Way back in 2012, a few writers here huddled around a 2006 point and click adventure game called The Blackwell Legacy. Available in “Wadjet Eye's The Blackwell Trilogy Remastered” bundle, at the time our team was attempting to focus more on indie games. I grew up on Monkey Island and other point and click adventures so checking out Blackwell seemed like an obvious choice.
Then the most unexpected and delightful thing happened: I fell in love with not only a game and series, but an entire indie publisher in Wadjet Eye. Now thirteen games and thirteen years later, I still pick them all up and am constantly impressed by not only the games themselves, but how Wadjet Eye is able to drag the entire genre forward.
I’m getting a little ahead of myself though, because we’re here to discuss Blackwell Epiphany, the fifth and final game in the series. It’s a fantastic send off to our characters and the best game of 2014.
After relaunching the site a few months ago, it was an easy decision for me to fill in the missing Game of the Year articles since 2012. What was a little tougher was picking my favorite game of 2014, not because I thought there was a massive glut of games worth praising, but actually for the opposite reason. The consensus that year was Dragon Age: Inquisition, a game I fell off of after a few dozen hours. While I enjoyed Shadow of Mordor, Mario Kart 8, and Smash Bros., none of them ignited a passion in me to write. And if I’m not going to passionately write about a video game in my spare time in my 40s for zero money, then what’s the point?
And then I saw it: Blackwell Epiphany! A game I loved in 2014 that had me wondering: damn, that came out that long ago? I had no choice, I had to replay it, which meant I had to replay the whole series. Let’s recap.
The Blackwell Legacy released in 2006, introducing us to Rosangela Blackwell and her family’s legacy: ghost Joey Mallone. Together they’ll solve crimes and send spirits towards the light, but not without a lot of drama and restraining orders. I think what struck me most about this replay was how immediately distinctive Rosangela is as a character, the opening scene has her spreading her aunt’s ashes and then she returns home only to be barred from entry into her apartment by a temporary doorman. Rosa is so shy and introverted even her neighbors don’t recognize her. Overall it’s a solid start to the series.
The followup was quick with Blackwell Unbound releasing in 2007. In an unexpected twist, we’re thrust back in time to play as Rosangela’s aunt, Lauren Blackwell. Our new chain smoking heroine is still saddled with Joey, but we get a glimpse of what a stuck pair comfortable with each other looks like. I love this game so much, one of the main cases involves a musician and it’s such a pleasure to play through. Lauren’s return in Epiphany is an all-time gaming highlight for me.
Blackwell Convergence from 2009 ties the two running threads from Legacy and Unbound together, bringing us back to Rosa and Joey in present day New York City. Would it be cliche of me to comment on how NYC really feels like the third character in these games? Blackwells are chock-full of “normal” places to visit: apartments, building lobbies, city parks, construction areas, and more. Convergence is packed with a mix of both real and made up locations, and I want to visit them all! The Minetta Tavern in particular looks amazing in the game.
By the time we discovered the series, Blackwell Deception had already come out in 2011. Wadjet Eye really doubles down on the lore and ghost trappings, having Rosangela face off against another psychic possibly doing evil things against the city’s vulnerable. Some of it works really well, with Joey even getting a little romance in before the ghost inevitably floats off into the sunset. Rosa also finally gets a mobile phone she can perform searches on, limiting the amount of backtracking to her apartment compared to Convergence.
Finally, we arrive at Blackwell Epiphany. It felt necessary to replay all the previous games just to check my gut if this really was my favorite game of 2014, but the journey was worth it. Booting up the fifth game for the first time in a decade honestly blew me away. While still running at 320x200 resolution, the character and background art from Ben Chandler simply looks incredible; everyone really stepped up their game for this entry, and it feels like while Blackwell was ending, Wadjet Eye was setting themselves up for the future artistically.
The vibes of Epiphany are perfect with a constant snowstorm permeating its New York City atmosphere. Every outdoor scene (of which there are a lot!) has you crunching snow with your earmuffs on. It’s a great showcase of the team’s talent to never have an area feel stale with the same weather across the whole game. It pairs nicely with its score from Thomas Regin, with some amazing saxophone work by Andrzej Rojek.
It was fun seeing Rosangela mature across the series, she’s not brash, but also not shy and demure anymore like in Legacy. Joey continues to keep the laughter going, especially with creator Dave Gilbert’s characteristic fourth-wall breaking humor, but even he recognizes the heaviness of the plot after five games. I commend Dave for ending the series here, as from the game’s commentary he saw an opportunity to split this game into two or even make another sequel. In retrospect it was a fantastic idea since I think he’s grown so much as a game developer since with Unavowed and Old Skies.
When Blackwell Epiphany concludes, it feels like the proper end to our characters’ stories. We’ve been together for five games now: Rosangela, Joey, Lauren, Madeline, Durkin, the Countess, Joe Gould, Joseph Mitchell, the Deacon, and many more in this fantastic little set of tales set in New York City. It could feel like the real thing if it weren’t for the ghost hauntings, but even most of those are just stand-ins for problems people have every day.
Blackwell was almost never about saving the world, it was about a young woman trying to get by in a city where people just need some help sometimes, and a guy who’s having a hard time moving on but is willing to pitch in. Rosangela and Joey were there for the vulnerable, even if they were already ghosts.
It’s why Blackwell Epiphany is my favorite game of 2014, the best games don’t just get stuck in your head, they get stuck in your soul.
