Escape From Ravenhearst

Escape From Ravenhearst is the eighth game in the main series of Mystery Case Files games. This game returns to the Ravenhearst Manor and is the third main installment of the Ravenhearst Saga.

Synopsis
You lived through their side of the story—now live through his!

Return once more to the haunted grounds of Ravenhearst Manor to uncover new details about this poignant saga. What you find could very well be the final chapter of this riveting story—if you escape.

This is an intense psychological thriller that may reveal deep-seated fears. Not for the young or faint of heart. Consider yourself warned.

Please note: This is the biggest and most intense offering from the Big Fish Games Studios to date. If you are not sure if your computer will be able to handle the game, please try it before you buy it!


 * Experience Charles' story
 * Escape from Ravenhearst!
 * For a more in-depth experience, check out the Collector's Edition!

Plot
A newscaster reports on how more people are going missing in a case that's baffling local authorities. Meanwhile a twisted man is making and melting dolls and arranging them in a dollhouse.

The Master Detective once again arrives at the site which once housed the Ravenhearst Manor, before they burnt it during the events of Return to Ravenhearst. Despite swearing off ever going again, the detective received a parcel containing a simple invitation back with clippings of various newspapers.

Stepping from outside their car, the detective finds the locket belonging to Emma Ravenhearst. When they pick it up, the spirit of Emma Ravenhearst manifests itself in front, stating that the detective should not have returned as it's not safe for them here, fearing they're in great danger. Because of their help of herself and the others, they now promise to follow and assist them in the new Ravenhearst case. She states that the only way they can offer physical support, however, is by altering the appearance of objects and that they can use the locket to help look for the objects. She wishes them luck but tells them to be mindful of the perils that await them.

Finding the morphing objects, one of the lights is knocked down and shattered which offers the detective a tool, help is certainly being given. Further down, the spirits of Gwendolyn Sommerset and Charlotte Sommerset appear under the water, warning the detective to leave before it is too late.

Traversing to the lighthouse, the spirit of Rose Sommerset also warns the detective to leave while they still can, but the detective presses on with the case.

After searching the area, the detective is able to gather the pieces needed to attach chains to the car and gate, granting them access to the Ravenhearst Manor area in which they investigate the burnt building. Investigating and traveling to the graveyard prompts another visit of Emma's spirit begging them not to go to those sacred grounds.

The detective is able to get access to the lighthouse which allows them to direct the light to various points, such as a gravestone marked "Here Lies Nov 23 2011 Master Detective". This however leads to the detective falling down the grave, a trap activated by Victor Dalimer. The detective and all four spirits find themselves in the room, Emma stating that they should not have returned and should leave immediately. Power enters the room though, and a dummy with a television for a head appears. The face of Charles Dalimar appears, welcoming the detective back and stating that he can't wait to show the detective what he's been working on. He explains that after they burned down the manor, Victor traveled back in time and begin work on his greatest creation. He also stated that Charles needed the detective to lure his "loved ones" back home. The spirits are then trapped in containers. He says that time and time again the detective had misunderstood his intentions which is why he built a prison for them and that before they die, he wants them to know what it's like to be him.

The detective presses on, figuring out that the only way out of this will probably be to play Charles' twisted game. Opening the door, the detective is led to the Blackpool Temperance Hospital, underground however. Charles speaks to the detective, saying it's a replica of the hospital where Charles was born. Managing to enter, the detective explores the hospital. The hospital is littered with automatons designed to appear as patients and hospital staff, some fixed with devices that'll harm the detective if they make too much noise or get too close.

This leads the detective to a room where a mechanised effigy of a pregnant woman howls in pain. Charles explains that if the detective wants to live, they must first give life to him. Later the detective is able to restore life to a dead dummy and also help the automaton woman give birth to an automaton baby.

Using a key the detective is able to unlock the tokens needed to free Charlotte from her container and traverses the hospital in order to activate them. Once they insert the activated tokens, the fluid drains from her container and the container falls down, unlocking a new area for the detective to investigate.

