Part 1: Update I: They're Creepy And They're Kooky...
Update I: They're Creepy And They're Kooky...Alright, let's get this show on the road!
Oddly enough, this game doesn't even have a title screen. It just straight up dumps you on the main menu.
When we start a new game, we get to pick a key that acts as our profile. Not entirely sure why we need this, but what the hell, it doesn't hurt anything. Let's get going with the intro:
Watch the intro video in the first 34 seconds of this trailer. To sum up: An eccentric billionaire with a love for safes hides his will somewhere in his mansion, and because the entire Adams family can't figure the puzzles out, they hire a specialist to find the will.
As a sidenote, I'd totally play a point-and-click-adventure set in the Addams family mansion.
Anyway, one big difference to the first game is that our protagonist has a voice this time around! And yet, he doesn't have a face or name, so he still isn't really defined as a character - as a matter of fact, he doesn't have a real character at all. What he does have, however, is a British accent, and with that, he gives us a bit more exposition before we start the game:
"Let's read this letter of engagement again... 'Dear Sir, we are writing to you for help in the event that our dear, recently deceased uncle, much in keeping with his character, has left us with a final eccentricity. He has hidden his will in his mansion, leaving clues to its whereabouts, a literal paper chase. Given that he had a passion for safes, it is highly probable that he has hidden it in one of them. You were recommended to us for your skill in opening any kind of lock. Thus, we are counting on you to find the will and return it to us as quickly as possible. You may name your price. Signed: Elizabeth Adams, representing the Adams family.' I will have to do justice to my reputation. Let's find that will, the faster the better!
With the story re-iterated, let's jump right into the first room...
Room #01 - The Hall
Three doors - the left one is bolted, the right one is open, and the central one is locked by a keypad:
Nothing special about this one, and no clues either. Seems like we've only got one way to go, so let's make our way through the right door to...
Room #02 - The Small Sitting Room
Our first safe! Let's check that bastard out...
...oh, it's just a key safe. Weak. We'll have to come back to this one.
We then find a letter of sorts lying on the table - almost as if we were supposed to find it!
"Look, a page from Duncan W. Adams' diary... 'June 3rd: Since I'm getting old now I should start preparing my will. I'm still unsure who to name as my beneficiary. I'll just give myself a little more time to reflect.'"
Could we be building up to the twist that there actually isn't a will because he croaked before he could write it? I guess we'll find out when we find it - or don't find it. Anyway, there isn't anything else here, so let's move on to...
Room #03 - The Small Corridor
A bolted door (which is going to become a theme, since this game really loves its linearity as compared to the first game, which only had the elevator as a barrier) and a safe! Time to get crackin'!
Puzzle #01 - The Colored Sphere Safe
"It's certainly a change from my usual safecracking jobs..."
So, we make it to our first puzzle, and it's pretty decent. Essentially, we've got three circles that cross each other, and using the arrow buttons we can turn the circles, moving the spheres on them to the right spots (which are displayed with the colors on the buttons). Basic variant on a basic puzzle to start us off.
One of the possible solutions goes as follows: Red left, green right, green right, red left, blue right, red right, red right, blue right, red left.
With that solved, we get a resistor and a piece of paper bearing the combination 4298. Now what can we possibly do with that combination?
Oh right, enter it on the only keypad we have available.
And that opens up the door to reveal the next room...
Room #04 - The Winter Garden
Entering this room makes our protagonist say the following: "Our dear Mr. Adams doesn't appear to have been poor!"
I thought we had that established the moment we entered the mansion. Anyway, we an spot a key inside the fountain, but apparently we can't step over and just grab it, so we move on through the right door to...
Room #05 - The Museum
One open door, one weird-ass contraption, one safe and one closed door. Let's go from the right...
The closed door simply leads back to the small corridor, because there's no way to get people to open safes if we're not railroading them from one puzzle to the next, right? Anyway, what about that safe?
A variation on a slider puzzle. FUCK. We'll be coming back to that one later. Instead, let's just check out that open door!
Room #06 - The Office
Spiffy. It looks like there's something's on that table...
"Let's have a look at this letter... 'Dear Sir, We confirm receipt of your patent request for a safe locking system. We will keep you informed on your case. National Institute for Industrial Property.'
Pretty weak. If this were the first game, we'd actually see the safe locking system, but here we just get something akin to saying "DWA designed safes", which we already knew. Anyway, we've got a keypad sitting there, let's take a look at this one:
Puzzle #02 - The Jumping Keypad
Another basic puzzle. We've got a button blocked by a bit of glass, and a bunch of buttons with arrows on them. The way to solve the puzzle is to go backwards from the red button to find the first button, then do the entire path the right way, starting with the button in the second row and the third column. Not exactly a mind-bender. And when we hit the red button...
LASER! And can we flip that mirror?
Yes, we can! And that reflects the laser...
...to another mirror! And when we flip that one...
...it hits the globe, which then opens up to reveal a transistor! Quite the elaborate contraption just for one measly piece of mechanics - you could have just built in a small area inside the keypad where the transistor would fall out, you know. Anyway, there's a keypad in this room, but it's a bit off:
Seems broken, but we just so happen to have mechanical parts that look like they fit in!
And fit in they do! However, there's still some pieces to gather before we can get this thing to work. Anyway, that'll be enough for this time. Next time, we'll maybe solve that pseudo-slider safe, but I'll probably avoid it as long as possible and just explore further.