Reviews from

in the past


There's some bullshit here with the second and third puzzles requiring very specific words in certain spots that I really don't feel is fair especially cause there are also synonyms in the same clue list. That said, still mighty fun figuring things out and a decent enough swan song for the game considering this is the final DLC.

Man, that last case is some bullshit. I pieced together the story events and understood what was going on easily enough, but putting the right words in the right spaces proved troublesome. I don't think the game is succeeding in the intended way if the real challenge is found in using trial and error to get the exact wording down when formulating a sentence. There were just too many potential variations with the noun selections. It didn't feel fair to me. And the hint system was useless because it was telling me things I already knew, so in the end I had to resort to an online guide. Yes, my pride took a major beating as a result.

Otherwise, business as usual. A really intriguing story told via only brief cutscene snippets and dialogue exchanges. Golden Idol does so much with so little. Analysing a scene, taking note of character interactions/visual cues and paying attention to all the minute details makes one feel like a true detective. I think the main game comfortably surpasses the DLC though, because it has plenty of those "Eureka!" moments, and when they come, piecing together the sentences in the Thinking screen usually goes smoothly. Also, I prefer the smaller-scale cases of the main campaign compared to the fewer-in-quantity-but-much-broader-in-scope cases of the DLC.

Much like the Spider of Lanka, The Case of the Golden Idol: The Lemurian Vampire has some frustrating naming problems. Although I like this DLC more than the first, the availability of synonyms for filling in the scrolls made it quite annoying to fill them in. Some clues seemed to only accept one type of input, even though others basically described the same scenario. Nevertheless, I had a great time with the entirety of the series.

Mais uma boa DLC. Gosto mais da anterior mas essa ainda é ótima.
Eu vejo muita gente reclamando de uns saltos lógicos absurdos que o jogo pede mas eu sinto demais que isso vai de pessoa pra pessoa mesmo. Eu tive dificuldade para deduzir partes que não vi tanta gente reclamando enquanto outras, como o final, eu deduzi quase instantaneamente e tinha muita certeza de tudo. O jogo te afoga de informação e contexto e é muito fácil se confundir ou se sentir sobrecarregado com tanta coisa. Mas a graça é justamente navegar por todo esse mar de evidência e achar a verdade.

i think i enjoyed the 1st DLC a bit more than this one, but piecing together these mysteries was still super fun, and i'm excited to see what these devs do next


Story: Another neat little story in the same vein of the main game and the first DLC
Gameplay: Just more of the same. Like the last DLC one Level feels more like a summary of the overall plot instead of a puzzle. Overall i found it a little less interesting than the first dlc. But still a unique experience you can not find anywhere else!

An improvement upon the first DLC, which was already excellent. A fun capstone to wrap up one of the best information games ever made.

Much like the previous DLC expansion, this is a quality addition to the Golden Idol package, concluding the prequel chapters leading up to the events of the base game in such a way that one might be tempted to play the story chronologically instead of doing the DLC last.

All well and good if not for one thing: this is a hard DLC, with some conclusions that I cannot call anything other than logical leaps. One character in particular has motivation to do a certain thing, but the game then escaòates their role to such a point that you might end up confused by how you were expected to figure it out.

All that aside, which your mileage may vary on, as this is the sort of game where people get stuck in spots that others find trivial, this is yet more great content, though not quite on the level with the original. Like the previous DLC, it's definitely missing much of the appeal of the base game's story and setting but there is absolutely no reason to skip it.

This DLC is clearly the worst of the bunch. I don't feel there was anything new or interesting brought forward in this DLC. Other scenarios had some really neat overall puzzle to solve, this felt disjointed, like i was missing certain screens. The final act is awful, it basically gives you an entire story to piece together from a few scenes, no real puzzle to solve, its just like trying to figure out a story with ripped out pages.

I was a big fan of the Case of the Golden Idol and really enjoyed the first DLC. This one I was unaware of until recently and had to pick it up.

