Software:The Blackwell Epiphany

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The Blackwell Epiphany
Developer(s)Wadjet Eye Games
Publisher(s)Wadjet Eye Games
Designer(s)Dave Gilbert
Artist(s)Ben Chandler
Composer(s)Thomas Regin
SeriesBlackwell
EngineAdventure Game Studio
Platform(s)Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS
ReleaseApril 24, 2014
February 18, 2016 (iOS)
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Blackwell Epiphany is a 2014 graphic adventure game developed and published by Wadjet Eye Games. It is the fifth and final game in the Blackwell series.

Plot

The story starts off with Rosa investigating a condemned building. After freeing a soul, Rosa witnesses a man named George Ostin being shot dead. George's ghost pleads for Rosa's help, knowing that she's a legitimate spirit medium, but before Rosa can take any action, George's ghost is ripped apart by an unknown force.

Rosa investigates George's death and, through the trail of several other ghosts, uncovers the existence of a church-based self-help group known as the Grace Group. Every member is in danger of dying or already dead, and their ghosts are in danger of being torn apart by an unknown force instead of moving on. With the help of Madeline, the former spirit guide of the Countess, Rosa and Joey are able to protect most of the souls. Later, however, Madeline betrays everyone by revealing that she had been ripping the souls herself to absorb them and gain their life force, and that she had targeted the Grace Group because their souls were exceptionally weak. Madeline explains that she wants nothing more than to end her several centuries of thankless work as a spirit guide, and intends to return to life because she cannot pass on. She absorbs the souls of the remaining Grace Group members and possesses Rosa's body, effectively returning to life. Joey is able to extract Madeline from Rosa's body, but in doing so, Rosa's mind becomes overloaded with "the knowledge of the universe", and is driven insane the same way as her aunt and grandmother before her. Madeline reveals that she was responsible for driving the other Blackwell women insane by attempting to possess them, but failing due to her insufficient life force and the emotional weakness of the host. Madeline's occupancy then departure would cause the universe to fill the void left behind and overstimulate the mediums' senses.

Rosa is placed in solitary confinement at Bellevue Mental Hospital. With the help of Joey and the ghost of her late aunt, Rosa gains temporary control over her immense knowledge, and explains that Madeline is now threatening to wipe out all life in New York in an attempt to forcibly vaporize her own soul by drawing in the power of the universe through a portal. Rosa and Joey escape the hospital, and confront Madeline. Rosa takes control of the portal and subsequently allows every departed soul currently in the world to flow through her and pass on, Madeline and her aunt included. Joey, however, is still unable to pass on. The portal closes. Rosa, losing control of her mind again, decides to pass her life force to Joey with her remaining power. Joey's body becomes corporeal as he is properly alive again, and Rosa dies.

The end scene shows Joey spreading Rosa's ashes over the docks where Rosa had spread her aunt's ashes at the beginning of the series. Joey monologues about how he has tried to look for spirits to help since Rosa's death by investigating the scene of a recent highway accident following rumors of disembodied screams and cries, but finds that he is no longer able to hear and see ghosts like before. Uncertain of what to do now that he is just a regular human again, Joey merely concludes that "life is worth living", and promises to live it out fully to honor Rosa's sacrifice.

Development

The Blackwell Epiphany was revealed in December 2012.[1][2] It was released on April 24, 2014.[3]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic83/100[4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Adventure GamersStarStarStarStarHalf star[6]
PC Gamer (US)82/100[5]
Awards
PublicationAward
Adventure GamersBest Adventure of 2014 (2015)[7]
Adventure GamersBest Traditional Adventure (2015)[7]
Adventure GamersBest Story (2015)[7]

The game received critical acclaim, and won numerous awards from websites such as Adventure Game Studio and Adventure Gamers.[8][7]

Adventure Gamers praised all aspects of the game, in particular the storytelling - other than finding in the second half the pacing uneven, the final twist "out of left field" and some plot resolutions rushed - and said that Dave Gilbert "has a great eye for the everyday dramas of life and many of his characters are memorable" and that Gilbert had progressed far as a writer since the series' first installment.[6] PC Gamer US declared it "the high-point of a consistently strong series".[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Wadjet Eye Games is working on a new Blackwell game due next year • News • PC • Eurogamer.net". http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-18-wadjet-eye-games-is-working-on-a-new-blackwell-game-due-next-year. 
  2. ↑ "Kiedy następna część Blackwell? "Mam nadzieję że w przyszłym roku!" - mówi twórca serii - Hed - 14 grudnia 2012". http://gameplay.pl/news.asp?ID=73426. 
  3. ↑ Schulenberg, Thomas (March 15, 2014). "Pre-order Blackwell Epiphany for April 24, become a medium". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2014/03/15/pre-order-blackwell-epiphany-for-april-24-become-a-medium/. 
  4. ↑ "The Blackwell Epiphany for PC Reviews". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/game/blackwell-epiphany/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Blackwell Epiphany review - PC Gamer". http://www.pcgamer.com/blackwell-epiphany-review/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mattsson, Peter (2014-04-30). "The Blackwell Epiphany review" (in en). https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/26375. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "The Aggie Awards - The Best Adventure Games of 2014" (in en). 2015-02-18. pp. 2–18. https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/28100. 
  8. ↑ "Adventure Game Studio | Games | Blackwell Epiphany". http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1870/. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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