The Rise Of The Golden Idol Review - The Memory Remains

My first inclination is to figure out who everyone is, from the inmates lined up outside to the prison guards inspecting the now-empty cells. Some first names are uttered in dialogue or scribbled on the side of the cell block in graffiti. Surnames can be found in formal letters and employee logs. Now it's a matter of putting names to faces, repeating conversations I've already had or looking through my notes to see who's talking to or about who, perusing an obscured note in the boss's office, and rummaging through all of the inmate's belongings. Once I know who everyone is and in which cell each prisoner resides, I just have to figure out how one of them masterminded a daring escape.

Much like its predecessor, The Rise of the Golden Idol presents you with what is essentially a diorama of a moment in time--typically taken at the precise second, or in the immediate aftermath, of a crime. It's up to you to deduce what exactly happened by pointing and clicking through all of the available evidence to figure out--among other things--who was involved, which items are incriminating, and what the exact sequence of events was. Whereas 2022's The Case of the Golden Idol revolved around a slew of murders related to the eponymous Idol, the kill count in this sequel is decidedly lower. There are still more than a few dead bodies amongst its 20 cases, but you're also tasked with unraveling the events behind prison escapes, experimental lab tests, and the backstage chaos of a talent show gone awry.

Rise of the Golden Idol picks up 200 years after the events of the first game, as the grisly history of the Golden Idol follows the artifact from the 18th century to the semi-modern setting of the 1970s. Once again, you're cast as an observer of these strange cases; an omnipresent force given license to freely explore each tableau at your own pace, burrowing into people's pockets, opening any door, and using logic to piece together the lurid events of its interconnected story.

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