talula1059's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.5
- Helpful Votes:16
- Reviews Submitted:32
- First Review:January 7, 2023
- Most Recent Review:March 21, 2025
- Featured reviews0
Web of Deceit: Deadly Sands Collector's Edition
While visiting your uncle, you stumble upon a curious case. Men are vanishing, reappearing dead days later. Who killed them?
Overall rating
3
/
5
A BIT OF A CHORE
PostedJune 24, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
I recently discovered Blam Games after sinking into a depression when I realized MadHead was no longer making this kind of game. I loved European Mystery and Punished Talents so thought I would check out some of their earlier games. Unfortunately, they were nowhere near the level of the later games. I couldn't finish the first Web of Deceit because its map didn't include active locations on it so was fairly useless. This game is slightly better, but was less fun than it should be because nearly every single mini-game puzzle is way too long! I'm not sure if the developers thought players enjoy spending 45 minutes per puzzle, but they were wrong in my case. It's not that the puzzles are difficult. It's that they are just too big. For example, there is a puzzle where you have to move several round records from one spindle to another, but can't stack larger records on top of smaller records. So you have to move them one by one. Not a bad puzzle, but instead of having us move 4 or 5 records, this puzzle had us moving about 10 of them. Too long and way too tedious! The game where you have to match two tiles vertically or horizontally began with about 60 tiles on the page. Too many! It took all the fun out of what could have been an entertaining game. Made it a chore to finish. It almost made me stop playing HOPA games for awhile. Have to do that sometimes so you don't burn out. For now, I just switched to a different game . Will finish this one later...much later.
I don't recommend this game.
The Abomination threatens to erase all worlds from existence!
Overall rating
3
/
5
DECENT GAME WITH HORRIBLE VOICE ACTRESS
PostedJune 19, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
This series started out great by delving into popular stories (Alice & Wonderland, Captain Nemo, etc). The first couple game were really great. Unfortunately, the developers fell back on old fantasy tropes that have been done a million times. Runes, shards, mages, and spells. I bought the entire series after playing the first one and was unpleasantly surprised.
This game was actually an improvement on the previous two games with one exception. The voice actress of the main character was AWFUL. In fact, I hesitate to use the word actress because I don't believe she was one. I truly believe that she was either related to one of the executives of MadHead or dating someone in power. There is no way this woman would be hired by anyone to emote using her voice. She regularly misunderstood what she was saying, conveyed inappropriate emotions for the character, utilized dramatic pauses that regularly veered into campiness, and generally ruined the voice acting of the entire game. The original actress for the character did make an appearance in this game as Suri in the 3rd or 4th chapter. She was the one with a really awful fake British/Indian accent. The rest of the supporting actors were OK and a few were actually pretty good.
Voice acting is really important in games like these because very often the puzzles are reused and storylines are predictable so it's impossible not to focus on other elements. Bad voice acting is never acceptable whether in a FPS, RPG, or a casual HOPA like this. I expect that a game that retails for $20 (before BF discounts) would hire actors that know how to read, understand the character and storyline, and don't force emotion in every line they read. Some of the dialogue was pretty bad and didn't make sense to the story. Do the developers think we aren't paying attention?!
That said, this game was slightly more fun than the previous two in the series. But NOT better than the first two games in the series. I'll still recommend it, but with the voice actors turned way down.
I recommend this game!
Can you and your father escape a mystical and dangerous realm?
Overall rating
2
/
5
WHY CHANGE THE STORYLINE OF SERIES?
PostedJune 10, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
The first games in the series had great storylines often drawn from classic works of literature. Our heroine would visit different scenarios in time that were based on books. In those early games, TuneWorld was nothing more than a place where these book characters lived. Somewhere about a game or two ago, the series abandoned that entire plotline and turned it into another run of the mill fantasy story where TuneWorld is now a place where people dress like it's the Middle Ages and everyone has amulets and orbs and creators' sparks. Why couldn't the developers continue with the original premise of visiting different book settings? That was such a great idea! It could have given them more than enough story ideas for future games. Unfortunately, they didn't and now these games are a chore to get through. Nothing more boring than women dressed like Lara Croft in heavy makeup talking about how they have to save an alternate world from being destroyed by a totally lame villain who wants to destroy the world he lives in just because. The puzzles are affected by this because they involve finding pieces of a seal or putting an orb back together. Half the time I have no idea what I'm even doing with some of these puzzles. It's really too bad. MadHead was my favorite developer, but some of their game stories are pretty bad.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you undo Neptune’s deadly curse in time?
