Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Title: Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis
Developer: Animation Arts
Publisher: Deep Silver
Website: https://www.deepsilver.com/en/games/secret-files-2-puritas-cordis/
Genre: Point and Click, Puzzle, Mystery
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Audience: PEGI 12
Release Date: 20/06/19
Price: £13.49 – Rapid Reviews UK were very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis was initially launched in 2009; graphically you can see it hasn’t aged all that well, but for the most part you will find some enjoyment here if you like the point and click genre. You play as Nina Kalenkov, the main heroine of the story. You’re on a mission to uncover and investigate a series of natural phenomenon that has been happening all over the world, so expect a wide array of locations to explore!

You’ll also be playing as Max, Nina’s ex-boyfriend, during certain parts and there’s a lot of flitting between the two. It’s a great idea to split up the different locations and keeps you on your toes as to gathering clues and information. If you’re familiar with the point and click genre; you’ll feel right at home with Secret Files 2. You’ll have a few different scenes to explore which all require your logic and cunning wit to progress through the story. Picking up items of interest and interacting with the environment is vital; you’ll be combining items too to make all manner of different objects and solving logic-based puzzles.

The opening scene for Secret Files 2 gives you an idea of how the game runs. It reminded me very much of PC games from the ’90s that I used to play when I was as a kid and into my teens. I loved point and click adventures back then! That’s not to say I don’t anymore, I’ve just found it’s quite a niche genre and one that few seem to play. There are some nice cut scenes to split up the exploration sections of the game, and the story feels engaging enough to keep you hooked.

On the audio side of things, it gets a little ropey. Being a point and click title you can imagine there’s a lot of talking to get through between characters, all of it is voice acted. Unfortunately it feels prolonged, and sometimes you want to reach for the ‘skip’ button, but of course, you do need to hear most of the characters out as they could hold vital clues for the next part of your adventure. The script is littered with terrible ‘Dad jokes’ throughout. The music is forgettable at best and seems to play like a broken record; looping through the same sound effects in certain locations.

If you play the game in handheld, you’re treated to touch screen controls which feel a lot more intuitive than playing on the TV. Trying to move the analogue stick to direct the cursor slows everything down. The upside of playing on the TV is that you can see the environments a lot clearer and are less likely to miss important clues or things to interact with. There are a lot of pickups in the game as well, so at times it can feel a little overwhelming as to where to head next. It just depends on how you feel you want to play the game and if you prefer analogue or touch screen controls.

One of the main problems I had was the obscurity of the clues and how each item is used to progress through the game. I like to think I have a reasonably logical head on my shoulders, and I’ve played a fair few point and click titles in my time, but here I felt like a complete novice. It’s not always immediately obvious where to head next or which items to combine, and I’m not saying it should be written on a flashing postcard. But it should feel like a sense of accomplishment when you figure out the solution whereas I found myself pacing back and forth a lot of the time trying to hunt for the smallest of hints; it feels a little frustrating.

Overall I found some enjoyment from the game and the story wasn’t terrible. It does show its age in the dialogue and presentation though; with slow and sluggish progression. If you’re a fan of the Secret Files series, then you’ll probably want to pick this up – but there are far better point and click titles available on the eShop to make this an essential purchase.