Where Angels Cry: Tears of the Fallen Collector’s Edition is a hidden object adventure game that has you traveling back in time to 13th century medieval Europe. The game was originally released for computers on the popular internet games site, Big Fish Games, but has since made its way over to the Nintendo Switch. Big Fish Games is known for being a big household of hidden object games, so it was no surprise that I hadn’t heard of this one in particular – especially since I’ve only played a few games within the genre.

Where Angels Cry

In the 13th century medieval Europe, you will investigate the rumors that an Inquisitor, who goes by the name of Augustine, has gone maniac. Augustine has grown an obsession for witch hunting and therefore, the people live in fear. After discovering a Spanish village, Portonero, you will soon realize the danger that accompanies such a quaint town. Within the opening minutes, you are greeted with a bloody hand injury. This hand injury is only the beginning of the larger mystery, so you will need to eradicate Augustine’s plans.

Despite how intriguing this story might sound at first, rest assured, it is anything but enthralling. And not due to one thing in particular, either. It’s a mixture of imperfections that lead to my contempt with the game’s story. For starters, the poor voice acting; it sounds cheesy and is more laughable than it is helpful to the plot. If the voice acting isn’t enough to scare you away from playing this title, then perhaps the overly realistic human characters will – that’s if you can even see the characters anyway, because the amount of blurring in this game is unacceptable, especially for a game that doesn’t demand beefy specs.

Even with the awful voice acting, overly realistic characters, and blurry visuals, I wouldn’t be doing this game justice if I didn’t at least talk about the game’s unique atmosphere and theme. Being set in medieval Europe allows for some interesting hidden object situations and the implementation of some of the situations were very creative. That being said, the amount of hidden object gameplay tucked away within this game is very little compared to others in the genre, which is unfortunate. When you aren’t looking for hidden objects, you are solving very appalling and short puzzles, or listening to the uninspired voice acting.

But if all this appeals to you, bear in mind that you can only play this game in handheld mode – which is mind-boggling considering the whole purpose of the Nintendo Switch is that it’s a hybrid console. Also, grab that trusty towel and be prepared to wipe off those fingerprints (unless you are a proud owner of a capacitive stylus), because you can only use the touch screen; the Joy-Cons are left out of this medieval adventure.

Honestly, for as many good ported games there are, there’s just as many bad – and Where Angels Cry: Tears of the Fallen Collector’s Edition is a perfect example. With achievements/collectibles that can be earned through playing the game casually, eliminating any possible replay incentive, and the elements of an awful story, it is really difficult for me to justify anyone picking this game up. Unless you really like medieval Europe and poorly-made adventure games, there’s no real reason to pick up this game.