The Blackwell Deception (2011)

The first three Blackwell games are shows of increasing potential. A lot of great moments and great vibes, but nothing that ever coheres into a great story, let alone a great game. With The Blackwell Deception, the series finally lives up to its potential. The writing and voice acting have improved so much over the course of this series, it shocked me how much I really felt for these characters

To be clear, there's not zero problems. Several puzzles are annoying pixel hunts, the music is overbearing, and I won't say the plot is totally devoid of cliche. But does any of that matter when we finally have a mystery with real emotional stakes and deaths that feel impactful?

Maybe when I finish the last one I'll write something longer about how the Blackwell series has treated death in each installment. It's always been about grief and regret to some extent, just because that's inherent to a ghost story, but it's been fascinating watching the devs explore those themes more and more intentionally with each installment.

For now though, I'll just say, I'm glad I've stuck with this series and I'm looking forward to the finale.

Well, this is the first game in the series that takes a bit of a step back.

The art just isn't quite as good as Convergence. The portraits lost their animation while talking, which, given how much talking there is in the game, makes everything feel more static. The character sprites also seem to have gone in an odd direction, maybe more cartoony? Whatever the case, I'm not the biggest fan of Rosa's new sprite in particular, which is unfortunate since you're looking at it for 90% of the game.

The individual cases and their side stories overall didn't feel quite as compelling as previous entries to me. The writing was still good, I think it was mainly that "college student" and "office temp" aren't quite as inherently interesting as "formerly homeless artist" or "jazz musician" for me. I think it was more of an atmosphere thing than a writing thing.

Some of the puzzles were a bit more intricate than necessary (e.g., getting the key from the nursing home), and from time to time the solution was a bit obscure. That said, I only resorted to looking things up in one instance, and I'd actually already solved the puzzle, I just didn't know how to reset it to do the correct solution.

Of course, those are relatively minor issues. Deception had double the runtime of previous entries (~6 hours), which gave it more room to breathe and feel like a complete experience in its own right. The main characters and overall plot was great. Joey, in particular, really had some good, emotional beats this time around. The introduction of the big bad may be a little cheesy by some standards, but I loved it.

All in all, it was still a great experience, and I may not have even had those minor quibbles if I didn't like the previous games in the series so much.

After ending the trilogy wrapped up with Blackwell Convergence, you'd think they'd have a hard time living up to it in the next episode. Of course, they do slip up in some respects, but strong writing still makes for a decently compelling next episode in Blackwell.

Featuring three cases that lead up to a conspiracy, you join the duo of Rosa and Joey once more. Graphics seem a little more off - the sprite work looks fine, but the character portraits have taken a hit. Note combinations were brought back for this entry, but they tend to confuse things a bit, along with design that leads the player into more mental dead ends after leading them down a garden path of investigation, something at odds with previous entries.

The story, with three cases, tends to feel a little same-y and less compelling - sure, they involve a singular overarching plot, but Tiffany, Jamie, and Jeremy's cases don't feel like they add much more to Rosa and Joey's story - it's the surprise introduction of one of Joey's old friends that steals the show. Still, it ends pretty well, despite the blatant hokeyness of a secret society that isn't as subtle or engaging as the previous three episodes. As a transitory piece, it leaves you wanting more but keeps you going.

This is where the series starts to pick up and start tying up plot points. We get this new, secret cult of people who feed off of other's happiness, which never gets explained in detail. They are aware of Rosa and her ghost pal & want to control her mind. There is also progress in Joey's history as we meet a man named Donny, who Joey wants nothing to do with. It casts some suspicion on him as to why he doesn't like this man, what he knows, and what he did back in his life. Rosa and Joey are usually very candid with each other, but here we have some secrets he won't divulge. In the end, we see Joey banished to Rosa's mind and only through the power of love and the help of a banished Madeline can Joey escape and Rosa keep her sanity.

The games have now found a good length too that makes them more than just web browser point'n'click games. One nitpick that bugged me, the talking heads that hover over you during conversations have went from animated gifs in previous titles to just still pictures.