gingergal's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.6
- Helpful Votes:15,535
- Reviews Submitted:193
- First Review:November 19, 2011
- Most Recent Review:July 23, 2013
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Push your detective skills to the limit in a fantastical faraway land and find a prince's lost love.
Overall rating
4
/
5
132 of 168 found this review helpful
Disappointing - only reason it's getting 4 stars - there are collectables in the SE!
PostedJanuary 5, 2013
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
*I finished the CE - plot 100% tied up in this SE version*
I don't do like or love but out of 5 stars.
I don't do like or love but out of 5 stars.
This game should have been named ‘jumble mess of every fairy tale’ as it would have been more accurate. At the beginning I thought it was the tale of Cinderella with a twist but then the plot just got truly bizarre. Nearly every character in a fairy tale appeared and then throw in some weird animals and that’s your plot.
Sometimes this all works out but not here, it was all over the place and I couldn’t make heads or tails of the whole story. Yes the animals were well done and some cute but it was like there was 3 different plots going on at one time and none ended up making any sense or working in harmony together. If they took the animals and did that in another story that would have been good but all those other fairytale characters showing up made no sense at all.
Especially at the beginning, I felt like they were trying to copy a few other developers which makes no sense as they are the leaders and are the best of what they do, so it ended up being subpar for my taste. Some of the early outdoor graphics reminded me of some older boomzap games, and the princess is called Isabella (there is a series of games called princess Isabella from another dev), then there are the animals that don’t quite make sense so that felt like an ERS game!
After the gorgeous graphics of nutcracker and the 3D stunning graphics of unfinished tales comes the flat weird graphics especially outside at the beginning: The graphics did get better as it went along but didn’t understand why they didn’t stay with their usual top of the line graphics. Their recent grim tales, stone queen game they’ve done the same.
The scrolling transporter map sometimes took 3 clicks to get into an area as you had to zoom in (being careful where you place the mouse) on a larger area then it brought up all the rooms. It does give a picture and a list of objectives that have to be completed in the area. It would be great to have a more customisable hardness setting, and on the map to be able to click on and off for map tips.
All three modes of play are their usual and you can change midgame which is good.
14 HOS
For the first time elephant hasn’t done straight list type and here they are all the reverse kind. You get an item in your inventory and you have to place them in the scene. This is my favourite kind of HOS and I actually take time and enjoy them rather than trying to random click my way through some scenes if they are junk pile or just don’t want to do a HOS. I think one or two were junk pile but the rest was more cluttered but some well done. You never repeat any HOS in any elephant game.
24 Puzzles
I class puzzles as one that has a skip button on them as there were plenty of interactions. They all were very easy to easy maybe a couple of medium hardness in main game. We aren’t stupid so I don’t know why they are now going down the road of going easier and easier, just like everybody else. I get very bored when puzzles are so easy and frankly don’t want to do them. They did have some good twists on some of them so at least those were a bit different to play, but I wasn’t really loving them. I don’t mind so much easy puzzles if they are really different and one well but they mostly weren’t.
I also don’t know why there have been loads of fairy tale games from elephant – one after another. I hope that isn’t the future from them as while I don’t mind a fairy tale for a change I liked elephant games as they were neither dark nor super girly and did straightforward tales like MT or surface and they were harder and in a few places (especially the map) this felt a bit too girly for my taste although the other fairy tale games didn’t.
I didn’t like this game at all at the beginning (due to above) but the last 1-2 hrs were the best and the graphics and even the plot seem to be slightly more focused again. Don’t get me wrong most of the gameplay was quite good and good in places, which is why I am recommending the SE.
Yes it’s me, an avid elephant fan – my favourite developers and I haven’t been invaded by aliens I was going to give this game 3 stars but I went in and noticed the photo collectable is available in the SE which is the first time they have done this since MT raincliff.
PHOTO COLLECTABLES
(SPOILERS ahead as to what it actually is)
Basically you take a photo of every animal you see but you have to be careful of timing as if you do certain things with some animals or creatures they disappear and if you miss one you've missed it. I didn't like that on hardcore mode there was a camera icon on a creature that you can take the photo off, there was no challenge whatsover but for a SE it's something. To view them click photo album in main menu.
I didn't accurately record my time, but it was over 4hrs but I don't think it went near 5hrs (on hardcore mode). This is playing time not including breaks etc.
