Edna and Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes is a computer game in the drawn 2D adventure genre, developed by the German studio Daedalic Entertainment. The release of Harvey’s New Eyes took place in the summer of 2011 (only in Germany), but the localized version of the game came much later – in 2012, in mid-October.
Edna and Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes is largely similar to the previous game in the Edna and Harvey series – the somewhat crazy adventure The Breakout, but there are some changes. Now the main character is not Edna (the crazy girl in a straitjacket and purple pants), but Lily – a sweet and modest blonde girl with a pink bow on her head. However, appearances can be deceiving – Lily, like Edna (who, by the way, appears in the game as a secondary character), has her own demons to deal with. The further the player progresses through the story, the more they realize this.
The cause of Lily's mental disorder could very well be her difficult life. She has no home, no family or friends to rely on for support. She lives in a church orphanage under the strict supervision of a cruel and malicious matron, who cannot stand the reserved and silent Lily. The girl is left to endure all the hardships with truly angelic patience, as no one, absolutely no one, listens to her. Trying to insert even a word in her defense means earning another undeserved punishment.
The situation only gets more complicated after a psychotherapist arrives at the orphanage at the matron's request. By this time, the children have become quite unruly, and the wicked matron, realizing that she can no longer handle them on her own, decides to resort to brainwashing. Naturally, Lily suffers the most, as she helped Edna escape from the orphanage. The doctor uses on the girl a new invention – a creature reminiscent of a rabbit named Harvey (one of the main characters of The Breakout). Harvey hypnotized Lily and placed a whole series of taboos on her, so the girl, who wasn't particularly mischievous to begin with, completely lost the ability to do anything: touch knives, scissors, and other sharp objects, play with fire, argue with adults, and so on.
Basically, the gameplay is based on overcoming all these prohibitions. For example, the girl needs to perform some action with a knife, but she can't – it’s forbidden. To overcome the restrictions imposed on her by the doctor and the rabbit, Lily must undergo another hypnosis session, thereby entering an unreal world, and then make Harvey lift the taboo – regardless of how, whether by deception or trickery.
As with Edna and Harvey: The Breakout, in Harvey’s New Eyes one can find a whole bunch of various jokes and amusing situations. The humor, of course, is specific, sometimes even dark, but it diversifies the gameplay. It is worth noting that the game consists of three parts, and during the completion of the last one, one can unlock one of three exciting endings.