This was an interesting little one-off by Vendel Games, the developers whose main output was the Spirit of Revenge and Love Chronicles series. This takes place in an abandoned town where a top secret experiment went wrong, and you are a detective trying to find what happened to all the residents who mysteriously disappeared.

It checks almost every box for me - FMV cutscenes, beautiful hand drawn art, and a nice spooky open town to explore. Where it loses me though is the hidden object minigames, of which there are around 30 (one for basically every room).

I enjoyed the first Spirit of Revenge game quite a bit, and I would have enjoyed this one even more if not for the annoying list-based hidden object scenes. Spirit of Mystery Cursed Castle did not have these besides one or two, but it also didn't have as nice of an art style. I am aware my taste is extremely specific, and most games are either too hot or too cold, but I still appreciate the elements that it does well.

6.7/10