Though they never have a direct influence on the puzzles in your path, their existence ties closely into the story notes and pages found throughout the castle, and plays an important role in the game’s lore. Shortly after entering the castle proper, you will encounter several mysteriously sentient orbs of light which flit and zoom from room to room, sometimes perching expectantly on a door or mechanism, silently guiding your progress through the castle and urging you on. Pretty outdoor vistas and gorgeous landscapes typically featured in similar games are rarely found here, save for the opening cinematic.Īnimation is pretty much restricted to moving levers, gears, and other parts of machinery, with one important exception. Elsewhere, the canopy beds, tiled bathrooms, and cozy studies with cluttered desks provide that eerie just-lived-in look to the deserted castle that can stand hairs on end. The floors are adorned with ornate rugs, while bookcases filled with books, suits of armor, and decorative shields still clash against the bare-brick walls of the structure. The realistic graphic depictions of the castle interior work well and are filled with detail.
Before long, though, each path ends in a dead end, so it’s only a matter of trial-and-error to get back on track. Thankfully this is usually very intuitive, though one can certainly get turned around a few times when backtracking large distances. Without a map even for guidance, players must form their own sense of direction within the castle. Navigation similarly occurs via mouse-click once a door is unlocked or a secret passage opened, clicking it will move you directly into the next room, hallway, etc. Clicking on objects and points of interest will let you interact with them, sometimes switching to a close-up view.
#THE EYES OF ARA PUZZLES FULL#
Though the unseen protagonist is locked into static locations, you are given the ability to rotate a full 360-degree circle in each scene, as well as look up and down. The presentation will be immediately familiar to players of Myst-style games. Though the story provides some impetus in its first half, its change in direction and an ending that fails to wrap up its plotline mean that its main purpose is to serve as a backdrop for its fiendish challenges. It centers around the former owner of the castle, the scientist and researcher Professor Sterling, who disappeared mysteriously after a visit by his sister, niece, and nephew. Told through letters and journal pages found around the castle grounds, the plot begins going down a haunted house path, but soon abandons this premise in favor of something a little more sci-fi. Players take on the role of the technician dispatched to the location to find and silence the source of the signals.
The story starts with a strange radio static interference signal being reported, issuing from a great abandoned castle. Though its technology clearly places it in contemporary times, the game manages to achieve a bit of timelessness due to an extreme sense of pervasive isolation. Although sprinkled with some frustration, it offers immense satisfaction as it puts players through their paces with its wickedly difficult puzzles, particularly in its final stages. The Kickstarter-funded game takes the familiar Myst formula yet manages to stand on its own legs as a distinct experience. The latest in that long list is 100 Stones Interactive’s The Eyes of Ara.
Many imitators have come and gone since then, some more impressive than others. This certainly applies to Cyan’s best-selling adventure Myst, which has become a household name since its debut more than two decades ago.
What became of the people who lived there? How did the signal come to be? Who is the castle trying to contact? The only way to answer these questions is to locate all the secrets and reach the signal’s source.Part of achieving iconic status is that there is no shortage of followers looking to replicate your success even well after the fact. Track down clues and hunt for hidden collectibles to reveal the forgotten history of the castle and its former residents. Explore the intricately crafted and sometimes whimsical rooms of the enormous gothic structure, manipulate the environment to solve perplexing puzzles, and unlock new areas while searching for the source of the strange transmission. “When an inexplicable radio transmission begins emanating from an old castle, a lone radio technician is sent to discover the source. The premise of The Eyes of Ara is as follows:
#THE EYES OF ARA PUZZLES PC#
One-man Australian indie developer Ben Droste and his studio 100 Stones Interactive released a well-received puzzle adventure for PC and Mac back in mid-2016 called The Eyes of Ara, and today he’s announced that the game will be arriving on iOS next month.
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