Keepsake review

The first day of school. Not something most of us are eagerly awaiting each year, especially if it's at a new school where you hardly know anyone. But I should be excited, being accepted at one of the most prestigious magic academies in the world. And at least my best friend said she would be waiting for me at the fountain. But, she isn't here. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a single soul since I arrived. Where is everyone?

Alone in the da... eh... light...

Not a statue to place in your backgarden

Keepsake is a graphical point-and-click adventure, in which you get to play the role of Lydia. She is a young girl who has been given the opportunity to study at the Dragonvale Academy, one of the most prestigious magic schools in the realm.

She's very eager to becoming a great magician, but also to meet her best friend who she lost contact with years ago. But when she finally arrives at the academy, the place seems completely deserted. Her friend isn't waiting at the fountain, and the only person to be found in the vincinity of the castle is Mustavio, a merchant (who will, by the way, give you a quick introduction into the game and its story).

Needless to say that your task will be to find out what happened to the school and its inhabitants. Luckily you won't be completely on your own to complete this quest. Not too long after arriving at the academy, you'll get the company of Zack, a talkative creature who claims to be a dragon that got transformed into a wolf by a bunch of mischievious students.

Hints anyone?

What's cooking, doc?

Keepsake follows the classic point-and-click approach. It's perfectly possible to complete the entire game without ever having to touch your keyboard. The interface is intuitive, and it doesn't take too long until you get the hang of moving around and examining things. The game starts with a fairly decent tutorial which gives you a quick rundown of the gameplay mechanics.

You are fairly free to examine the seemingly open world of Keepsake. Although in the end you will still need to get from one crucial point to another, in between the game leaves you the choice in what order you'll solve the puzzles or visit certain places for clues. Some of the puzzles require that you solve others first, but otherwise, there's no real scheme to be followed. You'll need to use your brain to be able to proceed in the game, and try to link the puzzles and events to each other. This creates the illusion that you really take part in the game and its story, instead of just following a predefined line.

A view for a kill

The puzzles aren't as difficult or complicated as in the Myst series, but they're challenging nonetheless. And if you happen to get stuck on a certain puzzle, you can get some help from the refreshing hints system the game offers. You can get up to three hints that can help you solve most of the puzzles without too much frustration, and if necessary, you can even choose to completely skip the puzzle. Luckily the actual solution isn't shown if you choose to skip it, making it a bit more attractive to replay the game after finishing it.

On certain moments during the game, you'll get to watch a cutscene, reveiling bit by bit what happened at the school. The cutscenes will show you what areas you should visit next for some clues or items. Next to solving the mystery of what has happened to the school and its inhabitants, you'll also be wondering who Zack really is. He can be really helpful sometimes, but you won't be able to shake the feeling that he has a hidden agenda of his own. And when you happen to linger around in one place a bit too long, he tends to start a conversation, giving hints or telling something about the school. But most of the time this information won't be of much help though, just some more pieces of the story.

Impressive surroundings

One of the more logical puzzles

The game makes use of 3D animated characters in prerendered background. The castle's design is impressively detailed, and you'll easily feel intimidated by the sheer size of some of the locations. Most of the time, Keepsake offers nice and detailed surroundings, but some of the outside locations look bland and blurry, as if they were rushed in at the very last minute.

The characters themselves are nicely modeled. Lydia seems to visually carry every items she collected, like the diary or magic staff, which is a nice little touch that adds a bit to the realism factor. The animations are good, with some visual glitches here and there, but nothing to serious. For example, the characters seem to float above the stairs when going up themn, their mouths don't move when they are talking. All taken into consideration, Keepsake's graphics look very nice and fit the magic/medieval theme perfectly.

My little cotage in the woods

Too bad this can't be said for the sounds. The voice acting feels forced and out of place sometimes (take the overenthousiastic merchant for example), and the voices sound a bit soulless and bland. Some of the characters you'll encounter even seem to have followed English lessons from Star Wars' master Yoda ("Solve this quest, you must!").

There are few ambient sounds, which amplify the feeling of a desolate environment, but a bit more work in this area wouldn't have been a bad thing. Luckily the music is good and seems to add a great deal to the experience. Be sure not to turn the music volume all the way up though, because you'll be unable to hear the dialogs anymore.

Conclusion

Keepsake is an adventure that can easily compete with the better games in the genre. The puzzles are not too difficult, and if you would happen to get stuck, you can use the hints system or skip the puzzle alltogether. The overal graphics are nice, but the mediocre voice acting gets in the way of a trully immersive expercience. Still, Keepsake is a refreshing newcomer in the world of adventure gaming.