I recommend this game!
Help Professor Hunt search the Spanish city of Toledo! Discover the secrets behind a mysterious sword in this fun Adventure game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
11 of 11 found this review helpful
Hard puzzle adventure
PostedJanuary 4, 2013
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
See my review on Agon:lapland to madagascar for a fuller explanation into the episodic nature of this series which I won't repeat.
While the episode adventure plot is 100% completely contained in this game you won't understand the backstory or even the ending if you haven't at least played one of the other AGON games. Although there is a recap in the main menu under extra features, so read that (memories - then the story of AGON) here is a brief edited part of that -
Your character a professor from the British museum, embarks on a journey after finding a mysterious anon letter, a few torn codex pages from an unknown artifact. His travels take him to 12 corners of the world where he has to learn the rules of a long-forgotten board game, if he beats the games he removes the spell from the families who guard them and eventually his goal is to exhibit them in the museum.
EXTRAs consist of -
Dorothy's table (journey to Toledo) where you can view some letters he wrote as well as a bio of him (which I didn't understand)
Memories - The overview of AGON what's it all about and the three 'codex' pages you find in each game.
Credits
All the AGON games play differently although I would class all of them as puzzle adventure games. I don't recommend the first agon as it's so short and just set in about 4 rooms in the professor's museum. The second and third game which is combined and in big fish is sold as agon:lapland to madagascar is more adventure with some puzzles here in this game it's more dialogue then puzzle adventure.
When I give a LF game 5/5 for hardness it's hard! This is one of the hardest games I've played, not due to backtracking or picking things up as it's not that kind of game but purely working out interactions.
I do like that they all are different and I see improvement with each one. The big negative in this game though is the amount of dialogue in the first half of the game, it is literally hours. I loved the plot and thought it was well done but felt they needed to edit it down and made the dialogue more overview and maybe the rest into more journals and letters so those who don't want as much plot don't need to read all the journal/letters and those who do could.
Just a simple change of editing the dialogue would make a huge difference.
This is a manual save game like most LFs games but there are only 8 game slots and I wish there was more. The inventory bar is at the top and you have it hidden, from the M button you access the main menu.
This is a 360 game but with a slight difference than some other games. You can change your camera to slow under options, and here you have to click and hold and drag to move the viewing screen and angle. This makes a huge difference for me who can easily feel nausea with 360 games as I can move my curser around the screen freely to see where I can move without the whole screen moving with me. Also as there is a lot of dialogue you aren't moving that much and you move forwards with static arrows so it's only when you want to pan around it moves like that.
If you miss any dialogue, all conversations are recorded in full. Anything not recorded in journals you pick up, you do need to record with paper and pen.
PUZZLES (some spoilers as to type)
Do save often and in different places and before you start any puzzles. The puzzles are mostly hard and mainly part of the game not like mini puzzles (though there is one at the beginning) there is a long photo making interaction where you do get all the clues you need and each step isn't hard, it's just hard when you combine them all together and it's very involved and if like me have to redo huge sections (so save often).
In the last game two different puzzles annoyed me a Morse code which wasn't recorded and an ill-conceived puzzle which a walkthrough doesn't even help. Here it's not like that, although listening to music is vital but if you are deaf a clue which you can get from a walkthrough is recorded in your journal, so you aren't stuck.
I loved the music bit of it (that isn't that long so don't worry) as the music was beautiful and thought the guitar playing was great.
The easy/normal mode of play which you have choice at the beginning of the game only affects the board game at the end which you auto get a choice to change the hardness to easy if you reset the game (press E button in board game anytime) if you do this often enough you can get a skip option.
I did appreciate that one of the hard puzzles to work out (kaleidoscope) if you didn't want to work it out (or take good enough notes) you can just do it by trial and error.
I did think it was a good length and way longer than each epsiode of AGON games before.
I don't recommend this game to you if you hate a lot of dialogue, don't like puzzles or hard puzzles. This game is all set within one small town and although there a couple of scenes within each area, there are only 6 places to visit which you do through a transporter map. So it's not a Syberia or RTMI type game. All LF adventure games are different and this is no exception, even very different to what the previous episodes (games) in this series.
I like gameplay in my LFs games and don't usually like long lengthy dialogue games but once I got past that stage I really enjoyed it. The things you learn are correct so thought that was all very clever and interesting as well.
