Shine A Light On The Past: Goetia Out Now
Apparitions and investigations
Goetia [official site] is a point and click adventure game that follows the spirit a deceased teenage girl, risen from the grave and keen to uncover the events that led to the downfall of her family estate. (It's pronounced go-et-eh-ya and not go-ee-sha.) I had a wee bash at Rezzed and really enjoyed it. And it's out now, so you can too. Here's how it looks:
In the guise of a supernatural, glowing orb-type entity, you've returned to earth as Abigail Blackwood and are tasked with exploring the once grandiose but a now a bit run down and spooky Blackwood Manor. Floating through walls in this state is your bread and butter as you explore the Victorian mansion from top to bottom, however the occult appear to have noted your presence. Magical barriers often thwart progress, then, yet oodles of lore related to both the Otherside and your family tree are exposed in the unforeseen detours.
Besides its striking appearance, Goetia forfeits an inventory screen which, although an unusual move for the genre, makes all of its pointing and clicking that bit more streamlined. It's central puzzle mechanic involves transporting real-world items to different locations throughout the house and - as you can't force these objects through walls (darned physics!) - many puzzles require contemplation, logical thinking, and plenty of "aahhhhhhh, right!" moments. During my brief playthrough, I spent a good five minutes or so fumbling around a certain area, before I realised I could send an item downstairs via a dumbwaiter - a la the majority of survival horror games from the late 90s/early 2000s.
Again, my time with the game was short, but it appears developers Sushee have crafted something pretty great in Goetia. A free demo for Windows, Mac, and Linux is still available on Itch, where you can play the game's first hour if you like. Goetia's full release however is out now on Steam, the Humble Store, and the Square Enix Store for £9.99.