Sometimes the best surprises are the ones we don’t see coming.

We’d hoped for another DLC for The Case of the Golden Idol following the brilliant Spider of Lanka, but we couldn’t be sure we’d get one.

Now we have, it might just be the best piece of content Color Gray Games have done yet, base game and all. In fact, it might just be the best DLC we’ve played this year.

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How to Play

Once purchased, the content can be accessed from the main menu and played at any time. Just click the image ‘The Lemurian Vampire’ on the right side of the screen and you can begin from the first scenario, playing through three different mysteries. 

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Set on a remote island, full of mystery, players will uncover the origins of the enigmatic and dangerous Golden Idol, what it is and the true power it wields. But equally how the entire Case of the Golden Idol began in the first place.

Unlike Spider of Lanka however, Color Gray have implemented some new mechanics to keep things fresh and different, such as being able to change the time of day to find new clues, and looking back at your previously uncovered information. See what happened before a murder and the immediate events after. And in some cases the build up to that murder. It adds a layer to your mystery, deepens your connection to the characters and reaffirms the final reveal at the end when you’ve done matching up the right words.

It’s so smart, simple and clever and it enables you to see the same locations at different times, visit new ones and get a full, well-rounded view of your location across the three different cases. These are great implementations that suit the flow of the game brilliantly.

There’s some fun new puzzles and riddles to solve too, like the order of diagrams, who are active participants of the local council, and who is indebted to who. It also adds a surprising amount of context and backstory to the base game that might even inspire a replay so you can understand some motivations and how certain scenarios unfold.

The continuity of the cases keeps this content strong. I was already a fan of The Case of the Golden Idol but the way The Lemurian Vampire is paced, how the story slowly weaves across the three scenarios, each deeply connected to the last, is refreshing. The whole scenario is well presented to the player, with everything clearly laid out and digestible.

Its reveals still hold surprises, and you’ll still find yourself guessing who is orchestrating things, who will be a victim, and how it all unfolds, getting to the point we’re now oh so familiar with.

I definitely got a smile out the references to Monkey Island as you look at the map from the top down, and even through its name. The visuals of this content are the best yet, with some wonderful use of shadow effects, the different lighting depending on the time of day, and the way certain things are organised and arranged.

There’s an interesting cast of characters, and the sub-conversations they have with one another are both enlightening enough for the case but give just enough for life and body outside of it that you’ll slowly make up your own opinions on them.

Everything just comes together wonderfully here, and while the core essence of the game remains unchanged, this DLC offers just enough content to be worthwhile and fulfilling for the cost, it provides an additional layer to the story, and provides a satisfying final conclusion to everything that has come before, connecting up seamlessly.

This is everything I could have wanted for a final DLC. More of what I love, adding something a little bit different to keep it fresh, enhancing the overall quality, while connecting us to the previous content on a deeper level. Simply brilliant.

Verdict

The Lemurian Vampire cleverly adds some new twists to the familiar formula to keep the content fresh, but also presents us with a compelling mystery that ties up loose threads from the previous scenarios and deepens our connection to the wider game and its characters. Everything comes together brilliantly, the narratively is expertly paced, and the puzzles and riddles are just the right level of difficulty. It’s the perfect swansong for a fantastic game.

Pros

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