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Dracula's Legacy doesn't waste any time in getting on with proceedings - thrusting the player straight into a spooky hidden object adventure. The story focuses on a young woman named Isabella who is haunted by frightening dreams about her forgotten past. With an eagerness to find a solution to her problems, she travels to an old ghost town with her fiancé, Matt. Of course, her plans fall apart almost immediately when a dangerous creature attacks the couple on the outskirts of the destination;hile Isabella manages to escape, her fiancé is not so fortunate. It is now up to the player to help the young woman rescue her partner and put her nightmares to rest.

While hidden object games are admittedly not a forte of consoles, the Wii U instantly dismisses such concerns thanks to the GamePad's touch screen, making the system an ideal candidate for the genre. The gameplay in Dracula's Legacy is centred around the use of the touch screen and stylus to interact with each static scene Isabella encounters.

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Starting out in dungeons buried deep below the ghost town, you'll quickly work out you need a variety of items in order to progress. There are keys for chests, gears that reactivate mechanical devices and poles that can be attached to sharp and dangerous objects to craft handy tools; more useful items will be added to your inventory as you advance. For example, to shoot a canon you will need to gather a canon ball, a torch - which first must be doused in order to light it - and only then will you be able to blow up a brick wall halting Isabella's progress. Tasks like this will require travelling from area to area seeking the specific set of tools that are required for each task.

Dracula's Legacy slowly ramps up the level of difficulty with additional brain-teasing challenges. Isabella will regularly encounter puzzles such as classic tile arrangement board games and also patterned devices which need to be rearranged in order to move forward. There are also smaller-scale puzzles to solve. These are encountered on an irregular basis and have a clear checklist of items that need to be discovered within a scene - the player is normally then required to combine a number of items together to create an object. If this all becomes too overwhelming there is a hint system which can point the player in the right direction, as well as highlight points of interest - that's if the blue sparkling light near key objects in each area wasn't already enough of a giveaway.

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Tying all of this together are stylishly presented cut scenes. Unfortunately the characters, voice acting and story struggle to meet the same high standard. Isabella looks like Emilia Clarke (or maybe Natalie Imbruglia?) after a bad day and the rest of the cast is a tad overbearing; the voice acting by human characters is particularly substandard. The story does little to draw the player in, but instead presents a melodramatic scenario which is more comedic than terrifying.

The visuals behind all of this are picturesque, with each scene looking very much like a canvas. The music might be overly dramatic at times but is still well orchestrated, capturing the mood of what is an enjoyable object finding experience. The sound adds to this, helping to capture a moment; from a burning fire to a key unlocking a chest.

Conclusion

Dracula's Legacy for the Wii U eShop is a high quality hidden object game, and it feels right at home on the system thanks to the the GamePad. Ideally, this genre is still better suited on the PC platform, with the game already available on Steam for an affordable price. In saying this, Dracula's Legacy is likely to satisfy individuals who enjoy problem solving and puzzle games, regardless of the platform it is played on. For those who aren't as familiar with this genre our recommendation is naturally more tentative - the enjoyment comes if you truly sink your teeth into it.