The Crimson Diamond Reviews

Love it. Great game with flexible interface. It may take about an hour to warm up to the UI but once you are, the story takes on. Really miss the type of games that makes you think. And yes, you can miss items or events, but it is not too bad (or to reach a dead end scenario).

I really enjoyed playing this game! It brought back all those fond memories of playing Sierra games, but with a new mystery to get immersed into.

I grew up on Sierra style adventure games and played a lot of old 'Quest' games. Heck it's where my handle came from. Really enjoyed this. Felt it was maybe a little TOO hand-holdy in the first few chapters but really opened up more near the end. I can't say how it feels for a new adventure game fan, but as a vet it really hit the spot.

It's just awesome to see an EGA-palette, text-parser adventure game being released in 2024. The art is so incredibly gorgeous and lovingly crafted. The story and characters are top notch. And while the gameplay is certainly late-80s-inspired, it is not nearly as punishing as those old games could often be. The puzzles strike a nice balance of being easy enough to solve while still making the player feel clever for solving them. I did get stuck a few times, but the included hint guide helped me avoid any frustration. In an era of a lot of cookie-cutter game releases, this one stands out as something truly unique and special. Highly recommended!

Best game I have played in many years, easily up there with the best adventure games Sierra ever produced. Frankly it is a better game than the Colonel's Bequest, which clearly inspired it. Clear, logical, nontrivial puzzles (I did not find that I ever needed to look at the hint book), great mystery & detective stuff, very good atmosphere, very well-paced, exciting to play. Engages with real facts about the world, historical facts and geological and mineralogical facts, instead of having a contrived "gameplay loop" like many games have. Feels like a retreat TO the world, rather than a retreat FROM it. This is the rare kind of game that seems like it leaves you a bit richer after playing it.

Awesome game. Charm-tastic music, adorable DOS-throwback art. A true tincture of sweet sweet Laura Bow nostalgia. Loved every suspenseful minute of it. Cant wait for the more gruesome sequel ; J

Really great game. I'm not usually a fan of text parsers, but this one really drew me in. The writing and story were great, and grounded in real Canadian history and science. There was a lot of optional content, and opportunity to explore and do as much or as little as you like. The game often gave nudges on what was important or what to do next, and the notepad system was great. Beautiful pixel art.

A well-realized adventure game throwback, even if it share a few pitfalls of the genre.

A text parser murder mystery heavily inspired by The Colonel's Bequest, made almost entirely by a single developer. I wasn't around to play these sorts of graphical parser games when they were still in fashion, but I've got immense nostalgia for the point and click adventure that followed after, and deep love for the pure-text interactive fiction which came before. So finally playing something from this awkward evolutionary midpoint was a real treat. I had a blast ransacking every inch of this fancy hotel, taking handwritten notes and slowly putting the pieces of the case together. Lovely EGA graphics, too, and a bunch of smart parser and UI features that make the whole thing play smoother than you'd expect!

Emulates the old games perfectly, and in doing so is complicit in their crimes. I respect it! But I'm not any good at it.