Overall rating
1
/
5
HORRIBLE STORYLINE WITH BLAND CHARACTERS
PostedJune 10, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I understand this was a take on the Little Mermaid with a shocking twist that the vicious pirate Davy Jones turns out to be the good guy. However, the storyline was boring and totally lacking in originality. I'm so sick of all the maritime themed stories where the sea gods/creatures/ghosts are terrorizing humans and our hero/ine has to save the day. It's been done ad nauseum. I was racing through this game because I purchased it not because I was enjoying it. I play all games for the stories first and then the puzzles. This game was lacking in both since we have seen the same puzzles in so many other FF games. On top of everything else, they replaced the voice actors they normally use with awful emotionless bores, some of whom didn't know how to pronounce some of the words. I'll never understand why these game actors don't ask the developer if there's a word or name they don't recognize. In this game, we have the same name pronounced different ways (Ayrine was too much for this genius) But what I really don't get is why the developers allow it into the game! Why don't you correct the person and have them re-record it? Maybe it's just the teacher in me, but is it too much to ask that these people actually know how to read? I feel like a lot of them are chosen because they're inexpensive to hire or maybe they have a thing going on with someone in power at the company. It seems like it only happens in these kinds of games. You play a standard adventure or RPG and you get excellent voice acting. Just look at the original Gabriel Knight. Tim Curry as the lead actor? I rest my case.
This was probably my least favorite in the entire series. I don't really dig the concept to begin with, but I'm running out of decent series that I haven't already played. Too bad.
I don't recommend this game.
The real Bloody Stanley was caught, or so they thought...
Overall rating
3
/
5
DECENT GAME WITH A FEW COMPLAINTS
PostedJune 6, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
1. They don't have the map figured out just yet. Most games will indicate whether there is a task you can do at that moment based on your inventory or point in the game. Grim Facade maps will usually just tell you whether you completed the location or not. This defeats the point of the map in my opinion. Obviously if there's a locked door, I know I'll need to come back later. Don't need to be reminded on the map.
2. The ambient sounds are very annoying. There is a dog that barks at outdoor locations that made me turn down my volume more than once. It's extremely grating on the ears. Also, the constant creaking and high heels on wood floor sound effects are neither scary nor ominous. Half the time they don't make sense to what's going on in the game. They contribute nothing. And the whispering during the amulet mini-games are also really irritating. Too repetitive.
2. The ambient sounds are very annoying. There is a dog that barks at outdoor locations that made me turn down my volume more than once. It's extremely grating on the ears. Also, the constant creaking and high heels on wood floor sound effects are neither scary nor ominous. Half the time they don't make sense to what's going on in the game. They contribute nothing. And the whispering during the amulet mini-games are also really irritating. Too repetitive.
Other than that, I like these games most for their storylines. There is actually less supernatural stuff than a lot of these kinds of games. Incidentally, I'll never understand why so many HOPA developers go for sci fi or supernatural elements in EVERY.SINGLE.GAME. Don't they realize that a lot of their fans are female and might want a little more nuance? These themes are OK in moderation. But all I really want is a good old fashioned murder mystery or detective story that doesn't involve haunted antique shops/houses/hotels or finding a bunch of unidentifiable parts to complicated machines or traveling to space stations or using amulets to go back in time or riding a horse thru a medieval village to rescue a kidnapped princess. I would even sacrifice great graphics for better stories we haven't seen 300 times. They just need to spend a bit more money on the creative process and less on churning out more sequels to already tired games.
Can you stop history from repeating itself?
