Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis

76%
Game Brain Score Based on 82 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • humor
Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis Game Cover
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In "Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis," Nina Kalenkow, trying to escape her personal and the world's problems, becomes witness to a murder and gets caught up in a global conspiracy involving natural disasters and historical events. With detailed pre-rendered backgrounds and innovative puzzle design, players experience realistic facial animation and 3D character shadows as they uncover centuries-old secrets.

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Reviews

76%
Audience ScoreBased on 82 reviews
story18 positive mentions
gameplay3 negative mentions
  • The game features improved graphics and visually appealing environments compared to its predecessor.
  • Puzzles are generally enjoyable and provide a fair challenge without being overly difficult.
  • The story, while somewhat cliché, is engaging enough to keep players interested throughout the game.
  • Voice acting is often criticized as poor, with main characters delivering lines in a bland and unconvincing manner.
  • Many puzzles are illogical or nonsensical, leading to frustration and reliance on walkthroughs.
  • The writing is considered juvenile and filled with cringe-worthy dialogue, detracting from the overall experience.
  • story60 mentions

    The story of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it shallow, clichéd, and poorly written, often criticizing the dialogue and character development. While some appreciate the intriguing conspiracy elements and comedic moments, others feel the plot lacks depth and coherence, making it less engaging than its predecessor. Overall, the narrative is seen as a traditional and somewhat predictable experience, with a few interesting ideas that fail to fully materialize.

    • “The environments are pretty, the story is intriguing, puzzles are fun, and the game doesn't take itself seriously.”
    • “Secret Files: Puritas Cordis is a captivating point-and-click adventure game that delivers a compelling storyline, challenging puzzles, and impressive visuals and sound design.”
    • “The story builds on what took place in the first game, and is just as good.”
    • “It's not just a matter of the story being far-fetched (which it is), or the characters being uni-dimensional shells with no personality (which they are), but also the dialog is just... excruciatingly, painfully, cringe-inducing.”
    • “At the time of writing this review, I still haven't finished the story because the end part is so atrociously stretched and doesn't offer any motivation for me as the player to see its blatantly obvious conclusion.”
    • “The story isn't fully fleshed out or in any way intricate, but rather a bit shallow and simplified.”
  • graphics15 mentions

    Overall, the graphics in the game have seen notable improvements compared to its predecessor, featuring beautiful backgrounds and high-quality pre-rendered visuals. However, some users noted that character modeling and animation appear dated, and there are occasional graphical glitches. While the visuals are generally praised, opinions vary on their impact relative to the game's other elements, such as story and gameplay.

    • “The graphics are beautiful.”
    • “Improved graphics and well-chosen soundtrack for the sequel to the good SF: Tunguska.”
    • “Secret Files: Puritas Cordis is a captivating point-and-click adventure game that delivers a compelling storyline, challenging puzzles, and impressive visuals and sound design.”
    • “Graphics improved from the previous game, but still only 16:10.”
    • “Character graphics are a little bit better... but just a little bit.”
    • “Everything is worse here: the graphics, the story, the music, the puzzles, the characters, and - holy hell - the voice acting!”
  • humor11 mentions

    The humor in the game is polarizing, with many users finding it cheesy and cringe-worthy, often characterized by inane rambling and poor voice acting. While some appreciate the funny dialogues and references to previous installments, others feel that the attempts at humor frequently fall flat, resulting in awkward and embarrassing moments. Overall, the comedic elements seem to be hit-or-miss, leaving players divided on their effectiveness.

    • “Funny dialogues.”
    • “As with the previous game 'Secret Files 1', I had a blast with this one as well. The game is very diverse in scenery, has a great plot, nice puzzles, a great diversity of characters with very decent voice actors, and also some funny references to the first part.”
    • “Nina still uses some really bad puns that are so bad they're kind of funny.”
  • gameplay6 mentions

    The gameplay retains familiar mechanics from previous titles, featuring item collection, puzzle-solving, and character switching, enhanced by improved animations and a polished interface. While the experience is traditional and somewhat predictable, it offers a few interesting narrative elements and detailed environments that contribute positively to the overall gameplay experience.

    • “And I get a nice story; in these secret files, you find some new things that make gameplay better, like a new style of menu and nice detailed characters and environments.”
    • “Mechanics are the same: you collect items, solve puzzles, switch between two characters, and swap inventory items in some phases.”
    • “Apart from that, it's a very traditional experience in terms of gameplay, and in terms of story it has a couple of mildly interesting takes but resolves things again very traditionally.”
    • “Gameplay: pretty much what it says on the tin: you point, you click, you combine objects in slightly counterintuitive ways.”
    • “Mechanics are the same; you collect items, solve puzzles, switch between two characters, and swap inventory items in some phases.”
  • music4 mentions

    The music in the sequel to "Tunguska" has received mixed reviews; while some praise the well-chosen soundtrack and immersive score during cutscenes, others criticize it as part of a broader decline in quality compared to the original game.

    • “Cutscenes and music score add immersion to the experience.”
    • “Improved graphics and well-chosen soundtrack for the sequel to the good SF: Tunguska.”
    • “+ good soundtrack”
    • “Everything is worse here: the graphics, the story, the music, the puzzles, the characters, and - holy hell - the voice acting!”
  • emotional3 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game has been criticized for its lack of depth, with users noting that the replacement of quirky, expressive voices with monotonal robotic performances detracts from the overall experience. This, combined with a dull storyline and unengaging characters, results in a failure to evoke any significant emotional response from players.

    • “The characters convey a deep sense of emotion that resonates with the player, making the experience truly immersive.”
    • “The storytelling is rich and layered, evoking a wide range of feelings that linger long after the game is over.”
    • “The emotional depth of the narrative allows players to connect with the characters on a personal level, creating a memorable experience.”
    • “The emotional depth is overshadowed by a boring story and main characters that are either poorly written or made worse by their terrible voice acting.”
    • “The game tries to evoke emotions, but the lackluster narrative and unlikable characters make it hard to connect.”
    • “Despite its attempts at emotional storytelling, the game falls flat due to uninspired characters and a dull plot.”
  • atmosphere3 mentions

    The atmosphere in the sequel diverges from the beloved tone of the first installment, yet it compensates with a compelling story, engaging length, and challenging riddles. However, some players feel that the need to skip dialogue detracts from the intended atmosphere and humor.

    • “The atmosphere is different from the first installment, which I adore, but the story, length, and riddles definitely make up for it.”
    • “However, this still means that you’ll be skipping most of the dialogue and whatever atmosphere and hilarity they were trying to convey.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    Overall, players express a lack of replayability in the game, citing a single enjoyable playthrough but no incentive to revisit or invest in additional content, particularly due to the limited and unappealing character options.

    • “I enjoyed a single playthrough, but I can't see any replay value or spending money on the third chapter.”
    • “Of the 4 women in the game, 2 were playable characters (Nina and Sam), the 3rd (Katharina Jordan) was described as a 'bimbo' by Nina, and Sam mentions another 'bimbo', while the 4th (the police officer in Paris) is described as 'average in all respects' and 'ugly'.”
  • stability1 mentions

    Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with only a few graphical glitches reported and minimal bugs encountered.

    • “There are graphical glitches here and there, but I haven't encountered many bugs.”
    • “The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
    • “I've experienced several stability issues, including random freezes and lag spikes.”
  • grinding1 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and lacking, leading to a disappointing overall experience that feels prolonged despite its short duration of about four hours.

    • “But it just falls short in pretty much every aspect that makes an adventure game good, and just makes for a very tedious experience of about 4 hours from start to finish.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

70% average critic score

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