In spite of the *many* things I like about this game, there enough deal-breaking bugs for me not to recommend this -- at least not in English. (More details below.)

The Good: Truly exceptional world-building! It's a fun mix of Dan Brown, Assassin's Creed, and Tintin. There's a nice balance of occult history, Venice travelogue, Judeo-Christian mysticism, and political thriller elements. The narrative hits all the right notes for me.

I don't even mind that the present-day sequences don't use the art style from the original comics, because I wasn't very familiar with Corto Maltese before playing this game (other than a few tangential references in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

Many of the puzzles are genuinely fun, even if they seem a bit ridiculous in the context of the story. In fact, I wish I had thought of the explorer/Age of Discovery puzzle myself. (I run a brainteaser-oriented game night in Manila.)

I like how the Compass mechanic works, in general. It's a neat way to bridge the story and gameplay elements.

Bonus points for the puzzles that make use of real-world outside resources: Google Maps, Wikipedia, even TripAdivsor (one puzzle involves searching for a review posted by an NPC) It's quite a bold risk because it involves user-generated content that might end up getting deleted, later on. But for now, it feels inspired.

The Bad: The over-reliance on AGS-style connect-the-squares mini-games. Gets hella repetetive, especially in the late game. There's some occassional wooden voice acting, which I can forgive.

The stuff that makes this game unplayable at times comes from sloppy QA, rather than poor creative decisions by the devs. So it falls under...

The Ugly: At least four of the expert-level/hard-mode puzzles are basically unsolvable because of poor implementation. I can't go into detail without spoiling it, but have a look at the discussion for this game, if you want to get an idea.

The most obvious example are the hints for a mid-game puzzle involving book titles. The in-game tips make reference to books that aren't even mentioned in the puzzle!

Also, the Achievements seem to be completely bugged. NOBODY has been able to get them, so far.

Based on other people's feedback, I get the impression that the original Italian version may have better quality control.

It's a shame -- I *really* wanted to like this game. The premise and gameplay have SO MUCH appeal to me. But the actual execution is unacceptably sloppy.

In spite of the *many* things I like about this game, there enough deal-breaking bugs for me not to recommend this -- at least not in English. (More details below.) [u]The Good[/u]: Truly exceptional world-building! It's a fun mix of Dan Brown, Assassin's Creed, and Tintin. There's a nice balance of occult history, Venice travelogue, Judeo-Christian mysticism, and political thriller elements. The narrative hits all the right notes for me. I don't even mind that the present-day sequences don't use the art style from the original comics, because I wasn't very familiar with Corto Maltese before playing this game (other than a few tangential references in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Many of the puzzles are genuinely fun, even if they seem a bit ridiculous in the context of the story. In fact, I wish I had thought of the explorer/Age of Discovery puzzle myself. (I run a brainteaser-oriented game night in Manila.) I like how the Compass mechanic works, in general. It's a neat way to bridge the story and gameplay elements. Bonus points for the puzzles that make use of real-world outside resources: Google Maps, Wikipedia, even TripAdivsor [spoiler](one puzzle involves searching for a review posted by an NPC)[/spoiler] It's quite a bold risk because it involves user-generated content that might end up getting deleted, later on. But for now, it feels inspired. [u]The Bad[/u]: The over-reliance on AGS-style connect-the-squares mini-games. Gets hella repetetive, especially in the late game. There's some occassional wooden voice acting, which I can forgive. The stuff that makes this game unplayable at times comes from sloppy QA, rather than poor creative decisions by the devs. So it falls under... [u]The Ugly[/u]: At least four of the expert-level/hard-mode puzzles are basically unsolvable because of poor implementation. I can't go into detail without spoiling it, but have a look at the discussion for this game, if you want to get an idea. The most obvious example are the hints for a mid-game puzzle involving book titles. The in-game tips make reference to books that aren't even mentioned in the puzzle! Also, the Achievements seem to be completely bugged. NOBODY has been able to get them, so far. Based on other people's feedback, I get the impression that the original Italian version may have better quality control. It's a shame -- I *really* wanted to like this game. The premise and gameplay have SO MUCH appeal to me. But the actual execution is unacceptably sloppy.