MazM: Jekyll and Hyde Reviews

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this game, but I'll mark it as recommended as to not harm its overall rating. I bought this game half off, and 100%'d the game in around 7 hours. I've heard people say that the pacing is strange or bad, and that's because the game follows the book's events almost to the letter. If you've read the book recently, this game may seem tedious or annoying with its mobile game minigames at times. I can't really recommend the gameplay, I feel as if this would have done better as a visual novel, because here's the selling point (and why I bought the game)- The artwork is downright *gorgeous*. The constant walking back and forth with no other real substance can get old fast, but the visuals sometimes make up for it. The sound effects are free/stock and I'm fairly sure the music is as well, though the music isn't unpleasant. The Jeopardy sound effect always makes me laugh whenever it comes up. Overall? It's up to you. If you'd rather buy a video game than a book, this is a fairly decent way to enjoy the original story of Jekyll & Hyde, though you'll still be doing lots of reading. I'd recommend getting it on sale however, as I don't know if I'd have paid the full 20 dollars if I knew how the game progressed. EDIT: The music isn't stock, the team seemed to work on it themselves, which I think is pleasant. The game does also classify itself as a visual novel, but I feel it might have done better without the 'freeroam' aspects - Walking back and forth felt tedious after a while. Also, I discovered this is usually a free mobile game, you're just paying to enjoy the game in better visual quality + Getting all of the illustrations, which you'd usually have locked behind micro transactions.

The MazM version of this brilliant Gothic story is a wonderful adaptation that not only remains faithful to the original story but also enhances certain aspects, offering in my opinion a better experience of the story. The reasons to play this game are: 1) Artwork: To adapt a novel into a video game, one has to acknowledge the fact that the latter medium demands a wider attention to the visual and less to the imagination. The developers have created an art style in order to provide a visual aspect. The art is purely amazing that mixes the chibi art form (where the characters appear smaller) and the more detailed one during conversations. The latter is crucial to understand the tragedy of Jekyll and the madness of Hyde as it presents the extremes of the two personalities during the progress of the story. This artwork closes the distance between the reader/gamer and the story therefore it is safe to state that the art had a big impact on me during the game. 2) Story: The developers present the story in a manner in which the content remains the same but the narratology differs considerately. In the novel, the plot scenes that are introduced by different characters than Utterson take on the role of the narrator and present us these scenes. In this game we do not only act as a reader but also as a witness with the effect that we approach the given knowledge on a closer level. The characters receive a more in-depth description through a slower process that allow us to better empathize with them and comprehend them. In this way we really understand how Robert Louis Stevenson tries to create an addition to the Gothic genre as the second novel that studies the mad scientist archetype. The fact that Jekyll has received an epiphany and tries to explore forbidden knowledge through experimentation, allows him to enter the domain of madness and he realizes too late what kind of rabbit hole he has fallen in. The application of science on every matter of nature creates a feeling of perversion in which some knowledge can only be attained through madness. The representation of the duality between Jekyll and Hyde in this game tries to not only establish a good vs evil fight but also the conflict between opposite forces that create dissonance on the whole of the human mind if balance is not maintained. This would imply that the reason why Jekyll has another apparition when entering his second nature is because the unbalance is too big to properly contain the two personalities in one mind. 3) Universe: A particularity about this game is that it allows us to explore the Victorian era through bits of knowledge scattered in multiple conversations. This is a great addition since the story has for us a historic dimension that could not have been perceived in the same way in its time. The developers not only try to present a closer inspection of the themes but also try to include a social-political interpretation of the story wherein Dr Jekyll’s frustration and despair originate from his social status and the strict rules that are applied to the higher classes. 4) Sound: A last point in which I do not have much to say but wish to express the role it plays is the sound and the music. The audible part plays a crucial role that really uplifts the atmosphere and grows closer to a crescendo the further the story advances. I have not pointed the gameplay out and the main reason is that the gameplay is not the most enjoyable part. I only really enjoyed the fact that we could navigate and find extra information on Victorian society. While it certainly is not a bad gameplay it is not one of the main reasons to buy this game. But it should be noted that because of the gameplay, this game is not really a visual novel or at least one with more gameplay. My conclusion is that this game is a fantastical adaptation that retells the story with a better style than the original and highlights certain elements that Robert Louis Stevenson has not exploited well enough to really expose the brilliantness that his mind could offer us. If you are a book lover then I would recommend it to you to buy this game for the sake of better comprehending the original one. If you are not a book lover then I would still recommend it to you if you wish to acquaint yourself with a classic work or a great story. I would only not recommend it to gamers who are only interested in games with an elaborate gameplay.

