Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is a stellar sequel that improves on every front—from its enhanced visuals and deeper storytelling to its evolving characters and more refined detective and puzzle gameplay.

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer from developer Clifftop Games brings to life a classic point-and-click construct featuring a difficult mystery, minor puzzle solving, and superb presentation to complete the adventure.

Pixel by pixel, it's an old-school point-and-click adventure—and that's a good thing. Kathy Rain has survived the sequel unscathed, investigating better than Inspector Columbo and Mr. Monk combined.

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is what you'd expect from the sequel to a decent adventure: thoughtful, bigger with harder puzzles and an equally well-written story to back it up.

Despite its flaws, Kathy Rain 2 is another spectacular adventure from Clifftop Games that builds on the established characters wonderfully and, for the most part, pays off many of the original game’s lingering plot threads in satisfying ways. There are still some cliched, corny lines here and there, with some characters that feel very archetypal and stereotypical. It also feels like Clifftop Games wants to have their cake and eat it too with the supernatural stuff, considering it doesn’t always mesh with the otherwise grounded and gritty detective story, but it’s at least delivered better here than it was before. Regardless, it’s a sound, engaging mystery that’s easy to get invested in. If you’re a fan of the original game, this character, or adventure games in general, Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer will not steer you wrong, and proves that despite innovation across the industry, good old-fashioned, LucasArts-inspired adventure games still have staying power.

Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is a perfect adventure for anyone who misses a well-structured point-and-click game reminiscent of the genre’s golden age. Thanks to its twist-filled narrative and well-written characters, it’s a joy to play from start to finish. The entire story is accompanied by classic old-school gameplay, featuring cleverly designed puzzles that are challenging without ever feeling overwhelming. If you’ve been longing for a new point-and-click adventure capable of leaving a lasting impression, Kathy Rain 2 might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Despite that, Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is easy to recommend to fans of the genre. It offers an excellent story that ties back to the original game while expanding Kathy’s world a great deal. There are definitely elements here which feel like they could have supported additional exploration, but what’s here is well-made and slickly presented. Just make sure you play the original game first.

Not only just a great sequel, Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is one of the best point-and-click adventures available out there - a classic of the genre without a single shred of doubt. The few flaws at hand, chief among them how this doesn’t spend as much quality time with its secondary characters as it could, aren’t enough to ruin this pleasantly dark (yet also funny) and engrossing whodunit/cosmic horror thriller. It has plenty of great detective-style puzzle solving, lots of entertaining dialogue, and is wrapped in some of the finest pixel art.

Kathy Rain 2 has shown us how to make a successful sequel - with more challenging puzzles, more locations, more characters, and a deeper, more grounded story.

It’s been a while since I’ve been so fully engrossed in a point-and-click adventure, and Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer really does stand out as being a fantastic example of the genre. Even if it goes places I’d rather it didn’t, there’s no denying the story here is very well-written, and I’ve lapped up every second of it. If you like a good crime/murder mystery story, if you enjoy gathering evidence and solving puzzles, and especially if you don’t mind a bit of cosmic horror, consider Kathy Rain 2 a must-play.

As an old-school adventure game Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer works, but you'll need to bear with some of its quirks.