INTRO:
The previous entries in the Blackwell series were not exemplars of good game designs. The earliest entries have very obvious signs that they are of low-budget production borne from basic experience. The later entries have better production quality, but have more glitches too, especially in the scripting for voice-overs.
The last entry of the series is its best though, and also the biggest of them.
PREMISE:
From the end of Deception to the beginning of Epiphany, Rosa has gained a contact in the NYPD. She irregularly works for him as an unofficial consultant, investigating things that they could not so readily. Joey, as ever, remains a steadfast partner.
By this time, Rosa already has a few years of experience seeking ghosts and sending them off; she also has much better control over her visits to the “void”, which is the spiritual reflection of the universe. Things seem like they could settle into a normal way of life.
However, the case that happens in the tutorial scene has an unexpected ending; two men appeared, and one of them shot the other. The ghost of the dead man rises, and rambles about things that strongly suggest that he knows who Rosa is and what she does. Then, his ghost is ripped apart in an ugly manner.
Although Rosa and Joey have seen at least one ghost going out in an abnormal way (namely the antagonist of the previous entry), this incident terrified them, especially considering that it did not happen in the void. The ghost is also screaming about something that is attacking him, which very much imply that there is an adversary with considerable power that can be applied remotely.
Thus, the protagonists have another major quest to undertake – though this time that it would be their last one.
MANY LOCALES WITHIN THE SAME CITY:
For better or worse, there are many locales in this entry of the series; this is the result of the game being considered as the last hurrah for the series, with Gilbert pouring the most effort into this entry compared to the others.
That said, since this game is set in New York too, this also means that the player would be seeing a lot of that city. This might not be pleasing to players who do not want to see so much of a USA city for whatever reason (which may likely be prejudicial). This would be even less pleasing to players who prefer there to be some other places (especially those who like the Broken Sword titles).
Some of the locales that are based on real places might not even be around anymore, considering that New York is a city that sees frequent remodelling.
Still, at this point in the series, there is something commendable about Gilbert being able to set an entire game series in the city alone.
NOT MANY CHANGES TO GAMEPLAY:
Rosa still uses a phone, with the same functions as the one in the previous game. She may install some additional apps, but curiously those apps will not do anything more than provide her (and the player) with clues to proceed. Likewise, Joey’s inventory system has not changed much.
Towards the end of the game, Joey does learn a new ability that is unique to spirit guides like him, though the player should not expect this to matter much in the future. The conclusion to the game makes certain that it would be moot.
CRISP ARTWORK:
Epiphany features the crispest of pixelated artwork in the series. There are eye-catching colour contrasts within the same scene, for example. Indeed, this is due to the lessons and inspirations that Ben Chandler had from working on other Wadjet Eye titles, or from playing those that he did not work on.
Perhaps most importantly, there is more contrast between objects that matter and other things in the same scene. There is also far less pixel-hunting in this game than in Deception.
MORE GRAPHICAL EFFECTS:
Having had stronger grasp of the tools that can be used with and within Adventure Game Studios, Dave Gilbert has implemented visual effects such as the snow that is falling in the outdoors throughout most of the game. There are also the swirling of souls that can be seen in the finale, which would perhaps be an amusing reward for players that had been expecting otherworldly happenings.
SPRITE ANIMATIONS:
Most of the sprite animations are nothing new to those who have played the previous games. However, there are some animations that are quite different from the others, and perhaps entertaining to players who like the prospect of ghosts meeting an ugly demise.
On the other hand, the jaded player can expect the usual visual tricks, like sprites that slide across the screen.
MUSIC:
Thomas Regin is, of course, the composer of the music in this entry, though there are contributions from two other persons for the saxophone and cello instruments in the music. Like the previous games, the most memorable of the soundtracks are the jazz ones. The ones that occur in the main menu screen (and there is actually more than one) are especially stirring.
There are other tracks with different composition of course. For example, there are the foreboding tracks, which are used when the duo go to places that are haunted. On the other hand, the effect of these tracks might not be as potent anymore, due to the player knowing that most of the ghosts that would be encountered are next to harmless.
SOUND EFFECTS:
With a number of years of experience with audio-mixing, Gilbert has gotten a lot better at selecting sound effects. There are the sounds of snow being crunched underfoot, and there are even sounds of footsteps across different floor linings and tiles. The sounds of New York are also more audible than they were in the previous series, such as the sound of cars zooming by.
Of course, there are also the sound assets for the otherworldly occurrences. They still sound as cheesy as they were in the previous games, such as the hum whenever ghosts move through doors and walls. Fortunately, the finale of the game – which has the most otherworldly happenings – does not have too many of those sound effects. This is just as well, because the voice-overs that happen in the finale are more significant than the other sounds.
VOICE-OVERS:
Speaking of voice-overs, this entry has the most voiced lines. It has the most characters, after all, and there are many questions that would be asked and answered about the plot and backstory of the series. (Of course, not every question is answered; Gilbert has learned his lesson about avoiding info-dumps and keeping things for later games.)
The voice-overs in this entry are just as well-delivered as those in the previous games. Gilbert’s list of contacts has grown considerably, such that it is rare for a voice-actor/actress to voice more than two characters. Moreover, he has generated enough goodwill such that even people that have moved on from voice-over work, such as Dani Marco, returned to provide some lines.
One notable difference that this entry has compared to previous entries is that there are conversations between characters that can happen without the player initiating them. This was mostly intended to make the NPCs more believable as persons, though some of these occur in between Rosa and Joey too.
The problem though is that control inputs that skip lines also apply to these. Thus, if the player wants to listen to them, the player has to stop moving Rosa or Joey around and listen to the conversations.
AUDIO QUALITY FOR VOICE-OVERS STILL NOT GREAT:
Unfortunately, the perennial problem of the series – and perhaps other Wadjet Eye titles too – is that the audio quality of the voice-overs is not consistent.
For example, a ghost may have the reverb that is often associated with ghosts talking for some lines. However, for the other lines in the same conversation, they do not have the reverb. This is apparently the consequence of Gilbert changing some scripts just weeks or days before the deadline to release the game.
SUMMARY:
Epiphany is much larger than the previous entries, mainly because it is used to tie up loose ends and answer certain important questions that the previous games did not address. This results in a game that can seem bloated (especially to players that have less patience). However, commentary from Gilbert reveals that this very large game has had its content revised in many places, cutting out a lot of fat that is indeed unneeded. Perhaps most interestingly, Gilbert has designed a finale that is intended to go against the jaded player’s expectations.
Epiphany shows that Wadjet Eye – and Dave Gilbert – has come quite a long way. It may not have reached the level of success that contemporaries like Daedalic Entertainment has, but it is another pleasant example of indie developers succeeding by learning and implementing hard-earned lessons in game design.