since first reading the original novella and listening to the musical and then subsequently becoming obsessed with this strange 100+ year old story, I've been on a mission to read/watch/play every and any Jekyll and Hyde adaptation I could get my hands on. this was one of my last stops, surprisingly. first off, absolutely LOVE the visuals; the art style is just *chefs kiss*. the character designs? amazing. it fits their personalities so well, and i have to say i do appreciate them going with the "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty" description of Jekyll from the book rather than the younger, more eccentric designs a lot of the other adaptions use. story-wise, MazM already has a leg up on other adaptations, since they hardly ever actually follow the source material. the story is pretty much entirely accurate to the book, with teeny tiny narrative changes that you encounter when talking to the various citizens scattered around the city. i do enjoy that though, since for me personally, I always felt as if the other stories made it seem like the focal characters were the only ones in the universe, and having background characters speak of and about things the characters did/do offscreen and seeing their impact in this world helps immerse me more. i dont know if that's important to anyone else, but it's a personal positive of mine. overall, pretty solid game! i really really enjoyed it & do recommend to anyone who's a fan of Jekyll and Hyde, gothic literature, or just visual novel-type games in general! only tiny nitpick i have is that i wish you could use the arrow keys to control the character, but given that this was originally developed as a mobile game, it's completely forgivable :) tl;dr great game, stunning visuals, accurate to the original story. recommended to fellow J&H/ gothlit enthusiasts like myself, or just fans of visual novel type games

So so good! It is based on the novel 'the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' and it did a great job at capturing the story. The artwork throughout is incredible. Not too hard either, there is a few memory games and figuring it out codes with clues but I found that I could do them pretty easily unlike some other games.

So... as a point and click game, it's fine; as an adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, it's kinda weird. The main story of Dr. Jekyll remains the same but other characters changed dramatically and I can't see the point of the change, so I'd say it's an unsuccessful adaptation. The small bits of knowledge about British culture scattered around the game are fairly interesting, though. I had a nice time talking to every possible character in the game. I could see the effort so I would still recommend it. But buy it only when it's on a discount.

As someone who's still fairly new to the Jekyll and Hyde fandom, and MazM games in general I can positively say: This game as an absolute DELIGHT and a must-play. The art style is beautiful and pleasant to look at, the music perfectly fits to every situation and the game captured my interest and curiosity from the very first moment and kept it up to the very last second. And giving Hyde an actual laugh when there's no proper voice acting in the game? Genius. It really helps getting a better idea of his character as a whole. I'm in love with this game and I can only recommend giving it a try - it's worth the time and money.

I got this game on a whim and I was not disappointed! I have read the book before and this was a very good adaptation. I would reccomend this game to people who have read the book, love gothic literature, and/or love a casual game with enough suspense to keep you entertained!

I first remember playing this game back when it was only available as a mobile title. Unfortunately at the time I was a kid with no money and as such had to play the slow way waiting to progress even a little bit. After seeing the game had been ported to steam along with another title by them (can't wait to play that one soon as well) I knew I had to pick up the game. Despite never having read the story that is Jekyll and Hyde before the game set out all the pieces to hint at what was going on but didn't reveal it explicitly till the end. After experiencing the story in this graphic narrative form I'll definitely be reading the original piece it was based on. There are a few instances where the point and click nature of this game takes away from the immersion I was in that presented itself in the form of two tailing sequences. You have to follow a character in a set time limit and not get too close to moving npcs or it resets the sequence. Other than this however the immersion was fantastic and the point and click aesthetic fit well. The game is rather short I will admit, but had it been any longer the game would've felt bogged down by inconsequential events. This serves as a way to experience the original tale through the main plot points and still hold true to the bigger picture that the original novel explored as well. (At least I hope based on the understanding I hold of the book despite never having managed to finish it to date....probably cause I was trying to understand the story at like 11 years old and forgot about it until now) Overall, definitely recommend this title to other mystery, point and click, and visual novel fans. I can't wait to see how this group tackled the retelling of phantom of the opera next!

"Man is not truly one, but truly two." A story-oriented adventure that captures the essence of the original through gaming. If you're feeling too lazy to read the original or if you're looking to have more fun, this might be a suitable option.

I came across this game on Play Store. I ran it on the phone and was easily captivated by the plot twist, graphics and sounds. I made sure to check out the devs' accounts and was surprised to learn that in the next few days the game was going to be released on Steam. So I bought it here right on the release date and never regretted it. The story is based on Stevenson’s mystery novel ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. Most of the time you play as a lawyer and investigate a case in the 19th century London. In the meantime, you are free to walk around the city, talk to strangers, drink tea, travel back in time and see the story through the eyes of different characters. The graphics are cute and yet gloomy. The sounds are simple and yet make a good addition to the atmosphere. The soundtrack is just beautiful. The game mechanics were transferred from the mobile version, so you have to click the mouse as you'd tap on the phone screen. [u]What makes this game unique is that it's made with love[/u]. There's a pretty tiny team behind it but their work added up to a beautiful piece. I found no bugs and enjoyed every part of the game. Highly recommended!