The final installment of the Enigmatis series of hidden object games is here! That’s right, if you haven’t played the first two titles stop what you’re doing and fix that post haste because it will make your enjoyment of Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala that much better. It’s time to stop the villain, simply known as the Preacher, once and for all before demons can be unleashed unto the world. There is action and adventure around every corner, it’s up to you as the detective to find clues and solve the case by finding a way to defeat the Preacher, but it won’t be easy.

While the previous two games took place in America, this title takes us to the mountains of Asia where the Preacher is on his way to summon his demon master Asmodai. Our main character has teamed up with Detective Hamilton from the first two titles and the pair set off on an outrageous adventure. There are plane crashes, blizzards, dead bodies, magic and more involved, plus a mysterious child named Fang who may be the key to everything. The story is rather straightforward, though does throw in a curveball or two that even I didn’t expect. The writing and pacing create a real sense of urgency as the main character races to stop the Preacher.

If you haven’t played the previous two games, this one does give somewhat of a recap so you won’t be too lost, however, the energy in this game is created from the build up of the previous titles. There aren’t many characters in this game; the focus is on the protagonist, Hamilton and the Preacher. Brittany is a helpful side character as are Fang and Po but I found things most enjoyable when it was just the two detectives and I wish the game focused more on the Preacher. That being said, everything is tied up very well in the end. I was satisfied but also disappointed that this was truly the end. I would personally love a series of detective games following this main character and Hamilton.

As far as gameplay is concerned, this is your traditional hidden object game. You move around and talk to people, interact with objects and collect useful ones in your inventory much like a point and click title. Some items you can examine closer and you may have to combine them with something else or another type of action. There are plenty of hidden object scenes to keep you busy that offer a varying level of challenge from easy to sometimes frustrating but never unsolvable. The puzzles are also in the same nature though most weren’t too difficult. We see return of the evidence board and deduction mode, except this time it’s on the protagonist's cell phone since we’re so modern now. Throughout the game you collect evidence and piece it together to further the story. My only issue with this is, at this point, there isn’t much to discover. We know what’s going on, we know why and we know what to do. As such, this feature is actually not used as much as in previous games with only a few deductions even available sadly.

The graphics are top notch. This game is crisp and new, filled with great animation and scenery. The character models are well done and their animation is very fluid. The locations are all gorgeous and I appreciated the attention to detail in the beginning when we revisit Maple Creek, it looked just like in the first game, location-wise. The hidden object scenes have great resolution and are easy on the eyes, no need to worry about squinting much. The music is perfect, you can even save the tracks from the game since this is a collector’s edition. Voice acting is well done and well directed. The cast is small but well selected and helps players stay immersed in the game. One issue I noticed were pronunciations of the name Fang. Other characters said it like a wolf’s fang while the main character said it differently and it made it sound more naturally Asian. I’m not sure if this was on purpose or an oversight but it’s not that big of a deal, Fang is mute so she can’t really correct anyone either way.

This trilogy was a great ride but now with Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala it’s come to an end. If you’re new to hidden object games or new to this series, don’t hesitate. It’s fun, spooky and very exciting. I really enjoyed this title and despite finding some faults here and there I’d say this is a game I’d have no issues replaying. It even has a bonus chapter which tells us more about Fang and Brittany- it’s a little short but a nice addition to the game. There are Steam trading cards as well as achievements to collect if you needed even more reason to purchase this game. It’s time to stop the Preacher!

• Must buy.
  
• A good game to buy.
  
• Only buy if on sale.
  
• Mediocre.
  
• Avoid at all costs.

Lunar Productions[lunarproduction.com]

The galvanizing action packed conclusion of the Enigmatis series begins only a few weeks after the last clash with the Reapers, the Raven and the Preacher. Though this concluding chapter is stand alone due the private investigator's narrative recap of previous events and the retelling of Reaper history, if one has played the first two installments there is an innate impatient enthusiatic eagerness to track the Preacher down and finish this battle of wit, perseverence, and destiny - decisively. In the end there can be only one - the Preacher, is the last Reaper alive, and ultimately either evil, destruction and mass death will be released back into the world in the form of the demon Asmosdai or the tenacious private investigators will stop it.

