Burnhouse Lane occasionally represents an uneasy marriage between the staples of a classic point-and-click and the combat sections of a 90s cinematic action platformer somehow made jankier. If Rocketbirds' reverence for the style through the lens of a flash game filtered you, I cannot say you will have an enjoyable time with this for a quarter of its runtime. Thankfully, those combat sections are incredibly brief in comparison to the real meat and potatoes of this game. The puzzles in this ain't half bad! Unfortunately, there are some bafflingly contrived puzzles in here that serve as choices you don't know you're making until it's too late—I'm not going to call it padding to get you to do a second playthrough, but it certainly feels that way to me. Otherwise, it's all pretty simple stuff that indulges in the fun of inventory puzzles without resorting to moon logic on a whim. If you're afraid of playing these kinds of games because you're bad at puzzles, Burnhouse Lane (mostly) has you covered.
As for the rest of the game (the reason I really wish I could give this at least four stars), it's mostly incredible work. The art style and music, for one, do a fantastic job of pulling you into the game. As soon as you start the game, both of these things are on display in a stunningly simple, and yet perfect, menu screen. Once you step into the game itself, the landscapes, lighting, and character portraits tie it together wonderfully. I can't speak to the cohesion of the narrative, since I keep forgetting to finish this. But, having played through all but the last chapter, it's fairly compelling stuff! If you're expecting more subtlety in your horror games, or if being beaten over the head with exposition over the course of the first act doesn't suffice for you, I can't say this is an absolute winner. But speaking purely from my point-of-view, it utilizes both of those thoughtfully enough for it to avoid derailing itself altogether.
One last thing before I go: there is a damn good reason so few people have gotten the Goddess of the Axe achievement. If you're looking to 100% this, I would save that for another playthrough, because it really takes away from the whole experience the first time around. The main reason I haven't finished this yet is because I still feel burnt out after getting it.
As for the rest of the game (the reason I really wish I could give this at least four stars), it's mostly incredible work. The art style and music, for one, do a fantastic job of pulling you into the game. As soon as you start the game, both of these things are on display in a stunningly simple, and yet perfect, menu screen. Once you step into the game itself, the landscapes, lighting, and character portraits tie it together wonderfully. I can't speak to the cohesion of the narrative, since I keep forgetting to finish this. But, having played through all but the last chapter, it's fairly compelling stuff! If you're expecting more subtlety in your horror games, or if being beaten over the head with exposition over the course of the first act doesn't suffice for you, I can't say this is an absolute winner. But speaking purely from my point-of-view, it utilizes both of those thoughtfully enough for it to avoid derailing itself altogether.
One last thing before I go: there is a damn good reason so few people have gotten the Goddess of the Axe achievement. If you're looking to 100% this, I would save that for another playthrough, because it really takes away from the whole experience the first time around. The main reason I haven't finished this yet is because I still feel burnt out after getting it.