Review: ‘Foolish Mortals’ might be the best point-and-click adventure since ‘Monkey Island’

As a lifelong gamer, I’ve always had a soft-spot for a good point-and-click adventure. Dating all the way back to 1988’s ‘Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders’, I spent a lot of time in my youth getting lost in the complex storytelling and puzzles that were on offer. Some of my favourites include ‘Monkey Island’, ‘Grim Fandango’, ‘Day of the Tentacle’, ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ and ‘Curse of Enchantia’, but I would be happy to play any. While point-and-click adventure have continued to be made, they rarely hit the highs of that late 80s/early 90s heyday. The recent ‘Simon the Sorcerer: Origins’ was a pleasant surprise and it was off the back of that review, that I received a review code for ‘Foolish Mortals’ from independent studio Inklingwood Studios.

‘Foolish Mortals’ puts you in control of Murphy McCallan, a young auditor who travels to the mysterious island of Devil’s Rock to find the small town of Deadnettle in 1930s Louisiana. His aim is to track down the lost treasure of Bellemore Manor, a grand estate shrouded in mystery after a wedding taking place there thirty years earlier vanished. As soon as Murphy arrives on the island, he meets a host of colourful characters and things start to get weird very quickly as he tries to unravel the mystery of Bellemore Manor and stay alive while doing it!

Before I dig into the story and gameplay aspects of ‘Foolish Mortals’, it should be noted just how gorgeous the game looks thanks to its hand-drawn locations. Inklingwood Studios – David and Sophie Younger – has crafted a world that draws inspiration from the likes of ‘Monkey Island’ but manages to retain its own unique identity. Not only does the game look stunning, but the voice acting is top notch (AJ LoCascio is the voice of Murphy) and there’s a witty script that keeps the action punchy. I couldn’t help but think of Guybrush Threepwood’s witty repartee or Simon the Sorcerer’s sarcastic and biting sense of humour. All of these things helped to immediately win me over.

But what about the actual game itself? ‘Foolish Mortals’ is a deliciously lengthy game that’s packed with challenging puzzles. There’s a lot of territory to explore when you begin the game but things really start when you arrive at The Spirit Queen and meet Doctor Moray, a voodoo expert who asks you to collect a series of items. From that point on, you have to scour every location you come across, and think carefully about how you can use the many items you collect along the way. As well as using items (and combining them if you need to), you can also choose Murphy’s dialogue, as is standard for point-and-click adventures, and sometimes choosing the right things to say results in you progressing through a puzzle.

Part of the fun of the game, aside from the puzzles, is interacting with the rich variety of characters. From living characters through to ghosts of the Bellemore family, there are lots of characters to meet and interact with. The dialogue is expertly written, meaning that even the lengthier conversations are still entertaining and engaging. It’s always worth cycling through all the options available as you never know what nugget you may unearth.

One of the features of the game that I loved is the hint system. Via Murphy’s diary you can ask for hints for the various tasks on your to-do-list. You can choose to reveal as many, or as few, hints as you want as you try to work out the puzzles. I admit, even as a seasoned point-and-click adventure player, I did have to use the system myself a few times. It didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the game though and provides a safety net so less experienced players don’t get frustrated and give up.

The controls will be very familiar to point-and-click fans. You click around the screen to move Murphy and you can access his inventory and inspect items as and when you need to. The dialogue appears as options, that you can click to select, and there’s a map that allows you to move from location-to-location quicker to save time.

‘Foolish Mortals’ is one of the best point-and-click adventures I’ve played in years. I don’t remember being this addicted to a game for a very long time, and the storytelling here is so rich, that you always want to know what’s coming next. Inklingwood Studios has crafted a perfect love letter to the point-and-click genre while making a huge impression. I’ll definitely be looking out for future titles from them and I can’t wait to see what they have coming up. ‘Foolish Mortal’s might just be the best point-and-click adventure since the original ‘Monkey Island’.