The golden age of point and click adventures may have come and gone, but the memory and their legacy will live on forever. There are thousands, if not millions, of gamers who grew up with absurd puzzles, punchy dialogue and “that didn’t make any sense until I finally tried it” logic, and it influences so many facets of modern HOGs, visual novels and even adventure titles. The resurrection of the Monkey Island franchise proves that you can still teach and old dog new tricks, and modern interpretations like The Crimson Diamond or The Drifter shows that appreciation for the craft can manifest in new, sometimes terrifying ways. With Simon the Sorcerer Origins, we want to take a step back and really dive into a history oft wit, charm and wild moments of British humor. This prequel delivers the good and the bad that made Simon such a memorable character.

It needs to be said that Simon the Sorcerer Origins opens in the wildest way possible, with a child in the backseat of a car, moving to a new home. On its own, not a big deal, but then he grabs his Walkman to listen to some tunes as they drive. The audience is then, out of nowhere, entreated to Rick Astley’s “Together Forever” while the opening credits roll. I cannot express the sheer joy and stupidity of hearing the opening notes, thinking “this sounds like Rick Astley” and then having the vocals drop in with those deep, dulcet tones. It’s such a banger that HASN’T gotten played to death in recent meme years. Even better, because it’s a Rick Astley song, you’re essentially getting Rickrolled to the nth degree because it’s an unexpected drop of a Rick Astley song and it’s not the one you expect it to be.

Anyways, then Simon gets to his house, you get some cheeky tutorial information, and bam, sucked into an alternate fantasy world. There’s no explanation given, and you quickly deal with a whole lot of retcon if you have any connection to the original storyline. Calypso and Chippy both exist within this new game, but in different facets and responsibilities. Sordid is still the bad guy, but his position in Simon’s orbit is gradual, though heavily inferred by cutscenes from the very beginning. Simon gleans that he needs to figure out his own way home, and the best way to do that is to enroll at the local magic school, become a wizard and work backwards from there. Is it convoluted? Exceedingly! Does it make for good staging for whatever will happen next? Kind of!

The updated visual and audio components that you get in Simon the Sorcerer Origins are a wonder to behold. The art styling is gorgeously handdrawn, and Smallthing Studios has done a bang up job in crafting a brand new look for Simon and the world around him that’s bespoke and captivating at the same time. The items and landscape all feel flushed out without being overly detailed: something to grab your eye without preventing you from seeing the rest of the picture. It reminds me a lot of how Don Bluth’s films appeared, and I think people who love the warmth and attention that the 90s era of animation evoked will really enjoy the more subtle movements of Simon’s facial expressions, or the flow of biohazard liquid in various pipes.

Plus, having Chris Barrie back as the voice of Simon is so very important to giving the main character his proper tone and voice. Simon is, to put it gently, a conflicting protagonist who occasionally makes dubious decisions, and it feels good to have the right level of cheek and smarm in his delivery when he decides to, say, rob from the church, or accidentally drown a troll. All of these things are reprehensible, but Barrie’s delivery allows players to root for him in spite of their own moral misgivings about the choices. Or, inversely, the player is a terrible person and Simon justifies what they would do in the same situation. Both are possible, and the game (and this writer) are not here to judge.

As this is a modern point and click adventure, Simon the Sorcerer Origins has boiled off all the old menus of multiple actions to decide between and, instead, made it so the player gets only one choice when you target an object. This can be further complicated by pulling items from inventory and figuring out how to combine them, take them apart, apply them to specific things or apply them to Simon himself. For example, simply having the magical dictionary isn’t enough to allow you to understand the runic language of magic: you need to figure out how to utilize it so Simon gains the skills necessary, no matter how much Simon may protest. Your inventory can and will fill up to absurd proportions, so be ready to scroll through multiple screens to find what you need.

To help move things along for console players, you can now quickly toggle between hotspots through the use of shoulder buttons, which is both a blessing and curse. On the one hand, you don’t have to guess, sometimes erratically, where you might be able to interact with the scene best, or where something important might be hidden. In that same vein, though, Simon will only see hotspots that are in his direct field of influence: if there’s a hotspot that’s slightly out of bounds, it won’t show up until your character moves, which can cause some confusion and frustration if you become too accustomed to the set action of simply casting around in your immediate vicinity. It’s like the game is giving you the tools needed to succeed, but also purposely making it so you’ll fail if you’re not able to think on your own two feet.

Speaking of which, Simon the Sorcerer Origins is also expecting players to do the work themselves, sometimes with less hints than you’d like. Objects in your inventory should be checked, constantly, and you need to work out some combinations and associations on your own without any hand holding. In spite of a very generous and some would say sarcastic tutorial, a lot of the game is “figure it out” in mentality, and even the studio expects you to do the legwork. While several devs have given walkthroughs with their game, I actually had to email a helpline, and I got a clue instead of an answer! It’s very retro in that approach, which I both adore and resent because I’m an adult with obligations now,  so I can’t just keep trying the same spot with multiple objects all day long. I mean, I still will, but c’mon.

The writing for Simon the Sorcerer Origins is positively pitch perfect, and players who enjoy a good dose of humor and some fourth wall breaking will be into the groove from the very beginning. From Simon’s incredulity at the placement of objects to nods at continuity destruction, from game elements taking on physical manifestations to sudden “glitches” that harken back to the old days of the series, Origins is full of gags and jokes that keep even the more serious moment hilarious, and really speak to the joy that came from pointing and clicking on every little thing. It’s probably why I loved King’s Quest more than Police Quest; the dark and serious needs to be shot through with light on occasion to keep it fun.

My only serious issue is that the speed at which the game moves can sometimes be unbearable. Simon’s walking is slow, and you can use a run button, but it gets canceled out when you click on specific things. If you need to interact or reach a point that’s a bit out of the way, Simon feels like he takes his sweet time to get there, particularly when you’re going to the church on the hill or reaching into your inventory to pull out the necessary objects. In a game where words and actions can fly quick as a dagger, these molasses moments can yank you out of the momentum and really put you off. I can’t tell if it happens on other consoles, but my Switch play was sometimes dragged into utter despair by Simon taking just too damn long.

Having said that, Simon the Sorcerer Origins is such a brilliant revival of the series. Letting it be a prequel, letting things exist with you knowing them and the cast pretending they don’t was an excellent move. It’s got plenty of puzzle complexity, a lot of fun achievements to discover and some amazing extras where you can see the conception of the character designs and motifs. This love letter to the games that we grew up with is sincere, hilarious and done exceedingly well, and I am thrilled that this project was concocted and executed brilliantly. If you’ve got love for the Sierra days, if you were a Lucasarts kid, or if your stomping grounds were with Adventure Soft itself, then come back to Simon’s world. As Rick Astley says, together, forever, and never to part.

Graphics: 9.0 Utterly unique and charming, it’s so great to see hand drawn animation that captures an era while still being distinctly original.	Gameplay: 7.5 I won’t lie: I got stuck a few times. Had to really think it through, and the execution of objects was sometimes obfucated by misclicking on hot spots. Slogging pace at times made it harder to really engage, but it never turned me totally off.
Sound: 10 Excellent soundscaping for the fantasy feel, brilliant voicework, and, hands down, my favorite opening ever. Why is Rick Astley here? DON’T ASK QUESTIONS, JUST DANCE!	Fun Factor: 8.5 A nostalgic trip into a brand new world, this ticked all the boxes that an aging Millenial hopes to see in a new game that revamps a classic series. If you’ll excuse me, I need to boot up my SCUMMVM for…reasons.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Simon the Sorcerer Origins is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Simon the Sorcerer Origins was provided by the publisher.