I don’t think it’s any kind of big secret that I love a game with a strong female lead. I especially love it when roles are reversed and that strong female lead is out to rescue the man in her life. So even though I haven’t played the original Sacra Terra game, I read the first sentence of the game synopsis for Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death and started downloading.
Developers, you had me at “Set out to rescue your fiancé.”
In Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death, you play the almost-fiancé of a man who accidentally summons a succubus while waiting for you to return from a phone call. I say “almost” because he was going to propose right before the phone rang. That’s right, this whole thing started because she stopped a romantic dinner to grab a phone call, and he’s got a short attention span and too much curiosity. I was literally shouting at my computer screen, “Come on, he was going to propose! Aw, no dude, don’t pick up the book, it’s GLOWING.” And then it hit me.
Not even five minutes in and I’m invested; I’m hooked. Now that’s some slick storytelling right there.
Anyway, the plot of the game boils down to saving your… let’s just call him your fiancé (the dumb schmuck). So it’s all about saving your fiancé from the evil succubus, and while it does sound a little dry on paper, I found it extremely compelling while I played.
There were touching moments (like finding the guy's jacket and discovering the ring box - it was heart wrenching!) and moments that got me fired up (like the succubus telling you there’s no such thing as romantic love, and guys are only in it for the sexy times). I’m sorry, but a lot of a game, for me anyway, comes down to the bad guy and every time we come across the succubus, I couldn’t help but think one thing: She’s amazing.
The music in Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death also played a big part of setting the tone. I was absolutely blown away by how lovely it was (I especially loved the guitar from the home screen) and, honestly, if I could buy the sound track I most likely would.
Just because I adored Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death doesn’t mean it was without flaws, however. I wasn’t in love with the voice acting, sometimes because it lacked emotion and sometimes because the recording was so poor (This is most notable in the stolen fiancé, who sounds like he’s standing too close to the mic or something. I kept waiting to hear that “pfft” sound when he said words with the letter p).
It’s also the kind of game where a lot of different areas are open at the same time, which I find a bit overwhelming. I mean, look at that map - It’s enormous! And, yes, ok, you can teleport between areas, which is nice, but I can’t imagine keeping that many places straight. It’s giving me anxiety just thinking about it!
Probably the biggest downside, for me anyway, was the hidden object areas, which were lovely to look at (as with everything in this game) but awful to slog through. Areas have 15 items instead of the usual 12 (torturous), and there are only ever eight listed. So you find an item, its name disappears off the list, and then another replaces it.
Ugh, I hated seeing those sparkling areas. In happier news, there weren’t a ton of them, so there’s that, at least. (Side rant: in the scene below a “parrot” is listed, but you’ll notice the only kind of bird is a budgie, better known as a parakeet, which is pretty lame as far as parrots go. Why not give us an African Grey or a macaw or some other amazing parrot? Yes, I know, parakeets are small parrots, but whatever. If you’re going to go for a parrot, go for a parrot!)
I was much happier with the puzzles, which were exactly the right challenge level for me. They weren’t ground breaking or particularly fancy, but I like being able to look at a puzzle and know from the get-go what the point is. I also love being able to solve them, which I could. A word of warning for you serious puzzle lovers: the puzzles I love are probably a bit simple for you, since I am notoriously bad at puzzles.
In any event, I loved them and felt like a champ every time I completed them. I also loved the occasional twist on a classic. For example, the puzzle below was of a classic matching style, but instead of matching identical items, you had to match along a theme. Like a chicken would go with an egg and a spoon with a tea cup. I loved this little twist because it kept me thinking as I unveiled each item, like, “Oh, does this flower go with the sun? No, it’s the bee!” Ah, mental stimulation, how I adore you.
So what’s the take-home message?
Even though Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death had some things that were definitely on my do-not-like list (I’m looking at you, shoddy voice acting, torturous hidden object areas, and occasionally excessive wandering around) it still gets a solid 5/5 in my books. Why? Because the things I loved (the plot, music, beauty, and so on) were so amazingly right for me I can easily overlook the things that weren’t (also understanding the creators are trying to hit a large audience, and the best way to do that is to not cater to any one particular type of player).
I thoroughly enjoyed playing Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death, and I highly recommend you at least give it a try.