Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life
Encyclopedia
Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life is the second game in the series of adventure game
s for PC
. The game was developed and published by City Interactive
in 2009.
, to discuss the assassination, who will carry it out, and who will be the victim. As they conclude, Marcel, one of the owners of the castle is the target. The leader of the assassination ring, shoots a poison dart at Marcel, who falls, as soon as he receives it. His wife who was with him saw him falling, but didn't knew how it happened. Meantime, our heroine, Syvie Leroux turns out to be in the same city where assassination took place, and starts the investigation. The owner of the castle tell her that Marcel died after an excident, caused probably by love, a heart attack
, as his wife, Claire, has describes it. But Sylvie have her own take on it. The investigation leads her from Brittany
to Venice, Cairo
, and Gibraltar
.
Sylvie Leroux starts her investigation in Brittany, which was a stop-by city. Her real destination was Venice, where she was scheduled to carry on a lecture about her book, "The Scorpio Ritual". In Brittany she finds a chest that was a key part in "Mary Celeste
" mystery. Also, she finds notes about a strange collector nicknamed "Saint-Germain
", who is also a count of some kind.
When she arrived to Venice, she meets a gondolier, but right in front of her eyes he was assassinated by a masked figure. Sylvie finds a chronometer
, and a coin (a murder mark), next to the body. She thoroughly examines the chronometer and finds out that it dates to 1872, the year that "Mary Celeste" sunk. Due to the murder the lecture was canceled, but she managed to sign the book and give it to a couple of carnivalers, which she met outside, who wanted to come for a lecture and book signing. After she left them she saw the same figure on the bridge, (the same figure that killed Marcel), and got terrified. She avoided the confrontation with him by traveling on a gondola
, under the darkness and a flare, which she made to distract the figure. After a successful distraction, she manages to flee the place unnoticed.
She lands her gondola at a garden which is a property of that mysterious collector. The collector and Sylvie introduce each other, and then Sylvie gives him her find, the chronometer. She mentions of a date of sinking to him which is on the chronometer. Saint-Germain then wants Sylvie to bring him the chest, but she can't do it because it is a property of a museum now. After an argument they came to a deal: She will work for him, and she will get more than a half objects that they will excavate together. Saint-Germain mentioned her about a collector in Cairo, who is specializes in Atlantis
. He doesn't remember his name due to amnesia
, that was caused by an accident. Sylvie takes a flight to Cairo, in search of that collector.
As soon as she arrives to Cairo, she gets robbed at the airport. And, without passport, she have a hard time finding a proper hotel. She finds one that is owned by 11-year-old boy, Ali. The boy, generously enough, lends her a room for free. She agrees with it, and puts her copy of a jug piece and map behind a mirror. After that she leaves on a adventure to find a collector. She finds an antiquarian
, not a collector. She talks with him. The antiquarian tells her that he got a scarf on his neck, and that it covered in blood, he wants you to wash it. Sylvie takes the scarf, picks a lemon from a tree, by using a cammel and a whip, and goes back to the room. In there she washes the scarf. It turned out that the scarf carries sinking date (1872) of Mary Celeste. Besides the date it also carries the map and a tree of life
emblem. She then returns the scarf to antiquarian. She also goes to a cafe, which is not far away from her room. In there she talks to the cafe keeper, who tells her that is a woman who wants to talk to her. Sylvie agrees and go into a room behind a curtain. There, she meets a woman of middle-eastern nationality, named Fatima. Fatima suggests to play a game, after which, if Sylvie wins, Fatima will tell her about the jug and collector. Sylvie wins, and received a response about a collector. It turns out that the collector is her husband! She also says that she can't talk much because somebody is watching them. Sylvie returns to a hotel room and found Fatima in there. Sylvie wanted to barricade the door because she is afraid that Fatima would be killed, but there was no point in it. Both ladies fall asleep, but Sylvie was awoken by Saint-Germain, who told her that Fatima is dead. Sylvie started to ask questions, but count Saint-Germain tells her to ask all of it later, instead, pack your stuff and travel with me to Gibraltar, on his yacht.