Storyline: A few weeks after the events in the American redwood forest tourist park Ravenwood where the Preacher defeated the Raven to become the last Reaper alive, our private investigator is back on his trail. She knows now that there is only one Reaper left alive, and that the final Reaper's last and only duty is to sacrifice his life to resurrect his master, the demon Asmodai, bringer of destruction and death. Now teamed up with another private investigator, Rick Hamilton, who for 20+ years has been tracking the Preacher and wants revenge, she begins at Maple Creek where her harrowing destiny began approximately two years before. She must find where the last Reaper, the Preacher, has gone and stop him at all costs. She and Rick journey to the highlands of the Himalayas after deducing the Preacher's destination, Karkhala Mountain, to stop his nefarious evil plan of ressurecting the demon Asmodai. Along the way they encounter a scientistic team investigating an ancient monastery and discover an equally ancient group of Chosen guardians just as dedicated to stopping the rise of the demon Asmodai as they are. Mystery, adventure, intrigue, betrayal, and murder are all part of this legendary battle between the arch-angel Raphael and the three-headed demon Asmodai.

Gameplay: Smooth combination of point and click, hidden object puzzles (HOPs), mini-games and interactive game play. Stunning artwork with a vivid pastel pallette, 3D elements (title screen, snow and blowing wind), and a fast travel map. A prequel bonus chapter about Brittany and an extra menu with replayable HOPs, mini-games, cutscene videos, wallpapers, music, etc. 3 sets of extra hidden objects: 21 morphing Tainted spirits (look like evil skeleton ghosts or balls of mist), 15 Feathers and 8 Flowers. As usual with Artifex Mundi there is an alternative matching game if one does not want to play the HOPs. For achievement hunters: all achievements can be earned in a single playthrough. Yeah!

Return of the evidence board: This unique and exclusive feature of the Enigmatis series would have been missed had it been eliminated. Part of the fun of this game (and the series) is finding the evidence and piecing it together much like a real investigator would. The evidence board, now located in her cellphone, uses the pictures she takes and places them on this internal evidence board and is used for deducing answers to the relative and important questions of the investigation. For those new to this series the evidence board will be an interesting mini-game puzzle whose clues will piece together the mystery. For those who have played this series before the evidence board seems a bit weak since most of the mystery is known or can be guessed/ deduced very quickly. There is a twist or two so do not count it out.

Hidden Object puzzles: 3 different kinds. Finding a item within a picture, Find assembly pieces, and the majority are very interactive list finds. The interactive list finds require the player not only to open drawers, jars, cabinets, etc. but in many cases to assembly the find clue such as putting wings on a statue or assemblying something that requires more than one piece. Adds to the difficulty a little bit but the interaction is fun since the player needs to figure out what needs to be done to create the list find. It is almost a mini-game Hidden Object puzzle. Quite fun and unique.

Plus I swear the difficulty level slowly rises throughout the game since the last couple of list finds were tough. Either that or someone spiked the difficulty level at the end. Either way the last couple of HOPs are quite the challenge. My head scratcher was when the camera equipment fell all over the floor. I am sure my difficulty came from the fact I had no clue what half the word finds actually were. I know now since I had to look them up to figure out what the things were I was looking for. Not often I run into such a head scratcher, and I am by no means putting that down. I enjoy a good challenge and learning something new while doing it is always a bonus.

Mini-games and puzzles: Mazes, logical, matching, recipe and a balancing act while crossing a downed tree. Mostly standard types of puzzles but fun and well intergrated into the story line.

This leads us to what I call interactive game play. The puzzle mini-games in most cases are so well intergrated in the storyline the mini-game is no longer separated from the point and click elements. The best example of this is crossing a tree log like a tight rope walker. It is a mini-game but it is also direct storyline as well. There are other interactive puzzles like moving a chest about to use as a climbing surface (not a mini-game or even point and click). The line between actual mini-game and the point and click "puzzles" has been blurred in such a fashion that gameplay has become interactive. Very nice and quite inventive since the player for the most part really does not stop and think "oh this is a puzzle". It is that smooth.

