Play it on: Switch, Windows (Steam Deck: OK)
Buy it from: Humble Bundle
Current goal: Continue pursuing a demon across New York City
Like a lot of folks, I was a point-and-click adventure nut in the late ‘80s and much of the ‘90s, as Lucasfilm/LucasArts produced a pretty steady stream of genre masterpieces. And though point-and-clicks no longer get the mainstream attention they once did, for nearly 20 years now, Wadjet Eye Games has carried on as one of the genre’s standard bearers, making well-crafted new adventures that have earned the studio a loyal following of genre enthusiasts. I confess, however, that despite the fact that I count many point-and-clicks among my all-time favorite and most formative gaming experiences, I’ve rarely made time for such games in the 21st century. That may be changing now, as a friend has gifted me Wadjet Eye’s fascinating 2018 game Unavowed, and I find myself playing a little more of it each night.
Unavowed is a gripping tale about a secret society of mages and other arcane agents operating in modern-day New York City, where they work in the shadows to protect its people from demons and other threats from beyond the veil. You play as someone recently possessed by a demon, who spent a year wreaking violent havoc across the city while it occupied your body. Recently freed from its grasp by members of the Unavowed, you’re working with them to find out just what it did while it had you under its thrall and what its plans are now that it has escaped.
As with so many of the best adventure games, what’s really captivating me about Unavowed is its setting, story, and characters, all of whom are terrifically voice-acted. Though the story is full of jinns and fire mages and demons, it also feels authentically New York, making great use of real-world neighborhoods and actual landmarks, and its characters have rich histories that make getting to know them a little better each night as I curl up to play on my Steam Deck before bed a treat. Point-and-click adventures may not be the mainstream blockbusters they once were, but the genre is still as capable as ever of pulling us in with memorable writing, characters, and atmosphere. It’s good to be reminded of that. — Carolyn Petit