INTRO:
It is not very often that an adventure game can present discomforting themes while hiding them beneath a veneer of cartoonish artwork. Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes would be one such game, and it is certainly not for the emotionally sensitive. That it opens with a melancholic song would already suggest so.
Unfortunately, the game’s otherwise memorable experience is marred by many problems, most of which happen to be technical.
PREMISE:
Those who follow Daedalic Entertainment’s fortunes would know that Harvey’s New Eyes is a sequel to The Breakout, the first entry in the Edna & Harvey franchise and incidentally, Daedalic’s first in-house product.
After the slightly depressing intro song, the game begins with a scene that is far more relatable to most players than the scene in the beginning of The Breakout. The player is introduced to Lilli, a sweet but rather clumsy little girl who resides in a convent that is overseen by a nun that despises children.
In just a minute or two, the player is introduced to Edna, whom players who have played The Breakout would recall. Edna appears to be Lilli’s best friend in the convent. Through her, the player would know that the children at the convent live rather deficient childhoods.
Unfortunately, their lives are going to get much worse, no thanks to the aforementioned nun’s terribly short temper and Lilli’s single-minded clumsiness.
TUTORIALS:
Right at the start of the game and at certain points afterwards, the game gives the player the convenience of heeding tutorials that informs the player how to play the game.
The first tutorial is delivered with more than a few silly safety precautions, setting the tone for the hilarity of the lines delivered by the characters that reside in the fourth wall.
Other tutorials come up when the player has to engage in gameplay that is far from the norm in adventure games. This is perhaps very useful for players who are not familiar with games of other genres. For anyone else, they would be straightforward and just adequate.
USER-FRIENDLINESS:
Like many other adventure games, Lilli has a pocket dimension for her inventory, which allows her to carry many, many things that her small stature would suggest otherwise. There are only a couple of fourth-wall-breaking commentaries on this, and unfortunately, neither is amusing.
Learning from the lessons that they picked up from the development of the first game and its reception by critics, the developers have also implemented other tools and features to make the game more convenient to play.
The first of these is a tool to highlight objects that the player can interact with, which the game calls “hotspots”. This is very convenient, and generally works well. However, there are rare few instances when the highlights do not come up. A more common problem though, is that the highlight icons may be placed somewhere that is slightly inconvenient, e.g. close to other icons.
Double-clicking on a location-transition icon loads up the next area quickly, without the player having to watch Lilli saunter over. This is another appreciable convenience.
TECHNICAL ISSUES:
Unfortunately, despite what has just been said, Harvey’s New Eyes is rife with technical problems that damage the experience of the game.
Minor ones include a limitation in the inventory system that prevents duplicates of the same item to be stored in the inventory. This is a small complaint, but this problem crops up in a scenario where duplicates of the same item would have been more convenient – and more believable - for the task at hand (which is serving tea in tea-cups).
Switching to the main menu can take a while, apparently because the game has to load the background and the music track for the main menu.
Sometime into the game, another tab appears next to the one for the inventory in the GUI. However, this tab tends to disappear due to little to no replicable causes. The work-arounds for this are to switch to the main menu and returning, and failing that, to save and reload the game. Both methods can be annoying.
Listening to the characters’ dialogues can be entertaining, but automatic skipping of lines that happen randomly for no reason can sour the experience.
The worst technical problem in the game happens to occur very far into the story. This happens when the player voluntarily exits out of a certain scenario that happens to be quite far from the norm in adventure games. A glitch then prevents the player from entering that scenario again, causing the game to freeze in an animated cutscene.
Considering that the game has been out for a while already, that these problems were still there can be very displeasing.
PUZZLE DESIGNS:
Most of the puzzles in the game require the player to make loose associations between observations to come up with a solution. Most of these observations would come from listening to what characters – including the (sometimes too helpful) narrator – say. This can make puzzles seem too easy to figure out at times.
Furthermore, sometimes the Narrator makes odd statements when describing something that the player wants examined. The statements may not pertain to the nature of the object being examined at all, yet the gist of the statement would only be apparent in hindsight after their associated puzzles had been solved.
Having mentioned that, the player may want to remember the observations anyway because they also happen to give the logical reasons (of sorts) to the solutions for the puzzles.
Some other puzzles may require the player to have a little bit of eccentricity. For example, there is one puzzle in the game that requires the player to apply a substance to the fodder of some creatures so that they leave behind easier-to-see trails. The solution is a technique that wildlife conservationists would think many times over, if they do not reject it outright.
Another example of odd puzzles shows up early in the game, when Lilli has to help another character out of (literally) deep trouble. At first, the solution may seem simple, but the logical player would stumble into a looping script that will not go away until the player has Lilli do something that is definitely counter-productive, namely bringing more harm to said character.
The only discernible reason for such a solution was the Narrator’s vague hints that Lilli does not like the other character and has no problems getting said character hurt.
