Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond

Developer: Brave Giant LTD | Publisher: Artifex Mundi | Release Date: 2014 | Genre: Hidden Object / Adventure / Puzzle | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Artifex Mundi has become closely associated with polished hidden object adventures, but not every title carrying its name was actually developed internally. Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond was created by Serbian studio Brave Giant and published by Artifex Mundi, offering a supernatural mystery filled with hidden objects, puzzles, demons, strange experiments, and more than a few ideas that seem to have been borrowed from entirely different horror stories. The Steam release contains 41 hand-drawn locations, 29 minigames, 21 hidden object scenes, and 28 achievements.

The protagonist is Dawn Harlock, a mysterious red-eyed woman who was discovered wandering around Iowa Island as a child and subsequently raised by Professor Ashmore. Years later, Dawn returns to the island after learning that her mentor has died under suspicious circumstances. It does not take long before evidence begins pointing towards something much stranger than an ordinary murder, with Ashmore apparently conducting bizarre experiments connected to another dimension and Dawn’s own forgotten past.

It is a promising setup, particularly during the opening section. Exploring the gloomy family estate, surrounding gardens, abandoned buildings, and dark corridors creates a suitably eerie atmosphere. Unfortunately, the plot becomes increasingly disjointed as the adventure progresses. Science-fiction machinery, ancient supernatural forces, underwater encounters, occult imagery, and mythology are all thrown into the mixture without always feeling as though they belong in the same story. Fortunately, hidden object adventures live or die as much by their puzzles and exploration as their stories, and Demon Hunter fares considerably better in these areas.

Gameplay follows the familiar format of older hidden object titles. Players move between static scenes, collect inventory objects, solve minigames, examine suspicious areas, and periodically encounter hidden object scenes. Items gathered in one location are frequently required somewhere else, so there is plenty of backtracking as Dawn gradually opens new sections of the island.

The main game provides a map that displays available locations and supports fast travel, which becomes invaluable considering how often objectives send Dawn back through previously explored areas. The fast-travel map is one of the more useful features, and without it, some of the later item hunting would have become considerably more tedious.

The adventure does have a habit of employing classic hidden-object logic. A perfectly ordinary obstacle might require one very specific item to overcome, while useful tools are frequently discarded immediately after performing their designated task. Anyone familiar with older HOGs such as Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek or Nightmares from the Deep will know what to expect.

Some contraptions are especially elaborate. One memorable example involves restoring the lighthouse using the sort of unnecessarily complicated Rube Goldberg mechanism that makes very little practical sense but works well as a puzzle. There is even an achievement for completing the lighthouse minigame correctly on the first attempt.

The 29 minigames offer a reasonable amount of variety. Players can expect the usual assortment of rotating pieces, pattern matching, mazes, mechanical contraptions, mathematical puzzles, and sequence-based challenges. Most are not particularly demanding, but they provide welcome breaks between searching rooms and collecting inventory items.

A few achievements increase the pressure significantly by requiring certain puzzles to be completed within strict time limits. This can be frustrating because failing them may require another playthrough because the game does not allow players to save manually beforehand. This feels unnecessarily harsh in what is otherwise a very relaxed genre.

The hidden object scenes are among the better parts of the game. Most display a traditional list of objects along the bottom of the screen, requiring players to locate everything within a cluttered illustration. Some names on the list appear in green, indicating objects that require something slightly different. In some cases, the target changes form and must be clicked while displaying the correct appearance, while others require an additional interaction before they can be collected. The morphing objects are an interesting idea in theory, but waiting for one to cycle back to the required form can become irritating, particularly when it is the last item remaining. 

The scenes themselves are generally well constructed. Objects are disguised amongst books, machinery, plants, furniture, and miscellaneous clutter without usually becoming impossible to identify. Some are very small, but the hint system provides assistance for anyone who becomes stuck.

Different difficulty settings alter how much help is available, allowing players to decide whether they want obvious interactive indicators and rapidly recharging hints or a more traditional adventure-game experience. As usual, players chasing all the achievements will want to avoid hints and excessive misclicks during certain hidden object scenes.