There is references to 'darker' (don't think occult is accurate but would cover it) practices so beware.
It depends on your taste, it's not for everyone but I do recommend it.
I recommend this game!
When your daughter, Emily, is taken over by a mysterious force, you must travel to the Nightmare Realm to search for a cure. But nothing could have prepared you for what you find there…
Overall rating
3
/
5
93 of 104 found this review helpful
Not as good as the first game - bonus review at bottom (mainly an adventure game)
PostedDecember 30, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
REVIEW ON FINISHED GAMEPLAY ON HARDEST MODE
This is a sequel to nightmare realm which you have to play first or I think you would be lost. The other strange world which you can go into because your child dreams and paints pictures. Your child is now grown up (although doesn’t look it) and you play as the mother again.
Comparing between the two, the first one wins hands down in plot, even graphics and enjoyment factor. I can’t quite put my finger on it but this is missing the spark of the first and I think it is to do with plot. I don’t like saying anything about the plot as it’s a spoiler but I miss the suspense, charm of the first game.
This is a far darker game than the first one, with more references to demons although the other realm was to do with more evil men and imaginings. I felt there was a lot more grey scenes in this compared to the first game which I always remember as being a visually lovely game in the dark scenes.
If you have played drawn then you understand the concept and gameplay although both games don’t measure to drawn although the first one came very close.
It plays as an adventure game, with some puzzles (21) and only 4 HOS in main game.
I did enjoy a lot of this game – it had some very good adventure aspects to it along with a wide range of puzzles although most were on the easy side.
On the hardest setting of three (which I played) there is no hint button but there is a skip button. There is a map indicating things to do but it’s not a transporter map. I liked that the inventory bar you can unlock it so when you don’t need it’s not in view.
4 HOS
All were list and one you repeated. They were very interactive and some nearly every item you had to do things with. No tiny items, I thought most were clear – the first one in the forest was the least clear of all of them. There is a random click penalty but it is very forgiving.
21 puzzles (has a skip button on it)
I loved a lot of the puzzles, even some easier ones if it’s interesting, different and fun I enjoy them. Wide range of hardness. I do class puzzles that are harder in a HOPA if it takes me a while to do it and it’s not super easy. So on that note there were a couple ‘hard’ ones but not ones you would never work out, it just took time.
As usual (for some reason) all the puzzles at the beginning were easy. I loved some of the puzzles – the multi layered ones especially, as it’s more interesting.
Some of the types of puzzles – Hanoi tower (which I hate as done it so often), tangram, rotate ring, move people across river, 2 jigsaw types, balance puzzle, arcade, move water around between bottles/ 3x3 slider, photo fit, paint puzzle, mosaic swap tiles.
CE extras and bonus
Extras –
36 origami which you collect in main game
15 (?) music
17 wallpaper
20 concept art
15 (?) music
17 wallpaper
20 concept art
SG
It did annoy me that I did get all collectables but I expected I could go into my journal or I could go somewhere to get a screenshot of them but it flashed so quickly I did miss it.
Bonus play
Plot like the last game is all tied up and SE players will be very satisfied that there isn’t loose ends (well for me there wasn’t.)
The plot is very dark and goes back in time to explain the ‘why’ of the ‘baddie.’ Not wanting to give anything away this alone was the reason why I didn’t like the plot in the bonus or even the ending in the main game. That being said all the graphics bar the opening horrible scene was the most bright and colourful in the whole game, really beautiful and the most whimsical of all the worlds. So that aspect of it – gameplay and setting was pure fun. All of it was in new area which made a huge difference and I loved the HOS and everything – even more than main game apart from the plot.
The plot is very dark and goes back in time to explain the ‘why’ of the ‘baddie.’ Not wanting to give anything away this alone was the reason why I didn’t like the plot in the bonus or even the ending in the main game. That being said all the graphics bar the opening horrible scene was the most bright and colourful in the whole game, really beautiful and the most whimsical of all the worlds. So that aspect of it – gameplay and setting was pure fun. All of it was in new area which made a huge difference and I loved the HOS and everything – even more than main game apart from the plot.
The 3 paintings in the bonus was all HOS and the goal in each was to quiet each list object so not to wake up the sleeping child. Every single item was highly interactive and I thought some quite hard.
There was also 7 puzzles - swap tiles to form picture, rotate rings, move tiles from one side to another amongst others.
