Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst

Story

After the events at Fate's Carnival, the Master Detective travels back to Ravenhearst Manor, as freeing Emma Ravenhearst's soul has also released the bonds of Charles Dalimar, her murderer. Upon opening the gates of the Manor, Emma's ghost appears to the Detective; though she is grateful for being released, she warns that other spirits are still bound within the walls of the decrepit mansion, and that Charles will soon return. She tells the Detective of a secret passage hidden within the mansion; after entering through a window, the sleuth discovers this passage and travels to the basement. There, the soul of Rose Somerset, Emma's maid, manifests and begs to be freed from the manor's walls. The Detective next discovers a set of three sealed doors, each of which is connected to a strange mechanism that is pumping a green fluid through the mansion. After entering the first door, the Detective finds a strange subterranean complex which Charles used to imprison Rose during her time at Ravenhearst; to further spite her, he developed the complex into a ghost town modeled after the Wild West and mockingly named it "Roseville." While exploring, the Detective discovers various clues about the mansion's past, including a poster reporting the disappearance of Rose and her twins, news of Rose's husband Reginald holding an open-casket funeral for his missing family, and correspondence from the Ravenhearst family that tells of Emma's father's death from a pox. After solving various puzzles, the Detective finds Rose's coffin, which is linked to the same type of device seen mounted on the main doors of the basement. Unlocking the coffin stops the flow of the green fluid and releases Rose's spirit. She thanks the Detective for rescuing her, and asks for help in finding her lost twin daughters, Gwendolyn and Charlotte.

Rose also provides the final key to unlocking the second door in the basement, which leads to another prison complex containing various children's entertainments, including a toy store, a playground, and a gingerbread house. Charlotte and Gwendolyn's ghosts appear to the Detective and, in addition to requesting help, cryptically state that their presence in the mansion is somehow connected to Charles's longevity. The twins' prison also contains hints about a second Dalimar heir. The Detective explores the area, releases their souls from their coffin (which, like their mother's is fused with mechanical tubes), and learns a frightening secret—Charles has a son named Victor, who is somehow still alive and assisting his father in his dark plots. Victor's name proves to be the key to unlocking the final door in the basement, which leads to a cable car attached to the cliffs on the side of Ravenhearst Manor. The Detective boards this car and travels to a small cottage nearby a cliff, overlooking the coast. Victor is hiding inside, and the impossibly ancient man attacks and imprisons the sleuth in the Manor's attic. After escaping, the Detective returns to Victor's guest house, where more clues about Charles's madness are discovered—his obsession with locks and keys began as a small child, and his own mother committed him to an insane asylum in an effort to help him. The Detective also overhears Victor urging his father to return to "his chamber," where "the warm embrace" of his family will revive him.

With this new information, the Detective travels back to Roseville and descends into its depths, where a final set of locked doors lies. One contains a shrine to Emma, along with a raving letter from Charles which explains his plans to stay with Emma forever by using a combination of black magic and technology. The second, which is unlocked with a series of bejeweled hearts hidden throughout the manor, reveals the final secret of Ravenhearst Manor: Charles has developed a machine that uses the energy of souls to keep him in a state between life and death, thus ensuring himself a kind of immortality. By releasing Rose, Charlotte, and Gwendolyn, the Detective has robbed this machine of its power, leaving Charles helplessly suspended in the chamber which he originally used to rejuvenate himself. The Detective solves a final puzzle and overloads the machine, ensuring its destruction; before Charles's soul fades, he calls to his son to escape. Victor does so with the use of a time machine, traveling back from 2008 to 1895 and warning the sleuth that the Dalimar line will have its revenge. Charles's device explodes, which burns the mansion to the ground, and the Detective witnesses the ghosts of Emma, Rose, Charlotte, and Gwendolyn walking from the destruction, finally freed of Ravenhearst Manor and its evil.

Characters

Gameplay

There are no discernible levels or stages, all the puzzles are integrated in the quest you have to complete. You just go from room to room, from location to location, and try to find the solutions to numerous tasks the game gives to you.

Like the Mystery Case Files titles that came before, hidden object scenes can be found around every turn and are shown as great masses of white sparkling stars. Clicking these takes you back to familiar MCF territory with a crowded room and a list of items to find. Once the list is complete you'll unlock a new inventory item that can be used in the adventure portion of the game. Also in this game one can reveal or understand their knowledge power by completing it.

Sequel

There are 5 games in the Ravenhearst series starting with Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, followed by Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, Mystery Case Files: Escape From Ravenhearst, Mystery Case Files: Key to Ravenhearst and Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst Unlocked.