Uninvited (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Kemco-Seika's 1991 graphic adventure for the NES, Uninvited.

I recently uploaded a playthrough of Shadowgate's NES port because I thought that its spooky vibe was a good fit for October, so it would seem all-but-criminal to not follow up with its explicitly horror-themed sibling, Uninvited.

Like Shadowgate (   • Shadowgate (NES) Playthrough  ), Uninvited is a conversion of a PC point-and-click adventure game from Icom's MacVenture series. They both feature similar gameplay - you solve puzzles by interacting with your environment via a list of verbs - but the differences in tone and setting make for two very different experiences.

Uninvited is set in the modern day. The story begins as a teenage boy is regaining consciousness after wrecking his car in front of an old mansion. His sister is missing, and he barely manages to escape from the car before it becomes completely engulfed in flame. After realizing that his sister must have gone to the house in search of help, he steps inside and the adventure begins.

Whereas Castle Shadowgate features a multitude of chatty characters to keep you company, Uninvited isolates you. The few sentient beings that are present to acknowledge your presence want you dead... or undead... and the story's major players - the residents of the mansion - have all been dead for at least a century. Though you get a very clear sense of who they were as you pore over their diaries, letters, and personal belongings, the sense of solitude and loneliness imparted by the distance pervades everything in this world. It also nicely ups the heebie-jeebie quotient.

The atmosphere is thrust even farther to the forefront by the abstract nature of the game's puzzles. There are plenty of "use item A on object B" moments, but the heavy emphasis placed on riddles and magical incantations creates a thematic parallel that's quite effective at bridging the story and gameplay.

Of course, a MacVenture wouldn't be a MacVenture without the death scenes, and Uninvited isn't lacking in that department. If you'd like to see a fun montage of those moments, jump to 1:08:21.

Uninvited might not have as large a cult-following as Shadowgate does, but if adventures, horror, or the idea of strolling through a Civil War-era haunted house appeals to you, do yourself a favor and give this one a shot. It's good.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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