Dracula Origin

I liked this better than the other Dracula series of games. Much more playable and stylish. Pity they didn't make more.

none of the puzzles in the game were too hard, but in some places a hint would have been nice, like "the lantern doesn´t fit through the bars" on the graveyard instead of a generic message like "i am in need of something". the biggest problem of the game is, that sometimes you need to trigger an event/action, otherwise you can´t progress, even if it makes no sense. for example there is a safe in the game, where you can already enter the right combination, but it doesn´t open, until van helsing has written down the combination in his notebook. i didn´t even know, you could do that and just wrote it down on paper. without a youtube video the game would have ended for me there, because even in a text walkthrough, it wasn´t mentioned, that you have to make van helsing write down the combination for the safe to open.

Story of this game is kind of dumb and related to Bram Stoker's Dracula mostly only in character names and locations, and is more reminiscent of a mystical ancient cult spanning continents feel of countless other adventure games than of a classic vampire tale. Props for a positive portrayal of Christians (it's such a rarity nowadays that it stood out for me). Music is pretty terrible in a way that there is probably only one track per location (don't quote me on this, but I counted three tracks total!) and it's on a constant loop, and it gets old quickly hearing the same looping track over and over again. For me puzzles were the best part of the game and while some of them were challenging, all of them felt logical and solvable with information provided. 3/5

Dracula Origin seems like a game made to capitalize on name recognition, rather than introduce anything new to the vampire genre. Right from the start we learn that the plot to this game is the plot to the book, only altered just enough to make it subpar. We're also shown visuals that are good enough, but don't seem to quite fit together - as if this game was made from leftover assets, at least in part. Some screens seem throwaway, while others seem incredibly detailed and carefully constructed. Yet half the game seems to take place in Egypt, another quarter in a boring apartment, and the last quarter seems to actually have something to do with Dracula, so I'm not sure if this is a cash grab or a genuine low budget attempt at a Dracula story. Not that it matters, since the plot isn't very good. The game is also mostly on the easy side, since the game's creators tried to fix every flaw they introduced into the gameplay - mainly this being a pixel-hunting collect-a-thon with weird viewing angles that hide large sections of a level. You can press a button and see everything you can interact with, and the intended interaction, making reaching hidden areas of a level easier, and makes collecting items a breeze. You can avoid using it, but it doesn't make the game more enjoyable. The main character also tells you when you "forgot" to do something that will allow you to advance further in the game. He even stops you from leaving a room until you've done everything there is to do there. There are some unintuitive puzzles, but they are either solved with trial and error, hints the character gives, or informed guesswork. The end to the game feels quick and underwhelming, and Dracula isn't really felt for most of it. His presence is best felt by reading the text you collect during the game. The Egypt portion of the game seems the most interesting. Horrendous dialogue and awkward line delivery make this into a laugh out loud comedy,which is both good and bad.Worth a watch.