A journal keeps track of Dawn’s discoveries and current objectives. It is especially useful because the story occasionally jumps between seemingly unrelated events, while the adventure itself contains enough backtracking that returning after a break can otherwise leave players wondering what they were supposed to be doing.

Collectibles provide an additional reason to inspect each scene carefully. The Steam version contains 28 achievements, including one for gathering all collectible items. Completionists will therefore need to pay considerably more attention than players simply following the main objectives.

Completing the primary story unlocks a bonus episode called “The Dream,” which is part of the Collector’s Edition material included with the Steam release. The Dream is considerably smaller than the main campaign, featuring only eight locations. It also removes the convenient fast-travel feature, forcing Dawn to move manually between scenes. Fortunately, the area is small enough that this is manageable, but after becoming accustomed to instantly jumping around the main island, it feels like an unnecessary regression.

The bonus story itself is not particularly memorable. It provides a little more content and some additional puzzles, but it feels more like an appendix than an essential continuation. The Extras menu is surprisingly generous. Completing the game unlocks access to concept art, movies, wallpapers, music, puzzles, and hidden object scenes, allowing favourite minigames and searches to be replayed without going through the entire story again. This is a particularly welcome feature for anyone who enjoyed the puzzles more than the narrative. Instead of starting another campaign just to revisit one hidden object scene, it can be selected directly from the Extras menu.

Visually, Demon Hunter is something of a mixed bag. The hand-painted environments are easily its strongest aspect. The game features 41 locations, and many of the mansion interiors, gardens, laboratories, underground areas, and supernatural scenes contain an impressive amount of detail. The darker locations in particular create an atmosphere that is often more convincing than the story surrounding them.

Character artwork is less consistent. Some portraits look significantly better than others, while animation tends to involve static images being distorted or moved rather than genuinely animated. The cutscenes therefore show the game’s age far more clearly than its backgrounds. Thankfully, most of the adventure is spent staring at detailed static scenes rather than character animation, so the stronger artwork dominates the experience.

Audio is another area where the game could have used more variety. There are only five music tracks available in the Extras section, and that limited selection becomes very noticeable during a multi-hour adventure. The same piano phrases and atmospheric themes repeat frequently enough that they eventually lose their impact. The compositions themselves are not necessarily bad, there simply are not enough of them.

Voice acting is also inconsistent. Steam lists full English audio, but large portions of the game rely on text rather than continuous spoken dialogue. Some performances are perfectly adequate for the genre, while others sound stiff and awkward. The limited voice work becomes especially noticeable in the bonus episode, which can feel strangely quiet. Sound effects fare better, with environmental noises and puzzle feedback providing enough atmosphere during exploration. However, neither the acting nor the repetitive soundtrack reaches the standard of the stronger hidden object adventures from the period.

Controls are entirely mouse-driven and straightforward. Players click to move between locations, inspect objects, use inventory items, and complete puzzles. The interface follows the familiar Artifex Mundi-style layout, with inventory along the bottom and access to the map, journal, and hints always close at hand.

The main campaign generally takes around four to five hours depending on difficulty, puzzle proficiency, and how thoroughly every scene is searched, while the bonus chapter adds a little more. With 41 locations, 29 minigames, 21 hidden object scenes, collectibles, a bonus chapter, and replayable extras, there is a respectable amount of content even though the story itself is relatively brief.

Replay value is more limited unless achievements are important. Once all the puzzle solutions and hidden object locations are known, a second campaign loses much of its appeal. The Extras menu compensates somewhat by allowing individual puzzles and scenes to be replayed without repeating the entire adventure.

Overall, Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond is a decent but uneven hidden object adventure. Its atmospheric environments, plentiful hidden object scenes, convenient fast-travel map, varied minigames, and generous Extras section are all worthwhile, but they are undermined by a disjointed story, stiff animation, repetitive music, and some questionable puzzle design. The gloomy mansion and island exploration initially suggest a stronger supernatural mystery than the game ultimately delivers.

Players who primarily enjoy hidden object scenes and traditional HOG puzzles should still find enough here to justify a playthrough, especially at a discount. Anyone looking for a gripping mystery or the polish of the strongest older Artifex Mundi releases may come away less impressed.