
“Big” moments may be accompanied by a swell in the music, as well. The mysterious environment is backed by wonderful ambient music, which adds a lot to the ominous mood of the game, while not being the least bit distracting. I highly recommend doing this, as it makes spotting some smaller items and collectibles much easier. The lighting is gorgeous, if a little dark, although that can be quickly rectified in the options menu. Through this lens, we see a gloomy castle, scattered with Roman mythological and astrological imagery. Ominous EnvironmentĪs with many other games in this genre, your character stands in a fixed position in each room, meaning that it’s much easier from a design-perspective to create detailed textures that make use of the Switch’s graphical capabilities. These are welcome mechanics in a game where just about everything interactable is either a puzzle, or part of a solution. In the same vein, all reference material and items you acquire will only be accessible in the area that you acquired them in. Once you’ve solved a puzzle, you can no longer “zoom in” on it – making it easy to tell what you no longer need to pay attention to. My favorite ones required you to flip back through the books and notes you’ve encountered, which are all easily accessible from your item menu. Some simply require finding a few gems, while others require you to solve mind-bending tactile puzzles. Puzzle Solutions present themselves in a multitude of ways, and become increasingly more difficult. This option feels clunky compared to touch mode, but makes up for it by providing a slight vibration over intractable areas. This mode feels very smooth to play – if you have a good place to rest your Switch, that is. Now, pixel-hunting is extremely easy when playing this game in handheld mode, which is entirely on the Switch’s touch-screen. And trust me – with so many wild puzzles, and so many (necessary) collectibles out there, you will get stuck. The upside of this is that the cavernous castle never feels empty the downside is that it invites mindless pixel-hunting when you’re stuck. Important switches might be found below or above you. Any unassuming table could house a note with an essential diagram, or a book with a hidden keyword. A Not-So-Simple FixĪs you work your way through the castle’s three main areas, you’ll quickly learn that the key to success is observation. In the end, it all culminates in a moment that makes you, the person who just came to solve a seemingly simple task, unwittingly become a part of a story much bigger than yourself. Collectibles hide throughout the castle, taking the form of things like coins and figurines – and they are all eventually explained through the texts, too. Objects that seemed decorative at first take on a new meaning, and notably, the existence of the mind-bending puzzles at every corner starts to make sense.

Their brevity is appreciated, since it’s important to read all of the notes: most of them contain puzzle hints in addition to lore.Īs you learn more about the characters and their actions, you will begin to notice the meaning of certain details around the castle. The entries are refreshingly short – up to two small pages. The game takes its time in answering these questions, exploring the nuances of each character’s feelings through their own writing found around the castle. As you uncover more notes and journals, you slowly gain answers to the big questions: What exactly was this man researching? What befell this family? One of the first notes you encounter in the game reveals that townsfolk near the castle believe it was once occupied by a man who conducted research there, as well as his sister, niece, and nephew.

From the outset, you learn that this seemingly simple job has scared many off before you, since the castle is believed to be haunted… godspeed! You’re a technician tasked with getting to the bottom of a strange signal that’s begun emanating from an abandoned castle. With three distinct areas and plenty of hidden collectibles throughout, I easily sank over a dozen hours into this game on my long commutes. This game invites players into a mysterious castle where seemingly simple tasks can turn into multi-step monstrosities of puzzles.
#THE EYES OF ARA SECRET ROOM CODE PC#
Fans of classic 3D brain-ticklers like “Myst” and “The Room” will be thrilled to know that the genre is still very much alive through “The Eyes of Ara,” which originated as a PC title before coming to the Switch.
