Unforeseen Incidents (Switch) Review
Release Date: January 27, 2022
Publisher/Developer: ASHGAMES/Backwoods Entertainment
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC (previously released in 2018)
Price: $19.99
It’s kind of scary how a lighthearted point and click adventure such as Unforeseen Incidents has such a heavy handed main story that, despite releasing in 2018, can have such eerie parallels to the state the world is in right now. In Yelltown, a strange fever has been running rampant that kills in hours from infection. A strange scientific group has come to “assist,” but at what cost?
Classic point-and-click games have had a resurgence of sorts through the years, and fans of the genre love the awkward combinations of materials to find solutions to puzzles. Unforeseen Incidents manages to bypass some of the absurdity by using the main character’s Swiss Army Knife (Multitool!) to do realistic things like repair a television or tune up a car. You may have to travel across the map to find materials, but by and large many of the early puzzles have a bit of real world logic to them, instead of realizing the only way through the door is to distract the guard with the rubber chicken long enough to pour some spicy sauce in the lock to melt it or whatever.
Harper Pendrell is an everyman who finds himself in the midst of chaos as his town is in the grips of a mysterious virus. He starts his day helping a local scientist fix his computer, but conversations with him and a run in with a virus stricken woman land him right in the midst of trouble. He seeks out a reporter, finds mysterious signals from secret organizations, and basically finds every potential conspiracy theory to be true.
The characters are well-rounded and unique. They may have their own special quirks but they do not define who they are. It’s kind of neat to see characters that have traits that have nothing to do with the story. It makes them feel more real and normal. The art style is fun as well, as each character is hand-drawn and looks like a 2D cutout of sorts.
As I said, puzzles seem more realistic, but there were times that the hunt was pretty extreme. Items might be on the other side of the map, and Harper is glacially slow. He won’t run for anything. There are times you might pick up an item that you never use, and others that Harper refuses to pick up until he has a reason to need them. I had times where I needed one doohickey, but it kinda blended in to another pile of junk. There are a few glitches I ran across too, as in one scene I had a map and several destinations to travel through, but clicking one of them would take me to a different one, and I would struggle to get the system to work right. I was eventually able to strong arm myself through it, and I’m hoping that kind of thing will be fixed in an update, but it was annoying and time consuming.
Originally, Unforeseen Incidents was a German game, translated naturally by Alisdair Beckett-King, who has crafted his own tales in games such as the Nelly Cootalot series, one of which I reviewed on here before. The game is not directly translated, allowing some more naturally created humor in English that seems to flow naturally with the plot. The twists and turns are pretty straightforward, but the humor and attitudes of the characters draw you in and keep you engaged. Despite some of the difficulties that will hopefully be ironed out, Unforeseen Incidents’ tale of intrigue pulls you in and keeps you enthralled to the end.
Pros:
-Unique puzzles with more grounded solutions
-Engrossing story keeps you hooked
-Beautiful art and voicework throughout
Cons:
-Harper will pick up junk and also not pick up needed things because “not yet”
-A few bugs and glitches to muscle through
Special thanks to ASHGAMES/Backwoods Entertainment for providing a code for review!