Goetia

The word that comes to mind is astonishing. Gosh... this is, obscenely, exasperatingly obtuse and difficult. I've tried playing through twice, pouring out notes, scrutinising each area and so many details over and over... but despite getting far, both times I stopped. I'm a no hints kind of player; and after so many hours looping on feeling hopelessly stuck on one solve - then the next - the temptation had become so great to peep that I partially spoiled some solutions and just "noped!" out my playthoughs before the information could settle.
See, I love point & clicks and puzzle games, and some rarer examples of them I think just deserve a sort of reverence to accept defeat. What I adore about Goetia is how the entire gameplay and puzzle set-up meshes so deftly with the rich atmosphere and themes permeating the game. You feel like a ghost returned from death, overwhelmed, stupefied, not knowing what to do or what to make of what's around. Even without completing it or concluding the story, for me this is one of the greats of the genre.

What an odd adventure game. You are basically a ghost who somehow gets back to her old abandoned house in a future time where everything is in ruins. By reading documents, books, and other clues you have to start piecing together who are you, your family, their interactions, etc.

At first, most of the house is blocked by demon sigils, you remove these blocks by solving a variety of puzzles. Your only power in the game, is posessing objects and moving them around to use them with other objects. The game will eventually expand to other locations but most environments look dark and similar. It's hard to remember every place and what's still unsolved in each room. There's no hotspot highlight and I found myself stuck tons of times because of this.

So let me get something clear, this game is hard, incredibly hard. Puzzles will either click or not at all. Some end puzzles barely make any sense. There's a lot of back and forth trying to remember where are the items that might be the solution to a puzzle. You have to be very careful where you drop your items, otherwise you will find yourself going through every room trying to find an item again.

There's a journal which will act as a quest/objective indicator on what you already did which is basically your only way to keep track of stuff. In the sound department, there's a very subtle and moody soundtrack that fits the game, eerie at times, sometimes mysterious.

There are 2 endings, a bad and a good one. To be honest, they were almost the same and the only difference is that the good ending requires resolving 4 optional puzzles. The game is super atmospheric, but the ending felt just too rushed.

This is a great recommendation for players who enjoy a lot of reading, piecing clues, solving hard puzzles with almost no hints at all. Don't make the mistake (like me) of leaving the game for a few weeks untouched because it's a nightmare to get back in and remember what was going on.

If you prefer a lighter adventure game, you should look somewhere else.

Overall Goetia is a good game. I liked it and the game was also the right length.
Thing is didn't like:
Some puzzles require knowledge not provided in game. I do not know piano notes.
I am not deaf. But if you are one puzzle is impossible to solve for you.
For some reason the game always opened on my second monitor.

Interesting take on point and click adventures. The single slot inventory is never cumbersome and helps avoid the usual downfall of randomly using thing a on problem b. (Do still consider referencing a walkthrough for some of the more obscure puzzles...)

This is an amazing game and the most fun I've had in a puzzle game in a long time. This game may feel a bit difficult for a casual puzzle player but if you're more experienced in the genre it is the most engaging and rewarding set of puzzles I've worked through in a while. I also love the story, art and atmosphere. It's all just so well done. I really do love this game and I highly recommend it.

Goetia is an entertaining mystery game where you control a ghost with unreliable memories as she explores an abandoned mansion. The game is neat and brings some nice Metroidvania sensibilities to a point and click adventure. The worst thing I have to say about the game is that a complete Steam Achievement score involves running the game repeatedly to trigger some things that I would describe as bad endings. I'm happy with my current playthrough.