TIME – main game - 4hrs 40 mins (on hardest, no tips, but I did skip one puzzle as didn't like the type. I was playing quite relaxed (slower) )
Bonus – 1hr 20 mins (I was very slow on the HOS!)
I am recommending the CE due to collectables and good length and quality bonus and fun gameplay (in bonus) but I really didn’t like the plot especially in the bonus -if you are an adventure lover and don’t mind the very dark theme and like something different.
It’s only getting 3 stars as I was disappointed in compared to the first game, felt it was darker (in theme and looks) and thought the plot was very poor but I did like some puzzles and thought the gameplay overall was good.
I recommend this game!
Push your detective skills to the limit in a fantastical faraway land and find a prince's lost love.
Overall rating
3
/
5
13 of 16 found this review helpful
disappointing - bonus review at end
PostedDecember 28, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Review of finished game in hardmode
This game should have been named ‘jumble mess of every fairy tale’ as it would have been more accurate. At the beginning I thought it was the tale of Cinderella with a twist but then the plot just got truly bizarre. Nearly every character in a fairy tale appeared and then throw in some weird animals and that’s your plot. Sometimes this all works out but not here, it was all over the place and I couldn’t make heads nor tails of the whole story.
Especially at the beginning, I felt like they were trying to copy a few other developers which makes no sense as they are the leaders and are the best of what they do, so it ended up being subpar for my taste. Some of the early outdoor graphics reminded me of some older boomzap games, and the princess is called Isabella, then there are the animals that don’t quite make sense so that felt like an ERS game!
After the gorgeous graphics of nutcracker and the 3D stunning graphics of unfinished tales comes the flat weird graphics especially outside at the beginning: The graphics did get better as it went along but didn’t understand why they didn’t stay with their usual top of the line graphics.
The scrolling transporter map sometimes took 3 clicks to get into an area as you had to zoom in (being careful where you place the mouse) on a larger area then it brought up all the rooms. It does give a picture and a list of objectives that have to be completed in the area. It would be great to have a more customisable hardness setting, and on the map to be able to click on and off for map tips.
All three modes of play are their usual and you can change midgame which is good.
14 HOS
For the first time elephant hasn’t done straight list type and here they are all the reverse kind. You get an item in your inventory and you have to place them in the scene. This is my favourite kind of HOS and I actually take time and enjoy them rather than trying to random click my way through some scenes if they are junk pile or just don’t want to do a HOS. I think one or two were junk pile but the rest was more cluttered but some well done. You never repeat any HOS in any elephant game.
24 Puzzles
I class puzzles as one that has a skip button on them as there were plenty of interactions. They all were very easy to easy maybe a couple of medium hardness in main game. We aren’t stupid so I don’t know why they are now going down the road of going easier and easier, just like everybody else. I get very bored when puzzles are so easy and frankly don’t want to do them. They did have some good twists on some of them so at least those were a bit different to play, but why so easy? There is a skip button if people find a couple to hard.
I also don’t know why there have been loads of fairy tale games from elephant – one after another. I hope that isn’t the future from them as while I don’t mind a fairy tale for a change I liked elephant games as they were neither dark nor super girly and did straightforward tales like MT or surface and they were harder and in places this felt very girly although the other fairy tale games didn’t.
I didn’t like this game at all at the beginning (due to above) but the last 1-2 hrs were the best and the graphics and even the plot seem to be slightly more focused again.
CE extras and bonus (spoiler as to what you take photos of)
I only bought the CE as it was on sale and same price as a SE or I would have just stuck with the SE. Apart from the usual screensaver, wallpaper, music (which does nothing for me) there is only 30 photos that you take of creatures throughout the game and bonus. While this is a bit different on that alone isn’t enough for me and it needed either achievements or collectables. These photos were so obvious, every animal or creature you see take a photo, they weren’t hidden or small or harder to find. In fact your curser turns into a camera on something you can take a picture of, and that’s on hardcore! That actually through me off as once I thought I had the camera when I was trying to take a picture at the beginning and when it didn’t work I thought you couldn’t take a picture or I was trying to click on them zoomed in or you needed to click on them twice.
Bonus (slight spoiler as to plot)
It was all in old areas except for one scene.
