The Rise of the Golden Idol

An absolute masterpiece. I learned my lesson with the last game and gritted my way through the entire game + DLCs, without resorting to hints or guides, and that was an incredibly good decision. It's just such a beautiful and elegantly designed work of art. Half of the joy comes from solving the puzzles themselves, and the other half comes from noticing the raw craft and intelligence of the designers in arranging the red herrings, the clues, the word banks, et cetera, in such a precise and just-so-elegant way. It's not as difficult as the first game and its DLCs, but it's just as satisfying. My rankings: Main Story > Curse of the Last Reaper > The Lemurian Phoenix > Age of Restraint > Sins of New Wells. Without a doubt it's the Game of the Decade for narrative/puzzle games. This is up there with the greats, in the Disco Elysium/Outer Wilds bracket.

A genuine blast and big improvement over the already great Case of the Golden Idol (more fun and polished art, better UI and UX that gets less in the way of the art and makes the process of solving the puzzles faster and more convenient, and stronger writing that emphasizes characters even more). It's an absolute joy to piece together seemingly unrelated events throughout multiple points in history and slowly gain an understanding. The puzzles are varied, and entirely solvable - even if occasionally they might seem overwhelming at first. And if you're ever stuck, the hints in the game work well. Great game to play with a partner, too! PS: The "Detective Pass" DLC is an essential purchase alongside the main game - not that it doesn't stand alone well or get a proper resolution to its story, because it does! - but it just expands the world of the game wonderfully and adds so many more delightful brainteasers.

I adore this game, but strongly prefer the original. This story feels deeply unnecessary, changes the lore arbitrarily, and ends confusingly. Worst of all, there isn't enough murder.