(In fact, the resolution of this particular puzzle very strongly suggests that the game is certainly not for children, despite its appearance.)
Some of the puzzles happen to give the player mini-games of sorts (as has been alluded to earlier). These are intended to help the player solve the logic problems that their associated puzzles pose. These are not too intrusive, fortunately, and can be pleasant brain-teasers for some. For the less patient, there is the convenience of skipping them entirely.
Another apparent favourite technique that the developers have for designing the puzzles in Harvey’s New Eyes is implementing the need to backtrack to see if there had been any changes in previously visited places. This can seem annoying to some players, but the player is usually rewarded with some (probably) entertaining sights for doing this.
Some puzzles, unfortunately, suggest that the development of the game may have been rushed. A problem with one of these could potentially prevent the player from progressing in the game, because the item that the player needs to progress is behind a door that another character would lock behind him. The player is supposed to obtain the item in a window of opportunity that logically only comes once, and the player would lose that chance should the window closes (which it can).
The developers appear to realize this, but instead of revising the puzzle so that the item is located elsewhere, they merely installed a work-around. This work-around recreates the window of opportunity whenever the player leaves the area, instead of the window being created in the same way via what the player has done earlier.
One of the puzzles happens to be a deliberate reference to silly puzzles and solutions that resort to associations between words – a kind of puzzle that was made infamous by high-profile games like the second Monkey Island title.
This puzzle could have been amusing enough if it referenced other games with such puzzles. Yet, instead it took a fourth-wall-breaking swipe at reviewers that are harsh towards the lack of logical progression in the puzzles of adventure games. Such a swipe may entertain people who are more apologetic towards the genre, but it would probably not amuse less-forgiving persons.
Then, there are points in the game where the player may have to progress by simply trying any object in the inventory with another object. One example is a point in the game where the player needs a disguise for Lilli, but how this disguise could come about is not clear until the player stumbles upon the way to get it.
CHARACTER DESIGNS & VOICE-OVERS:
Lilli is the main character of the game. This fact happens to make her character designs even more peculiar. Unlike the protagonists of many other adventure titles, Lilli is barely heard talking in the game.
Lilli is not actually mute or illiterate, but rather she prefers to make simple utterances. More importantly, her attempts at forming sentences are often cut off at the very first syllable she says. She certainly gives an impression that she is not verbally assertive, which does contribute to her role as an all-too-little girl.
Yet, despite all that has been mentioned about Lilli here, the player might realize that Lilli would be the most relatable character after some time into the game. Everyone else appears to be far, far off from what would be considered “normal”. Of course, this is perhaps to be expected from adventure games with themes like those in Harvey’s New Eyes.
The narrator himself appears to be a substantial character; in fact, his role in the story may become quickly apparent to the observant player, though this statement would not be elaborated here.
The narrator picks up the slack for Lilli’s lack of spoken lines, expressing her monologues with lingual enthusiasm of which Lilli has completely none.
Other than that, the narrator makes fourth-wall-breaking pokes at typical behaviours of players, such as trying everything on anything to get some solution to randomly work or to listen to commentaries.
He also makes hilariously positive spins on useless actions that yield no results of any sort. In fact, the narrator makes a positive spin on anything when it is probably inappropriate to do so, including observations of otherwise gruesome sights.
On the other hand, the Narrator is also a seemingly darksome person, making suggestions that Lilli herself considers to be quite unwise. Indeed, there would be the impression that the Narrator has veiled contempt for her.
The other characters in the game have wildly varying personalities. The game starts with Lilli’s fellow students, most of whom resent Lilli’s presence, though not without good reason. Later, there are more oddball characters, namely certain returning characters from the previous game.
Speaking of returning characters, one of them is the titular Edna, who is actually a secondary character in Harvey’s New Eyes. Fans of the previous game may be surprised that she takes a back-seat in the story when her role is compared to Lilli’s. The game will provide reasons for this, though it certainly had not promised that they would be satisfactory to said fans.
Anyway, Edna is a soft-spoken girl that gives reminders on what to do next during the earlier parts of the game. Through cleverly delivered lines, the player would be directed to do what needs to be done. It may seem a bit nose-leading, but the amusement provided by these lines should more than compensate.
Harvey is also a returning character. Like Edna, he has changed into someone that is unrecognizable to fans of the previous game. On the other hand, the causes for such changes are perhaps more reasonable and clearer than those for Edna.
Most characters have Southern American accents in the English dubbing of the game, though this is perhaps in line with the settings of the game, which appears to be set in heavily wooded regions (of which Southern America has a lot of).
A noteworthy mention here about the English dubbing is that Harvey’s New Eyes is substantially better translated from its original Deutsch version than The Breakout was.
