Last Days of Lazarus Review (CindyK_JA)
An excellent game with a mystery to solve, diverse areas to explore, and relics/documents to gather. You play as a man returning home after the death of his mother. He arrives to find his sister missing and, in his search for her, uncovers a host of family secrets. With a mix of politics, history, and Eastern Orthodoxy, the story twists and turns towards a dark, yet hopeful ending.
If you enjoyed Gray Dawn, you are likely to find Last Days of Lazarus quite satisfying. The characters are intriguing and the scenery and sound track are beautifully crafted. The religious artifacts are masterfully created and you have a real sense of experiencing Romania in the post-Soviet era. Good and Evil complete throughout this adventure and the main character finds he has strong ties to both.
Puzzles are mostly 'find and use' with a handful of mechanical exercises that were not too difficult. At times, you may find yourself trying to figure out what action is needed to make the story progress. Luckily, the individual chapters are not huge so there is no significant back tracking involved as you try to discover what you missed.
I enjoyed reading the documents and taking in the environment as the back story unfolded. The game autosaves often and also saves on exit. There is a 'chapter select' feature that allows you to circle back and pick up missing achievements.
I highly recommend this to those who enjoy a twisting story that mixes a bit of mystery, horror, religious themes, and a man in search of the truth.