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I finished the game. Some more of the same puzzles, some more pixel hunting. I got stuck once to the puzzle with the symbols but i knew what to do just thought that the order wasnt improtant so i had to look for help. Last part was fun, although in the end it took me some time to understand what to do.

I m not that satisfied with the ending. I think we dont get that much explanation of what happened but more of that when the rest finish the game.

Sorry guys, grueling hours at my real life job set me back. I’ll be posting about ch.4 tomorrow, and will catch up with you on ch. 5 & 6 by the weekend.

Before going on to playing the final chapter I thought I’d report on my experience of chapter 5 but responding to some of the posts so far first:

Veovis - 16 April 2023 05:40 AM

………Ashbury should be a more correct and “natural” name of the asylum? English is not my first language, but “Ashburry” just felt wrong somehow.

Intense Degree - 18 April 2023 03:34 PM

I’ve no issues with Warmhill, though. Why would that not sound like an English village?

I can see that Ashburry doesn’t work as a place name as the suffix ‘bury’ “derives from the Anglo -Saxon “burh” meaning a fort or fortified place” but in the game it seems to only apply to the title of the name of the sanitarium/sanatorium which lends a little leeway to the origin of the title I thought?.....

From what I can tell there’s seems to be little difference between what the meaning of the terms sanatorium & sanitorium came to be but whatever, the terminology definitely wasn’t used in 1981!

As for Warmhill, having come across many weird & wonderful names in rural e.g. Kent, for me it’s a name that’s very cosy but can see why perhaps it might not work for some….my suggestion would be that it’s possibly derived from War Hill?

Okay onto the game. Chapter 5 seemed to flow along but there was a noticeable absence, I thought, of puzzles (not that it mattered to me as the game progressed regardless albeit a little pixel hunting was required!)

There are 3 murders: Robert, James & Dr Hermann. Samuel, it seems killed Robert as said by James & also Dr Hermann so did James commit suicide & why didn’t he try to escape his cell again?
It’s become apparent that there are other forces at work Samuel’s not in his right mind & it was blatantly obvious he was guilty of murder but who was responsible for William’s death or was that another ‘force’ via the curse as with James instigating suicide?....... so onward to Chapter 6! 

Ok, game finished. I think chapter 5 started out weak, with the game more or less taking the player’s hand, leading them around the map in order to further the story on a scripted path. But it got a lot better a bit into the chapter. I did have some pixel-hunting problems, it took me a long time to discover the valve on the furnace at Ashburry and to locate the screw to fix the garden tool. Other than that things were pretty straightforward. Some fun and clever puzzles in this chapter. Also found the last chapter to be a lot better than I remembered. It’s probably ten+ years since I last played it so I didn’t remember much in terms of puzzles and their solutions, but I seemed to remember not liking the last part of the game as much as the rest of the game.

I did remember the “twist” towards the end of course. The problem with the game, as much as I like many aspects of it, is that quite a few questions are left unanswered when the credits roll. For example, the whole Samuel as the murderer bit just doesn’t make much sense. He kills people in the most brutal and bloody way, gets home to the castle and goes to bed while still under the control of the curse and then wakes up the next morning without a single trace of the crimes on him or his clothes? I just don’t buy it. And how could Samuel have killed William before even arriving at the castle? That was the first murder, with the first symbol left beside the body, but we get no explanation as to how Samuel could have committed that murder.

Some problems with the writing (and probably translation) aside, I really like this game. It’s a solid 4/5 star game in my book and I think it’s a minor classic of that particular era of adventure gaming. Great atmosphere and graphics. An intriguing mystery with supernatural components. Mostly good puzzles. It was really fun revisiting this game!

Thanks for leading the playthrough Intense Degree!

Hi! Brief thoughts on Ch.4:
I liked the story progression but not necessarily the way it was handled – the scene with Ralph, for example, was cringy, I agree with Veovis here. I also liked the visuals of the dark hallways and beautiful fixtures of Ashburry, (and I appreciate that they didn’t cross into cheap creepiness like in dozens of horror games, since the game is more chilling rather than scary, and it could have turned out silly). We got a good bit of variety when it comes to this element by now - we’ve seen two mansions, town, church, mines, asylum, sewers and more - after being a bit too confined to Black Mirror mansion for the first two chapters, I really enjoy this kaleidoscope of locations that are impressively done.

Puzzles… not quite a fan of them in this chapter, because many felt unintuitive (the wet handkerchief one – like some people mentioned, not only he keeps saying that he can’t reach the thermostat giving impression that he needs to REACH it, as a more specific action, but he also decides to use evidence he went through tampering with the crime scene to obtain. If it wasn’t important – he could have just given it to detective after taking a look at what it was. He wasn’t winning anything by concealing it. Same with “what the hell” vase with a slot in the Asburry, and don’t even start me on electrocuting a human being saying “he should be OK” in a game that isn’t comedy or horror. Samuel becomes quite comfortable with all kinds of criminal behavior to get what he wants).

Mostly, though, I just missed the numerical/logical puzzle kind that was in the previous chapters. What was here wasn’t difficult, but I was really enjoying those, so I would have loved to have a few.

Still like the game though! Overall, it’s a good experience despite its flaws. I’ll be finishing it today.

As far as words – Ashburry bothered me a bit as well, Warmhill – not at all. Another word that grated me was Stonering – which is literally a ring of stones, so I have no idea why not only they made it one word (maybe there’s some historical reason), but they also pronounced it as one word sort of like [stow-neh-ring] (like canyoneering or tampering, “Hi! I went stonering this weekend!”), so I didn’t even understand what it was until I saw it written on the map.