The good thing was that the plot had more focus and it was actually quite a good length – it was over 1h 15mins and that wasn’t including the slider puzzle. So how long it takes you to do a slider, and I felt it was a harder one (thankfully!) add that time on. As usual the plot is completely finished in main game and tied up. It was a bit obvious and a bit rinse and repeat aspect of main game for me to like the plot but gameplay was good.
7 puzzles
I did find the family tree to be completely illogical as it’s the opposite of what you normally would do.
5 HOS (all reverse kind)
Yes it’s me, an avid elephant fan – my favourite developers and I haven’t been invaded by aliens -
While this has a good length for a bonus and some kind of collectable, I would have given it 4 stars for a CE and a recommendation if it had decent plot and normal graphics. But as I felt the shortcomings of this game really added up I can’t recommend the CE as it’s double the price and as well as the extras (which this doesn’t really have) it also has to have decent or logical plot and everything else.
I will recommend the SE as the gameplay was OK and better at the end, but that would only get 3-4 stars from me.
I don't recommend this game.
Christmas Tales: Fellina's Journey
Find Santa’s magic star and stop the gruesome Icy Elf from ruining Christmas for everyone on the planet in Christmas Tales: Fellina’s Journey!
Overall rating
3
/
5
Shame about the length - under 2hrs
PostedDecember 27, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Whole game only took me about 1hr 40mins and I was playing in hardest mode and not fast, I was looking at everything and playing very relaxed/slow.
This is obviously aimed at children and not even the child in us adults as it was so easy. I don’t know what age of child as at the beginning I thought maybe a 5 or 6 yr old could do it but think with a couple of puzzles it would be more suited for 8-10yr olds?
I do wish more Christmas themed HOPAs were for adults. I loved the graphics, the Christmas scenes, clear fun HOS, and as I love Christmas I had some fun while playing it.
There was the occasional voiceover but only in major cutscenes and not when generally talking to characters but you need the music on to hear them and it was hard to make it out.
There were black bars on my NON widescreen. Hints and tips on hardest.
There were two level of hardness but hardest still had black bar tips, task list.
There is a journal which gives tasks, and notes and task list is basically a walkthrough when I looked at it. This was at the beginning so I did stop looking when I realised this, don’t know about later in the game.
Fellina your character is a child that has never done anything bad in her life so is the only one who can rescue santa who has been kidnapped by the icy elf.
There are only about 5 puzzles (with skip button) match pair, jigsaw, and the first one I’d say was the most tricky of them all. I do wish there were more.
18 list HOS and none of them were repeated (yes!) There was the odd hard to find item and you usually had to click in a scene a couple of time to find a couple of different areas – to find more items. Items in view are white on the list, but blue if hidden and in a different area.
There were also a couple of find items for a recipe or something as well as find ‘x’ items. I found a couple of one scene to be very hard to find and well blended in.
If it was longer then I’d recommend it even for children but even for them I’d think it would be very short. If it was a lot longer with a couple of very slightly harder interactions or puzzles then I’d even recommend it for the child in us or those who love easy games.
Shame about the length and the easiness (for my sake) as it was a good Christmas game, but due to that it’s a no recommendation and not even for a DD.
I don't recommend this game.
The residents of Bitterford, Maine have fallen prey to a terrible curse. It’s up to you to unravel the series of mysterious events that led to the town’s downfall and uncover the evil that was responsible.
Overall rating
3
/
5
186 of 219 found this review helpful
3- 4 stars for a SE (if you don't think it's a MCF) but very disappointing...
PostedDecember 25, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
In the last and this MCF in the bonus there is utterly no story just doing things (here a 10-15min bonus in the CE) so you aren't missing out at all on any story - bonus or otherwise. I really recommend you stick with the SE.
I was very disappointed with this game (I finished the CE). Here are the reasons -
Every year I looked forward to the MCF as BFG always pushed themselves, were the leaders in innovative HOPAs and that is one thing I really miss from this game.
Dire grove had 'real actors', 13th skull really integrated the actors further into the games, although LF games have been doing FMV games for decades and the reason why I didn't like 13th skull so much was how it was done. But it was different as so was EFR - morphs as a HOS! Taking risks,being the leader that was big fish. What is new in this game? Nothing. Transporter map that you have to use and not like other HOPAs which you can walk to scenes (LF games do that). HOS going on for multiple scenes - really old HOGs did that. The only thing that was a bit different was the graphics on the arcade/physics tumbling block but there was a variation of that in surface:the noise she couldn't make. It was like "hey we have a new graphics puzzle here, and just in case you haven't noticed it, we'll repeat this 7 times!"
