PuppetShow: Return to Joyville is a riveting hidden object adventure game with a Phantom of the Opera feel. Come to the aid of a disfigured heroine as you travel back in time to prevent the fire that ruined her face and decimated her family.
PuppetShow: Return to Joyville is a riveting hidden object adventure game with a Phantom of the Opera feel. Come to the aid of a disfigured heroine as you travel back in time to prevent the fire that ruined her face and decimated her family.
I really enjoyed the last game in this series, PuppetShow: Lost Town, so I was excited to give this one a tumble. PuppetShow: Return to Joyville has many of the same elements: a creepy, seemingly deserted town; puppets in the place of humans; and an interesting mystery to solve.
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The backstory is fairly rich and fascinating. If you are a fan of the PuppetShow series, you’ll recall Felicia, the daughter of the town’s puppet master. In Lost Town, Felicia was your nemesis, having kidnapped little Suzy. Now, Felicia turns to you for assistance. It’s kind of nervy of her, considering she was the bad guy before. And, the kicker is, she’s not asking for your run-of-the-mill help, she wants you to travel back in time to stop the theater fire that killed her dad and disfigured her. Gee, no problem, Felicia. Anything else we can do for you?
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The PuppetShow folks are pretty good at setting mood and what could be more ominous than a dark and deserted theater, with the main character skulking around in her “Phantom of the Opera-esque” half-mask. You begin the adventure at Felicia’s house and move through a few areas of town, but, make no mistake, the theater takes center stage here. (Yes, that’s a pun and it was intended!)
I rather like the device they use of putting you in the position of being a detective called in to solve the mystery. It lends a nice “distance” to the proceedings and offers something of an emotionless vantage point. My 8-year-old often likes to play with me, and I find that some scenarios are just too disturbing for her when presented in a “first person” sort of way.
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The graphics are what you’ve come to expect from the PuppetShow people with a nice balance between mechanized objects and the more mundane. I find that looking at legions of C3PO-type metal men can get tiresome after awhile, and it’s nice to take in “prettier vistas,” too.
As for the puzzles and mini-games, I felt like they kicked them up a notch. I’m always looking for that happy medium between easy and “you need an engineering degree” impossible. I just finished a game last week that required way too many rewiring of control panels to be truly fun. In fact, one specific mini-game that required an exercise of the ‘ol mathematics muscles in my noggin was just challenging enough to be satisfying when solved.
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Audio was atmospheric, but unexceptional. And, once it starts, the spreading fire lends an urgency to the proceedings.
I definitely recommend PuppetShow: Return to Joyville to fans of the series, as well as to those who, like me, have spent many a long night rehearsing something by Neil Simon for your local community theater. Truth be told, I’ve been in a few lemons that really should have been stopped by a little bit of arson.