I breezed through it over the course of two days. Filling in the blanks is still a lot of fun. In the moment some stories here were not as compelling to me and weren't quite hanging together, but once I got through the final one and saw the whole picture, I thought it was quite clever. I really like the final reveal and it clears up a lot of what was puzzling me about the first two chapters of this installment.

A neat little side story for The Case of the Golden Idol. The change in setting is refreshing, but the story's primary focus is clarifying mysteries of the first game rather than creating an engaging challenge on its own. Playing it feels a bit like reading a reference section at the end of a great book.

My big complaint-- the visuals are noticeably and sometimes distractingly lower quality. I wonder if they switched design processes to speed up development or something, sadly it is a big downgrade.

Excellent addition to the Golden Idol loved it even more than the last dlc

A welcome surprise, the second and final set of DLC for the detective showpiece The Case of the Golden Idol takes you to the mysterious Monkey Paw Island, where you examine the origins of the Idol's appearance in the western world during the main game. The story follows some of the characters and ideas from the first DLC and is Part 2 of the prequel to the main game. I really loved how much more developer Color Grey Games was able to build out their alternative historical world, and the primary new mechanic here of time-traveling between different periods is a great concept and one I wish was used more often in the main game. Fitting for the finale of the cases, these three new solves are intricate and complex, asking the player to delineate ancient traditions, unseen deceptions, and covert missions all from the consistently grotesque and detailed environments you are thrown into. There isn't as much variety in design here, but this is made up for with the sheer volume of locations you can explore around the island. Unfortunately, like the first DLC, the second of the three cases this time around left me with a feeling of an unearned solution, and I felt that some of the clues didn't entirely give enough information to bring the case all together. There is still a lot to love, but these cases didn't feel as tightly constructed as the main game's. Despite this, the DLC is a worthy and welcome addition to the adventure, and I can't wait to see what this team tackles on their next major project.

A bit of a let down after the first DLC - the story revealed nothing we didn't already know. There are neat new puzzle mechanics like changing the time of day, but I don't think the added confusion of trying to keep a timeline straight made for necessarily more satisfying puzzles.

A nice little brainteaser set of cases. The devs played with interesting ideas here that I enjoyed a lot and get me excited for their next game.

had more fun with this DLC than with the "Spider of Lanka", even if I felt it was far easier.
It's incredible how they still keep building such well-intertwined plots. You can go back to the first chapter and find clues about later reveals (something that the main game did even better since it had more chapters).
I can't wait for the release of "The Rise of the Golden Idol"

I liked the first dlc a bit more, but this is still a great addition to the game. I really hope that the devs keep making more of this kind of game, just in another setting.

i didn't find the overall narrative in this one as interesting as the other dlc, and with that slight lack of interest some of the mysteries were particularly challenging (i really struggled with the second case lol, this was the first time i actually used the hint system and even then i was drawing blanks for a bit of it), but when pieces really fell into place i ended up liking it anyway! i enjoy its direct connection to the start of the golden idol game, that was neat. overcomplicates that aspect of the original story, maybe, but i don't know, i like it

This review contains spoilers

Sad its over, excited to see what they make next.

Finally the final (or rather, beginning) to this incredible game.
I already knew that this DLC is a prequel to the events of the main game, but oh boi, the closure of this story presents a nice explanation to how everything begins.
As always, art and music... impecable.
The only downside was in the second case, were I got completely stumped in the story section and I couldn't complete it. Just to discover that I've missed a hint. Again (the same happened in the second case of the first DLC. Deja vu?). But I guess the hint was so well hidden, that I just didn't noticed. Oh well.
But, in the end, it was an incredible experience.
A few weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that Color Gray was trying to hire, and so I applied: although they rejected me (no hard feelings :') I am looking forward for their next releases, and hoping that that too is also a banger.

Complete playthrough. A very solid send-off for the best detective game in a long while, The Lemurian Vampire brings three new, fairly complex scenarios that are once again thoroughly satisfying to solve. A few new mechanics add novelty to the gameplay, now with each chapter taking place over multiple points in time, alongside a quality-of-life improvement that carries "known information" between chapters. It's a shame that this is the final DLC for the game as I'd take as much as I can get of these scenarios, but I eagerly await whatever Color Gray Games come up with next.

