REVIEW BASED ON ONE-HOUR DEMO Braveland is not the typical hidden object or time management game offered here at Big Fish. It is a cute, light adventure quest type game.
Your village has been plundered and you set out to recruit heroes to join your quest to defeat the bandits behind the theft. As you play, you'll increase the types of warriors in your party, acquire treasure, level up, and face increasingly difficult to defeat foes. Of course, the plot thickens, and there is more to the game than simply routing a few hungry bandits.
It's a delightful change of pace. My only concern is the length of the game. The description says 50 battles, and I flew through roughly half of them during the one hour demo. However, there are three levels of difficulty, and the harder levels present the need for different battle strategies. From that perspective, there is the opportunity for 3 distinct playthroughs.
It's a fun game to while away several hours. I will be purchasing it.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
1/ 5
**TnT_TJ wrote an excellent, more thorough review that basically sums up my thoughts. This is the review posted in the forum:
This review is based on the completed CE version played in advanced mode.
Unfortunately, I must disagree with the many who are thankful for another ERS game... I picked this up with the recent sale, and other than a few interesting puzzles and hidden object scenes, this game was a huge disappointment. The story falls somewhere between "pretty lame and "really bad" - and then the writers 'phoned in' the ending. For those hoping the bonus content would wrap up the story, I did not think it got any better.
While some interactive hidden object scenes were quite clever and some of the puzzles rather enjoyable, there were some item usages that simply defied logic. On a couple occasions, it took me forever to figure out I needed to put the dog bowl on top of the ladder to reach the necklace to turn on water. - Not a real example! -
Few games rate an A+ from me; sadly this one is a solid D. D for disappointing, because they really could have done so much more. With a better ending and overall story, the weird item logic would have been much more tolerable! Also, as others have mentioned, the game did lag at times - almost freezing - and I had to force a program close twice, which is an unusual occurrence on my computer.
There are many games much more deserving of money, credits or punch card coupons.
Cross-posted on the game page and in the forum review thread.
OK, so the semi-bad first. It's not that hard. But it is so much fun! If you like music and enjoy trying things outside the standard Hidden Object or Adventure "go here, do that" game, this one is absolutely worth your time.
The basics: you search around to find parts of music scores. Once you find all the pieces to a score, you enter the puzzle mode to put it back together. This can be done geometrically (figuring out how the shapes fit) or musically (by arranging the tune properly). Sometimes, in the score-finding mode, there are things to do to get the piece. Without spoiling, I will say those things are logical and not far-fetched.
The songs are fun and varied.
Also, it is kid friendly. Solving the puzzles musically or geometrically is a fun teaching tool for kids. Even little ones can say "That's not the way that song goes." It really is a great all ages game!
I played the hour demo. This was such a fun game, I was quite surprised the hour was over already! I enjoyed it myself, but primarily I see this as an excellent educational tool for kids. (Who give it the thumbs up as well... :-) It is on the "kid factor" that I based this review score.
The game is self explanatory, each puzzle type gives easy to follow instructions (8 year olds figured it out), the puzzles are varied (same type of puzzle would have a different theme each level), and the puzzles increase in difficulty as the levels progress. There is just enough story to this game to tie it together, but that's about it. No plot to distract from puzzles.
There are matching puzzles of various kinds (enough that it didn't feel repetitive), spot the difference type puzzles, and word game puzzles. It is feasible there are others I didn't encounter during the trial because each level introduced new puzzles while keeping more difficult versions of prior puzzles. (I got to level 3 playing each one through, not sure exactly how many total levels there are)
Potential Cons - while I had to think on a few of the puzzles, most I found quite easy. I think that for most adults, the game will be rather short due to the lack of difficulty. I do not know (yet) if the level of difficulty increases to the point that children would become overwhelmed. I have a hunch if it gets harder, it still will be a great parent/child game.
As an educational tool for kids [1st grade (good readers or playing with a parent) and up], the children find it challenging but fun enough it disguises the learning. Thus for this aspect, I highly recommend this game.
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
4/ 5
This review is based on completing the demo hour only. I see the other reviewer's comparisons to Myst and Siberia - let me add David Cage's work, especially Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophesy. The graphic novel/film noir feel and look to this game is good, and I thought the music was fun and appropriate as well. I've given it 4 stars as I have only played for an hour... Normally I don't review games until completion, but seeing these poor reviews I had to throw in my two cents about this one now.
This game is not for folks who are looking for a HO game disguised as an adventure. Nor is it for a gamer looking for a fantasy, magical experience. However, if you're a person who enjoys adventure games rooted in reality, then this old-school gem is for you.
Once I complete my playthrough, I believe I will find that I agree with other excellent reviews from gamers who completed the game. Although this game is imperfect, I encourage game developers to keep offering pure adventure games like these. These games have fans, and practice makes perfect!
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Much of what other reviewers said is exactly spot on with my opinions. The pros for Life Quest: *Great fun the first time through *"Shelving" the game for a few months greatly enhances replayability *Player can set own level of difficulty depending on how much s/he cares about winning each challenge
Mostly, I write this review to say: More! A sequel or additional content for this game would be great! It is a nice game to while away little bits of time; it's easy to stop and come back to playing later without losing your place.
Now for the cons: *It is impossible to differentiate the ending; so after a bit replay gets really boring/repetitive *Although the length of the game is good, I was disappointed that it just "ended" - I was left wanting more "something" after the last challenge other than "OK you're done"
This review is based off the 1-hour demo. My primary complaint is that the hidden objects listed to find aren't what you actually are supposed to find (i.e. brush --> comb; clarinet --> flute, etc). Secondly, I found the controls to be awkward and frustrating. Lastly, the game walks you through every step; telling you everything you need to do/find/view. There was no challenge if you don't count the "let me guess, could this be what I'm supposed to click" aspect of the HO scenes.