I can put up with repeating puzzles or HOS if it's about 2 or 3 times but here It was so forumlaic/repetitive as in at the end of each chapter you are called by the psychic to get 'drawings' (small clip of a scene you have visited and you have to find it - reverse HOS) then after you backtrack all over areas you've just been to, to place them you get a tumbling arcade type jigsaw. You have to repeat all this about 7 times.
I also didn't get the plot. Where was the mystery, the suspense? There was none, all a very old story retelling through a medium.
There were 13 HOS ( different ones but as they were over more than one scene it felt a lot more!)
Oh how I miss the morph different kind of HOS, here it just dragged on as a lot were over multiple areas. This isn't new as old HOGs used to do this. All but one were list type, and all but one were not junk pile. Items were tiny and very well blended in so you better have perfect eyesight. There sadly is a random click penalty (on hard, don't know about casual) but they didn't repeat.
Oh how I miss the morph different kind of HOS, here it just dragged on as a lot were over multiple areas. This isn't new as old HOGs used to do this. All but one were list type, and all but one were not junk pile. Items were tiny and very well blended in so you better have perfect eyesight. There sadly is a random click penalty (on hard, don't know about casual) but they didn't repeat.
continued
12 Puzzles
If you love puzzle in your HOPA you will be disappointed as 7 of them are the repeating type and none were challenging. There were a couple of arcade type which I don't like so even skipped them. The tumbling block one does get progressively harder but in one, you can't move the center ones and if you connect some in the wrong place it's impossible to move around to join.
Thankfully you can skip the puzzles.
Thankfully you can skip the puzzles.
Graphics were a weird mix, of sharp and well done scenes to looking like they were compressed and so dull, so many monochromatic scenes - a lot has a green hue on them.
WARNING for some (slight spoiler)
While I'm sure that people who don't like dark, summoning spirits know this about MCF games it's really ramped up here sadly.
-There is an exorcism on an object
-Throughout there is a psychic communicating with the dead and others
-There is a demonic worship act, mumbling in latin to summon demons (your character is trying to stop it) I really wish that wasn't in the game.
While I'm sure that people who don't like dark, summoning spirits know this about MCF games it's really ramped up here sadly.
-There is an exorcism on an object
-Throughout there is a psychic communicating with the dead and others
-There is a demonic worship act, mumbling in latin to summon demons (your character is trying to stop it) I really wish that wasn't in the game.
Live actors, I usually love and sometimes it did hold the game together, but sorry Lea Thompson came across as melodramatic, and frankly bad especially at the end. And it's not direction or expecting too much as I thought the unknowns were far better actors.
Graphics were a weird mix, of sharp and well done scenes to looking like they were compressed and so dull, so many monochromatic scenes - a lot has a green hue on them.
OK so what's good about it?
Non repeating of HOS
A bit different some of the interactions or nice playing scenes
For a HOPA I thought it was a good challenge (not as hard as the others though)
It's not that long but it's a good enough length
Some cutscenes and some graphics
A bit different some of the interactions or nice playing scenes
For a HOPA I thought it was a good challenge (not as hard as the others though)
It's not that long but it's a good enough length
Some cutscenes and some graphics
I'm recommending the SE as long as you don't think this is a MCF and just view it as a HOPA then it's OK. I hated the repeating aspect of it, plus having to go back over areas anyway due to gameplay and my personal rating is a 2 stars. But I really try and be objective so am giving it a 3-4stars and if you don't mind the above then it's worth while playing.
I recommend this game!
A classic Christmas tale tail, with a whole new twist! Help the Nutcracker rescue the princess from the evil Rat King!
Overall rating
5
/
5
153 of 166 found this review helpful
Must have game
PostedDecember 22, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
*I finished CE game playing hardcore*
Every aspect of the plot was completely 100% tied up in main game. The bonus was a pure bonus plot (not needed to finish the plot in main game), completely separate from the main plot. Apart from one of your secondary helpers (the cat) none of the other characters in the main game were in the bonus chapter.
This is going to be my new Christmas tradition to play this wonderful game every Christmas. From the Tchaikovsky music, to the setting and puzzles being part of story and setting. Everything is nearly perfect apart from the length of main game but we’ll come to that later.
