Investigating the paranormal is nothing new for an agent of The Agency of Anomalies, but you'll have to be in top form if you hope to solve this one. The performers of Patrizia Edelshtain's theater have lost more than their paranormal powers: they've also lost their human forms. Now you must find the missing Patrizia, restore the performers, and expose The Seekers, the secret brotherhood that is responsible for the chaos at the theater. This is one trip to the theater you aren't likely to forget in The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance.

As you may or may not be aware, I am a lover of the scary/ghost story type of hidden object games. But when I came across The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance, I just had to give it a try.

Why? Because it's beautiful looking. The artistry and graphics caught me, so I downloaded it. And it was everything I hoped: beautiful to look at, with an engaging storyline, interesting characters, and original hidden object areas. To sum up: it was just a really good time.

The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance is set in what I’m assuming to be around the 1920s, and what I loved about it was its cheekiness.

For example, when you pick things up for your inventory there's always that little pop-up window that shows you what you have before it flies down to your inventory. That's not really unusual, but in The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance there's always a little comment that goes with it, like "That's just the thing," or "Yep! This might be useful," or my personal favorite: "This is mine now."

It's kind of a sassy attitude, and I love a sassy attitude. And there were a lot of little pop-up aside comments that lent toward that general feeling of cheek, which went a long way in establishing the personality of the game: you're an experienced investigator with a bit of a sarcasm bend. It was a nice little touch that I really enjoyed. 

Another area that really shined for me was character design. These are supposed to be supernatural performers who have lost both their powers and their human forms. Not just any performers, either; some of the fliers you come across seem to imply that the theater is some kind of "freak show." So, what am I expecting from supernatural "freaks?" Truly bizarre, that's what. 

And boy, did The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance deliver. The performers ranged from quite lovely, like the first performer we meet (who looks like a gypsy and has black wings), to the super strange, like the snake-man we end up subduing with a mask covered in a hypnotic sleeping agent. Each character, even the human ones, were unique and a complete delight.

The voice acting was also amazing; I kept expecting to meet a character with a forced accent or the inability to read a script in a believable fashion. But no, they were all great. It was honestly rather surprising, but I'll take surprises like that any day.

The music was equally enjoyable; it had a whimsical carnival air, which kept reminding me of the circus. While The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance is set in a theater and not an actual circus, there are a lot of circus-like effects in the game (most notable the performers themselves) and the music really helped you sink into gameplay.

Ironically, the area I usually struggle with the most in hidden object games are the hidden object scenes (sad but true). Not only am I terrible at picking things out of a junk pile, but I also get frustrated at the repetitiousness of the whole process.

Luckily, The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance has found a solution: they've created several twists on the traditional hidden object scenes. A few are the normal "collect the list" kind of games, but in some areas, you have silhouettes of the objects instead of their names, and in others you are actually given an inventory of objects and you have to match them with the things they go with. Like put the shoe with its mate, or put the bowtie on the dress shirt. It's kind of a neat angle, and a sure fire way to keep boring old hidden object scenes interesting.

If you're an uber casual game player like me, than you probably rely on the hint and skip buttons about as much as I do. If that's the case, you're going to love The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance.

The hint and skip buttons recharge fairly quickly on the lowest difficulty setting, and that is really nice for when you're running out of patience. Happily, I found I didn't need to use either button very often; the gameplay is pretty well laid out, so I didn't get lost too often, and the puzzles made me think, but I was almost always able to figure out the solution. You want me to light up those bulbs? Can do!

I enjoyed almost every single aspect of The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance (There was this one strange astral projection thing that occurs throughout the game, and I never really got a hang of it or of its purpose. Can’t win them all, I suppose). The artistry and graphics were everything I had been hoping, and the characters, voice acting, and background music just put it over the top.

I really got into the role of "paranormal agent" and loved figuring out what was going on. The Agency of Anomalies: The Last Performance was just a really fun way to drown out my test woes (I just had my first slew of the semester, and I'm trying to wipe the pain from my memory). This game was the cure for what ailed me, and I suspect that if you give it a try you might fall equally in love.