The storyline of Conquistadorio is a unique, wordless narrative that unfolds through expressive animations and environmental cues. The game follows a retired conquistador who is forced back into adventure after his beloved sleeping coffin goes missing. This premise sends him on a journey filled with puzzles and challenges to recover his lost treasure.
While the story in this game is vague, it does offer some humorous elements to the game and is a rather fun backdrop to a fun, albeit at times frustrating game. While I am all for fun and humorous stories, the complete lack of dialogue in the game is rather off-putting at times. I mean even games like Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle of which this game pays homage to, both had some form of dialogue to move the story along and keep the player engaged. Though the lack of dialogue is a bit of an annoyance, the game is still relatively fun and a nice experience for a point and click game.
As I hinted to previously, the core gameplay of Conquistadorio is a classic point-and-click adventure, centered on exploration and environmental puzzle-solving. Players guide the protagonist through a series of hand-drawn scenes, interacting with objects and the surrounding world to progress.
Conquistadorio is devoid of any dialogue and on-screen text, relying instead on visual cues and context to guide the player. This minimalist approach fosters a meditative, deliberate pace, rewarding those who take the time to observe their surroundings for hidden clues. While this design is fundamental to the game’s unique atmosphere, it also means that the experience is heavily reliant on the player’s intuition and willingness to experiment with the various interact-able objects. In other words, the player will be faced with a severe amount of trial and error.
As a puzzle game, Conquistadorio presents a mixed bag. Many of the puzzles are inventively designed, requiring a combination of logic and lateral thinking to solve. They often involve manipulating machinery, combining inventory items, or deciphering abstract visual hints. However, the lack of a clear interface can sometimes lead to frustration. The game never tells you specifically what to do with what object and when it comes to combining objects, they have to be combined in a specific way, otherwise they won’t be combined so that you can use the combined item to solve the puzzle the game has put in front of you.
To add insult to injury if you will, objects blend in very well to the environment you’re placed in. This makes it difficult to distinguish between essential objects and background detail, which means a lot of aimless clicking. When it comes to the puzzles themselves, some of the solutions can feel obtuse or even illogical, transforming what should be a satisfying “aha!” moment into yet another tedious process of trial and error.
Ultimately, the gameplay of Conquistadorio is a deliberate throwback to a more classic style of adventure game, for better or worse. Its strengths lie in its engaging, hands-off approach to exploration and its atmospheric world-building. However, the experience is not without its flaws. The sometimes-unintuitive puzzle design and the absence of a truly helpful hint system can make the journey feel more like a test of patience than a rewarding challenge.
Visually, Conquistadorio is a true standout, with its distinctive hand-drawn art style featuring crisp lines and vibrant colors that bring each scene to life; making the game feel like a living work of art. With this game being a point and click adventure, you really don’t need to have fancy graphics, but what is presented here is rather nice. Everything is presented in a 2D art style which feels more like an interactive children’s book or oil canvas. While other games have gone this direction, Conquistadorio really helps to shine in this area with its visuals. The game has a lot of dark themes and dark colors that are accented with beautiful bright colors of purples and blues. The mixture of colors help drive the sense of this game being more of an interactive canvas home.
In terms of performance, the game runs exceptionally well. It maintains a stable frame rate, which is more than sufficient for a title of this genre. Playing on the Xbox Series X, I really didn’t think this would be too much of an issue for the platform. Given its genre, the load times are really short which is really something I have come to appreciate over the years.
Conquistadorio does a great job of having subtlety and mood-setting when it comes to the audio. Since the game has no dialogue, the sounds the game offers are crucial to telling the story and creating an immersive world. The background music consists of ambient and at times melancholic melodies that perfectly capture the sense of desolation and loneliness of the protagonist’s journey. It’s a score that understands when to be present and when to fade into the background, complementing the on-screen action without ever overwhelming it.
With a game that has no dialogue or text on screen this really is a crucial element that works well for this genre of game. I was really surprised with how well the game does with music, especially when it comes to this genre. The music in the game really compliments the genre and the game mechanics as a whole.
In addition to the music, the game’s sound effects are meticulously crafted to enhance the non-verbal storytelling. Every click, clank, and environmental sound is a deliberate part of the experience. This helps to provide satisfying audio feedback that makes interacting with the world feel tangible and responsive. The game even has character-specific sound effects.
This really helps to add to the protagonist’s personality and the overall charm of the game. The combination of music and overall sound design work really well to elevate the game’s atmosphere. Together, the music and sound design work in harmony to elevate the game’s atmosphere and emotional weight, making it a title best enjoyed with a good pair of headphones.
In conclusion, would I recommend Conquistadorio? Well, if you’re a fan of point and click games, I would definitely suggest checking this game out. If you’re looking for the extreme side of point and click adventures, this game is really a must play.
For those looking for a more laid back point and click adventure game, I would highly suggest looking at other games within this genre.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.