Death Under Tuscan Skies: A Dana Knightstone Novel Review

Dana Knightstone is back from her adventures in Death at Fairing Point and ready to solve another mystery. When Death Under Tuscan Skies begins you have just arrived at a university in Italy to deliver a lecture. Almost immediately, you are pulled into a mystery when the ghost of a young woman appears to you. It is up to you to help Dana find out about the mysterious illness that killed her and find out what happened to her lover, Giovanni, who vanished shortly before her death.

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Join Dana Knightstone as she explores Tuscany and stumbles upon a murder mystery from the 19th century.

Dana Knightstone is back from her adventures in Death at Fairing Point and ready to solve another mystery. When Death Under Tuscan Skies begins you have just arrived at a university in Italy to deliver a lecture. Almost immediately, you are pulled into a mystery when the ghost of a young woman appears to you. It is up to you to help Dana find out about the mysterious illness that killed her and find out what happened to her lover, Giovanni, who vanished shortly before her death.

Death Under Tuscan Skies claims to be a hidden object adventure game, but it’s really an adventure game with a couple hidden object scenes thrown in. There is usually one or two traditional hidden object scenes per chapter, and maybe a couple variations as well. Don’t let that deter you though; the game more than makes up for it with numerous puzzles, mini-games and quite the extensive inventory to collect.

 A Dana Knightstone Novel

Puzzles are scattered all over the Tuscan countryside and you will be uncovering them at every turn. The puzzle range in difficulty from easy to challenging and several may leave you baffled (either that, or I missed a couple clues along the way). One nice feature is that the hint button works during most of the puzzles. Using a hint will advance the puzzle slightly. This can really help if you don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. If hints aren’t enough, there is always the skip button.

The locations you visit are nothing less than breath-taking. I want to move into the library you visit in the first chapter. The scenes are amazingly detailed and brightly colored. Each chapter of the game will take you to a new location with numerous scenes to explore. From the university library to a small town, every location you visit is fun to explore.

Along the way you will be meeting many characters who will need your help and provide help to you. While the cut-scenes in the game are fully voiced, most of the dialogue within the game itself is text only. While it would have been nice to have the game fully voiced, it doesn’t detract from the game.

The story in Death Under Tuscan Skies unfolds gradually. You will be uncovering a lot of information in the game and you’ll want to remember to check your notebook on occasion otherwise you may find yourself lost. Luckily the hint button is always there to help you get your bearings.

 A Dana Knightstone Novel

The collector’s edition features a additional chapter, or epilogue that is fairly substantial. It also appears to be setting up Dana Knightstone’s next adventure. The bonus chapter doesn’t skimp on the puzzles and mini-games and takes about an hour to complete. The collector’s edition also has achievements that you can earn throughout you gameplay.

If you are looking for a game that is more of a puzzle adventure instead of another hidden object game I highly recommend you check out Death Under Tuscan Skies.

The good

    The bad

      80 out of 100