Keepsake

Keepsake is one of those games that try to follow a classical line drawn by dozens of titles before. But this is commendable and not something to blame it for. This is a quest for all intended purposes and doesn't stray from this path not even for one minute. You will find it to be similar with another very well known and successful game, Siberia, but... you will get the constant feeling that is not yet completed.

I'll start by saying that this is not an ordinary game and it has its flaws here and there. April, the character you're "possessing" has been accepted at a very famous magic school (something like Harry Potter). She gets on her way with the hope of becoming a great magician and also to meet an old friend, whom she hasn't seen in eight years.

Suffice to say that things don't go exactly as planned and at the time of her arrival the Dragonvale Academy is deserted like no one has ever been there. The only living beings are a merchant with a voice that doesn't really help him in his business (I think it's safe to say that he probably has the most annoying voice I have ever heard in a computer game) and a dog that claims to be actually a dragon that has been transformed by magic and who is afraid of heights and dark places.

Your only task from now on is to find the others and figure out what exactly happened at the famous Dragonvale Academy (and the dragon-dog of course).

The gameplay is exactly like you would expect and this again is not a bad thing. The control is simply point and click. The only discernible different thing I can point out is the sheer size of the world. Personally I got used to linear gameplay that took me from one part to another of the game in a sort of logical way. Keepsake feeds you tons of locations where you can go and solve different puzzles that take you deeper down the rabbit whole.

Which take us to the puzzle section. I always thought that you have to be a little deranged (in a good way obviously) to conceive mind boggling problems. Some of them can be resolved with extremely simple solutions, others with the help of a little logic and the most interesting ones with a Myst approach.

It won't burn your synapses but you are not going to find any big giant red buttons. This average difficulty is actually a strong point because the frustration of searching the puzzle and solving it is not so accentuated.

The defining characteristic of Keepsake is its seemingly open world. Unlike other quests where the puzzle comes in a logical and always obvious succession, this game tries to introduce a certain liberty. You will soon find that Dragonvale Academy is rather large and filled with puzzles and you have access to most of them, making you think you have a real choice in selecting the course of action. It maybe only an illusion but is more than welcomed.

Two things have bothered me: the sub par graphics and the entire sound chapter. The background is already pre-rendered like in many other games, but behind this scene there are supposed to be mountains and forests. I have deduced this from poor "jpg" images that were slapped in a big hurry in the launch hour by the janitor who had access to a computer when no one was watching; and I will stop here before any more damage is done.

I heard the US version will be further developed until its launch. If so, please do something about the backgrounds because it's a freaking cement block that's dragging down an otherwise very interesting game. Another point where Keepsake doesn't excel is the sound or to be more precise, the voices. They aren't that terrible but they aren't that great. They have no soul and the actors, if they were actors, will not be nominated any time soon for some awards.

And now the conclusion: Keepsake is without any doubt a good game. It may have its flaws (some related to a rogue janitor), but I'm waiting with great interest for the US version, which I hope will feature an enhanced content and corrected problems. Titles like this stir in you a subtle emotion of unknown and the magic of discovery. Only for this and it's worth playing.