I'm very upset and sad to not recommend yet another Artifex Mundi game developed by Brave Giant. Demon Hunter's fifth Installment totally not related to the previous four parts. You'll play as Hector Cole who you know nothing about unless you read the game information here in the store page. He didn't state anything about himself other than being a demon hunter for some organization, it isn't clear if its the same organization they mentioned in the 3rd game, but they decided to remove Dawn and her niece from the picture and throw in Hector with an unknown background (you'll get a glimpse about his past and why he became a demon hunter in the bonus chapter)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2061718547

The story is underwhelming for many reasons. First, an unknown character decided to be 'introduced' as the main character. Absence of Dawn, her niece, and the lack of a story which starts with a phone call, an old man requested this demon hunter to solve a case of this vanished tourist in his museum, beliving this old and debt drawn place is haunted. Moment our hunter Hector arrived and began his investigation, he could see things are a bit strange around. With a couple of cheap jumpscares and average story, the usual thing happened, his backstory is even more boring and it definitely hints that he is coming back in the next part.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2061699106

As usual, the artwork is outstanding, I just wished for the story to be the same, I loved the details design of some of the areas. The hidden objects scenes are nicely done, but the puzzles are the same ones from the previous games, there is nothing original about them. The map is ok, you get to visit only a couple of areas before you move to the next set. Make sure you get all the collectibles or you'll not be able to return to get them. The journal I'm not pleased with as it only shows the objectives list.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2061698861

Voice-overs of some of the characters were not good at all, the characters design is very bad. As for the soundtracks, there is nothing special, it felt a little bit repetitive after a while.

Pros:
+Beautiful artwork.
+Fast traveling map.
+Collectibles.
+Good hidden objects scenes.
+Steam achievements.

Cons:
-Repetitive soundtracks.
-Same puzzles from the previous games.
-Mediocre story.
-Bad journal (Has only objectives and doesn't recap the story)
-Below average voice-overs.

I can't recommend this game or series, there are far better series published by AM and even developed by Brave Giant which is more acceptable than this one.

Other Reviews from the same series:
Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond Review
Demon Hunter 2: New Chapter Review
Demon Hunter 3: Revelation Review
Demon Hunter 4: Riddles of Light Review

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒

An average entry from Artifex Mundi’s Hidden Object line of games. This one includes a few annoying hidden object scenes (intentionally bad lighting) and a bothersome book puzzle that recurs a few times.

This HOG was a bit on the difficult side. Not impossibly so, as I was able to get all the achievements in a single play-through of 5 hours, but I did have to use a guide and I did have to 'practice' a couple of HOG scenes in the main menu so I could get the achievements of speed and accuracy.

This had some cool mini-games and it did have lots of HOG scenes, but some of the scavenger-hunting was full of Bat-logic and Bat-Guano-logic which involved a bit of wild mass guessing.

The story-line made no sense, though much of it is told to you by the villain, so one can assume that he's an unreliable narrator of what's going on. The game also had some of the ugliest characters and scenery that I've ever seen, but for all that, there were moments that it was both exciting and interesting, so this goes into the thumbs-up category.

The house-museum of paranormal phenomena is disturbed by an ancient demon, so the owners quickly seek the help of a specialist in similar issues - Hector Cole. The demon hunter gets up from the couch, turns off the TV and goes on another adventure. Something like this, I always imagined the pastime of demonologists when they were not busy expelling the next unclean spirit. TV, sofa, talk show. Since the main place of action will be a museum of paranormal phenomena, then you can immediately expect a lot of jump Scares, very strange exhibits, no less strange owners of this museum, and of a demon who will frankly have fun with you.

The first half of the game carries in itself almost a parody mood, throwing familiar jump Scares at the player, while not agreeing to the end - is it serious what is happening here or not, but the second half of the game puts everything in its place. Here everything is done exactly as the player in this genre game expects. The puzzles are traditional, but among them there is again an absolutely hated puzzle with spinning circles of colored balls, please remove it forever from future games. I even got into walkthrough, to go through it and get an achievement, and you know what? ALL video reviewers who complete the game break down on this puzzle and press the “Skip” button, literally all of them, and I notice this not the first time with this puzzle. This puzzle is not funny, it is not elegant, it always spoils the mood. The rest of the puzzles are good, some of them are quite interesting. The scenes for finding objects are also quite diverse and well-drawn, the voice of the characters, as always, is very professional. The plot is not replete with incredible surprises, but it is quite even and does not make the person wrinkle with pain.

“Demon Hunter 5” is a very traditional game for the series, which, although not showing anything new, still attracts the player for a few hours of enjoyable action.

Update: Now finished everything and ye gods this game is *very* meh. Sadly, first impressions (below) are also final impressions. If you're a completionist, and you generally enjoy the Artifex Mundi games, then go for it, but get it on sale. There's nothing especially bad about it (except the lack of a real story), but there's nothing *good* either.

[ORIGINAL REVIEW]

So, half-way done and this game is rather boring.
And who is this guy (the protagonist)? Hopefully, it will improve.

