Lately, Cthulhu video games run the gamut from JRPG parodies to well-intentioned however flawed works with the official Name of Cthulhu license, all for a couple of dime. However there aren’t many point-and-click adventures that introduce HP Lovecraft’s sanity-twisting mythology. Two very outdated Infogrames efforts from the early ’90s come to thoughts, however if you happen to’ve by no means performed 1993’s Shadow of the Comet and 1995’s Prisoner of Ice, you are not lacking out on a lot.
The Darkish Rites of Arkham, from indie developer Postmodern Adventures, rectifies this downside with a complete effort crammed with odes to all of Lovecraft’s biggest tales. It has the standard of a well-read, fan-assembled Name of Cthulhu tabletop marketing campaign.
The sport takes place in Arkham Metropolis, as indicated by a profitable Notion verify. Arkham Metropolis is described by the principle character, Detective Jack Foster, as the final word hellhole. The yr is 1933, Prohibition is ending, FDR is president, and Jack begins investigating the mayor’s corruption, solely to witness a homicide with esoteric symbols and severed arms scattered on the bottom.
To unravel this homicide, Jack should observe the mechanics of a 90’s journey recreation and gather stock gadgets to finish puzzles and use them as objects till one thing occurs. The puzzles are all respectable, however some border on filler territory. (At one level, Jack obtains a serum and makes an attempt to make use of it. Like Bozo, he drops the serum right into a grate and has to make use of a turkey baster to suck it up, maybe imitating an act that went horribly incorrect within the tabletop recreation Name of Cthulhu.)
Fortunately, not like most Lovecraftian protagonists (who are likely to have their brains melted after witnessing sights past their comprehension), Jack by no means dies, neither is his spirit crushed by the notorious point-and-click “useless males strolling” situation. After hours of progressing by means of the story, it’s possible you’ll lastly notice that you simply missed an necessary merchandise earlier on. So whereas it is a very forgiving recreation by design, and whereas such an ethos could also be considerably at odds with the Cthulhu Mythos, The Darkish Rites of Arkham is a really enjoyable recreation you could play sitting in your Steam deck mattress and immerse your self within the story all through its seven-hour runtime.
And the plot is an effective one. Foster is not probably the most authentic protagonist, however he does have an endearing “I have never had sufficient espresso to cope with this shit” line. He groups up with a hard-nosed fellow detective named Harvey Whitman, and the 2 have a enjoyable buddy-cop vibe working round Arkham. Their winding path leads them on the path of three witches who’ve by some means been caught because the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s, and so they find yourself encountering forest monsters, cultists, a little bit of Yog-Sothoth, and a world-ending damnation.
Jack and Harvey journey from the streets and vacationer points of interest of Arkham, into the encompassing forests, and into alien areas which are really very distant.
With add-ons from August Derleth and different fable writers thrown into the combination, all the things seems like HP Lovecraft’s biggest hits. As a fan, I am proper at residence, from the Nice Race of Ys (from “Shadows By Time”) to the fish-men descended from Dagon who run an antiques retailer and go on a rant about how the feds arrest individuals (from “Shadows Over Innsmouth”). It was enjoyable to seek out references to all the things from the extremely junky 2005 recreation Name of Cthulhu (which a few of you could have solely skilled by means of the world). There’s additionally an awesome eleventh hour growth that includes characters from well-known Lovecraftian works, however I will not spoil them for you. Let’s simply say that even after I thought I had exhausted my repertoire of gaming references, it pulled out some actually enjoyable stuff.
Postmodern Adventures packs a few of these Easter eggs into an in-game exhibit (referred to as Arkham of the Common) for Jack and Harvey to browse at their leisure. This could come as no shock if you happen to’ve performed earlier video games by this one Spanish developer, whose actual identify is Jose MarΓa MelΓ©ndez. Beginning with 2020’s City Witch Story, a superb free itch.io recreation that is just like Sierra’s Police Quest however 100 instances higher, each post-modern journey endeavor is loaded with well-researched paranormal geekery, from ghosts to haunted video cassettes to the darkish rituals of Arkham’s weird lore. And normally issues like museums have curators who can speak about issues which are clearly of particular curiosity to the developer.
This brings me to my solely main criticism of The Darkish Rites of Arkham. When it comes to visible model and tone, this recreation feels similar to Postmodern Adventures’ different video games, particularly An English Haunting, which made it into my 2024 choose field. In idea there’s nothing incorrect with this. This assessment is the one time RPS has featured Postmodern Adventures’ work, aside from a few of Alice B’s posts on An English Haunting, so many individuals could not know that Melendez has been making a treasure trove of indie adventures over the previous few years.
However for these of us who’ve loved his efforts for some time, Darkish Ritual of Arkham can’t exist in a vacuum. Most of Melendez’s video games have similarities in graphics and themes, so they need to be in comparison with his previous works. And whereas it is higher than An English Haunting (which had a bland protagonist and a dragging center), it is nonetheless most likely among the finest horror adventures I’ve ever performed, although not so good as City Witch Story or 2022’s Nightmare Frames, which I take into account to be the perfect post-modern journey recreation.
The story of Jack Foster and Harvey Whitman is nothing in comparison with the evolution of Alan Goldberg, the scumbag writer-leader in Nightmare Body, who learns to be a greater individual after being tasked with discovering a haunted videotape. Regardless of being launched 4 years in the past, the Nightmare Body bits really feel like they’ve extra manufacturing values, together with detailed character portraits. To be truthful, Darkish Ritual of Arkham does function close-up interrogation scenes of characters, however they’re considerably inconsistent. Just a few NPCs have such scenes, however many don’t.
Ultimately, the individuals who will get probably the most out of The Darkish Rites of Arkham are Cthulhu followers like myself. Individuals who do not learn about shoggoths popping out of holes within the floor most likely will not discover this story very convincing. And to some extent, I want Postmodern Adventures had pushed the road extra aggressively in addressing the racism that permeates Lovecraft’s work. The sport options individuals of coloration and references to the horrible race relations that permeated American life within the Thirties (and certainly in fashionable instances), however other than a puzzle involving a black girl on a bus, these facets are little greater than background ornament. On condition that City Witch Story tackled related points head-on by starring a black police officer in the course of the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, there’s untapped potential right here to dig deeper.
In fact, if the one criticism I’ve about an indie recreation is that it is superb, however the developer’s different work could possibly be higher, then we’re in a very good place. The Darkish Rites of Arkham is a swell point-and-click Name of Cthulhu, and a stable weekend play for followers of bizarre fiction. However maybe Postmodern Adventures’ subsequent effort will push the envelope even additional. Tweaked engine, totally different graphics model, non-Eurocentric setting, perhaps even a feminine protagonist? Now let’s make outdated Howard Phillips roll in his grave!
This assessment relies on a assessment construct of the sport supplied by the developer.