This is a game that you can play with your family and of all the games I’ve played all year it’s the one that has the highest fun factor, it’s a joy to play. The nutcracker’s love - a doll has been kidnapped by King rat and his band of followers and you go and help him to find her aided with some truly fun companions along the way.
Graphics are stunning and it’s such a beautiful game. I’d say you’d have to be the Grinch that stole Christmas games if you weren’t at least enchanted by the beginning of the game (even if you didn’t like it.)
Gameplay mechanics is exactly the same with any other recent elephant game but just in case you forgot – transporter map with hints on all levels, choice of hardness setting which you can change midgame, no hint or skip on hardcore but as usual black bar hints, no random click penalty on HOS and you never repeat them. There is a lockable inventory bar.
12 HOS (hidden object scenes)
While the graphics are super sharp elsewhere, it’s like they are 95% sharp in some HOS. They are well defined but it’s like they want to go the road of some other devs and blend some in slightly. There are some tiny items but I did find them all. Some are junk, some are very cluttered. They are all list type (as usual from elephant) and no mini games in them just mildy/medium interactive.
14 PUZZLES
There is an info and reset button on them.
I knew as this is more a family game that there wouldn’t be any hard puzzles but on a couple they were clever as a couple were unique and took a while for me to figure out the objective. One of the achievements is not to use the hint/info button on puzzles. By doing that I was OK with the hardness of them, mostly easy to medium. They had your usual (which please I’ve had enough of) rotating rings and rotating circles (here it was squares – put your coloured icons on different parts of the board.) They did have some twists on some – gear puzzle and loved the – click on things in area to accomplish a task (cardboard cutout of girl) and the flag puzzle which took me ages to work out the objective.
Every aspect of the plot was completely 100% tied up in main game. The bonus was a pure bonus plot (not needed to finish the plot in main game), completely separate from the main plot. Apart from one of your secondary helpers (the cat) none of the other characters in the main game were in the bonus chapter.
LENGTH
I played the whole game hardcore, and playing for achievements (so no puzzle tips or hints or skips) and I just got over 4hrs on main game. I was smelling the roses, and taking my time. Shortest game from elephant at just over 4hrs but due to this being a SE and the rest is so fun and very good quality I am giving it 5 stars.
If interested below is what is in the CE that is NOT in this SE
CE extras
Achievements
Collectables 25 dolls
4 Music
5 video (some cutscenes)
9 concept art
Screensaver
Cat cave (opens after bonus) but it’s just a viewing cave not interactive
Achievements
Collectables 25 dolls
4 Music
5 video (some cutscenes)
9 concept art
Screensaver
Cat cave (opens after bonus) but it’s just a viewing cave not interactive
I really do recommend the CE but SE is complete.
TIME – Main game – Just over 4hrs
Loved every minute of it.
I recommend this game!
Uncover the dark side of Charles Dickens’ famous Christmas Carol story! Help Marley get revenge on the old miser, Scrooge.
Overall rating
1
/
5
23 of 38 found this review helpful
Really short, story not what I was expecting
PostedDecember 20, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Oh dear. I thought it might be an interesting game due to story. I was looking forward to a story that resembled the book. This game was so easy and due to the slightly scary ghost and how it was done, I wouldn't even say it would appeal to children.
The only good thing I could say about the game apart from the decent graphics is the HOS weren't junk piles.
So what's not good about it? -
- About 2hrs 15mins long
-No voiceovers
-No choice of gameplay
-Random click penalty on HOS
-Repeating HOS and they were in a smaller box
-Easiness of this game was unreal, I couldn't even say the HOS were hard. The puzzles were so mind numbingly simple, adventure so straightforward.
-repeating of one puzzle (rotate rings)
-No voiceovers
-No choice of gameplay
-Random click penalty on HOS
-Repeating HOS and they were in a smaller box
-Easiness of this game was unreal, I couldn't even say the HOS were hard. The puzzles were so mind numbingly simple, adventure so straightforward.
-repeating of one puzzle (rotate rings)
29 HIdden object scenes (roughly)
Random click penalty. Repeat a couple of scenes 3 times, some others twice. I don't remember any tiny items. All list type non interactive.
13 Puzzles
Of which about 9 of these are the exact same puzzle - same graphics everything. It's the one where the ball goes in the clock - rotating rings one.