I think I covered everthing. Highly recommend even if one has not played this series before. It is stand alone and everything is explained. For those who have been following the series this is a MUST OWN game. The INTERACTIVE boss battle at the end is epic. Worth full price.

I am re playing this after a few years. It's truly a beautiful game.
Innovative style of puzzles and a compelling story are keeping me engaged. I know that many of us have played it in the past years or even recently but for those who haven't , give it a go.

If you like Hidden Object Games (seek and find, puzzles, point and click), then games from Artifex Mundi are for you.

My playtime: 5.5h (based on steam, 100% achievement)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~22 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala is the third and the last installment of the Enigmatis series, a point-and-click series made by Artifex Mundi. Although it is a part of a bigger series, you don't have to play the previous games to enjoy this one.

Pros:
- 4 difficulties, including a customized difficulty based on your needs
- 22 unique puzzles
- 11 hidden object minigames that can be changed to pair-matching minigames
- Hint button to help you to figure out what to do
- Skip button for puzzles

Cons:
- Achievement texts are overlapping each other if they are obtained at nearly the same time
- Cutscenes are blurry

Yes.
If you like point-and-click games with great-looking graphics, puzzles, and minigames, buy this game.

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This game has a similar graphic style as other Artifex Mundi games; it uses realistic 3D characters on top of breathtaking 2D backgrounds. The main menu even has a parallax background and some scenes at the beginning of the game has the characters animated to some extent to make the scenes more impactful.

The cutscenes, however, are blurry. Luckily, there aren't that many cutscenes in the game and even if they have one, it won't last that long. Also, the cutscenes look as if you are watching a movie in a cinema with a subtitle and the black screen.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2220270925

As I said before, this game is a part of the Enigmatis series, which also means that it continues from Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood (my review). However, I can assure you that you still can enjoy the story without playing that game or the first one. There might be some minor details from the previous game that weren't explained in this game (such as who is the man that is with you), but the game summarizes the important parts at the beginning of the game and you'll still be able to enjoy the full story because of it.

The story itself focuses on the main objective that was told at the beginning of the game. Some parts of the story will be revealed through puzzles, some will be revealed through cutscenes.

The game also has a bonus game that will be unlocked after you finished the main story. It serves as a prologue for some characters that took place before the main story. I found that there is a plot hole between the bonus game and the main game though.

Point-and-click
The point-and-click mechanics in this game aren't that different from other point-and-click games in general. You can pick up an object whenever your cursor changed into a hand icon and use it to help you to progress the story. Some of these objects can also be interacted with, either by using another object to do something with it or solve a puzzle that is in the object itself. The game also has a hint system that can help you in case you're stuck.

The game has several areas that you can explore and most of the areas that you have passed might be unavailable as you progressed further in the game. The game also offers a map as a way to fast travel between areas although I never got the chance to use it.

Puzzles
Puzzles will be triggered when you reached certain parts of the game. There are 22 unique puzzles in total and although I found them to be very easy, there is a skip button that can be used to whoever needs it.

Minigames
The game has 11 hidden object minigames that can be switched to a pair-matching game. The latter one is easier although it might take some time to understand since you need to match 2 related images instead of similar-looking images.

I found that the hidden object minigames to be more challenging though, especially since some objects that you need to find might not be familiar to non-native speakers. It also has more variety than the other minigame since some hidden object scenes require you to find objects from images instead of words.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2220270990

Deducting Evidence
Unlike other point-and-click games, you can gather evidence as you progress the story. You will also be able to make a deduction by moving photos of the evidence that you took into circles that correspond with it. You'll get more leads after you collected enough evidence in one of the circles and some new leads might even show up, allowing you to put other evidence into it to get more understanding of the story.

Difficulty
The game has 4 difficulties, including one that you can customize. You can customize the skip timer, hint recharge timer, misclick penalty, and many others. I played in the easiest difficulty and I didn't have problems in finishing the game.