As much as the writers try to make the characters interesting, their lines do eventually repeat, without any more amusing variation. Granted, there is no adventure game that can possibly surpass this limitation, but if Harvey’s New Eyes is to be compared with certain other games of its time, the effort that has been invested into writing lines for the comments by characters can seem relatively little.
In fact, the Narrator is used for when other characters do not appear to have voiced-over responses for the player’s choices.
REMARKS ON THE STORY:
Although this review would not describe the story much for fear of spoilers, it will still contain some remarks on noteworthy parts of the writing.
The game makes references to events in the previous Edna & Harvey title. Fortunately, newcomers to the franchise would not be so lost, because there happens to be some explanation later on the relationship between returning characters, such as the titular Edna and Harvey.
Yet, there are still a few holes that the game-makers have not covered for the sake of newcomers, such as how a certain book that belongs to one of the titular characters fell into the possession of a certain other character in Harvey’s New Eyes.
There are also differences between the stories of the first and second title that are not reconciled. Granted, it is difficult to convince anyone beyond reasonable doubt that these holes are outright discontinuities. If one were to view these kindly, one could say that these holes in the story of the second title are there to set up the third title, if Daedalic Entertainment has any plans for that.
POSSIBLY DISCOMFORTING THEMES:
Despite all that has been said about how amusing the story and character designs are, the writing for the game can seem perturbing at times.
This can be seen in the consequences of Lilli’s bungling, which inadvertently results in disaster for other characters. Of course, one can argue that many of the characters deserve such fates, though to concur with such an opinion means that one already favours darksome stories in the first place.
For other people, the game can be a bit distressing and even depressing at times, especially considering that most of the characters that would get into trouble are children. Furthermore, the realization that the player is guiding Lilli into doing terrible things unto others at certain points in the story can be quite troubling.
One particularly interesting element of the story game is the presence of gnomes that lather pink paint over what are presumably grisly sights.
Also, people who would prefer not to see kids do things that adults do may want to be warned that they will see exactly these in the game – with the exception of anything that might be lascivious, of course.
The game further increases the discomfort by resorting to the time-honoured practice of leaving many questions unanswered. This statement has been alluded to earlier and will not be elaborated further, but it should be added that at the end of the game, the player might be astounded enough to think aloud: “How could this be?”
This utterance is even more likely if one has fond memories of the first Edna & Harvey game and can perceive the disparities between the stories for the sequel and the first game.
VISUAL DESIGNS:
Following the visual designs of the previous game, the visual designs for characters and the locales in Harvey’s New Eyes vary wildly, seemingly on the whims of the artists.
There are few trends that can be perceived though. One of them is that young female characters have heads and necks like plant bulbs. The facial features of characters are very minimal, and in the case of some characters, completely absent. Mouths only appear from the bottom of the characters’ heads when they talk, which can seem both unsettling and amusing. Anthropomorphic potatoes are also common characters.
Indeed, if one is expecting a cartoonish appeal to the visual designs, one would be quite mistaken. Like its predecessor, Harvey’s New Eyes has many bizarre sights, perhaps even more.
Yet, the varying level of detail in the designs for the characters and locales may suggest severe inconsistencies in the artists’ efforts that have been invested into the game. As elaboration, some of the locales have splendid amounts of detail, such a scene that takes place in a cobbled road that runs through a forest, whereas some others, such as the junctions between rooms in Lilli’s convent, look rather drab.
Any suspicion of lackadaisical effort on the part of the game’s visual designers is further bolstered by the deficient animations. Many characters have stilted animations. Many animations are also reused for many occasions, such as an animation that has Lilli meekly reaching out for something, which is used for many actions that she does.
SOUND-EFFECTS & MUSIC:
Aside from the voice-overs, the sounds to be heard in the game are intended to add ambiance to the locales. For example, the player can hear crickets chirping in wooded areas. They are pleasant to listen to, but are otherwise unremarkable.
Some sound effects are reused many times. For example, a certain rumbling noise is used for muffled explosions, rockslides, structural collapse and such other occurrences. This can seem lazy.
Harvey’s New Eyes starts with a strong impression, thanks to the game’s very memorable theme song, “Needle & Stitch”. The vocalist’s melancholic drawl and the sad harmonica can be depressing though.
The rest of the music in the game appears to be derivatives of “Nadel und Fadel” (to use the song’s Deutsch name), if one is observant enough to notice the similarity in tunes. Only a few tracks appear to be different. Still, they are not terribly unpleasant to listen to.
CONCLUSION:
Despite its cartoonish appearance, Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes is a game that would promise an emotionally-tugging experience that is certainly not for those young-at-heart. It actually has a sad and slightly perturbing tale to tell.
Unfortunately, the experience that this tale provides is marred by some technical issues, lack of thorough play-testing and perhaps whimsy on the part of the game’s visual designers. Yet, nevertheless, the game should be worthwhile to play, even if one is not an adventure game enthusiast.