an excellent game.  MANY locations, beautiful cutscenes, good story, a lot of adventure gameplay... Just a quality game in every way.

CE Content:

• Bonus chapter
  
• 12 Concept Art
  
• 15 very nice Wallpapers (including one with caricature-type characters -- very cute!)
  
• 6 Character creation images showing the evolution process (cool!)
  
• Media (Can rewatch the 12 videos we saw during the game, plus can listen to four songs)
  

The Bonus Chapter takes us 20 years in the past, clearing up some questions that I had about the main story.  There was one stunning moment in there -- something I had not expected.  Hidden object scenes do repeat, and there is NO interaction on these scenes.

I don't regret purchasing the Collector's Edition, but in retrospect, I think I would have been happy with the SE.  Overall, a very well-made and enjoyable game!

I promised at   when I finished my review, so here it is...  BUMP!

I demo'd this game when it first came out and came away with a "meh" feeling. IIRC one of the earliest scenes was in a train car and there were some things to do that, imo, were so dopey I couldn't get past them. Like a sealed box addressed to us that - Ta Da! - when opened coincidentally contained something like a pair of scissors that we needed to cut something else. You know, the usual predictable but unbelievable stuff that these games tend to consist of, yet for whatever reason I'd had my fill of by then and found tiresome.  

I later read all the rave reviews and thought: was this the same game? LOL
I should try it again and see if I feel differently about it. I probably didn't get that far last time.

ETA - I just looked at the still shots at the top of the page and -- there's that train car and sealed box! Hahaha
I remember now I also didn't care for that heavily ornate art style, but that's just my opinion.

lol~ I totally agree with you about the train scene   I would have stopped playing there, but it was a "blind" purchase -- I bought based on others' recommendations.  I didn't find it an AMAZING game, like some of the others by Alawar Friday's, but it was definitely very good.

By the way, I really don't know what the devs were thinking, making the HOS interactive ONLY during the intro portion of the game.   Why bother if you're not going to make ANY of them interactive during the main game?

Beautifully & Well Designed  
   

BASED ON SE COMPLETED GAME

If it wasn’t for the weather, I might have given this game five stars. But the endless downpour wears away at my nerves to the point I cringe every time the clues lead me outside. Which they do a lot, because there’s a lot of ground to cover.

Ethan Blake (that’s you) has to stop a madman before any harm can come to his fiancé, held by the kidnapper. It’s a familiar opening, but it soon takes off in new directions. The story, though very cleverly and artfully told, is at times quite confusing, yet remains fascinating despite that. All sorts of weirdness happens that requires explanation. The ending ties all this up satisfactorily, if a little strained.

The game play is logical without being linear, you have a reasonable idea of where to look for the type of item you need. Predominately HOs and relatively few not too difficult puzzles, this is nevertheless an exciting adventure, with superb graphics and delightful varied locations.

It is quite a long game, as there’s much to do and many places to go, but it doesn’t wear thin.
More games of this balance of games and styles and story would be very welcome indeed. Very professionally done.

I recommend this game!