Press Start: July 29th, 2015

Title: Blackwell Epiphany
Released: 2014

Story: The final game of the series, and by far the longest. It takes place a very short time after the previous and we see Rosa's involvement with the police extending after meeting Detective Durkin in Blackwell Deception. What appears to be a normal job of freeing a lost soul winds up with someone getting shot right before Rosa's eyes, and the soul right after that being torn apart. This leads the Bestower, Rosa, and her spirit guide Joey on a chase to find out more before the same happens to others. The conclusion is heart-breaking and definitely seems to be a cop out, but at the same time, it is also a fitting end for the series as a whole.

Included with this is also a look into the past, as we finally uncover more about Joey's early moments in the afterlife and more about the Countess and Madeline, two characters introduced partially in the middle games and expanded upon, one game after the other. The Countess was actually a human well before she lost her mind, but we also see how madness befell her and the earlier Blackwell women.

One thing that I fail to see more of in this is the involvement of Police Chief Alex Silva, who was actually a vocal member at the end of the last game, but her involvement now is non-existent aside from a photo in the police station. There is also the inclusion of the Epiphany Experiment, which is only revealed to be named such at the end but spoken of throughout the entire game. One of the final ghosts that we interact with mentions this, but the reason behind it and the information of his prior life seems... like there could have been more there, but they decided against it over this other story. I do wish Dave Gilbert would have made the overall series a bit longer until the end, but there's nothing that can be done about it now.

Graphics: Everything's black, gray, and white in New York during the first month of 2014. Rosa has taken to bundling up for this blizzard weather, and while the character sprites haven't changed, the portraits have once more gone through a shift, though not as drastic as the change from the third (Convergence) and the fourth (Deception). There's not much to say about the differences overall, as it looks as best as it can for it being a retro pixel art form (think Laura Bow: Dagger of Amon-Ra).

Music: The theme this time makes a repeating process through all of the dramatic parts of the game. With the several areas to comb through, you can actually find that some of the music does convey the idea of the location quite well this time around. The emotions are released when it comes to the music for the final moments of the game, though.

Overall: I'd love to talk about the ending, but it's not necessarily something I'd prefer to do and spoil the experience of the game. Dave Gilbert and the rest of those involved completed the series acceptably within their powers without extending it over another game, and the experiences they learned from while making the previous games definitely shows off in this one. We see the conclusions of so many stories coming together, and at the same time, the way it ends also leaves it open should they ever decide to revisit it and make a new series off of it. In some way, I do hope they decide on this, as Abe Goldfarb (the voice of Joey Mallone) definitely made the game a pleasant experience throughout.