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.

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.

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.

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.

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.