edit 1 year later: the dlcs have been a huge step up from the base game in almost every way including difficulty, music, style, intrigue, and especially puzzle ingenuity. each installment offers a completely different experience and i found myself chuckling at the aha moments, even the subtle ones like how koi is the "wise mentor" in tesa's photo. it's exactly what i wanted in a Golden Idol sequel and then some - definitely worth picking up!

was looking forward to this sequel all year and would recommend it despite falling short of the first game imo

i found Rise overall much less challenging than Case, which i attribute to Rise having double the scenarios at the cost of complexity. i personally prefer 4+ room scenarios over the bite-sized, compact ones which make up the majority of puzzles. i also wish each scenario were more visually dynamic or exciting to look at, as most felt somewhat pared down and unmemorable

on a similar note, i think Case's stylistic decisions / ui are more polished and cohesive than Rise. while the movable pop-outs and disable switch are nice, navigating these and the new giant word list and the static scenario pop-outs can be overwhelming and clunky

i had hoped they'd lean more into the "dystopian 70's corporate america" aesthetic to inform the game's atmosphere and design. recurring characters lacked in the eccentric personality and charm that were so captivating in Case. aside from one or two key moments (eg. the auction or warehouse scenario), i don't think Rise reached quite the same freakishly eerie tone either which was a bummer

i do like that Rise forces you to flip back and forth between completed scenarios to piece together the overarching story, but even 7 seconds of load time when swapping scenarios dozens of times gets annoying

with Case setting such a high bar, it's hard not to compare the two. nevertheless, i still enjoyed Rise as a standalone game and will happily pay money for future installments in the franchise

edit 1 year later: the dlcs have been a huge step up from the base game in almost every way including difficulty, music, style, intrigue, and especially puzzle ingenuity. each installment offers a completely different experience and i found myself chuckling at the aha moments, even the subtle ones [spoiler]like how koi is the "wise mentor" in tesa's photo[/spoiler]. it's exactly what i wanted in a Golden Idol sequel and then some - definitely worth picking up! was looking forward to this sequel all year and would recommend it despite falling short of the first game imo i found Rise overall much less challenging than Case, which i attribute to Rise having double the scenarios at the cost of complexity. i personally prefer 4+ room scenarios over the bite-sized, compact ones which make up the majority of puzzles. i also wish each scenario were more visually dynamic or exciting to look at, as most felt somewhat pared down and unmemorable on a similar note, i think Case's stylistic decisions / ui are more polished and cohesive than Rise. while the movable pop-outs and disable switch are nice, navigating these and the new giant word list and the static scenario pop-outs can be overwhelming and clunky i had hoped they'd lean more into the "dystopian 70's corporate america" aesthetic to inform the game's atmosphere and design. recurring characters lacked in the eccentric personality and charm that were so captivating in Case. aside from one or two key moments (eg. the [spoiler]auction[/spoiler] or [spoiler]warehouse[/spoiler] scenario), i don't think Rise reached quite the same freakishly eerie tone either which was a bummer i do like that Rise forces you to flip back and forth between completed scenarios to piece together the overarching story, but even 7 seconds of load time when swapping scenarios dozens of times gets annoying with Case setting such a high bar, it's hard not to compare the two. nevertheless, i still enjoyed Rise as a standalone game and will happily pay money for future installments in the franchise