In the yacht Sylvie got an impression that its maybe him, who kills people in front of her. Considering that the count mentions to her that he took the jug from Fatima when she died, even though his idea was to buy it from her. Since Fatima is dead, he decided to obtain jug for free. Sylvie gets nervous, and, while the count is asleep, at least she think that, after she added some sleeping pills in his tea, dials police over a dispatcher
. She knocks on his door after it, and it turns out that he is not asleep. Suddenly, Sylvie remembers that the count mentioned about a gun, which apparently, he keeps in his room. Sylvie needs to distract him somehow. So, she goes to a control panel, and changes the course. After that, she awakes the count. While the count was messing with the controls, Sylvie snuck in and got a gun. After that she went to the control panel, and, by gun pointing at the count asked him to raise with hands up. After a brief discussion it turned out that he didn't killed anybody, and he wasn't using Sylvie for an item gain (chronometer, chest, map, jug). As soon as the yacht was parked in Gibraltar, the police arrested the count. While he was interrogated by police, Sylvie tried to convince the cops that she made a mistake. The cops wouldn't let her leave with him. She remembered though, that the count had plenty of medications on his yacht, without which he won't survive even a minute in a cell, if he would be put in there. While she was looking for a medication, an intruder snicked into Saint-Germain's room. Sylvie sees a cane on the opposite side of the door, and locks the intruder in, by using it and a tie it with the rope, on the door. After that she alarms the police by running into a police department. In there, she gives a medication to an officer, which turned out to be unnecessary, because the count got cleared out of any wrong doing. She also mentions about intruder, on which police got "enlighted", considering how rare crime is happening on the island. The cops told Sylvie to wait for them with the count, because they need to give them the release papers. While police is trying to get the thug out of the yachts room, Sylvie suggests the count to leave with her. The count is willing to do that, so they flee. While they were on the run, they saw the face of intruder, who was walking in handcuffs, with a cop from each side. The intruder was the same masked man that Sylvie saw in Venice, and the same one that was "spying" on her in Cairo. But where would they go? Every door on the island is locked! Sylvie remembers that on the evening the count got arrested, she went to the cemetery, to look for the grave of a captain Benjamin Briggs
. Before going in, she saw a woman walking out of the same gate she was about to enter. She enters a police station, and, while they are absent, uses a fishing poll to get a parcel, which is laying on the other side of the table. The parcel, as it turned out was sent to that woman, address of whom was provided below. She copies the address into her diary, and goes to it.
Unfortunately, the passage to a house is being guarded by a bulldog
. Of course, she doesn't want to jump over the fence so that the dog would tear her in pieces. So, she thought of an idea, she decides to uses canned meat, that she borrowed from the yacht while searching for counts medication. She throws opened canned meat over one side of the fence, while running and jumping over the other side. After she jumps over, she shuts the gate and locks it with a big ring, by putting it over the handles. As soon as the gate gets secured, she knocks on the woman's door. The woman opens the door, and introduces herself. Sarah, is her name. After introduction Sylvie, asks her about the map, which count Saint-Germain mentioned that she have. Sarah didn't denied that. Sarah told Sylvie her version of Briggs story, Sylvie then, told her her version, and as a result they forget about the map. Sarah mentions about a an airship in a hangar
, which she would like to sell to the count for $1,000,000
. The count asks Sylvie to run to the yacht and open the safe, in which he keeps his fortune. Sylvie takes the money from the safe, and returns to the hangar, where Sarah and count Saint-Germain are waiting for her. As soon as she payed off, she and the count are bound to an island on which the Tree of Life is believed to be growing. The island is located in a Bermuda Triangle
.
