Bite-sized Review
Mythargia

By Chris Picone, 01 March 2023

An supernatural detective-themed game that plays more or less like a point and click except for its 2d scrolling interface. The game's fairly linear although there is some room for puzzles and player decision-making.  Having said that, it's probably more of an interactive story than it is an adventure game.

Aesthetics

Absolutely glorious pixel art; retro-styled but loaded with colour and detail. Although Mythargia's quite short at only ~2 hours, it packs in tons of different scenes both in the real world and the hellscape dream world. Dialogue portraits and your "photos" help bring the scenes to life. Really, really nicely done.  

Gameplay

There are a few little interactive moments as you hide behind barrels, blast ghosts with a UV light, and dodge a few (eternally frustrating and nearly invisible) bear traps - and even the odd puzzle.  But the majority of the game involves wandering from village to church to graveyard and in out of the dream world as you speak with the dead and shining your torch into every nook and cranny for clues.  As I mentioned already, it's very short and mostly linear, but the story's very engaging as you slowly unravel clues scattered around this dark world and uncover the truth behind various grisly murders.  You do get to piece the clues together in your journal but it's more of an end-game state than an actual mystery to solve.

Verdict

This title's all about the aesthetics and the story.  If you enjoy interactive stories and like grim tales and dark supernatural themes and aesthetics, Mythargia's made for you.  I was hooked.

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2022470/Mythargia/