C'est toujours un plaisir de reconstituer une histoire et un déroulé dans sa tête et de les confronter aux outils fournis par le jeu. Il y a toujours des éléments de lore présents ici et là qui enrichissent cet univers.
Il y a une énigme en particulier qui m'a donné beaucoup de fil à retordre et qui paraît assez contre-intuitive, mais globalement, les mécaniques de résolution marchent toujours bien.

J'attends avec impatience de découvrir le prochain jeu que nous proposeront les développeurs.

I love the continued exposition of the base game’s story and the expanded worldbuilding in these three cases, and a handful of charming (and chilling) new characters show up along with a few previously met faces. The deductive mystery doesn’t feel quite as satisfying this time, maybe due to a slightly more convoluted presentation and a couple of notably tenuous bits of evidence, but the previous cases set a very high bar and these are still plenty of fun.

Y con esto se cierra este increíble juego de misterio. Quizás me da un poco de pena la falta de variedad en la tabla de pensamiento pero lo compensa con unos misterios excelentes y una cohesión total con todo el juego que quita el hipo.


Another delightful couple hours. Some of the puzzles were a little janky but the mystery solving remains very fun, & with this in particular I really enjoyed seeing the plot set up in the first DLC come full circle into a full-on mini-prequel.


More Golden Idol. What's not to love?

Definitely a step up from the first dlc. I liked having to learn the ins and outs of the culture. Shame it's too short for any of that to breathe

In line with the other DLC. Sadly I agree with the other users here, there's at least one conclusion that I didn't find that reasonable. Still, I did like the rest and, frankly, it's not the first time I don't fully understand the logic behind some deductions/think they are not reasonable enough.

This second and final entry into the Golden Idol Mysteries saga consistently delighted me in all three new scenarios. Still, the bite-size experience ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth.

The newly introduced daypart mechanic is a standout of this DLC. It's a creative, compelling addition that allows the devs to wring even more intrigue out of each untimely death, with more runway pre and post-mortem to play with. The new setting is visually engaging in the signature Golden Idol art style. Its layout offers clues as to what's really going on in the narrative before you even realize what you're seeing. The new cast of characters is memorable, and each plays nicely off of the returning crew we came to know in the Spider of Lanka.

Overall, this set of mysteries felt easier to solve than the scenarios presented within the base game and Spider of Lanka. This, on its face, is fine—I have no problem with being made to feel smart. The balance of this group of puzzles is what really felt off, though, and that's where The Lemurian Vampire's issues begin.

In my experience, mystery two was significantly trickier to solve than either one or three. The steady increase in difficulty in the base game and consistent challenge of the Spider of Lanka were gone here. Granted, this is a relatively minor criticism, but it's indicative of the carelessness that soured the game in a major way for me.

The most glaring issue that took the shine off the Golden Idol apple for me is that this DLC was released while a catastrophic save function glitch still plagues the Switch version of the game. All progress is wiped whenever a player exits the game on Switch. This led to me (and a cursory Google search indicates many others) spending tedious hours re-clicking hundreds of word bank clues and filling in the puzzles we had already solved just to reclaim our lost progress. I went through this ordeal once already, up to the penultimate puzzle of the base game. Doing it for all base game puzzles plus the Spider of Lanka content would have been a non-starter. Thankfully, at the very least, Color Gray enabled a skip scenario function (activated by pressing minus and Y simultaneously) that allows players to mark mysteries done and move on to a starting spot of their choosing. But I had to dig online to find this. At this point, with two DLCs out on the platform, it's inexcusable that this bug still exists on Switch and that the solve for it isn't made known to the player in-game.

A noticeable number of typos, strange syntax choices, lines that seem unintentionally duplicated, and other textual quirks are also present in The Lemurian Vampire. While distracting, if these were the game's only demerits, I could look past them. But they're not.

I have every confidence that the lessons learned from all the Golden Idol projects so far will empower Color Gray to make The Rise of the Golden Idol a triumphant return to form. Until then, Lemurian Vampire is well worth playing. Just keep your Switch in rest mode.