Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst

Mystery Case Files: Return To Ravenhearst is an adventure-puzzle casual game developed by Big Fish Studios, and distributed by Big Fish Games. It is the fifth installment in the Mystery Case Files series. The game is available exclusively at Big Fish Games website. The Mystery Case Files franchise is the number one brand in casual games and has sold more than 2.5 million units to date.^[1]

Story

Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst takes players back to Ravenhearst Manor, a mysterious 19th century mansion constructed by Charles Dalimar as a symbol of affection for his love/ obsession, Emma Ravenhearst. In the first visit to the mansion, taking place within Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, players explored the haunted dwelling and pieced together the mystery of the mansion's now-deceased namesake. In Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, The Queen has summoned the player back to the now-decrepit mansion to shed some light on the manor's dark past and put the mysteries of Ravenhearst to rest.

Once you return to the manor, you will discover that there is more to the mansion than meets the eye, there is still a section of the manor unexplored, and some parts that you have already explored that has been refurbished by Charles' tormented spirit. You must now uncover the secret of what happened to Charles after he murdered Emma, and put a stop to his psychotic obsession once and for all. You must also discover what happened to Rose after Charles murdered Emma and search for her body hidden in the manor and free her spirit.

As you go through the mansion you find out that Charles took Rose and her two daughters and has them in coffins with tubes in them for a reason. through the course of the game you find out Charles has a machine that is keeping him alive in the present day. It is also revealed that he kidnapped a boy (Victor) and raised him as his son. Eventually you discover a hidden room with the machine Charles uses to keep him alive and it is there you solve the final puzzle.

In the end of the very last puzzle, the warped and disfigured spirit of Charles Dalimar (preserved by souls in a tank) begins to deteriorate, ordering his son, Victor, to 'take the device (time machine), and run far, far, far away'. Victor gets away, meaning the entire Dalimar family is not yet extinguished. It is rumored that the eighth game in the series which is currently being developed will be the continuation of the Ravenhearst story-arc.

Characters

• Emma Ravenhearst - A teacher from lowa who travelled to Blackpool, England to continue her teaching career. There she met Charles Dalimar, who fell in love with her. He asked her hand in marriage but she refused. Because of that, Charles slowly poisoned Emma to death and imprisoned her soul by burying her body within the manor. In this game she briefly assists you at the start and is last spotted carrying Rose and her girls away from the manor as it burns into the ground.

• Rose Somerset - Emma's nursemaid and mother of Gwendolyn and Charlotte Somerset. She was kidnapped and imprisoned under the Manor by Charles after the murder of Emma Ravenhearst. He later forced himself upon her, leading to the conception of Victor (a letter to Emma reveals this late in the adventure). Her soul was bound to a contraption used to keep Charles's body and Emma's soul alive. Her tormented soul is hidden in a secret alcove near the underground docking area of the "Rose" section in the basement.

• Gwendolyn and Charlotte Somerset - The twin daughters of Rose Somerset. Like their mother, they were also kidnapped and imprisoned. After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, their souls were also bound to Charles' device, they were kept in a large gingerbread cottage at the end of the "Twins" section in the basement.

• Victor Dalimar - Charles Dalimar's equally evil son. An elderly aged man who is very cranky, he is the housekeeper of Ravenhearst and guards it from anyone who trespasses the manor. In the end he escapes using a time machine and returns to 1895. The launch and the player's dismantling of Charles's immortality device ignites a conflagration that destroys Ravenheast Manor and all of the Dalimar's evil works... or does it?

• Charles Dalimar - The main antagonist of the Ravenhearst storyline. Desperately in love with Emma Ravenhearst, he proposed to her but was turned down. He made a second attempt by Ravenhearst manor but was yet again refused. Driven to madness, he murdered Emma and kidnapped Rose and her children for assistance building his spirit-warming device, then killing them to use their souls to power the machine and keep himself immortal. He slightly resembles Voldemort from Harry Potter.

Gameplay

There are no discernible levels or stages, all the puzzles are integrated in the quest you have to complete. You just go from room to room, from location to location, and try to find the solutions to numerous tasks the game gives to you.

Like the Mystery Case Files titles that came before, hidden object scenes can be found around every turn and are shown as great masses of white sparkling stars. Clicking these takes you back to familiar MCF territory with a crowded room and a list of items to find. Once the list is complete you'll unlock a new inventory item that can be used in the adventure portion of the game.

External links

• Official site

References