Goetia

Goetia is a flawed yet engrossing point-and-click-style adventure for those looking for a challenge as well as an interesting story. Aside from the lack of a hint system resulting in the odd infuriatingly obtuse puzzle, it's a bleak, beautiful experience. It's certainly slow and more text-heavy compared to other titles in the genre on Nintendo Switch, but it's well-crafted and worth a look.

With some excellent backgrounds and a well crafted soundtrack, there’s a tonne of atmosphere packed into Goetia. In fact, the point-and-click puzzler has a fair amount going for it, offering an interesting premise, a well written story, and some decent puzzles that lean on the occult themes incredibly well. But with poor signposting, buggy menus, and puzzle solutions that are often just too tenuous, I found Goetia as frustrating an experience as it was interesting.

Other than the obvious issues I had with the controller, I loved my time playing this game. Forever Entertainment SA have created an interesting and dark story that will keep you hooked from the beginning to the end. Do I recommend that you play this? Of course! Heed the developers’ advice; “play in a dark and quiet room with headphones on for the best experience.” Do this and you will be taken on a supernatural horror trip like no other. Find all the clues, and help Abigail answer the many questions she faces.

Goetia is a mixed bag. There are some wonderful moments in here such as the story, which certainly kept me going, and the visuals and soundtrack which do their best to keep you engrossed, are certainly impressive.

Goetia is a classic horror game. It's unnerving, skin-crawling, with a dash of eerie music that keeps your soul on edge. The puzzles are some of the most challenging in any point and click game, so this isn't a game for the casual gamer. Some minor bugs that can become a slight nuisance to the overall experience, but not enough to spoil the game.

Overall I think Goetia is a very nice experience and a nice return to form for the publisher. It’s certainly the creme of their crop so far and I think it’s a game many gamers will enjoy. Of course it comes with the caveat that you’re into slow paced point and click adventure games with slightly obtuse puzzles. If not, then you probably won’t get anything from Goetia aside from the nice visuals and music. So it’s not for everyone, but for those who do enjoy this style of game, then you probably want to pick it up especially with the nice pricing.

While Goetia puts a fair amount of effort into its detailed environments and sound design to make them lush and engaging unfortunately the gameplay experience felt lacking by comparison. The method of discovery, checking everything you see in the hopes of getting scraps of story in pieces, really made more challenging than it should be to establish a baseline of caring for the character. Especially since Abigail lacks a physical form to latch onto, and since there’s nothing initial to establish why I should care about her, for me the experience stumbles to even get out of the starting gate. Throw in a more aggravating overall experience with puzzles and lack of direction than is typical from the genre and I find it hard to recommend outside of people who’re really hoping it being creepy and odd will redeem it.

Even from its early demo, it was apparent that Goetia was going to be something special, and it simply has not disappointed in its final build. Sure, there are a few typographical errors and unusual animations for carrying objects around Blackwood Manor that should have been tidied up, and some of the puzzles can be a bit too obtuse, but it can all be forgiven because of the mystique surrounding the whole adventure and overall high quality throughout. The development team had something special on its hands that caught people's imagination, and has now given birth to a very special project indeed. Goetia takes the point-and-click adventure mould and re-shapes it into something remarkably exciting and fresh.

I did like Goetia, and I especially liked the visuals which were truly entrancing. I also liked the plot and the way that I could play it for a prolonged period of time without realising just how long I’d been on it. That sheer feeling of being engrossed is something I look for in a game, especially with horror games being my favourite genre. Goetia can be difficult at points and can lead to frustrating moments, but overall I was definitely impressed.

If you’re comfortable with the high difficulty of its puzzles, Goetia is an enjoyable adventure game with a dark and intriguing story.