They landed in a jungle of an island. There they met a local tribes man, who told them where to find the tree. But he warned them of danger of not enough juice that you can make out of fruits that the tree can provide, variety of which are limited. They started making a juice out of collected fruits, but before they finished with it, they got apprehended by the just-came-in a man and a woman. It turned out they were the same people that were behind the assassinations of so many people! The man and and a woman introduce themselves as Beta and Alpha, and called the count Omega. They explained that they are the descendants of Benjamin Briggs. Not only that, but all three of them (Alpha, Beta, and Omega), served on the same ship, the day it got sunk. They claim that they are the survivors of the sinking of "Mary Celeste" in 1872! Not only that, but it turns out that the trio is also the keepers of the tree, and call themselves The Tree of Life Brotherhood. They wanted Sylvie to join, but she of course, doesn't believe it, and get very suspicious about the whole story. The count commands her then to finish making the elixir of life out of a tree. She obeys, otherwise she have no options. As soon she finishes with it, Alpha and Beta put her and the count into a big cage, that was used by natives to keep their prisoners. They called out the native and ask him to free them. He agrees to free them on one condition: The will protect the tree from destruction. The count mentions that he left the gun on the airship, and Sylvie is getting it. After they found a gun, they returned to the potion maker, and caught their enemies by surprise. Alpha and Beta were about to drink a potion when they get distracted by sudden appearance of Sylvie and Omega. The game ends with the potion maker get overboiled, and explodes, non of the characters get killed, but non of them gets what they longed the most: Immortality. Which is believed to be given by a Tree of Life. Sylvie walks away from a scene into a mist...
” premise. Unfortunately, the weak script and lacking puzzles make this an adventure that is ultimately hard to recommend."
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. The game was developed and published by City Interactive
City Interactive
City Interactive is an international publisher and the largest Polish developer of computer and video games for platforms including Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. The company was created in 2002 by combining a publishing house with two computer game developer studios. The...
in 2009.
Gameplay
The game starts off with people wearing masks gathering somewhere in VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, to discuss the assassination, who will carry it out, and who will be the victim. As they conclude, Marcel, one of the owners of the castle is the target. The leader of the assassination ring, shoots a poison dart at Marcel, who falls, as soon as he receives it. His wife who was with him saw him falling, but didn't knew how it happened. Meantime, our heroine, Syvie Leroux turns out to be in the same city where assassination took place, and starts the investigation. The owner of the castle tell her that Marcel died after an excident, caused probably by love, a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, as his wife, Claire, has describes it. But Sylvie have her own take on it. The investigation leads her from Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
to Venice, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, and Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
.
Sylvie Leroux starts her investigation in Brittany, which was a stop-by city. Her real destination was Venice, where she was scheduled to carry on a lecture about her book, "The Scorpio Ritual". In Brittany she finds a chest that was a key part in "Mary Celeste
Mary Celeste
The Mary Celeste was an American brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872, in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned , despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able...
" mystery. Also, she finds notes about a strange collector nicknamed "Saint-Germain
Saint-Germain
- People :* Saint Germain of Paris , bishop of Paris who founded Saint-Germain-des-Prés* Germanus of Auxerre - People :* Saint Germain of Paris (496–576), bishop of Paris who founded Saint-Germain-des-Prés* Germanus of Auxerre - People :* Saint Germain of Paris (496–576), bishop of Paris who...
", who is also a count of some kind.
When she arrived to Venice, she meets a gondolier, but right in front of her eyes he was assassinated by a masked figure. Sylvie finds a chronometer
Marine chronometer
A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation...
, and a coin (a murder mark), next to the body. She thoroughly examines the chronometer and finds out that it dates to 1872, the year that "Mary Celeste" sunk. Due to the murder the lecture was canceled, but she managed to sign the book and give it to a couple of carnivalers, which she met outside, who wanted to come for a lecture and book signing. After she left them she saw the same figure on the bridge, (the same figure that killed Marcel), and got terrified. She avoided the confrontation with him by traveling on a gondola
Gondola
The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian Lagoon. For centuries gondolas were the chief means of transportation and most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times the iconic boats still have a role in public transport in...
, under the darkness and a flare, which she made to distract the figure. After a successful distraction, she manages to flee the place unnoticed.