Overall rating
4
/
5
SUGGESTIONS FOR ELEFUN
PostedJune 5, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
Loved this game. Was my favorite in the series. However, nobody enjoys reading a review praising the game for 3 paragraphs so I'll stick to the things I didn't like. By the way, there should be a rule against people reviewing games they didn't even purchase. If a game is awful and you can't finish it, fair enough. But reviewing a game you enjoyed, but were too cheap to purchase seems like a poor way to support this genre. How can you review a game in which you haven't seen all of its content (extras, bonus chapter, etc)? I digress.
I felt our Emma Roberts voice actress didn't do as well this time around. Her reactions were off and she sounded monotone through a lot of the game. At one point, she blandly asks a person trapped in a hole in a ground, "what are you doing there?" She reminded me of Daria (Janeane Garofalo). If she was a human being with real emotions, she would have more of a reaction to finding someone dying of thirst in a hole in the ground. Instead she sounded almost annoyed to find him there.
One thing that's a common issue with this developer is the fact that if you missed collectibles or morphing objects, you can't retrieve them later. Most games give you this option and I always forget Elefun doesn't. I'm not a fan of replaying these games because I find it boring since the element of surprise is gone. It's so disappointing to get to the end only to find out that you miss out on extra content just because you forgot to click one little eye. And about that. I had to restart the game several times during the first couple chapters because I forgot about the eyes. After collecting most of the eyes during regular gameplay, suddenly there was a collectible in one of the HOPs (which I missed because my mind was thinking there were no collectibles in HOPs in this game). I always liked how Madhead had morphing objects in HOPs and collectibles in the regular game. Elefun didn't really have a pattern to where collectibles are located (except the written document thing) so it made it difficult, but NOT in a fun way.
Aside from those things, the game was a lot of fun. Visually it was updated from the previous game so looked a lot more "modern" than others in the series. Wish they would make a lot more of these.
Can you stop a cosmic catastrophe from destroying your world?
Overall rating
2
/
5
16 of 16 found this review helpful
STOP CHANGING BELOVED CHARACTERS
PostedMay 24, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Why does Elephant keep changing characters that fans love? First they got rid of Richard Gray (a huge loss) then Rick Rogers, and now James Blackthorne. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't replace these beloved characters with either annoying or totally soulless substitutes. This latest substitution of James with Ewan was the absolute worst. The character's voice is beyond annoying and his appearance is no better. He's got that huge Elvis hairstyle and this inane stupid smile on his face at all times. I don't want to look at him or play as him. Many of us have kids his age and use these games as escapism. The last thing we want is to be reminded of some punk who sits at home without a job waiting for the world to give him everything. And the excuse given by James as to why he's leaving was lame. Anna also has a husband and child and she's still able to work. It's not as though they're working 24/7 anyway. It's periodic as things arise.
It used to be that these developers would have all the main characters as women because they understood that was who was playing their games. Personally I would rather play as a man once in awhile, but I digress. Now it's as though they think they can somehow attract young people to these games. It's NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Teenagers only want to play multiplayer games where they can babble to their friends or else they play Minecraft. They aren't into casual HOPA games. Stop trying to change it up Elephant. You're already on your last legs in my book because your puzzles and storylines have gotten very stale. Pretty much the only reason I'm still hanging in there with Elephant is for the stories. I can think of very few that are still any good. Even Mystery Trackers with the little dog has gone away. We got a little of him in this game, but as someone else pointed out, he looked as though he had been abandoned and abused. I wish Madhead was still in business. They are pretty much the only developer that always interesting games with unique puzzles. It's too bad they also moved on to other things. Too many developers are trying to capitalize on the game craze by changing from HOPA to RPG or FPS. It's a real shame. If there's one thing HOPA fans are, it's loyal. I just wish the developers recognized that.
I don't recommend this game.
The Agency of Anomalies: Mystic Hospital Collector's Edition
Investigate a military hospital that hosted a variety of terrifying experiments in The Agency of Anomalies: Mystic Hospital!
Overall rating
2
/
5
NO MAP=DEALBREAKER
PostedApril 15, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
I purchased all 4 of the games in this series on another gaming platform. I began playing and soon realized there was no map. I quickly checked the other games in the series and was disappointed to learn that a map only makes an appearance in the final game. I don't enjoy having to backtrack over and over, which is pretty much standard in these games. A quick travel map removes that cumbersome requirement.
