Lorelai

Like the previous two games in this series (The Cat Lady and Downfall), Lorelai has just about every trigger warning that there is, and that’s only the first chapter. If you’ve been affected by suicide, domestic abuse or alcoholism please be cautious.
There are hundreds of games about depression and trauma, but this is really something else. It’s hard to categorise Lorelai; it has horror elements but is not a horror game, it has puzzles and a usable inventory but is not an adventure game, it has plenty of dialogue but is not a visual novel. It’s a game about various illnesses, but is not just a metaphor.
Amongst its now familiar hallucinatory scenes of Gothic darkness, this final instalment adds passages of realism, putting the protagonist into situations of everyday life. Not all of these are believable (UK police do not carry guns, for example, but is the narrator reliable?), but some were quite touching, depending on what the player chooses to do – the story can get much darker if that is the player’s preference. The meta section about the game designer was particularly inconsistent with the overall tone, especially considering what happened in the previous scene. Al the alcoholic was also a strange choice, one would not expect to find a Simpsons reference here. There is the sense that the designer, like the characters, is ready to move on from this. And what a strange journey it’s been.
The move to Unity, is, overall, successful, while keeping the art style of the previous games for the characters, yet not veering off into the odd mixture of 2d and 3d seen in Heaven’s Vault, for example. It is refreshing to be able to save the game at any point.
The most human of the three games, well worth it for those invested in the series and newcomers looking for something different. See also Andrea Arnold’s film “Fish Tank” for something similar to the first chapter, also The Land of Crows for a Gothic adventure game set in the early years of the genre.

Lorelai is the final part of The Devil Came Through Here trilogy and after The Cat Lady and Downfall there are some really big shoes to fill.
Story:
You play as Lorelai. Her home life is less than ideal, her mother is stuck in abusive relationship with a jobless alcoholic, a baby sister who no one in the family cares for. Lorelai only wants to leave the family with her sister and is working hard towards that goal, but fate has a different plan for her. One night after getting home she feels like something bad is going to happen and it does and it spirals Lorelai's life into madness.
I don't want to go into depth on what happens in the story so I'll stop here. Unlike the other games in the trilogy, I don't feel like Lorelai is incredibly disturbing. It's definitely bleak and there are some semi disturbing moments considering the topics it covers, but it never reaches the heights the first two games reached. I honestly at first felt disappointed by the story, but it took some time to reflect on it, for me to truly appreciate it.
Like the previous games in the trilogy, the story adapts to the choices of the player and yet again these choices actually feel heavy and they will affect you on a personal level. I honestly really enjoyed the story the more it went on, but I think out of the three it's by far the weakest one.
Graphics:
The Cat Lady and Downfall had a very nice art style. Those games looked gritty with a black and white art style with color used minimally throughout those games, not to mention low resolution graphics. Lorelai is in high definition and uses a lot of color. Lorelai has a very distinct look with a red and black stripe dress and two bright roses in her hair. Her design is definitely my favorite out of all the main characters of the trilogy, just because of how her colors pop out considering the bleak colors of the world.
The world is usually tinted in very sun washed colors like yellow and green and her colorful design is what makes it much more unique than the other games. The environments also look much better in HD and it felt awesome to look around at highly detailed rooms.
Audio:
The voice acting is also much better than in the other games. While I liked the voice acting in the previous games, I felt that a few of the actors didn't give that great of performances. I felt like everyone in this game did a spectacular job and delivered great performance. I especially loved the actress for Lorelai who gives an absolutely amazing performance.
Music is also just as good as the previous games. There's a bunch of great creepy tracks, ambient tracks and emotional tracks and they do a great job at what they set out to do. It's honestly a great soundtrack, even though not the best of the trilogy, I still loved it.
Gameplay:
Just like the previous games, the gameplay is pretty much identical to The Cat Lady and Downfall. You control Lorelai on a 2D plain, pick up items and use them somewhere else. Overall the formula hasn't changed much, but it feels a lot more refined here.
The menus are much cleaner looking and they are much better to go through. So while that section stays the same let's talk about the other aspects, including the puzzles. Without a doubt, Lorelai is the easiest game puzzle wise out of the trilogy. I never needed to take a moment to think about what I should do with the items, because as soon as I picked something up, I knew I needed to bring somewhere where I knew I needed it.
The biggest aspect is the choice making. I felt like choices were much more prominent here than in Downfall which is what I really liked. There's one moment in the game where your choice is actually quite heavy and you really need to think through your options and what the possible outcome could be.
The game is more about talking and exploring rather than solving puzzles as I felt they weren't even puzzles, but just little pace breakers so you get to do more than just talk and walk around. I wish there could have been harder puzzles, which is my main gameplay problem, everything else, I liked.
Verdict:
While it's my least favorite of the trilogy, Lorelai is still an absolutely amazing game that is worth playing for everyone that was a fan of the previous two games and just likes adventure games as a whole. It's a great emotional story that holds no punches and delivers a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
Final Rating:
9/10
Pros:
+ Great conclusion to the trilogy
+ Amazing music
+ Voice actors do a great job
+ Choices feel heavy
Cons:
- Puzzles are way too easy
- While overall decent, the story is not as good as the previous two games
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Michalski, if you're reading this. Thank you for the experience

PS: Amazing eastern egg ;) Support the Developer, he plenty deserves it! ^_^ <3
Absolutely outstanding.
I totally loved The Cat Lady.
I was disappointed from the remake of the old game, the voice acting were just terrible.
I bought Lorelai long a go but just decided to give it a run today, and I must say, it has surpassed all my expectations so far. Everything has been improoved, the amazing care for the unique graphics, the care for the details, the perfectly suitable voice acting, the way the story drags you in. Absolutely a must to play if you liked the Cat Lady.
And a game that every kind of gamer would appreciate as well.
Well done!

A stunning end to the trilogy. Absolutely play The Cat Lady and Downfall before you play Lorelai, as many things would be lost on you should you play the series out of order. What can I even say? This game actually managed to make me feel uncomfortable. The puzzles were very easy but you know what, that's alright. Great art, music, just everything you could expect from R. Michalski. I am very satisfied.

Bought on sale, wasn't disappointed.
Rating
Cat lady 1st
Downfall 2nd
Lorelai 3rd

Just like the Catlady it truly delivers a well written story that are one of the best stories I've ever played. I strongly recommend you to play Catlady first and this one after.
The story and visuals are grim, dark, depressing. A story about death, misery and the lifes that many people live behind close doors. Beauty in the darkness.
Gameplay is basic and full focus on the story. Puzzles that's not complicated.