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- Julia Minamata
- Julia Minamata
- Julia Minamata
- Julia Minamata
The Crimson Diamond
Released On: Aug 15, 2024
88
5.2
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
88
90% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
88
90% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Are adventure games always about solving one selection of puzzles? As far back as the early 1990s, the genre has experiment with ‘paths not taken’. The Crimson Diamond encourages snooping, and punishes laziness, just by making you feel kinda bad. There’s a lot about this game to miss, and misunderstand.
The Crimson Diamond is a cosy retro-style murder mystery with an excellent story, enjoyable puzzles, and a charming protagonist. This is a must-play for anyone who loves text-based adventure games or wants an accessible, modern entry point into the genre.
The Crimson Diamond is a gem of a 2024 release – a convincingly vintage, but also refreshingly modern take on the text parser game. The overall package is a modest but fulfilling mystery that doesn’t overstay its welcome and leaves a fantastic impression of what adventure gaming was like in its golden era.
The Crimson Diamond is not a game for everyone; indeed, the adventure genre, already quite niche in its own way, is made even more hostile by the presence of text-based controls. However, anyone should try this experience, because such well-packaged products rarely come out and transcend the nostalgia operation by offering a story worthy of Agata Christie in the artistic guise that made the defunct, but still alive in the hearts of fans, Sierra On-Line so famous. The excellently crafted parser and a notepad full of hints make it much more accessible than you might imagine.
Move aside, Laura Bow. Nancy Maple is the reigning queen of retro-styled murder mysteries in The Crimson Diamond, a clever, engaging, and satisfying tale that is sure to entertain fans of Sierra’s text-driven EGA classics while being accessible to adventurers new to this style of game.
It feels revelatory, like rediscovering a lost art. The keyboard! How wonderful. [Issue#402, p.123]
The Crimson Diamond is a must buy for would-be detectives and adventurers alike. Its rich, thrilling tale had us hooked from beginning to slightly-embarrassing end. And once we’ve binged every episode of Columbo, you can bet we’ll be back for more.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 5 User Ratings
5.2
40% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
60% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 5 User Ratings
5.2
40% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
60% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
I love P&C adventure games, and I've played my fair share of text parsers, but this game just frustrated me too much to finish it. I kept running into road blocks because I knew what I had to do, but the game wouldn't let me actually /do/ it. Needlessly finnicky with prepositions, certain items can't be used until they are looked at AND THEN examined in your inventory, vague objectives that scream "nonsense video game logic". I truly truly wanted to love this game, but I just couldn't.
Report
PC
Summary The Crimson Diamond is an EGA text parser mystery adventure game where you play as amateur geologist and reluctant detective Nancy Maple. Nancy is born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where she works as a clerk for the Royal Canadian Museum. She dreams of attending university to study geology and mineralogy, and she's prepared to venture ...
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Aug 15, 2024
Developer:
- Julia Minamata
Publisher: Julia Minamata
Genres: