Back in the 1990s, I didn’t have the luxury of owning a computer thus I missed out on some of the pinnacle point-and-click adventure games. But when I had the opportunity to review Kathy Rain, a video game that oozed out the 1990s feel of my youth, I was instantly curious. Now after officially completing the game, I can easily say that Kathy Rain is by far my favorite adventure game to have released this year and it certainly left me impatiently waiting for Clifftop Games next video game announcement.
A Compelling Story
Kathy Rain is set in the mid-1990s and revolves around the tale of the eponymous university journalism student. Early into the game Kathy makes it clear that she’s a rowdy girl with a sharp tongue, but she doesn’t fall into the character simply for the sake of simply having our heroine with a tough tomboy attitude. Instead, throughout the story, we’re slowly breaking down her barriers to discover her chilling and troubled youth–it wasn’t all flowers and rainbows for Kathy. Instead, she lives a very rough life.
Without spoiling too much of the story, Kathy learns that her grandfather, Joseph Rain, recently passed away and after not seeing her family for nearly decades, she sets off to the funeral. It’s after the rekindling with her grandmother that she learns that Joseph Rain was in an accident shortly after Kathy left–an accident that left him in a vegetative state. With guilt ever growing in her heart along with the journalistic nature being sparked up from her days at the university, Kathy sets off to pick up the pieces and learn just what had happened the night her grandfather had his incident. Unbeknownst to her, this journey she was about to endure would be one that would force her to face her inner demons.
If you were fans of the psychological thriller drama Twin Peaks then this is one game right up your alley. Kathy Rain is set in a small town with a cast of oddball characters, but within its story and relaxing to a downright unsettling soundtrack, you will find it tough to break off from this game.
Mature Themes
Going off on the story once again, it’s clear that Kathy Rain doesn’t cater for a younger audience. You’ll quickly find taboo subjects that are not seen handled quite in the same matter Clifftop Games touches upon. While some may not find an issue with these matters, others may take issue with them. Furthermore, a younger audience may find some storyline points difficult to relate to purely because of the time period Kathy Rain is set in. This could go from having to leave one area to reach another in order to make a phone call to even the use of a Dictaphone.
As mentioned earlier, Kathy Rain is a point-and-click adventure. Throughout the game, players will be left to explore various items scattered about the room or even combine an item to correctly solve a puzzle. Speaking of puzzles, the game does an excellent job at tossing out just enough clues for players to correctly solve a puzzle before becoming too perplexed.
A Nice Challenge
These puzzles may present themselves with no means of completion until you obtain all the pieces. This usually means going back and forth to the oddball cast of characters in order to get just enough answers in order to progress. Admittedly, there were a few times that I simply could not figure out how to continue, and luckily the walkthrough supplied by the publisher got me right back on track. Oftentimes the answers were laid out before me, but I simply couldn’t get my head around the answer. This wasn’t a massive issue–instead, it added to the challenge and gave me a reason to retrace my steps or read something a bit more carefully than before.
Fantastic Voice Acting
Voice acting for the game, in my opinion, was spot-on. There were no issues making out just what everyone was saying and their tone or demeanor helped greatly in keeping the grim atmospheric tale rolling along.
My only complaint about Kathy Rain is the game is too short. Kathy Rain ends nicely, though there is certainly room to keep the story going. All in all, after the credits finished, I wasn’t satisfied, I simply needed more as Kathy Rain as it easily hooked me into story.
Final Verdict
10/10
By all means, if you are ever in the mood for a gripping tale and yearn for the days of the classic point-and-click genre then I highly recommend giving Kathy Rain a playthrough.
Kathy Rain is developed by Clifftop Games and published by Raw Fury. The game is available for $14.99 through Steam. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher.
