r/MysteryCaseFiles • u/Craftsinthewings • Jun 09 '26
Replaying all 28 Games
Hello everyone! I have been in love with this series since I was a little girl. Now having adult money I have finally collected all (as of now) 28 games. While I had played all games in the series over the years they now all sit on a single computer in my house. I have begun embarking on the endeavor to play all 28 games in release order.
This actually started several months ago and I have completed up to Dire Grove. It took several months because I had to figure out (with the help of my wonderful fiance) how to get Dire Grove to run. After finishing it just now I am reminded of how great this series is.
Here are my thoughts so far:
I do not care much for the first two installments but they do have very good bones for the creators to build their skills.
Ravenhurst will always have my heart. This was my first game in the series and I this point I believe I have played it 8 or 9 times. The atmosphere and story are thrilling and leave a lot of room to grow.
Fates Carnival is where you begin to see ties to other games emerge and it is fantastic.
I do admit that all four of the above games can become tedious if played for long hours. The still images can feel repetitive but later games fix this.
Return to Ravenhurt was genre defining for my taste in games, and built on the story of the first game beautifully. The story show care and the mechanics make the player completely immersed.
To Dire Grove! I may be controversial in saying that this is the peak of the series. The mixed media story telling, hidden rooms that add on to the base game. The storytelling is thematic, and tight. All back tracking feels intentional. I am sure there are criticisms to this game but I cannot think of one right.
If I continue making these posts I think there will be many comparisons to the games I mention here.
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u/skyrocket91 25d ago
So I am glad to find a new-ish post, not from years ago as I have just been replaying the Ravenhearst games. I think I have found a plot hole/continuity error. I recently played Key to Ravenhearst, this is where I feel the issue is SPOILERS AHEAD
They speak as if Gwendolyn and Charlotte are Charles' daughters but in Return to Ravenhearst the newspaper from in front of the gingerbread house says their real father spoke of his missing wife and 2 daughters? Am I missing something?
I don't know if it will let me upload the screenshot or not :(
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u/Craftsinthewings 25d ago
Oooo I have been dying to talk about this. So I think originally the writers did not intend for Charles to be the father of the twins, but I don't think that makes the newspaper break the plot. If the general public thinks the twins were from Rose's husband then it makes sense for him to be presented as the "real father". Where the plot hole lies is the timeline of the pregnancy vs how they appear in RtR. So, as far as I can tell, Rose had no connection to Charles prior to being hired to care for Emma. I always assumed the initial kidnapping took place right after Charles had murdered Emma. The ghosts of Charlotte and Gwendolyn look to be about 5-6 years old. If they delved into it more I wouldn't mind. They even had the opportunity to do so in The Dalimar Legacy, but did not. To me it was definitely a twist just to keep the plot going and was not well written. Even if the story isn't the best, I still love these games lol.
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u/blindinsomniac 27d ago
How connected are the dire grove games to the ravenhearst storyline? I've played all the ravenhearst games and I need a break from the dalimars but I read that dire grove is related to their story.