Markus Ritter review: a Viennese whirl

As revealed in my review of 2023, only five reviews were published here last year.

This makes it sound as though I didn’t play much but that isn’t the case. During an average of 48 hours each month, I managed to try a total of 67 board games, escape rooms, jigsaw puzzles and video games. 70% of them were successfully completed and removed from my backlog.

The thing with reviews is that they’re not posts I particularly enjoy writing. Several reasons for this were given in a post last month explaining why I rarely accept free keys nowadays. It’s difficult for me to be able to play a game within a timeframe that would make a review useful to a developer, and I don’t like having an obligation to write about a title I haven’t enjoyed.

But every so often a release comes along that I want to write about. In my 2023 review, I mentioned that it would be hard to pick between two if I was ask to choose a favourite released last year. The first was DREDGE by Black Salt Games as there was something so beautifully melancholic about it. Its individual components give it everything needed to be an adequate fishing game but, when combined, they turn it into something fascinating.

The other was one Pete and I completed on stream in December. I backed the Kickstarter campaign for Markus Ritter – Ghosts Of The Past in August 2021 after watching the trailer for Flimmersoft’s first instalment, The Lost Family, without even experiencing it for myself first. That may sound like a dumb thing to do but I don’t regret it as it turned out to be one of my favourite results from a crowdfunding campaign. Despite initially not intending to write about it, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about its characters yet so here I am.

I absolutely love full-motion (FMV) video games because they’re proud to be imperfect. The narratives might be spot on but there’s always something which prevents them from becoming too glossy and plastic. For example, a substandard camera angle, a lack of dialogue options, an inelegant script or over-the-top acting. But rather than shy away from what could be seen as negatives by many, these games embrace them and seem to have no problem in making fun of themselves. They show personality.

There’s plenty of it in Ghosts Of The Past both in terms of gameplay and story. While a lot of recent FMV releases focus on choices and their consequences on the narrative, the mechanics here are much more like a traditional point-and-click. Familiar dialogue trees appear in a number of sections but you’ll also encounter puzzles, such as figuring out a location using visions seen in a dream or questioning people to put together clues and accuse a criminal (my love of detective games meant this was my favourite).

The story continues from where it left off in The Lost Family. The blood of a time-honoured family of beats in Markus’s heart and with this comes a responsibility to his fellow man. For Shadowhunters are destined to fight demonic beings called ‘shadows’, and one such monster is currently on a killing spree across Vienna. Will our protagonist be up to the task? Who’s the mysterious woman who appears everywhere the shadow is? And how is Markus supposed to manage all this and his love-life at the same time?

If you’re thinking that this all sounds very similar to The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, you’d be right. The developers show their love for this game by not only letting it influence the plot, but also by leaving easter-eggs dotted throughout. It isn’t the only classic which is referenced either and it was a pleasure to read the articles in the daily newspaper that pointed to them. There’s always something satisfying about playing a title created by someone who clearly loves these titles as much as you do.

The mention of point-and-clicks, puzzles and Gabriel Knight may pique the interest of seasoned adventure gamers, but anyone who’s hoping for a huge level of challenge won’t find it here. It won’t take any longer than ten-minutes to solve each puzzle. However, they’re all different in nature – you won’t find yourself doing the same thing twice – and they don’t outstay their welcome. It means you can sit back, enjoy spending time with the characters and immerse yourself in the story.

It’s clear that the Flimmersoft team learnt a lot from making The Lost Family and have used that experience to improve Ghosts Of The Past. However, it’s worth pointing out that it’s still a little rough around the edges. Occasionally the screen stays black for a moment too long when you exit a conversation with a non-player character (NPC). There are also a few minor bugs, such as not being able to read the task list on a mobile phone at one point, but it’s possible that these could have been fixed in recent updates.

So why am I still thinking about this game several weeks after playing it? After around nine-hours of gameplay, I felt sad to leave its characters behind. It was lovely to see how much the protagonist has grown between the first and second release. He begins his journey as someone who’s clearly drifting along in life without direction, but now has it after delving into his family’s history. He’s been given a purpose, once much bigger than him alone, and there’s a newfound determination in his eyes.

Not all the attention is placed on Markus though. Roberta (shortened to ‘Ro’) makes her first proper introduction. I must admit that I didn’t like this character at first because she came across as very defensive, responding to everything with a certain level of aggression. But after a couple of hours, she reveals a softer and more naïve side to herself which makes her rather likeable. When she finally lets her guard down and starts opening up, you can see why she makes such a good counterpart to Markus.

I’d like to mention Claudia too. In The Lost Family, she’s quite one-dimension and only seems interested in the protagonist for his body. But she’s given more time and space to grow in the sequel, and she’s an intriguingly complex character. She’s assured in her sexuality and wastes no time in coming onto Markus; but remove that façade and her lack of self-confident is evident. When her friends are in trouble though, she’s there to help them every step of the way. Claudia is Markus’s version of Gabriel Knight’s Grace.

There’s another character I’d love to be able to discuss here, but it would be hard for me to do so without entering into spoiler territory. That’s partly because I became so invested in their story and relationship with the protagonist – just watch this video playlist if you want to see my reactions to them. All I can say is that they’ve given Markus a reason to move forward with purpose, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a stronger side to him in the future as a result.

That’s a big enough of a hint to say that I’d love to see a third game in the series. You don’t tend to see a similar level of character development in modern FMV games, and it was an absolute pleasure to play something which harkened back to the days of The Beast Within. Michael Kozmann (IsakuCosplay on Twitch), part of the development team and actor, kindly revealed to us that Markus Ritter was intended to be a trilogy so I’m keeping my fingers crossed we’ll get to see the conclusion to the story one day.

If you’re an adventure or FMV fan, do yourself a favour. Play The Lost Family for free on Steam and then pick up Ghosts Of The Past as soon as possible. And if there’s ever a crowdfunding campaign for the third game, sign me up already.