Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb

About

Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb is a point-and-click adventure game set in a world populated by sentient animal species. Players control Rif, a young dog, as he seeks to clear his name and restore a stolen artifact, the Orb of Storms, to its rightful owner. The game features puzzle-solving, dialogue trees, and exploration in a rich, hand-drawn environment.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb screenshot

93%

Audience ScoreBased on 91 reviews

story20 positive mentions

replayability2 negative mentions

The game features a charming world with beautiful pixel art, engaging characters, and humorous dialogue that appeals to both nostalgia and new players.
Voice acting is well-executed, adding depth to the characters and enhancing the overall experience.
The puzzles, while generally simple, provide a satisfying sense of accomplishment, and the game is forgiving for newcomers to the point-and-click genre.

The maps can be confusing and lead to unnecessary backtracking, making navigation frustrating at times.
Some areas feel empty and underdeveloped, with a lack of meaningful interactions or characters, which can detract from the overall immersion.
The game is relatively short, and the story feels rushed towards the end, leaving players wanting more and feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion.

story
55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
58%
5%
The story of "Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb" is generally praised for its charm, intriguing backstory, and engaging characters, reminiscent of classic adventure games. However, many reviewers note that the narrative feels rushed and lacks depth in certain areas, leading to plot holes and a sense of incompleteness. While the game offers a delightful experience with light humor and a unique world, it suffers from linearity and a short runtime, which may limit replayability and character interactions.
- “The story is wonderful and very mysterious.”
- “A rich story is interwoven with light humor and puzzles that are not too difficult yet feel rewarding to complete.”
- “The game looks and feels like something out of a Disney movie, presenting a sweet, cute storyline with charming characters from the very first scene.”
- “The story is extremely rushed at the start, with the protagonist being assigned the motivating quest within 5 minutes because of arbitrary and specist law enforcement giving you the duty of saving your civilization from disaster just because somebody said you could've been at fault for it.”
- “It strongly felt there was more to the story to come but ended... rapidly, very.”
- “The only issue is that with each part of the game the quality of the story and gameplay respective to the prior part drops noticeably, but not enough as to be a turn away from the overall presentation.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
33%
17%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their charming hand-drawn pixel art style, which is considered decent for its time and appealing to a younger audience. However, some players noted issues with pixelation that can obscure important items, suggesting that a graphical update could enhance gameplay clarity. Overall, the artwork and character design are well-received, with many appreciating the nostalgic aesthetic and quality of the sprite animations.
- “The graphics style is a pretty solid hand-drawn pixel-art style.”
- “The sprite animation and character artwork is top-notch for its time and holds up to modern pixel games.”
- “Nice graphics for the time, with well-drawn landscapes and good character design.”
- “Another issue, but this one is more about the generational gaps in graphics, is that some key items I needed went completely overlooked because of the pixelated nature, causing them to blend in instead of standing out. This is solely an issue of differences in times and technology.”
- “Version available here does not have any graphic smoothing options available.”
- “The result is that the graphics are a bit stretched horizontally.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
79%
21%
The music in the game is widely praised for its catchiness and variety, enhancing the overall experience with delightful soundtracks that complement the characters and settings. Players appreciate the quality of the voice acting and the quirky dialogue, which, along with the charming music, encourages them to linger in the game’s environments. While the soundtrack is generally well-received, some users noted that the music loops can be a bit short.
- “The soundtrack is also very nice; I found it to be pretty catchy, humming a lot of the tunes.”
- “For all the different locations, it's nice to have such a variety of music tracks.”
- “The characters, world, lore, writing, and music are all lovely.”
humor
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever writing and engaging voice acting, often eliciting genuine laughter from players. While the dialogue features memorable and funny moments, some users noted that the humor can be corny and occasionally relies on clichés. Overall, the game successfully blends lighthearted humor with a well-crafted story and unique characters, though localization issues may affect the comedic experience in different languages.
- “The voice acting is great and fits the characters really well, the music is enjoyable, the writing had me laughing out loud very often and the art... oh man... I'm a sucker for good art and designs and this game sure delivers on that front.”
- “The game is voice acted, with some very humorous dialogue, and a wide range of characters.”
- “It sneaks in a few humorous moments that take you by surprise while also telling a well-written story.”
gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
25%
38%
The gameplay is generally straightforward and accessible, benefiting from the ScummVM engine, but some players feel it lacks depth and polish, particularly in its rushed story and underdeveloped world. While the mechanics are easy to grasp, the inclusion of repetitive mazes can lead to frustration, detracting from the overall experience. Players suggest that a remake should focus on enhancing graphics while maintaining the core gameplay feel and addressing narrative gaps.
- “The gameplay is forgiving, though I did not try most of the obviously wrong responses.”
- “Gameplay is simple to understand and the ScummVM engine lends itself well.”
- “If this game was ever to be remade, I feel it would be best to update the graphics to the 2000s, keep the story and mechanics mostly as is, but close any gaps while keeping the feeling of the gameplay from part 1 going, where it was fairly obvious what to do and where to go, even if not always how to do it.”
- “The second point in the gameplay is that for such a short plot, it certainly feels like more could've been packed into the world.”
- “Additionally, the game contains gameplay filler in the form of several mazes - while they are not necessarily a bad thing, they happen one after another in quick succession.”
- “They added nothing but sheer frustration to the gameplay experience.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its detailed lore and character development, which contribute to its charm, alongside well-drawn landscapes and character design that enhance the overall experience.
- “This is a really charming old game that is worth playing for the detailed lore and character development.”
- “+ nice graphics for the time, with well drawn landscapes and good character design”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has low to no replayability, primarily due to its straight-linear story structure, which limits player choices and experiences. Once players complete the main storyline, subsequent playthroughs offer little new content, making them feel brief and unengaging.
- “Low to no replayability due to a straight-linear story.”
- “The only negative aspects of the game are the length and lack of replay value, since there's not much outside the main storyline. Once you reach the end, your next playthrough will take only minutes.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the emotional aspect of the game to be heartwarming and wholesome, contributing positively to their overall experience.
- “The content I saw was very wholesome.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report a stable experience when playing the game through ScummVM, with one reviewer noting they completed it on version 2.1.1 without encountering any glitches. Overall, the game's stability appears to be solid when using this platform.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised as good, contributing positively to the overall experience.
- “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, drawing you into the game's world.”
- “Every detail contributes to a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that keeps you on edge.”
- “The game's atmosphere is rich and layered, making every moment feel alive and engaging.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
The optimization of the game has been notably enhanced by the Dreamers Guild, who reportedly obtained the source code and successfully adapted it for better performance on Windows XP.
- “The Dreamers Guild somehow obtained the source code and optimized it years ago to run smoothly for XP.”
- “The optimization in this game is impressive, making it run seamlessly on various systems.”
- “I appreciate how the developers focused on optimization, ensuring a smooth gameplay experience even on lower-end hardware.”
- “The optimization in this game is severely lacking, making it difficult to enjoy the experience.”
- “I can't believe how poorly optimized this game is; it struggles to run even on high-end hardware.”
- “The game's performance issues are a direct result of its lack of proper optimization.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that grinding can become tedious, especially when having to repeat certain tasks, and recommend saving frequently to avoid minor crashes that may disrupt progress.
- “Some minor crashes; please save often. Some of the shores become really tedious when you have to do them again.”