After being introduced to the work of Jane Jensen trough the Gabriel Knight series, I was very happy to discover that she was still making point-and-click adventures after the genre disappeared from the mainstream.
Similar to those games, Gray Matter features an engaging story with supernatural elements, real-life locations, dual protagonists and chapter progression, meaning that a story chapter ends when all necessary puzzles, talks and observations were made to progress the plot. While the puzzles themselves are well made and have a nice difficulty curve towards the end, this structure may be a bit annoying if you’re kept back by just one detail to continue. Thankfully the map can show you which location you should revisit. When playing as Sam, you also have to solve some puzzles with a magic trick, which fits her character well and is a nice mechanic alongside the usual point-and-click gameplay.
The story is intriguing and well written, and both protagonists, Sam and Dr. Styles, have their own motivations to solve the mystery, as well as different perspectives on it. I can’t say anything about the English voice actors, but fwiw the German ones did their job very well.
The 3D art style - design, models, lighting - is very pretty, the 2D cutscenes do not achieve that same level but aren’t bad either. The soundtrack by Robert Holmes is great as always. It enriches the story’s themes and the locations‘ designs and creates a melancholic, magical or suspenseful atmosphere when necessary.
Gray Matter has all the qualities a great point-and-click adventure and Jane Jensen game should have.
As a slow player and without using a guide, it took me ca. 20h to complete, which also makes it one of the longer games in the genre.
Similar to those games, Gray Matter features an engaging story with supernatural elements, real-life locations, dual protagonists and chapter progression, meaning that a story chapter ends when all necessary puzzles, talks and observations were made to progress the plot. While the puzzles themselves are well made and have a nice difficulty curve towards the end, this structure may be a bit annoying if you’re kept back by just one detail to continue. Thankfully the map can show you which location you should revisit. When playing as Sam, you also have to solve some puzzles with a magic trick, which fits her character well and is a nice mechanic alongside the usual point-and-click gameplay.
The story is intriguing and well written, and both protagonists, Sam and Dr. Styles, have their own motivations to solve the mystery, as well as different perspectives on it. I can’t say anything about the English voice actors, but fwiw the German ones did their job very well.
The 3D art style - design, models, lighting - is very pretty, the 2D cutscenes do not achieve that same level but aren’t bad either. The soundtrack by Robert Holmes is great as always. It enriches the story’s themes and the locations‘ designs and creates a melancholic, magical or suspenseful atmosphere when necessary.
Gray Matter has all the qualities a great point-and-click adventure and Jane Jensen game should have.
As a slow player and without using a guide, it took me ca. 20h to complete, which also makes it one of the longer games in the genre.