The word “sanatorium” is very much in use in certain Slavic languages and means exactly what TimovieMan said – a place to recoup from a specific ail, usually out in the mountains or forests or seaside. People book vacations there and that’s the word they use even today. It isn’t obscure or retro-fancy, it’s quite literally THE word for places with this kind of goal. Since the game was developed by Czech company – they miiiiight have been aware of it… Or not at all. But yes, sanatorium was used as sanitarium here, for some reason.

Finished the game.
I think ch. 5 particularly abused a “this hotspot has never existed (even though you checked the location) until the developers decided they needed something from you and created one in the old spot” thing they got going. Honestly, the puzzle element is solid here, just really unbalanced. Dial in back-and-forths and pixel hunting and random spot creation by just a bit – and you have a significantly better game on your hands, because quite a few of those were pretty darn good and fun to solve.

I didn’t remember the specifics of the plot, but did remember the ending, and I think I was just a lot more “OK” with it (for the lack of better word) this time around, as in - I understood how it could happen, as opposed to being disappointed when I was younger.

The story is intriguing and dark enough to make everything work, even with inconsistencies. I liked going through it again, and I’m having hard time coming up with a game that covered that true Gothic feel just as good as Black Mirror 1 did. Suggestions welcome.

Separately I’d like to note how beautiful this game is. Lots and lots of love when into art, and I still found certain frames breathtaking. Those were etched in my mind from before and revisiting the locations was a pleasure of its own.

While voice-over is very hit-and-miss, the sound effects are of high quality. I rarely pay attention to stuff like that, but when it’s unusually good – it definitely stands out.

Along with Gothic feel, I’m having a hard time coming up with a game where the main protagonist was this insufferable, and yet I was still invested in trying to help him on his journey. Maybe that’s why I didn’t have any strong feelings in the end

I can totally see how I liked this game back when it came out (extra bonus for making this in 2003 – not the best time for AGs). It’s not perfect by any means, as a matter of fact, it could improve quite a few things, but as an experience – this was wholesome, entertaining and, ultimately, satisfying. I enjoyed the game and this playthrough. Thank you, Intense Degree, for leading it in such a fun way, boobs and all!

P.S. I haven’t played BM 2 or BM 3 (both have “very positive” ratings on Steam) or the Reboot (has a “mixed” rating) - if anyone played those, any thoughts?

DCast - 24 April 2023 04:17 AM

P.S. I haven’t played BM 2 or BM 3 (both have “very positive” ratings on Steam) or the Reboot (has a “mixed” rating) - if anyone played those, any thoughts?

I’ve played all three. The reboot is terrible and really has very little (anything?) to do with the original game. Some people seem to like the sequels, but I found them mediocre at best. They should imo be viewed as two parts of the same (very long) game. The way the sequels are supposed to tie in with the original felt forced to me, especially in the way they use characters and places from the original. Developed by other people too. The writing didn’t connect with me, especially the attempts at humor. Possibly I would have liked the game(s) better without the connection to the original. The third game is quite a bit better than the second, but again BM2 and BM3 should really be viewed as one game.

I have now finished the game & enjoyed very much the last chapter despite it initially presenting as a maze.

TimovieMan - 25 April 2023 06:57 AM

Ending of the game was a bit anticlimactic. Our actions with the ritual dagger, book of spells and the five keys were not entirely clear.

.
Yes!

TimovieMan - 25 April 2023 06:57 AM

Plot-wise it doesn’t really make sense, though. Does Samuel teleport when under the curse? They certainly make it seem like he wasn’t even in the country when William was killed, and he was still on route from Wales when Vick was killed. Plus, his clothes are spotless when he gets back to bed.
Also, they give an indication that the murder of Henry back in Chapter II was somehow “unnatural” because he was completely drained of blood - including from the organs that should still have contained some blood even if the victim had been bled out. Feels like a plot point they never did anything with.

Yes, the plot seemed to be all over the place with holes galore & very incoherent generally.
The curse existed for centuries so why did it all of a sudden manifest itself on the death of William & Samuel turning up? The curse affected all of the Gordon descendants so I don’t believe that Samuel was responsible for William’s death. His uncle Robert was a Gordon & in cahoots with Dr Hermann in experimentation with corpses (hence bodies drained of blood?) so although Samuel may have been responsible for both of their deaths did he really kill Vick too or was Robert guilty of other deaths?
I too did find the ending a little too abrupt & lack lustre.

Overall though I very much enjoyed replaying this game that I’d forgotten so many details of, thought the graphics were gorgeous, puzzles interesting with an excellent story that did draw you in.

There’s far more to like about this game than not & I understand why, for me, it was a favourite at the time.

It was a pleasure to play again along with other players so thank you Intense Degree for leading the playthrough -  I loved the addition of recaps of preceding chapters & also for pointing out the subtle fetishes foibles of developers……re ….statues…..!

For me the ending felt rushed and didnt give any resolution. Samuel finds out that he is the killer when he is in the church and keeps going to find the truth. What was it that he found and made him suicide. We ll never know. And if he feels guilty about the killings why did we go through all the last part before he suicide. Ofcource all of that is so there is a climax in the ending but doesnt make sense storywise. There are some other holes in the plot as some have allready posted.

In general though i liked the game. Puzzles were challenging but at the same time you had few items to try on few hotspots so it was possible to try everything on everything and progress. Disappearing and reapearring of hotspots was pretty annoying and i think it is the main flaw of the gameplay as you had to go back after every action and check the environment carefully for new hotspots.

The story while it is problematic somehow managed to keep me interested during the game. My rating is 3.5 stars out of 5 and the game was worthy of my time and didnt really mind the flaws of the gameplay and the kinda weak story. The atmosphere was there and the game made me feel as a part of the world.

Intense Degree thanks for leading the playthrough.