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Arsene Lupin - Once a Thief:
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How did he do it? That is the question. Jump into the shoes of the famous French gentleman thief and master of disguises, Arsene Lupin! A criminal who can pull off the most incredible heist and elude the police while executing his plans. But hot on his heels, his nemesis, Inspector Ganimard, is always a whisker short of arresting him. Will he achieve his goal, or will Arsene Lupin prevail in Arsene Lupin - Once a Thief?
Arsene Lupin - Once a Thief is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Blazing Griffin and published by Microids on the 17th of October 2024 on the Steam platform. The game is playable on the Steam Deck but might be difficult for people who have visual impairment as the text may be too small to read. The game is also available for PS4/PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
The game starts at the Chateau de Malaquis, where Arsene Lupin aims to steal a Faberge egg from a steel cage that sits in a secure vault protected by two guards and their dogs. You’ll be shown how to use the camera, interact with objects and access your inventory. If you have already played games from Blazing Griffin, you'll be at ease straight away, and for those who haven't, it's an excellent tutorial.
What I enjoyed in this game is that you will be playing each stage, which is divided into two parts, not only from Arsene Lupin's perspective, but also from the perspective of Inspector Ganimard. On the last level, you’ll even play from the perspective of the famed English detective, Herlock Sholmes. I suspect the name was changed slightly due to property rights. The story unfolds in four locations: on board the SS Provence, in the Prison de la Santé and at the Châteaux de Malaquis and de Thibernesmil.
The gameplay is as expected: moving around the levels and searching for clues to achieve the goals listed in your inventory, which is presented as a journal. Make sure to use the camera angles so you can fully see everything within each area. As you accumulate evidence for each objective, you'll need to link them to reveal what happened. You’ll go through this process a few times for each objective to complete the deduction process. You also have several timeline deductions, and these are presented as a list of events on a page, which you have to place in the order that they occurred to complete. Make sure to read all the evidence carefully as you might find codes to open safes, too. There are other puzzles in the game, presented as riddles.
Yes, you will be talking back and forth with several characters in this game, and at some point, you'll be prompted to correctly choose a selection of questions and answers with some of the characters to move forward within the story. Don't worry if you are not right on your first attempt; you'll restart these sequences until you get them right, and they are not long, usually three to four interactions with three sentences to choose from. When correctly done, an interaction with Arsene Lupin and his creator, Maurice Leblanc, will take place in front of an open fire. It's an excellent touch from the developer as it is implemented as part of the story!
The graphics are beautiful. The narration and the voice-overs are well done. The stages are well-designed, and all the puzzles are well-presented and make sense. During my playthrough, the game ran well and had no crashes. In terms of control, you can play with the mouse and keyboard or with a gamepad. The interface and subtitles have been translated into nine languages, and the full audio is in English and French. It's the best game I have played from Blazing Griffin to date.
Positives:
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+ Great graphics
+ Fun story with good dialogues and voice-overs
+ Variety of puzzle deductions
+ Achievements
+ Great touch to have Maurice Leblanc (creator) and Arsene Lupin interact throughout the game
Negatives:
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- Probably a bit too easy to finish and does not have much replayability
- No trading cards as yet
A point-and-click adventure that is well-structured from start to finish, Arsene Lupin – Once a Thief offers a variety of puzzle deductions with charming artwork, good dialogue and excellent voice-overs.
7/10
Note: This game was not received for free; I purchased it through the Steam store.
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