The Rise of the Golden Idol
The Award-winning detective saga returns in this standalone sequel to The Case of the Golden Idol. Uncover the truth behind 20 strange cases of crime, death and depravity in the 1970s. The world has changed dramatically - the sins of humanity have not.
The Rise of the Golden Idol is a mystery, investigation and detective game
developed by Color Gray Games
and published by Playstack.
Released on November 12th 2024 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 12 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish - Latin America, Traditional Chinese, Turkish and Portuguese - Brazil.
It has received 2,464 reviews of which 2,332 were positive and 132 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. š
The game is currently priced at 19.50ā¬ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified The Rise of the Golden Idol into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: 1.7 GHz Dual Core
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4600
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 2500 MB available space
MacOS
- OS: macOS High Sierra
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.86 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000
- Storage: 2500 MB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Rise of the Golden Idol continues the mysterious saga of the Idol and the tragic figures tied to its destructive yet life-giving properties. While itās an enjoyable sequel, it falls short of surpassing the qualities of its predecessor. The cases this time are generally smaller in scope. While some scenes cover more distance or span longer periods, the mysteries themselves feel more compact and easier to digest. There are over 20 cases in Rise, but unlike the original where each case felt exceptional, the quality here is more uneven. I found the cases interesting and generally well-done, but the narrative feels scattered. The first game tightly focused on the Idol, the Cloudsley family, and Lazarus Hearst, creating a cohesive and gripping story. In contrast, Rise time-jumps and loosely follows the Idol and its fragments through various characters. Unfortunately, several cases spend too much time piecing together inconsequential timelines or events that donāt significantly advance the overarching plot. Instead, they mostly explain whatās happening in the scene. The hook this time is that seemingly minor details in individual cases often play a role in solving the overarching storyboard mysteries that connect the five chapters. However, the main narrative doesnāt come into focus until the last few cases. While I enjoyed Riseās story, it feels lighter, less tragic, and less sinister than the original. The Case of the Golden Idol exuded a dark, occult vibe with an ever-present sense of dread, making each scene feel macabre and impactful. In contrast, Rise feels more like a group of bumbling characters stumbling through the Idolās power. No single character truly stands out as memorable. The biggest improvements are in the gameplay. In the first game, you mainly collected words to fill out ad-lib-style statements that reconstructed the events in each scene. Rise expands on this by introducing more visual elements, like collecting fingerprints or arranging portraits to establish hierarchies. Each case is broken into multiple sections, such as identifying names, piecing together how events unfolded, and determining key story points. Additionally, overarching storyboards link the 4-5 cases within each chapter, and you can work on these throughout or between cases. These additions mix up the format while staying true to the original mechanics. The art is beautiful once again, moving from the darker, Baroque-inspired style of the first game to a more colorful, softer palette with pseudo-3D visuals and animations. While the originalās visuals are more distinctive and memorable, Rise creates gorgeous, tableau-like storyboards that give each level a unique feel. The music is also good, blending synth, orchestral, and tribal influences to bring the scenes to life. That said, I missed the distinct vibes of Kyle Miskoās soundtrack from the first game, which added so much to its atmosphere. Even so, Riseās music still does a good job overall. Rise of the Golden Idol is a worthy follow-up with improved gameplay mechanics and beautiful art. However, it lacks some of the charm, storytelling depth, and musical impact that made the original so great. Itās a solid step forward in many ways, but it doesnāt move the seriesā lore forward much or fully capture the magic of its predecessor.
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I really, really liked this game. Maybe it's because I knew how to play from the first game, or maybe it really was a more cohesive story, but I bought into the storytelling-through-deduction mechanic way more this time around and as a result I had a blast with this game. If you played the first game, you know what you're getting into -- it's more of the same gratifying detective work with the occasional leaps of faith/guesswork that are so delightful to hit on. Getting all multiple-dozen of the clues right the first time on a mad lib sheet of events is just a wildly satisfying feeling. Seeing the big picture story fall into place bit by bit through vastly different vignettes and eventually loop back around to the beginning to tie it all up was awesome. I look forward to the DLCs, and it's tragic that this kind of game lacks replayability by design -- I cannot get enough of games like this.