She lands her gondola at a garden which is a property of that mysterious collector. The collector and Sylvie introduce each other, and then Sylvie gives him her find, the chronometer. She mentions of a date of sinking to him which is on the chronometer. Saint-Germain then wants Sylvie to bring him the chest, but she can't do it because it is a property of a museum now. After an argument they came to a deal: She will work for him, and she will get more than a half objects that they will excavate together. Saint-Germain mentioned her about a collector in Cairo, who is specializes in Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
. He doesn't remember his name due to amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
, that was caused by an accident. Sylvie takes a flight to Cairo, in search of that collector.
As soon as she arrives to Cairo, she gets robbed at the airport. And, without passport, she have a hard time finding a proper hotel. She finds one that is owned by 11-year-old boy, Ali. The boy, generously enough, lends her a room for free. She agrees with it, and puts her copy of a jug piece and map behind a mirror. After that she leaves on a adventure to find a collector. She finds an antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
, not a collector. She talks with him. The antiquarian tells her that he got a scarf on his neck, and that it covered in blood, he wants you to wash it. Sylvie takes the scarf, picks a lemon from a tree, by using a cammel and a whip, and goes back to the room. In there she washes the scarf. It turned out that the scarf carries sinking date (1872) of Mary Celeste. Besides the date it also carries the map and a tree of life
Tree of life
The concept of a tree of life, a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related, has been used in science , religion, philosophy, mythology, and other areas...
emblem. She then returns the scarf to antiquarian. She also goes to a cafe, which is not far away from her room. In there she talks to the cafe keeper, who tells her that is a woman who wants to talk to her. Sylvie agrees and go into a room behind a curtain. There, she meets a woman of middle-eastern nationality, named Fatima. Fatima suggests to play a game, after which, if Sylvie wins, Fatima will tell her about the jug and collector. Sylvie wins, and received a response about a collector. It turns out that the collector is her husband! She also says that she can't talk much because somebody is watching them. Sylvie returns to a hotel room and found Fatima in there. Sylvie wanted to barricade the door because she is afraid that Fatima would be killed, but there was no point in it. Both ladies fall asleep, but Sylvie was awoken by Saint-Germain, who told her that Fatima is dead. Sylvie started to ask questions, but count Saint-Germain tells her to ask all of it later, instead, pack your stuff and travel with me to Gibraltar, on his yacht.
In the yacht Sylvie got an impression that its maybe him, who kills people in front of her. Considering that the count mentions to her that he took the jug from Fatima when she died, even though his idea was to buy it from her. Since Fatima is dead, he decided to obtain jug for free. Sylvie gets nervous, and, while the count is asleep, at least she think that, after she added some sleeping pills in his tea, dials police over a dispatcher
Dispatcher
Dispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
. She knocks on his door after it, and it turns out that he is not asleep. Suddenly, Sylvie remembers that the count mentioned about a gun, which apparently, he keeps in his room. Sylvie needs to distract him somehow. So, she goes to a control panel, and changes the course. After that, she awakes the count. While the count was messing with the controls, Sylvie snuck in and got a gun. After that she went to the control panel, and, by gun pointing at the count asked him to raise with hands up. After a brief discussion it turned out that he didn't killed anybody, and he wasn't using Sylvie for an item gain (chronometer, chest, map, jug). As soon as the yacht was parked in Gibraltar, the police arrested the count. While he was interrogated by police, Sylvie tried to convince the cops that she made a mistake. The cops wouldn't let her leave with him. She remembered though, that the count had plenty of medications on his yacht, without which he won't survive even a minute in a cell, if he would be put in there. While she was looking for a medication, an intruder snicked into Saint-Germain's room. Sylvie sees a cane on the opposite side of the door, and locks the intruder in, by using it and a tie it with the rope, on the door. After that she alarms the police by running into a police department. In there, she gives a medication to an officer, which turned out to be unnecessary, because the count got cleared out of any wrong doing. She also mentions about intruder, on which police got "enlighted", considering how rare crime is happening on the island. The cops told Sylvie to wait for them with the count, because they need to give them the release papers. While police is trying to get the thug out of the yachts room, Sylvie suggests the count to leave with her. The count is willing to do that, so they flee. While they were on the run, they saw the face of intruder, who was walking in handcuffs, with a cop from each side. The intruder was the same masked man that Sylvie saw in Venice, and the same one that was "spying" on her in Cairo. But where would they go? Every door on the island is locked! Sylvie remembers that on the evening the count got arrested, she went to the cemetery, to look for the grave of a captain Benjamin Briggs
Benjamin Briggs
Benjamin Spooner Briggs was an experienced United States seaman and master mariner. He is famous today for being the Captain of the merchant ship Mary Celeste when she was discovered unmanned and drifting in the Atlantic Ocean near the Straits of Gibraltar, on 4 December 1872...
