I’m going to get right into the heart of the matter here… Order of the Light: The Deathly Artisan CE seems like a pretty cheap imitation of a CE to me.
While it does contain collectibles, a bonus chapter and bonus content, the game content is not worthy of a CE in my opinion. There are some unique elements, such as the rating you receive upon completion of an HOS or mini-game, but they don’t make up for the depth the game lacks.
The graphics seem very shallow, almost one dimensional, and the storyline is rather lackluster. I mean seriously – a deadly artisan? What’s he going to do, stab me with a paintbrush? On the bright side, the voice-overs and animation are decent and the background music isn’t horrendous (but I still turned it down when it got too repetitive).
Order of the Light: The Deathly Artisan follows you on your first assignment as a new detective for the Order of the Light. You’re sent off to the rural village of Smalltown, where ghosts and paranormal activity are driving citizens to the brink of madness.
Upon arrival, you find a suitcase filled with tools provided by the Order to help you in eradicating the poltergeists plaguing the town. The magnifying glass-type ghost catcher they provide you with is nothing like what Venkman used when busting ghosts. It’s rather cheesy but use this magical magnifying glass, and you can suddenly see the ghostly figures and zap them.
The interactive map and integrated strategy guide are also quite useful – I hate running back and forth which there is a lot of in this game. I was also completely stumped a few times and referred to the strategy guide to find my next step. With rigid levels of difficulty, it’s either turn the whole game sparkly or occasionally wonder what’s next. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the hint function – I expect it to gently point me in the right direction rather than flat out tell me my next step. For that, I will just use the strategy guide.
The hidden object scenes throughout Order of the Light: The Deathly Artisan were decent, but certainly not the best I’ve encountered. They are somewhat dark, so certain items are difficult to find or determine what they are supposed to be.
For a unique twist, you earn a 1 – 3 star rating for each completed HOS. Using the hint feature and randomly clicking will lower your star rating. Letting your 2 year old help must also lower the star rating as I never could do better than 1 star. Oh well.
Like the HOS, the mini-games in Order of the Light: The Deathly Artisan also carry the rating feature. I did slightly better here (Ellie was busy repeatedly putting her shoes on), and they were rather simple to complete. I never did find out what a three-star rating took though!
In all, Order of the Light: The Deathly Artisan CE was light on some content I would expect from a collector’s edition. The collectibles were fun, as was the rating system for HOS and mini-games, but to me those weren’t enough to make up for all the features lacking. This game was a little like boxed wine – it will do if it’s the only thing around, but don’t expect too much.