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Great like the first game, but with better art and better overarching story. A couple of puzzles were annoyingly specific, but overall I had a blast. The ending is also surprisingly touching and serious compared to the series's overall whimsical tone.
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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
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If this is the first you're hearing of the Golden Idol, do yourself a favour and play The Case first. Not because you need the knowledge per se, the game really is a standalone sequel and the events of the first game are merely referenced, no. I just think that the way your thinking skills are used in this one is a natural expansion of how that happened in The Case. This one's hard to explain, but I'm sure you'll agree with me once you notice it. It's like this. They took the essence of what made the first game great, amplified it somehow and injected into a fresh, different setting. The result? I guarantee you will have trouble putting it down once you start. The only reason I didn't beat it in one sitting was because it was 2:30 AM and... well, you get the idea. From now on I'll write as if you haven't played the first one. What am I even looking at? The game itself is a collection of bizarre, seemingly random scenes where something happens. Usually someone dies, but not always; the game expects you to construct a coherent explanation what really occurred here. A guy fell during a barbecue, but why? A woman is crying in the garden, but why? There is a red-eyed corpse in the hallway, but why? The mysteries are non-trivial and impossible to figure out at a mere glance. Instead, the game expects you to inspect all the evidence, and then slowly but surely fill little sub-puzzles. What is this person's name? What does this symbol mean? In what order did these events occur? Oh, and guessing generally won't work, there's far too many combinations; you will, however, be told that you got a section right. What does this have to do with anything? The cases themselves might seem random at times. A hippie protest, a talent show, a bird enclosure; of course, they're anything but. Every few cases you're presented with a 'meta-case' of sorts, where you're supposed to figure out the bigger picture. A single, seemingly irrelevant piece of evidence can be a huge revelator in those. The game respects your intelligence. To progress, you have to pay attention, there won't be a waifu attendant to remind you that you've seen this particular object a few cases before. It's quite refreshing. No flashbacks, no "I have a feeling this is very important!"; just a ridiculous question that you're supposed to nonchalantly answer. And answer it you will, once your brain attunes to the right frequency. And if you won't, well, there's a hint system. Wait, I solved it? But how? I'd say that the difficulty is lovely. Most cases just flow, while keeping your brain very engaged. I got many puzzles right on my first try; but unlike most detective games, here I was somehow able to "intuit" the right solution, without necessarily being able to track my reasoning. These moments felt pretty amazing. That said, usually there is more than one "path" of reasoning that can take you to the right conclusion. There are also red herrings, but even these usually contain something to show you that yeah, this ain't it, chief. Think again. I got stuck two times in total. Once I couldn't progress because of a grammatical mistake - the order of phrases was wrong, the game is quite picky about this stuff. And the second time was the very final question of the game, a certain person's identity. To get past this one, I did the ol' Sherlock Shuffle: slow, meticulous elimination of all impossibilities based on careful reexamination of all evidence. Tequila Sunset I had to bring up Disco Elysium. It's the 70s, and look at the vibrant, painted art style! Anyway, yes. It's good. Very, very good. Better than the first. I really can't think of any shortcomings. Okay, maybe the soundtrack to the bird case hurt my ears a little, but I'm pretty sure it's intentional. So, should you get it? I don't know, should you? You tell me. Just make sure you don't have any meatspace obligations for the next 13 hours before launching it... [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42922988/]Curator page
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 23 November 2024 15:25 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 21 January 2025 02:23 |
| Steam price | 22 January 2025 20:21 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 15:50 |
Online players
109
Developer
Color Gray Games
Publisher
Playstack
Release
12 Nov 2024
Platforms
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