Seems like most HOPA games made before 2014 just didn't include a map. I can't imagine enjoying this genre if I was forced to go back and forth to grab zipper pulls, matches, and sigils over and over again. It's really too bad because I've been on the hunt for a new developer since I have almost exhausted all the games by Mad Head, Grandma, Elephant, and Eipix. Unfortunately, I can't find a website for Omeon to find out some other games they made that might have a map. Nothing is ever easy...
Can you stop an ancient darkness before it’s too late?
Overall rating
3
/
5
AWFUL VOICE ACTORS
PostedMarch 24, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
The soccer mom who played Alicia really bothered me. She had the same 2 speeds all these HOPA actors have: outraged and stern. I realize these aren't big budget games that can afford to hire Meryl Streep or some other great actress. But I would rather have one of the developers do the voice than this woman. I also don't like the somnambulant actress who plays the daughter. She is in lots of these games and always sounds like she is annoyed or can't believe someone is asking her to do something. The game itself was fun to play. But the voice actors nearly ruined it for me. Soccer mom voice screaming, "K'tal, STOP" toward the end was so emotionless, so devoid of anything even close to intimidating, it was COMICAL. Get rid of these people! Use a computer if you have to!
I recommend this game!
Can you stop a mysterious monster terrorizing a new amusement park?
Overall rating
1
/
5
CONTRIVED & RIDICULOUS
PostedMarch 22, 2023
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
This game was really awful. It felt like a totally different development team worked on this than the previous games in the series. The main game was filled with contrived inventory puzzles that made very little sense. Translation of some of the items seemed a little off to where it was tough to figure out what to do a lot of the time. I found myself pixel hunting through part of it and checking Strategy Guide and walkthroughs through most of it. That isn't the reason I play these games obviously.
The worst thing about the game was the Bonus Chapter. I realize this is a Serbian developer that's had its share of senseless tragedy. But this was was ridiculously violent for an HOP game (funny since this game had very few HOP puzzles to begin with) In the first couple scenes, we are forced to blow away an innocent wolf defending its territory. If that weren't enough, we have to continue to play through the scene while staring at the bloody carcass of that animal. I was racing through that scene because I couldn't stand to see the poor dead animal. I would have preferred to defend the animal and let Greta (the character we were saving from the "vicious animal) get eaten by the wolves. It was her fault for trampling through their hunting grounds. Considering this had to be sometime after the 1880s (based on the presence of barbed wire), what the heck was she doing in the woods anyway? After the bloody wolf scene, we are treated to another violent scene in which Greta herself is blown away. What the heck is going on here? This is a bit much for a casual HOPA game! I play violent video games too, but don't expect that level of violence in a casual game like this. Especially since these characters were just introduced so we have no connection to them.
It's ironic because I recently played a different MadHead game that forced me to spray "vermin killer" into the face of cute baby raccoon. I was confused as to why we even did it, since he wasn't bothering anyone. Normally games will stay away from hurting animals and have our protagonists befriend them with food. I've no idea why certain MadHead developers seem to enjoying inserting little violent vignettes in some of these games for no reason at all. Animals is a hard limit for me so I tend to shut off games that include things like that.
Aside from that, as mentioned the game wasn't fun and was filled with lots of pointless inventory puzzles and pixel hunting. We kept picking up lighters and matches and using random items on things that made no sense. We let air out of a balloon to dislodge an item, used termites to get rid of a vine (I thought they ate wood?), made lots of items that I wasn't even sure what they were. It doesn't take a lot of creativity to throw random items together and say they make something useful. Also, things randomly broke down without cause which was pretty funny, but lazy writing.
I'm also not a fan of the lead voice actress. She is in a lot of these games and has two speeds: stern or frantic. I know HOPA games sometimes use computer-generated voices (which is why they will sometimes mispronounce words or have different characters pronouncing names differently). But this woman is a real person I believe. I just don't care for her. Bring in the Anna Gray actress! She is by far the best female voice actor. In fact all the actors in those games are wonderful.
Bottom line: this is by far the worst game in the series, if not the entire developer's catalogue.
I don't recommend this game.