. Before going in, she saw a woman walking out of the same gate she was about to enter. She enters a police station, and, while they are absent, uses a fishing poll to get a parcel, which is laying on the other side of the table. The parcel, as it turned out was sent to that woman, address of whom was provided below. She copies the address into her diary, and goes to it.
Unfortunately, the passage to a house is being guarded by a bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...
. Of course, she doesn't want to jump over the fence so that the dog would tear her in pieces. So, she thought of an idea, she decides to uses canned meat, that she borrowed from the yacht while searching for counts medication. She throws opened canned meat over one side of the fence, while running and jumping over the other side. After she jumps over, she shuts the gate and locks it with a big ring, by putting it over the handles. As soon as the gate gets secured, she knocks on the woman's door. The woman opens the door, and introduces herself. Sarah, is her name. After introduction Sylvie, asks her about the map, which count Saint-Germain mentioned that she have. Sarah didn't denied that. Sarah told Sylvie her version of Briggs story, Sylvie then, told her her version, and as a result they forget about the map. Sarah mentions about a an airship in a hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
, which she would like to sell to the count for $1,000,000
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
. The count asks Sylvie to run to the yacht and open the safe, in which he keeps his fortune. Sylvie takes the money from the safe, and returns to the hangar, where Sarah and count Saint-Germain are waiting for her. As soon as she payed off, she and the count are bound to an island on which the Tree of Life is believed to be growing. The island is located in a Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
.
They landed in a jungle of an island. There they met a local tribes man, who told them where to find the tree. But he warned them of danger of not enough juice that you can make out of fruits that the tree can provide, variety of which are limited. They started making a juice out of collected fruits, but before they finished with it, they got apprehended by the just-came-in a man and a woman. It turned out they were the same people that were behind the assassinations of so many people! The man and and a woman introduce themselves as Beta and Alpha, and called the count Omega. They explained that they are the descendants of Benjamin Briggs. Not only that, but all three of them (Alpha, Beta, and Omega), served on the same ship, the day it got sunk. They claim that they are the survivors of the sinking of "Mary Celeste" in 1872! Not only that, but it turns out that the trio is also the keepers of the tree, and call themselves The Tree of Life Brotherhood. They wanted Sylvie to join, but she of course, doesn't believe it, and get very suspicious about the whole story. The count commands her then to finish making the elixir of life out of a tree. She obeys, otherwise she have no options. As soon she finishes with it, Alpha and Beta put her and the count into a big cage, that was used by natives to keep their prisoners. They called out the native and ask him to free them. He agrees to free them on one condition: The will protect the tree from destruction. The count mentions that he left the gun on the airship, and Sylvie is getting it. After they found a gun, they returned to the potion maker, and caught their enemies by surprise. Alpha and Beta were about to drink a potion when they get distracted by sudden appearance of Sylvie and Omega. The game ends with the potion maker get overboiled, and explodes, non of the characters get killed, but non of them gets what they longed the most: Immortality. Which is believed to be given by a Tree of Life. Sylvie walks away from a scene into a mist...
Reception
The game received a score of 8.0 from Worthplaying, saying, "...and while the dialogue is not the best, the overall plot is quite intriguing." The game also received a 5.0 score from GameZone commenting on the great soundtrack, but mentioning of the improvements quoting this: "The game could’ve benefited from the game’s various exotic locations and interesting “Fountain of YouthFountain of Youth
The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years, appearing in writings by Herodotus, the Alexander romance, and the stories of Prester John...
” premise. Unfortunately, the weak script and lacking puzzles make this an adventure that is ultimately hard to recommend."