Heir Of The Dog Demo - Point And Click Beast Mode The Old Fashioned Way
Whilst playing the Heir of the Dog demo on my Steam Deck, I had to peer into my Donkey Kong mug to check whether there was any alcohol in it as I was getting a bit of a buzz.
That mild intoxication came from the voice talents of point and click’s Dennis Waterman, Tom Hardwidge. He writes the theme tune, sings the theme tune, and, as per Lucy Dreaming, voices almost every character. His Cummerbund Bandersnatch was spiffing.
This Heir of the Dog demo write-up is being conducted the next day, and this time, my Roger Mellie mug definitely has coffee in it. I’m lucid. That disclaimer done, I must gush how wonderful it is to see the point and click coming back to such high standards.
Who’d have thought these retro games could come out of Blighty and hit it out of the park, such as The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, the upcoming Captain Disaster and the Two Worlds of Riskara, and now this?
Heir Of The Dog Demo – Dapper And The Beast
Ok, grounded. You play Cummerbund – a naive chap who drinks an elixir found in his uncle’s lab, and it turns him into a beast. Most people usually have a bottle of Venos or Gaviscon lying about, but this is England, Victorian London. Everyone was an alchemist with mutton chops.
Bells might be ringing to the tune of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by now, and you’d be right as Heir of the Dog is inspired by the classic tale, among other references such as Sweeney Todd, and the more modern (life is rubbish) Blur.
As expected, the writing is exceptionally witty and brilliantly acted out. Forget the spoilers on story arcs – you want to experience these jokes yourself, so play the demo rather than watch a playthrough. For the children.
Cast your mind a few seconds ago, and I said I played Heir of the Dog on the Steam Deck. There are two options at the start: the classic mouse-based game and an adapted joystick version. As a purist, the mouse is the way to go. However, feeling a little fruity, I chose the latter, and though it takes some muscle memory commitment, it works pretty well.
Very, Very Lice
Cummerbund has a trick up his sleeve. Instead of being a wristwatch, it’s a pocket watch. All the while he is conflicted with being a beast, he can shift back and forth in time; the gentleman can handle the conversations, and the beast can do the heavy lifting and sniff stuff. It’s in the verb wheel.
The demo’s objective is to locate the ingredients for a potion to ‘fix’ Cummerbund. It’s obviously not that straightforward, and the parts you require are questionable, as are the methods, and it never disappoints.
Time to piss on your parade: Heir of the Dog won’t be available until 2025. That’s like… [quick maths]… a year away. Don’t let that phase you, though as the demo is available now, and like all the indie devs say, wishlist it if this appeals as it makes a difference!
The Heir of the Dog demo looks and smells great. Long live Tall Story Games! Long live the point and click adventure!