Leaving a review after about 3 hours. GREAT Halloween spooky vibes! Perfect game for the best holiday of the year. It is currently buggy, so save often. You also have to manage the time mechanic, which is fiddly when combined with the save system (you can easily load back to before you burned time on an irrelevant object, so the game is more about making larger decisions involving who to investigate when, not having to micro-manage your time resource to actually solve the mystery). If I had a shilling for every detective game about a manor house with a fountain outside its front door, released in 2025, I would have two shillings, which isn't a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice.

Blue Prince but better.

The load times for new rooms and areas are sooo long. Kills the flow

It Is a Haunting You Don’t Want to Miss

I went into The Séance of Blake Manor expecting a slow mystery, but it completely pulled me in. You arrive at a gloomy Irish mansion in 1897, trying to solve a disappearance before a séance opens a door to the other side. The story, the atmosphere, and the strange cast of guests all make it feel like a playable gothic novel. The art is stunning, with every shadow and candlelit hallway feeling hand-drawn. The music and whispers in the background make you feel like you’re not alone, even when you are. Every clue you find and every question you ask feels meaningful, and the time pressure keeps the mystery gripping. If you like story driven games with eerie vibes and emotional depth, this one’s worth it. The Séance of Blake Manor might just be one of the most hauntingly beautiful detective games of the year.

Worth Buying at Full Price!

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This is a case where Steam needs more options than "yes" and "no". I didn't like it but I'd still recommend it and it's clearly made with a lot of love and effort and plenty of people would enjoy it. I don't think Golden Idol and Obra Dinn are the best comparisons for this game. I'd call those puzzle games, and this is more of an adventure, like the old Sierra mystery games. The games this gets compared to are simpler and smaller in scope, where there's little between the player and solving the puzzles. This game is much larger and has a significant amount of dialogue and world building. I'm lazy and impatient, so I didn't enjoy the amount of walking around and talking I had to do before I could solve puzzles. If you are happy to immerse yourself in the game, and enjoy character driven stories, you would probably really enjoy this. If you're more interested in it because of the detective/puzzle aspect, you may still enjoy it, but know that a significant amount of the game is exploring and learning about the setting and characters rather than just making deductions. If you're put off by the time aspect, don't worry about it. It's more about simulating everything moving around you than trying to stress you out. You have plenty of time to do things. Some specific criticisms: - There's quite a few bugs around sequence breaking. I performed an action which implied I had prior knowledge of it. When I spoke to a relevant character later, I received a task to complete for them that showed as already completed, but I was unable to progress anything related to it. - There's quite a few cases where a conversation doesn't make sense given knowledge already gained or things that are still unknown, like implying you've met a character you haven't yet. I can forgive that somewhat because there is a massive amount of characters and dialogue. - The loading times between rooms are far too long for how often you're changing rooms. - The UI feels clunky. There's quite a few layers to click through to get to relevant information. Panning around the evidence "web" is really slow (this may be tied to the camera sensitivity settings?). A frustrating experience was clicking through several things to view some information, exiting to talk to someone or do something else, and then opening the journal to check the information again. It starts you at the top level and you have to click through again. Opening back on the page you were on with a quick way to get back would be better in my opinion. - There's too many of the sigil puzzles. I would've liked an option that autocompletes them after you've already done the sigil successfully.

Very good. Approachable puzzles with good informational presentation. You how in Blue Prince everyone asked "why doesn't the game keep screenshots of the documents for you if you're going to have to refer to them later?" Well, this game DOES take the screenshots of the documents for you. My real review is a joke that nevertheless could be considered a mild thematic spoiler. Dublin man goes to a scooby doo style mansion but when he pulls off the monster's rubber mask it's Oliver Cromwell underneath

Would say it's worth it PROS: -Very nice style and settings, the art is superb -Great story, really digged the path they took with the plot -interesting gameplay, the confrontations are nice -Charismatic characthers -It's kind of silly but I really liked the drawing games as I could see a progress in difficulty in them and by the end of the game i've had strategies to solve them so it was nice -Simple but well thought puzzles, things connect very smoothly, in a way that it's not too hard but you need to pay attention -Brasil mentioned CONS: -Could use better controller experience -Sometimes the amount of things to do can be a bit overwhelming, i would remove a few of the useless interactions created to waste time, as it can be too misleading and boring, also too much visual pollution -Could use a quick travel button for at least the main areas, the garden and the atrium quick travel would be enough, like something unlockable mid-game to make the mid-late game gameplay less boring, i hate wasting time running around just for the sake of """gameplay"""" specially after i've already learned the paths, so most of the time was just useless wandering to get to talk to all people -I'm bored out of always being a bland white male detective with sherlock like personality

Video Impressions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQlXo0hjlY Absolutely Outstanding. To be very reductive it's Obra Dinn with far more detailed investigation mechanics and a larger map. It kept me enthralled throughout (even if I panicked a bunch in the middle and couldn't find some clues). Fantastic atmosphere, writing, voice acting and art. Fun, light puzzles mostly - the story is the emphasis. I loved the characters, found the story impossible to put down and was satisfied with the ending. The story is the people you meet along the way, and the lessons they teach you about loss, faith, generational trauma and ultimately - empathy. Secondly, as a proud Irishman, this is the most accurate reflection of the complex tapestry of history, conflict, mythos, religion, immigration, emigration, sorrow and joy that makes up the country I call home. I have never, and will probably never again, play a game that touched me as an Irish person so deeply. The game is fantastic on it's own merits, but this is a must-play for any Irish gamer. (code provided by developer for press coverage on noclip_2)

I rarely bother to write reviews, other people often can sum up my thoughts and feelings i a far more concise way than I am able to. However, even after just a few hours of this gem, I felt compelled to try. Seance at Blake Manor has been a delight so far. The atmosphere is perfect, and the tone is set straight away. A wonderful setting and an intriguing cast of characters combine to get the hooks in you early, and take you along for the ride. Everything feels so charming, yet mysterious and ominous all at once. If you are a fan of mystery/deductive reasoning games like Obra Dinn or Golden Idol, please at least try the demo!

Great so far. The whole whodunnit/mystery/deduction gameplay loop is quite immersive and deep as well. Was a bit put off initially seeing how there's somewhat of a 'timer' while solving cases , but it doesn't work in the way you'd think. Actions taken cause time to pass, but a few cases in now it seems like there's adequate amounts so long as you stay focused and do what your tasked. Will update when done but as of now this is Must Play for any OG Holmes/Agatha Christie fans