Blue Toad Murder Files – Episode 3

There have already been two murders and a burglary. You’ve put all your detective skills into play to solve two thirds of these crimes, for one murder still remains unsolved. But before you can put your grey cells to work on the outstanding death in this quaint little village, all hell breaks loose and you have another mystery to solve.

Building on the premise of the previous two episodes, The Mystery of the Concealing Flame revisits some familiar locations and lets you hang out with some of the characters from the first episode while introducing a trickle of new characters who’ll spice up the story, add new laughs and leave you with more suspects for the ultimate mystery of Little Riddle.

The puzzles follow the same structure as the previous games – in each location your visit will contain one riddle, and solving this will lead you, potentially, to a new clue about the current mystery or give you a tiny fragment of the bigger picture, something to keep in mind for the future episodes. While some of the puzzles are very easy and you’ll solve them in no time, there are a couple in the mix that will have you cursing the brains at Relentless for even coming up with it in the first place. And the narrator’s gentle ribbing at your ineptitude will just add a little good natured salt to the wound. As with the previous episodes, the voice acting provided by Tom Dussek, is excellent. His range of voices knows no bounds, and the slightest bit worrying as he manages to pull off quite a well-rounded sexy Librarian.

The graphics are still top notch, with the characters occasionally throwing you a knowing look at the camera which gives you the impresssion of being part of an in-joke and making you feel a lot more involved in the story. It’s good to see that Relentless have taken the decision to let the Hotelier become a much more interactive character as he tends to riff with the narrator – either taking offence or throwing a sarcastic retort at something that’s been said.

As with the previous episodes, you’re looking at about an hour or so to play through the episode – obviously longer if you hang around on the puzzles, but it’s an enjoyable hour and just adds to the mystery of the entire story arc. You may solve the whodunnit for this particular episode but you have no idea of the motive in this instance – and it’s the prospect of working out what the hell is going on in this quant little village that will keep you coming back for the remaining three episodes hitting the Playstation Store on the 8th April.