Amanda the Adventurer 3 – Review
In a sea of analog horror games based around children’s stuff that is actually very scary, Amanda The Adventurer from MANGLEDmaw Games has always been a breath of fresh air. Both the original game and its sequel were enjoyed by a large user base, including ourselves. Last month, Amanda the Adventurer 3 finally hit Steam, promising a satisfying conclusion to the series. Sadly, this promise stays partly unfulfilled, even if there are plenty of positive things to say about the franchise as a whole.
Story
In the first Amanda The Adventurer game, a young woman named Riley inherited her aunt Kate’s house and found a series of suspicious tapes in the attic. These tapes contain the titular cartoon. Though when Riley starts watching, she instantly realizes something weird is going on. The second game sees Riley go to Kate’s workplace, a library, to dig further into the cartoon and the shady company that made it, as well as the mystery of children who went missing while watching the show and what happened to Amanda’s voice actress. In this final game, Riley dives into the underground labs and office of Hameln, the people who made this nefarious cartoon. What are their motivations, and can the children affected by the demonic entities that hide behind the screen still be saved?
Honestly, this is where the game already falters. The problem with stories that revolve around mysteries such as this one is that they require a proper resolution. Amanda the Adventurer 3 fails to really live up to all the hype built around the story, leaving too many questions unanswered, introducing twists that contradict what we learned earlier, and also being the shortest game in the series so far, making the entire thing feel somewhat rushed.
Graphics
Amanda The Adventurer has always leaned into its more choppy graphics. Episodes of the titular cartoon that you watch during the game have never looked better, with smoother animation and character models. The devs are smart to lean heavily into the glitching effects and thus can get away with a rougher look a lot of the time, as well as up the creepiness with uncanny valley effects. There is more visual variety in the environment you get to explore in this game compared to the previous two, which was a nice touch. And as usual, we do think it’s clever how the game mixes its first-person perspective with chunks of gameplay that take place while watching the cartoon, as well as live-action segments.
Sound
One thing this series has always excelled in is the voice acting, and we’re happy to see this trend continue in the third game. The performances of both Amanda and Wooly are excellent, and they manage to infuse the slightly lackluster story with a lot of emotion. Like with the glitchy visuals, the devs have a solid grasp on how to use malfunctioning audio to up the creep factor. Overall, the game’s solid grasp on sound design will make you check over your shoulder several times, even if there isn’t a ton of music in the game. Silence is golden, after all.
Gameplay
Like the previous games in the series, Amanda the Adventurer 3 is a horror game with a large focus on puzzle-solving. The scary bits mainly come in the form of the atmosphere and the occasional jumpscare, though the game is good about balancing these so they don’t get obnoxious. Unlike its predecessors, the game is divided into chapters, though the overall gameplay remains the same. Puzzles are easier in this game than in the second Amanda the Adventurer, though whether you prefer it that way or not might be more personal than anything. Puzzles in the second game could get a bit obscure with few hints, while these might feel too easy for some.
Often, watching the tape and interacting with the characters within the cartoon is the way to go if you want hints, with tapes needing to be rewatched or paused at the right moment. This creative way of solving puzzles, using both the tapes and real-world objects, has always been this series’ strong suit, so we’re glad it returns. Just like the story, we just hoped this would be even more fleshed out. The shorter runtime, combined with the easier puzzles, does make the gameplay feel a bit lackluster.
The game has two different endings, the first being a default ending and then a true ending that you must unlock by solving a bunch of optional puzzles and collecting additional lore tapes. Whether you do or not has very little influence on the story’s outcome, though, and unless you care about achievements, this game is the sort you only play once or twice, then never again.
Conclusion
Sadly, Amanda the Adventurer 3 does not manage to make the series go out with a bang. The confusing plot, the short runtime, and the fact that they don’t do anything new or innovative with the puzzles make this game feel somewhat disappointing compared to the previous ones, which always managed to add something new. However, if you’re already invested in the series, we still recommend you take a look at this finale, and we like that it’s something different from what other horror puzzle games have delivered before.
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