The other puzzles were 2 jigsaws, and the most basic arithmetic, and a really simple rotate circles.
There weren't that many different scenes and you go back and forth between them.
Nothing got me re this game, either the plot which so missed a huge opportunity to be more like the book and even well written. It was so easy and that is just so boring for me. It plays like a straightish HOG which can be OK if it's fun or interesting or different and I love Christmas games.
Don't even recommend it as a DD, which thankfully that's all I paid for it.
I don't recommend this game.
Help Santa find the items he needs on Christmas Eve! Let Holly: A Christmas Tale fill you with the spirit of the season!
Overall rating
3
/
5
10 of 10 found this review helpful
If you have perfect eyesight and love spot the difference...
PostedDecember 20, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
then you'll like it. I've just finished playing christmasville and this is better than that. There are a lot of similarties between the games - this is a timed HOG with puzzles.
Let's get the negatives out of the way -
This really should be renamed christmas spot the difference as there are loads of them in this game. Not only that but most times you play them there are two scenes so it's a double whammy of them. I don't mind about 5 of them but there are just so many.
Some items are so hard to find or impossibly blended in, in the HOS as well as puzzles, it took the fun out of it for me. I don't mind one or two tiny items but there are loads.
Puzzles are simple but also timed and you can't skip them. It was weird as they were all very simple then came along the constellation one which wasn't although it's not hard and I did finish it in time. hint - you move the stars around and put them in the same place as the picture and some stars you move are in the picture. Use the outline as well as the grid to help you - they turn yellow when in right place.
You can judge yourself how long the game will take as the screen with houses in it, that's it. It's not a very long game.
It has a literal 'to be continued' at the end which is weird as it wasn't an exactly gripping plot to begin with but wasn't expecting a great plot as it's a simple straightforward story, so why the ending like that?
Music was annoying so turned it off and there are no voiceovers.
Now the good -
Hidden object scenes were very varied. There was the traditional list type, silhouette, or find "x" items.
To make each scene more different you can collect golden acorns (I think it's in each scene as sometimes couldn't find any) and these will turn into hints.
If you run out of hints you can replenish them any time by hitting the "?" button (keep clicking on it if it doesn't come up) and you get a click on 3 or more puzzle. This gives you 2 hints and you can do this puzzle as often as you want. This broke up some of the sameness of the find 'x' and HOS and enjoyed that.
There is no random click penalty so if you are stuck, you can click away and there are no junk piles and it's cute to look at.
If you don't mind the timed aspect love loads of HOS as well as simple puzzles then this is cute for a DD but not for full price which is why I don't recommend it. Along with too many hard to see items, and all those spot the differences.
I don't recommend this game.
Help the creatures of Christmasville discover the truth about missing Santa Claus in this eye-popping Hidden Object Christmas adventure!
Overall rating
2
/
5
18 of 19 found this review helpful
Straight HOG - quirky fun for a DD
PostedDecember 18, 2012
gingergal
fromoutside Seattle, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I don't dislike this game in fact it was quite fun to pass nearly 3hrs but it is below average overall, and due to it being short and a bit repetitive I give it 2 stars.
One of the good things about it is the quirky funny storyline and thought the ending was good. This is a timed straight HOG, with no choice of levels. If you don't meet the time you just redo the same scene with the same items.
Each photo/stage has a main scene in it and you play a list type and then usually a silhoutte type and or find 'x' amount of items in same scene. Then there is a puzzle which is either - swap tiles around to form picture, turn tiles around to form picture, match pairs, find differences or a cryptogram. The order of what you do is varied but it's the same in each photo. There are tips (hints) but it's slow filling. I don't think you can skip the puzzles but they are easy although they are timed as well.
The scenes are quite fun and not junk pile. It's a goofy game in a good way, you either like that kind of thing or you don't. I just wished there was a bit more variety. I don't usually like straight HOGS so I guess I was wishing some more interactive scenes between the HOS rather than a corkboard, I don't mean adventure just some more interactions. They also repeated the type of puzzles a lot.
You can skip the dialogue and there is a lot of it. There are only 20 "levels" (photo).
For family or kids goofy fun, then it will bring goofy Christmas distraction for 3hrs. If it's on a DD then I'd say look at it if you love straight HOGs but not at full price due to shortness and repeating puzzles and there are better Christmas games.
I don't recommend this game.