Press Start: July 8th, 2015

Title: Blackwell Unbound
Released: 2007

The second in a series of five games, Blackwell Unbound ends up showing more of the past in the Blackwell lineage. Not long after completing the first, I dove right into this, having some slight knowledge on the character, but I wasn't expecting this.

Story: In The Blackwell Legacy, we come to know of Lauren Blackwell's fate in some sense. I mean, she's dead by the time the first game takes place. But this game is a prequel to the series, serving to show us what life was like for her in the 70s with Joey Mallone at her side. Despite what Dr. Quinten spoke of in the first game, you don't see any of her lunacy. Instead, her dry wit is quite the match for Joey's own sass. She's taken to aiding the ghosts of New York as much as she can with her guide beside her, and we are to address two in general.

In what doesn't necessarily seem entirely connected, we come to instead find that some of what Lauren has been tasked with doing one night comes together with a strange thread. Her night has been nothing but dead leads in finding spirits to help pass on, but two cases near the end, a ghostly song near the water and horrific accidents at a construction site, bring Lauren and Joey face to face with one of their own kind. I was not expecting this kind of twist when helping either, but slowly, the pieces began to fall in place and make this a much darker night than I had first anticipated.

Graphics: Once again, this game utilizes the same as before, only it doesn't rely on the facial portraits like the first one to help stylize who is speaking. Instead, we see the voices lend the difference. New characters lie before Joey and the chosen Blackwell. I think their way of handling the two poor souls this time around definitely lends more creativity to what can be in store as they try more things, so perhaps by the time I get around to the fourth or final installments, I will see some length to the story as well as a noticeable change in the graphics. But for what it's worth, it is nice to see how only a light touch was used in changing the scheme of things between time periods.

Music: One of the poor souls that Lauren and Joey encounter is a sax player, and a lot of the music definitely seems to fit properly to this theme. From the Johnny Ivory's club to the rustic charm of Lauren's apartment, the music really does stand out this time around with a blues theme. It fits quite well with the time period and doesn't detract any from the characters this time around.

Overall: The story is fragmented at best, giving you two different directions that converge, and thus why I think that the third game, Blackwell Convergence, is quite fitting. I am definitely interested in more about Joey's life, what happened between this point and time and when she... finally snapped, and so many other things that have gone on and will continue on for the Blackwell line. Only time can tell, but two games down and I'm hooked. I hope I don't feel too bummed out when I get to the end of the line.