A review of A Séance at Blake Manor

It’s never a good thing when a scary shadow woman gets caught up in a murder of crows during a storm, right?

It’s just a way to say hello to The Séance at Blake Manor before leaving me stranded in a remote Irish hotel with a bunch of weirdos and would-be murderers a few days before Halloween. I’m here to solve the disappearance of Evelyn Deane, a woman who, according to the hotel manager, is not missing at all and most of the guests have a robust, if often not very positive, opinion of her. To do this, I must listen carefully to doors before sneaking in with stolen keys, eavesdrop on conversations in still corners, and piece together the puzzle using clues found among crumpled letters, half-burned notes, and polite dinner conversations.

It’s a classic whodunit where adventure games can quickly lose control of their plot. But Séance at Blake Manor never does that.

There are dozens of suspects to investigate and even more rooms to explore, all spread out over a three-day schedule that sees everyone move to recent and equally suspicious locations at the start of each hour. The game is packed with useful features that lend a hand keep many of the threads I cover from degenerating into confusion, from plain aged maps to a personal research desk in the library and a clear hourly schedule, although I’m often the one who has to find out someone’s plans for the day, either by secretly looking through notes and journals or asking what they’re doing.

Blake Manor’s pristine and detailed interface is key to keeping me fully engaged in it all. This is my work on screen. I can never get anything out of this aid that I haven’t already heard or seen with my own eyes – it’s simply presented in a way that saves me from having to rummage through my inventory or screenshot folder to find a specific scrap of paper I think I saw an hour ago.

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Despite how thoroughly Blake Manor presents all the evidence I can refer to, what I learn is not always exact. People may lie or be evasive about their intentions for the day, and there always seems to be someone lurking somewhere they have no reason to be, wearing a pin, brooch, or ring they don’t want to be talked about.

I quickly stop being suspicious of everyone about everything, especially since the guests have major conflicts with each other. Blackmail, revenge and drug addiction are common themes, and there is something about this place that is just… off. It drives people crazy and brings out aged wounds. The cast of more than 20 guests comes from an eclectic mix of backgrounds, from local Irish druidism – the wise woman Fiadh Callaghan is at the séance to make sure the spirits don’t get out of control – to the international cultural revolution: Ines Barbosa is the daughter of an escaped Brazilian slave, living through the tumult of its abolition at the end of the century.

These are fascinating characters you can just talk to, even if their multiple and often intertwining personal mysteries weren’t very satisfying to solve. I wanted to lend a hand – or hinder – all of them just to have another excuse to rummage through secret hiding places and chat in hotel gardens.

Even though there seems to be little time to snoop around, the clock only keeps going when I interact with something I’ve never looked at before, even in diminutive intervals. Otherwise I might get a little lost or wonder if there’s anything compelling lurking in the stables without being punished.

I also have a surprising amount of flexibility in solving the mysteries of this mansion. While certain events occur at specific times, I generally have the freedom to organically uncover incriminating evidence and productively pursue any leads that I personally consider most relevant (or simply too juicy to pass up).

This malleable approach brings the cast to life. I never felt like I was at plot point #5 and had to find the only right path to plot point #6, or that whatever the guy with the bar crush was planning could be safely ignored because the story said it wasn’t his turn to do something yet. Everyone is in the game all the time.

The downside to all this digging is that the more I learn, the more threatening the manor and the séance encroaching on it become.

The stunning art direction doesn’t lend a hand matters: it often uses flat colors and stark black outlines, transforming even seemingly innocent faces into something more sinister. Ordinary glasses become murky barriers that make it arduous to read someone’s face. Key scenes are presented as a series of cinematic frames, shades and angles chosen for emotional impact rather than accuracy.

I’m not sure if the shadowy figure I saw in one of them was even human. This mansion is completely haunted, the ghosts disappear from sight when I turn corners, look in mirrors or just walk around. A statue might turn towards me when I’m not looking, or a bench might move to the middle of an empty hallway. Mystical seals can be found on walls, books and floors.

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The game shows remarkable restraint here, and it only gets better for it. In my 18 hours of play, I never once rolled my eyes when something supernatural appeared because each appearance felt crucial to me; a visual indicator of past injustices, a warning that the barrier between life and death is thinning, or both. More like the kind of omnipresent fear that haunts my dreams, rather than a few economical jumpscares.

Blake Manor doesn’t have to rely on economical jump scares because it’s a fascinating mystery even when the ghosts aren’t around. Besides, many living people are generally worse than the dead. A disturbing note detailing how to properly eat someone’s heart to gain its power was the first highlight, and it wasn’t the only gruesome information or heartbreaking tragedy I learned about during my adventure.

Or the one plot twist that stuck out to me. I kept guessing until the very end, and even when I finally figured out the last piece of the puzzle, there was another dramatic, unexpected revelation waiting for me to grapple with. With multiple endings to see, a mountain of optional observations to discover, and a largely casual approach to conversation and puzzle-solving, my stay at Blake Manor ended with the hope that I would soon find time to check in again.