Length
I finished the main game in 4.4h and the bonus game in 0.7h. The rest of my playtime was spent in checking the pair-matching minigame and completing the achievements.

It's a solid point-and-click game with puzzles and hidden object minigames that can be changed to pair-matching minigames.

Follow our curator page, OCG-Curations, if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.

The last part of a good Hidden Object series. The story is short but good. I love the mysterious flair of the highest mountains on earth and the new secrets that you find. The graphics are fine, but some of them could be a bit more sharper. The game length is a bit short for the full price. The sound is mostly okay and somestimes really wonderful. The trading cards are fine, the steam achievements are good, even if there could be a bit more (for see all movies, for playing on expert or every difficult mode or even a few more for the extra chapter), but its great how it is. Only sad thing is that it´s over now. For hidden object fans i give 93 %, for normal gamers 57-73 % because the not so bad story in combination with part 1 & 2. Thx 4 reading.

While Enigmatis 3 gives a nice, cinematic conclusion to the trilogy, its on-the-rails plot, insane moon logic, and tedious hidden object scenes make a huge step backwards compared to the masterpiece that was Mists of Ravenwood.

Trilogies like to shake things up by the third part, and Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala is a great example for that. This series, previously known for its great supernatural crime mysteries, suddenly decided to go Tomb Raider with a trip to the Himalayas, completed with every tired archaeological adventure cliché under the sun. Moreover, it is not even a good adventure with its tired plot dumps and railroaded, restrictive, sometimes downright lazy level design and progression.

Speaking of progression, the gameplay is one of the greatest enemies. The hidden object puzzles feel tedious and needlessly drawn-out, but it is mild in comparison to the illogical point ‘n’ click mechanics, which may force brute-force trial-and-error at some parts with their unpredictable solutions.

I won’t dissuade anyone from Enigmatis 3, because, in the end, it is a nice, cinematic conclusion to the saga—but it is the only reason to be invested in this game.

Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala (half of my review :P) It is a great HoG i recommend it :)

The story continues as the previous two Enigmatis, it is as good as the other's but this one is my least favorite. The detective travels to Asia where she located the Preacher, but reaching him wasn't an easy task, she had to team up with Hamilton once again, meeting a young child named Fang and a woman named Brittany.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=860068810

As usual, the graphics are so beautiful, the same goes to the voice-overs and music. The puzzles and hidden objects scenes are well made. I had to replay it three times in order to get all the achievements. If you don't follow a guide to tell you the collectibles locations, you'll play it as much as I did.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=860069244

Pro:
+Beautiful graphics.
+OK story. Didn't like it as much as the previous two.
+Good voice acting.
+Steam achievements.
+Mystery/detective style.
+Ok music.
+Good journal.
+Collectibles
+Fast travel map.
+Steam achievements.

Cons:
-Again, like the previous game, I disliked that the achievements require you to play the game multiple of times.

The conclusion of the game was good, not the best but was satisfying. The bonus chapter was interesting, especially when you realize how they changed the personality for a good reason, and why the small mute girl was avoiding that woman.

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒

A fairly faint positive recommendation, mostly for the sake of completing the trilogy.
As the game is the 3rd in the series, I have no doubt that readers have reference points about previous ones so I'll be short with the review.
The game wraps up the story fairly well, even though the ending is quite lacking after the 1st game's eerie atmosphere and the 2nd one's bleakness. The third game lost it's Enigmatis-identity, the gameplay turned into the standard, superlinear, non-backtraceable HOG as most of the games are, while the predecessors had a fixed location and gave more and more access of it's buildings, parts and such. The hidden object scenes are littered with objects that require more than one - often 3+ - actions to do, in one case it was 6! This halts the gameplay, and in the meanwhile I think the animation quality also dropped.
All in all, it's an okay game by Mundi standards, but in my book this is the weakest game from the series - lack of a consistant area and therefore the constant moving forward-forward-forward made the game much less of an investigative one. Would worth to pick up during sales or from a bundle to finish the story, but it could have been so much more.