It's been some time in the making, but fans of dark fantasy, point-and-click adventure games, and Black Olive Games's signature sketchy, hand-drawn style can finally dive into Tainted Olive: Chapter 2, the second installment in their Tainted Olive series. (And if you haven't played the first one yet, now's a good time to catch up.) In a world of magic and war, he who controls the olive oil controls the universe, as it's one of the most useful magical substances in the world. The series follows the adventures of Silvian, a magic-crystal-wielding accidental adventurer who, like many adventurers, is caught up in a conflict greater than he is. A lot bigger. Tainted Olive is a very text-heavy series that focuses strongly on worldbuilding, and it crafts a surprisingly large fantasy universe with its own history, culture, and brand of magic. Thankfully, it also brings a handful of tricky puzzles to go with it.
Tainted Olive: Chapter 2 is a game very, very heavy on reading and exposition, which makes it fairly slow-paced for a point-and-click game. You'll be engaging with a lot of NPCs, and there's a lot of exposition and information hidden in their conversations, not all of which is strictly important to the gameplay. The prose is occasionally stilted and a little awkward, but it has an appropriately fantasy-ish feel, which does help contribute to the atmosphere of the game. If you're not a fantasy fan or don't really care for the world the game makers have established, though, it can be kind of a drag to sit through all of the game's many, many NPC conversations. However, this installment in the series does include a greater wealth of puzzles. Some of these actually do quite a good job from deviating from the usual standards seen in a lot of browser-based point-and-click games! For those who like a good brainteaser, this chapter definitely provides. But Tainted Olive is still a series about narrative, first and foremost, and your enjoyment of this game has a lot to do with how deeply you can engross yourself in the world the devs have created. You'll be most at home if you like a dramatic fantasy yarn full of references to pantheons of imaginary gods and mysterious kingdoms. But the puzzles definitely don't hurt.
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
Walkthrough
Part I
Start by examinig the blood on the road. Go into the woods and cut the thick branches blocking the way to the forest, grabbing the logs on the ground.
Forest maze
If you get lost in the maze, simply use your gem and go back once. This should get you back at the entrance. The correct way through the forest is
right, left, right, forward, left, right, left.
Go inside the Kazun and grab the empty glass vial and the piece of flint. If you examine the book, you’ll find that a potion can be mixed here using olive oil, blood and ember dust.
Waking up the Emmissary
Go back into the den. Put the logs into the fireplace and combine the piece of flint with the sword. Use the sword to start the fire and then again to heat it up. Examine the Emissary and use the heated sword to stop his bleeding. Once he’s awake, talk to him until he asks you to put the remains of his brothers’ souls to rest by burning them.
Making the potion
Collect olive oil from the carts, where the bodies are. You’ll find the oil dripping from the tip of an arrow.
Collect blood from the road, at the starting position.
To get the ember dust ,talk to the Emissary and go to the cart again. Examine the blonde man on the ground and you’ll find he carries ember dust.
Go back to the Kazun and mix the oil, blood and ember dust in the mortar. Use the pestle twice and put the result in your vial. Go to the den and expose the glass vial to the fire. You can now use the mixture to burn the bodies of the Emissaries.
Follow the same path through the forest to get to the Kazun. Talk to the strange lady and she’ll take you away.
right, left, right, forward, left, right, left.
Part II
Use the knife to open the envelope. Since the location of the meeting is a “mystery shadowed by fire”, put some lather on the paintbrush and then on the letter. Finally, put the letter over the candle to reveal the strange words.
Use the map to go to the tavern and get the grid piece of paper. To decipher the message, put each word on the piece of paper. The solution to the puzzle should look like this:
from top to bottom: “ts”, “edeeb”, “aamce”, “sapol”, “tnlnl”, “ed”. “ts” and “ed” should be put 1 square away from the end of the line.
Use the map to get to the temple.
Part III
The lock
In the right corner of the cell a splinter of wood can be found. Use it to tear open the hidden pocket of your cloak and get the lock picks. The pattern for the lock can be seen on the key on the table and it is
from inside to outside – square, circle, circle, triangle, on the bottom side of the lock.
Go into the hallway and use the lock picks to open the door on the right. Grab your sword, put the lock picks in the oil and head forward in the hallway. Use the sword to grab your dice. Use the lock picks to unlock the double doors. Talk to Lydia and grab the needle. Put it in the black poison on the table. Use the poisoned needle to paralyze the woman. Go in the hallway and head left.
Posted by: Stinky
|
September 7, 2015 10:49 AM