Wednesday, 12th June 2013

Legacy Of Time
Game Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time
Released 1998
Developer Presto Studios
Available GOG

Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time is a 1998 Adventure game from the talented Presto Studios. Presto Studios have sadly shut their doors but Tommy Yune (art director) has put a lot of material up at The Journeyman Project Trilogy.

"Legacy of Time" is a point and click adventure with no timed or action sequences. There is a sound puzzle but that can be solved without tone matching. The puzzles range from inventory based to dialogue to finding combinations to open doors. Sometimes inventory items can be used far from where they're found. 360 node views. Strong orchestral music track.

The plot of "Legacy" has you (as hero Gage Blackwood) visiting Shangri-La, Eldorado, and Atlantis in quest of three pieces of an alien artefact to save the Earth in the future. You have a sidekick called Arthur who offers help from time to time. In addition Arthur has some very witty comments to make as you play - the humour may not suit all, but Arthur can be quietened.

There is a lot of great NPC interaction here, well thought through. The three places are living places, not just places for puzzles. The characters have depth, a worldview. You feel for them, knowing they're each doomed to be obliterated soon after you visit them. Adding to the depth of immersion is that (courtesy of your chameleon jumpsuit) you take on the appearance of characters in each time period, and NPCs respond to you differently.

The game feels cinematic, particularly in its impressive cutscenes. These really set the scene and scale of the game, heighten the feeling. The ending cutscene is moving and profound. From start to finish well written and well produced - one of the few games I can replay and replay.