Entering through the mind of a creative playwright, The Last Show of Mr. Chardish takes the player on a journey through different worlds and emotions created by imaginative realms, glowing with colourful paint strokes across a narrative canvas to bring this story to life. Developed by Punk Notion and published by Hydra Games, The Last Show of Mr. Chardish requires players to slip on their headset and immerse themselves in the flowing piano score, which captivates the players in the environments that surrounds them. Players will feel that they are a part of this intricate and involving story, experiencing each passing emotion lead character Ella McLane experiences.

The player begins their journey in first person as Ella McLane, who returns to her past after receiving the news that someone once close had passed, the talented Mr. Chardish. Hear her every breath as she explores the once teeming with life Lindfield Theatre, now dilapidated and lifeless. As Ella progresses though the theatre she comes across items from her past plays where she became a star and led a cheerful bliss life full of love with Robert Chardish.

Each main item found takes the player into the worlds created by Mr. Chardish, around each separate play written, with each piece of the puzzle coming together subliminally in the background. Each act is greeted by an oil painting with the title of the act, also the posters of the past plays. The player will need to follow the path of both Elle and Mr. Chardish’s past plays in order to connect all the pieces, with them all connecting together for the final act. Together the player is experiencing The Last Show Of Mr. Chardish. 

While the player explores the theatre as Ella, The Last Show Of Mr. Chardish becomes a clue hunting mystery game. Hearing each breath will make the player feel that they are in Ella’s shoes as she collects letters and bits of clues. This is where the game opens up completely to a unique turn of gameplay.

Upon coming across each mask linking to each play (five in total), Ella will dawn the mask, taking her to another place that exists in her mind through the plays written by Robert Chardish, becoming a star and a part of their past. During this part of the game players will find themselves in a third person view playing Robert’s roles, some involving both Ella and Robert. The game now becomes a puzzler in where the player will need to overcome different obstacles and puzzles in order to progress. Each time the player enters these sequences the graphics change to more lush, paint swept visuals, changing from the dark but sharper graphics while exploring as Ella.

Although the theatre seems dark, gloomy and lifeless, the player will see life breathing into it through visuals of warm sunbeams piecing through the holes in the roof. The weather will even change based on what play and emotions Ella experiences after wearing each. The controls are easy to use and any item of interest will highlight what action button to use whether being the E key or Left Mouse Button. 

A path is clearly set so there is no way of falling from the path and the player will find themselves more so enjoying the beautiful storyline rather than stressing if they have missed anything or are in the wrong spot to progress. There are no health bars, lives or survival stats. Puzzles and different themes in each world make The Last Show Of Mr. Chardish always an interesting play, from playing as a robot to transforming into a sky-blue bird soaring across beautifully painted worlds. The game is not very long and lucky to come in at a couple of hours, so each time the player would re-visit it would be equivalent to watching their favourite movie.

The graphics are not completely AAA as The Last Show of Mr. Chardish focuses on the story and serves the purpose of creating emotions visually. The graphics change when the player is transported to each realm, becoming a lush colourful oil painting that comes to life with the player becoming part of the art. Sound effects are very convincing down to each breath Ella takes and has the player losing them self in Ella’s story. Music begins with a piano score progressing to a small ensemble of orchestral instruments changing to each emotion and each part of the story.

The Last Show Of Mr. Chardish is single player with no multi-player option and can be paused at anytime. The demographic can reach all ages as there is no course langue or blood and gore, although the storyline is very adult minded, most ages could benefit from it being such well written work.

Harbz for One More Game

9 – Amazing – as near to a 10 as you are going to get without it being a 10. It’s an amazing experience that just requires that little something else to make it a masterpiece. Your hard earned cash and time would be well spent here.

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The Last Show Of Mr. Chardish was reviewed on PC. It is available now on Steam and has been announced for Xbox One X.

Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit or later

Processor: Intel i3 6th gen

Graphics: GeForce GTX 660

Storage: 7 GB available space

Sound card: DirectX compatible

The publisher kindly provided the code for this game. All thoughts on this game are ours and ours alone.