Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis (Nintendo DS) Review

By Adam Riley 06.10.2012

Review for Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis on Nintendo DS

Point and click adventures were always a staple diet for PC owners, but thanks to the motion control of Wii and touch capabilities of the DS, many different titles eventually made their way to Nintendo formats. After success with the gripping Secret Files: Tunguska on both systems, Animation Arts' second game in the series, Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis was again ported by Keen Games. With the third Secret Files due to land on PC soon, Cubed3 takes a quick trip back to look at the DS version of the second entry.

Whilst Secret Files: Tunguska's story revolved around the mysteries of the infamous powerful explosion that occurred over in Russia back in 1908, Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis takes a more religious slant, focusing on a corrupt sect that is using old prophecies to its advantage. With the main stars, Nina Kalenkov and Max Gruber, being separated, the game mainly centres around Nina's antics as she heads off on what was supposed to a relaxing cruise to Portugal. As happenstance would have it, though, events take a turn for the intriguing -- and rather disturbing -- as people start dying, baffling notes are left lying around, people begin acting weirdly and…well, it would be spoiling matters too much to go on further.

Suffice to say, Nina becomes embroiled in an effort to overcome the threat of the Puritas Cordis group, trying all the while to get to the bottom of why outlandish events that even Mother Nature could not explain are taking place, and eventually stoke the fires that once were with Max when their paths eventually cross.

Screenshot for Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis on Nintendo DS

Weighing in at a meaty 15 hours, Puritas Cordis certainly gives great value for money, but for some the lengthy conversations may drag on. On the other hand, those with a penchant for wanting to squeeze every last drop of text that the talented script writers have poured in, the wealth of speech avenues to navigate will leave players enamoured. As for the puzzling element, some of the item combinations are peculiar, yet never too far-fetched. The beauty of Secret Files 2, though, is the way that any obstacles are overcome. Whereas in certain games of this ilk there is the chance to randomly use items -- and their combination forms -- on all and sundry in the local vicinity, here it is not possible until it seems logical to do so. For instance, it is not possible to shove some gum in a door's lock to block it from opening until discussions have indicated that it would be of benefit to ensure that only a specific door must be used. Having to use some of that grey matter really makes for a far more enjoyable experience overall, rather than using trial and error throughout. Switching between characters at key times is also a plus, being able to transfer objects from one to another to progress.

Although the stylus control is perfect, this Nintendo DS version is not without its flaws, as the small screen where the majority of the action takes place is not ideal for the highly detailed locations visited. Thankfully, the series in general allows for 'hotspots' to be highlighted, so finding areas of interest that can be interacted with is not as tiresome as it may otherwise have been. Runaway 2: Dream of the Turtle countered the tiny screen syndrome by employing a magnified view when needed, and this could definitely have helped in Secret Files as well, but is sadly missing. The DS game is technically impressive, though, with cut-scenes from the PC iteration and comes with speech included, surprisingly. On the whole, whilst it does not quite match the exemplary Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars, anyone itching for some more adventure goodness on their DS, especially those with the larger Nintendo DSi XL, will have great fun with Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis.

Screenshot for Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis on Nintendo DS

Cubed3 Rating

8/10
Rated 8 out of 10

Great - Silver Award

Rated 8 out of 10

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis follows on from the solid foundation set by the first game, Tunguska, and brings with it an impressive story that keeps gamers gripped until the final credits. Mixing in humour, intrigue and the usual plethora of item mixing and matching that gets the brain working in all manner of ways, Animation Arts and Keen Games have made an end product that is highly enjoyable indeed. Hopefully Nintendo systems will see the upcoming Secret Files 3 as well.

Developer

Animation Arts

Publisher

Deep Silver

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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