Escape From Crimson Manor Ep.2

This game, and the prequel both deserve much higher ratings than they both received. The controls being opposite of what we are normally used to with games like these seem to be the only reason for the poor reviews and lower star ratings. The game itself is beautiful, the puzzles are amazing, the hints are helpful, it’s not too short, and the storyline isn’t over complicated. I hope this developer makes more games like this is the near future.

I don’t mind if you can tell the copy was written by a non-native English speaker (or translated) but the text was so bizarre sometimes I hoped it was part of the puzzle (spoiler: nope). There were also spelling errors and things that seemed sloppy like getting a character’s name totally wrong in a hint. What bugged me most is that off of each kid’s room is a bathroom and closet, but based on where the doors are located the bathrooms would have to occupy the same physical space as the other child’s bedroom. There isn’t a magical element here so it’s not like it’s on purpose, again just sloppy. I also accidentally solved some puzzles ahead of where they fall in the game due to either good logical guessing or only a few possible solutions so it was a bit confusing what to do next at times. Also doesn’t further the story a whole lot from part 1, just brings the family into it and leaves on another cliffhanger (with no part 3 as of March ‘25).

I just found these games & I like them. My only complaint is for both Episode 1 & 2, that the visuals are too dark. Some of the puzzles are hard to read & could just use a contrasting color. Even with the brightness turned all the way up, I’m still having a really hard time seeing some of the puzzles. For example: the circle puzzles, I actually have to take a picture with my phone so I can zoom in & see the positions of the rings.