The newly uncovered place is the childhood home of Charles Dalimar, where he claimed to have learned his place in life, pain and fear. The detective places the automaton baby in a pram outside which unlocks the house, allowing them to investigate. Inside there's a mannequin who's supposed to represent Abigail R. Dalimar, Charles' mother. The detective has to complete several chores in order to proceed.

The detective learns that Charles Dalimar worked at Madame Fate's carnival as a Freak Boy due to his freakishly long tongue. They also find a correspondence between Abigail and a doctor named Robert Lanswiller where he accepts Charles as a new patient in the Manchester Provincial Lunatic Asylum and will promise to apply all forms of corrective treatment. Finally the detective is given the tools to try and help Gwen, but after activating all the tokens she falls just like her sister did.

The reveals the entrance to the asylum that Charles was treated at, and is able to explore around the area. It's revealed that he seemed to have learned how to create locks that bind one's soul, an ability he learned from his father who once was a patient at the asylum but died a year before his son was admitted. The cell that housed his father remains empty except a raven that sneaks in to escape the cold. This information was given via a tape by a Dr. Robert Lanswiller, December 3rd, 1884.

From a sewer in the asylum area, the detective is able to break some rocks open that allow them to escape back into the Ravenhearst Manor area.

Back in the asylum, the detective is able to best the cheating card dealing patient automaton who provides them a key in order to try and help. The detective is also able to make their way to a maximum-security cell at the end of a corridor. This allows the detective to unlock Charles' room. Charles states that his suffering was made bearable by a man that he would know to be his father who taught him to channel his hatred into creating locks that keep others from causing him pain. Once learning this ability he soon learned that no door could confine him and thus he planned his escape.

The detective is able to use the key in order to attempt to rescue Rose and activates the tokens which lead to her falling just like her children previously did. This reveals a new area in which the detective is greeted by a violin playing automaton. The area soon reveals itself to be some form of wedding alter where an automaton with Charles speaking to the detective how they've bonded and invites them to see their forever home, calling the detective "my love". The key to Emma's tank is revealed by the priest and thus the same thing continues, with Emma falling down. Before she does, she states that Charles is bringing them back to life and begs the detective to escape while they still can. The detective presses forward however to try and help Emma and the Sommerset family.

The area behind Emma turns out to be a house where the detective finds all the people hanging in suspended animation above them. They all seem to be connected to hot tendrils of lightning which feed energy into something inside of the house. The detective decides they must press on and confront Charles to put an end to his reign of horror.

At the foot of the house, Charles greets the detective once again as his "love", telling them that hundreds of souls are powering his final creation - a machine that gives life to the dead. He says that his family will finally be united forever with the detective; the newest member. Inside the detective finds Victor who delights in the detective's frustration, and Charles who is playing the organ. Exploring the house reveals the large machine that's being powered by the souls of the missing.

Exploring the outer Ravenhearst area, the detective finds a letter to Victor from Charles with an override switch which the detective will use to finally defeat Charles. In various rooms around the machine are the living bodies of Emma and the Sommersets. The detective realises that they must figure out a way to shut the machine down before Charles ties them up in a similar way.

The detective is able to figure out how to shut down the machine which causes fires and explosions to go off around the house. Charles is extremely disappointed, expecting the detective to understand him but instead they failed him like all the others. He tells them that he'll never stop hunting them, even in death.

As they escape, the detective meets the four he rescued, stating that they've been brought back to life and they hope that this is the end.

At they return to the Master Detective's car, they find a crumple of damp paper beneath their feet. Unsure of who is represented in the drawings, they keep it as a souvenir of their victory at the manor and reminder for them to never revisit that area again.

Characters

 * Master Detective
 * Emma Ravenhearst
 * Rose Sommerset
 * Gwendolyn Sommerset & Charlotte Sommerset
 * Charles Dalimer
 * Victor Dalimer
 * Dr. Robert Lanswiller
 * Abigail R. Dalimar
 * Newscaster

Trivia
tba