GP Studios - Reincarnation Series

The Reincarnation series was created by Chris Gianelloni and I understand they are the only games he makes. Hey, once you’ve hit a winning formula, stick with it.

The first game, subtitled A Demon’s Day Out, sets the backstory for the series.

Damned souls in Hell are able to come back to life by going through any of the reincarny portals that God placed in the netherrealm. If they repent and reform while on Earth, they will be able to take a place in Heaven.

If enough damned souls find salvation, Hell will be shut down.

That’s where you come in.

Playing as a purple demon, you have to kill the reincarny and send him back to Hell.

But first you have to find proof that they are still evil (don’t want them escaping to Heaven) and make their death look like an accident (because… well, I guess people would make a huge leap in logic and realise demons exist).

Reincarnation: ADDO Image 1

That purple guy is you. If he turns round, he’ll show you his arse.

The action is carried out through a simple point and click interface. You can pick up items and combine them or use them to progress the story of each of the six games in the series so far.

The first game set the scene quite well but was limited in that you had no inventory and you could only click on items when they were supposed to be used, for the most part.

There were some good puzzles with relatively humorous solutions, and it confirmed the series’ evil sense of fun.

Kudos also to the demon’s voice actor, which many players have already complemented. The game would be poorer without him – particularly the way he says the word “eeeevil”.

Reincarnation: ADDO Image 2

Dog food + hot sauce = evil.

The third game was the last true sequel, at least in terms of game length. Every game after Riley’s Out Again has been shorter than the first two, although the third game was of a good length.

Riley’s Out Again has a major irritation in the form of the maze, which has no distinguishing features and is difficult to navigate. Fortunately, there is a button to skip it.

Again, this was a fun point and click adventure that started in Hell and revealed that there are several purple demons just like the main character.

There’s not much in the way of innovation, however, though the ending is amusing.

There are five other “mini” games in the series plus an anniversary special released on Halloween, but they are all fairly similar.

The thing that makes them enjoyable and puts them above the many humdrum point and click titles out there is the main character’s personality and the inventive ways he kills people, with the most memorable one featuring a rubber duckie.

The problem is, if you don’t like the sense of humour in the games then there’s not going to be much incentive for you to play.

For now, I still find them fun enough to want to finish each one.

Reincarnation: LTETR Image 1