I'm giving the game a conditional positive because it runs smoothly and has all the usual Artifex Mundi stuff, but it feels far more linear and *tired* than other games, despite following the same basic pattern.

Also... the voice actor did his best, but it really does feel like the protagonist is trying to be a super-confident "big man demon hunter - huh huh huh" and it doesn't work for me. Then again, the B-movie plot and setting IS actually in keeping with the premise of the story itself.

I guess my reaction can be summed up as "very meh".

A nice Artifex Mundi hidden object game however it is really easy.

Linux version of the game works without any issues.

I really enjoyed this one. Male protagonists are rare in the genre so it was nice to see it for once. Furthermore the voice acting instead of just being bad as with most of Artifex games, was actually 'campy bad' which actually made it good. It was as though they were making fun of themselves.

Decent puzzles (though as always there are repeats from their other games) and good hidden object scenes.

This is probably the weakest series from Artifex, it's the 5th opus, right ? So you could expect something going on with the whole series, right ? Well nope, as usual for those, there is absolutely nothing going on in between the episode, at the end of each they attempt to make it sound like there is something to follow, only to add one more random episode to the list which has nothing to do with the previous.
So what is this one about ? Dude is "the most renowned Demon Hunter", he gets a phone call to visit an haunted house (oh crap that's a museum), he comes butt naked and surprised by everything that is happening, doesn't know what to do, get hits constantly by surprise, add more "it's this dude first case".
Also there are people dying but nobody cares, even less Mr Dude who have sometimes else to do like climbing a phone pole to phone 911 (sending help right away, no need an adress) and patching up a dog toy.
Anyway, not a big surprise there, it's another terrible new opus from the series, the puzzles are not only unimaginative, but also have the solution written right on the screen, just in case it would be too complicated, the story is a basic "let's visit a haunted house oops it's haunted".
Just don't bother.

It's been a while since I've played any Artifex Mundi games, so I was really hoping that Demon Hunter 5 would be a good return to the franchise.

It was not. While the first act twist was cute, the click spots in both the minigames and the world in general are quite small, progress doesn't feel rewarding at all, while the entire thing feels like a rail shooter.

It's a very mediocre offering among AM's amazing catalogue. Do yourself a favour and buy this on sale, if you're going to.

Game Information

"Demon Hunter: Ascendance" Collector's Edition is a Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game. The game was developed by Brave Giant Games and published by Artifex Mundi.

"Ascendance" is the fifth episode of "Demon Hunter." Previous episodes: "Chronicles from the Beyond;" "New Chapter;" "Revelation" and "Riddles of Light."

Since this is a collector's edition game, it comes with extra features that are not available in its counterpart; the standard edition.

The Game Review

Game Visuals

I want to mention that the visuals for the game are nicely done. The visuals can be adjusted in the game's option menu.

Game Audio

I want to mention that audio for the game is well done. Even though the audio is somewhat simplistic and repetitive. The audio can be adjusted in the game's option menu as well.

Gameplay

There are four different game difficulty modes to choose from: Casual; Advanced; Expert and Custom.

The notebook keeps track of the progression in the game. Such as story events and clues.

There is an interactive map in the game. It allows the player to fast travel between each location quickly. It also indicates that there are certain tasks that need to be completed at certain locations within the game. The interactive map is automatically given at the start of the game.

There is no padlock feature that is available to lock the inventory panel in place. The inventory panel is stationary.

There are some interactive items in the game. Some of the interactive items may require extra components before they can be interacted with. All interactive items are marked with a symbol at one of the corners.

The hidden object scenes consist of the following: Fragmented items; Shadow items; Find 'x' amount; Traditional word lists. Some of these hidden object scenes may require little or no interaction. Most of the hidden object scenes can be replayed in the game's extra feature section.

There is an optional mini-game: Associated Pairs. It is only available during hidden object scenes.

The puzzles are fairly easy to solve without having the need to skip any of them. Most of the puzzles can be replayed in the game's extra feature section as well.

There is a collectible in the game: Scrolls. They are scattered throughout the game for the player to find.

There are morphing objects (beyond objects) in the game. They are scattered throughout the game for the player to find as well.

There are twenty-four different achievements that can be unlocked from playing the game. Each of these achievements does come with some requirements that need to be completed before they can be unlocked.

Since this is a collector's edition, there is a bonus chapter, but it can be accessed only after the main story is completed.

Miscellaneous

There are extra features in the game: Bonus Chapter; Bonus Hidden Object Scenes; Bonus Puzzles; Soundtracks; Concept Art and Wallpapers. Most of these extra features can be accessed only after the entire game is completed.

There are five different trading cards to collect. Only three of those trading cards are given out by the game. There are several ways to get the rest of the trading cards: Purchased from the Steam's Community Market; Trade with friends; Booster Packs and its Booster Pack Creator.

Final thoughts; I have found the game enjoyable to certain extent. The replay value for the game is low. I would recommend this game, but not at the game's full price value.