Today’s video game review is for Cursery: The Crooked Man and The Crooked Cat. I’ve been really excited to do this review because it’s my favorite game that I own. It has the most beautiful graphics; so beautiful that I created a palette based off the color story. You can see the palette and the look I created using it at the bottom. I’m not very tech savvy so while I will mention the game system requirements, I probably won’t be able to answer any tech questions. This also isn’t a walk through, only a review. Now onto the review!
Basic Information:
Cursery: The Crooked Man and the Crooked Cat is a spin-off game from the Dark Parables franchise created by Blue Tea Games. It has a similar “feel” to the Dark Parables games but has a darker and more mature story line. However, just like the Dark Parables series, this game is a reimagined fairy tale with a dark twist. It’s what is considered a point and click adventure with mini games and hidden/fragmented object scenes. It’s appropriate for teens and up.
System Requirements:
- OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
- CPU: 1.0 GHz
- RAM: 512 MB
- DirectX: 9.0
- Hard Drive: 854 MB
Game Synopsis:
For more than a century, girls of a certain age have been mysteriously vanishing, never to be seen again. Some say they were taken by the Crooked Man, who always travels with a strange little black cat at his side. Now he’s kidnapped your very own sister! You’ve got to unravel the riddles in the Cursery and find out who the mastermind is behind this evil plot.
My Thoughts:
Cursery: The Crooked Man and the Crooked Cat was released in 2013. It takes place in 1885 in and around the fictional town of Silvery Coral Village in France. The town has been abandoned and the forest around it is eerily empty… except for the shrieking crows and human remains of the unlucky few caught by the Crooked Man.
Do you remember this nursery rhyme?
“There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.”
This game gives life to the Crooked Man and his feline companion. The dark tale begins with the abduction of a young girl, the protagonist’s sister, Renee. She is kidnapped by a gaunt man and his very unique cat. As the story progresses, we learn that he takes girls who resemble his dead fiancee, Cheryl. Through twisted powers bestowed upon him by a witch, he’s determined to find the reincarnation of his lost love… even if it means destroying himself and everything around him in the process.
This is an eerily beautiful game with stunning graphics and artwork. Most of the scenes are dark but filled with haunting music in the background and ambient sounds that bring the game to life. I couldn’t find a complete soundtrack but I’ll link to each of the songs I could find. This game has some of the best instrumental music and if you listen to it, you’ll get a feel for the tone of the game.
I’m a sucker for a good story, especially a tragic one, and that’s what this game is. I don’t want to give away too much but the story line is a gothic romance through and through. It took some bizarre twists and turns that made me impatient to see what would happen next. Along with the story, the world just immerses you. There is so much detail. Just to name a few things: there’s items left behind by former town residents, journal entries and paintings created by the Crooked Man for Cheryl. I’ve replayed this game multiple times because I love the story and the world that much.
As with most of these games that I review, there are two versions available. There’s the original for $10.00 or the Collector’s Edition for $20.00. I recommend the Collector’s Edition because it includes a bonus game that I LOVE. It tells the story of Humpty Dumpty… if Humpty Dumpty was a monster with an appetite for flesh. Let’s end the review on that note and get into the makeup look!
Makeup Look:
As I mentioned above, I was so inspired by the color story in this game that I wanted to create my own palette. I’m actually planning to do multiple looks with this palette. I really need to use my singles more and get them reviewed so this will allow me to do that. I plan to have that post up in a couple of weeks. A lot of these singles are either discontinued or taken from discontinued palettes but I will link to the ones I can find.
Purple is one of the main colors used throughout this game so I wanted to create something purple and smoky. If the single shadow used has a name, I will put what the name is and link it if possible. Many of these singles don’t have names, however, so I’ll just describe the color of all of them. As always, I used the essence Colour Intensifying Eyeshadow Primer. I’ll go in the order of the swatches on my arm, left to right.
- I set my primer with a matte white.
- I lightly blended a matte mauve pink above my natural crease. I went over this shade multiple times throughout the look and used it to soften the edges of the next shade.
- I blended a matte purple (Naughty in Napa- Looxi Beauty) into my crease. I brought it out past the edge of my lid because I wanted this to be a smokier look.
- I wanted the matte purple to be a little deeper so I blended a matte gray throughout it.
- I applied a metallic gray on the outermost and innermost parts of my lid.
- I then applied a metallic purple (Spyro– Looxi Beauty) on the innermost and outermost parts of my lid. I covered the metallic gray with this shade but brought it closer to the center of my lid than I did with the gray. I did this to create a gradient from lighter to deeper purple.
- In the center of my lid, I applied a metallic lavender with silver and gold reflects (Foxy Lady– Looxi Beauty).
- In my inner corner and on my brow bone, I applied a mixture of a shimmery white with gold and green reflects (Glass Slipper- Looxi Beauty) and a metallic soft gold (Elven Gold– Coastal Scents).
- I lined my lower waterline with the metallic soft gold (Elven Gold– Coastal Scents) and then smudged a matte black (Stranger-ShopMissA) underneath it.
- I then took the matte purple (Naughty in Napa- Looxi Beauty) and smudged it to wear it joined with the purple on top to create a complete circle around my eye. I used the matte mauve pink to soften the edges around the entire look.
Brushes Used:
- Detail Crease Brush
- Tapered Blending Brush
- Flat Eyeshadow Brush
- Small Angled Brush
- Smudge Brush
- Eye Crease Brush
- Blending Brush, I used this brush to blend out the edges.
If you are curious about any of the other products on my face, you can find this look in my recent posts on Instagram.
Final Thoughts:
I think it’s obvious that I love and recommend this game very much. It’s just so good and deserves more attention. Are you interested in this game? Also, what do you think about the look and palette I created? Thank you for reading and have a great day!
The Book and Beauty Blog 