yanochka's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.5
- Helpful Votes:251
- Reviews Submitted:18
- First Review:September 22, 2013
- Most Recent Review:June 15, 2024
- Featured reviews0
The strongest brotherhood is forged through difficult trials.
Overall rating
5
/
5
Like good old days
PostedJune 15, 2024
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
first of all: This is NOT a one-time game. You can reply it all together or individual chapters as many times as you like. Personally I dont care if the game doesn't ask for my name. There IS a bonus chapter, but it is very cleverly stuck between two chapters of the main story line. Overall this game is far longer and far more entertaining than most of the others with 4-5 chapters and a dedicated bonus. And I actually wanted to find out where the plot goes, which I almost never do these days. It is up to you if you like it, but I strongly recommend that you give it a try!
I recommend this game!
The secret of the fairies lies deep in the English countryside.
Overall rating
4
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
American Accents in British setting
PostedOctober 2, 2021
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
The game overall is great fun! the story fits with English folklore so it was quite fun to play as a mythical detective. However, as someone from the UK, I couldn't enjoy the game to it's full potential as I was confused and slightly annoyed to have the characters be voiced with American accents rather than British accents as the backstory setting is based in Gloustershire UK! I did not feel I was playing in an English countryside setting which was disappointing. I hope within future games the characters will be voiced with the correct accents.
I recommend this game!
Can you stop a deadly evil waiting in an abandoned school?
Overall rating
5
/
5
12 of 14 found this review helpful
Don't play bonus chapter in the dark!
PostedJune 23, 2020
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I totally agree with those who say that it is not at the same level as Subject 360, But it is close, very close. The best tribute I can give this game is when my late teen daughters (twins, btw), tried it their verdict was: not in the evening, mum! If the youngsters are uneasy with the level of creepiness, it is good! And beware, the best staff comes after the demo, which is rear!
I recommend this game!
In this latest match-3 adventure, gather up your courage and press on to the haunted mansion on the hill and rid it of evil spirits.
Overall rating
5
/
5
43 of 44 found this review helpful
Simply the best
PostedMay 20, 2020
yanochka
fromLondon
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Match 3
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I am not going to repeat others who gave all the details about game play. Just wanted to say that I spent the most enjoyable day wracking my brain to figure out how to pass some levels. This is not just an ordinary match-three which you play to pass time, this is a challenging and inventive game, your little grey cells will have to work hard.
I recommend this game!
Investigating your sister's inexplicable vanishing you discover a plot that threatens more than one world!
Overall rating
5
/
5
28 of 34 found this review helpful
You shall not be bored!
PostedMay 10, 2020
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I shall not talk about gameplay, other players have done it far better. I am sure that some people will find three helpers as a deterrent difficult to overcome, but you might regard them as clever tools, since they sit in the inventory and don’t talk!
You have to like fantasy and fairy tales, otherwise this game is not for you. But it is fun, it is logical, I actually really was curious as to how the plot will progress, and graphics and music are gorgeous.
It was a long time since I liked any game that much. 5 stars with no reservations! Though my teen daughters still want more romance))
You have to like fantasy and fairy tales, otherwise this game is not for you. But it is fun, it is logical, I actually really was curious as to how the plot will progress, and graphics and music are gorgeous.
It was a long time since I liked any game that much. 5 stars with no reservations! Though my teen daughters still want more romance))
I recommend this game!
Return to Rosemount to stop the Ice Queen in this updated classic!
Overall rating
4
/
5
19 of 21 found this review helpful
Good, but not good enough
PostedMay 7, 2020
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Welcome back to the past when scenes were drawn for topography and not just for actions, when every HOP had scissors to find, where you could keep your knife for the duration and not looking for a new one in every location and where some logic still prevailed!
I enjoyed this trip down a memory lane, but I have a suggestion: clearly developers these days are desperately looking for good plots, so don’t do remasterings, do remakes. Start with the first two Ravenhurst games for example, or do a totally new Dire Grove (an unsurpassed success so far). I am sure that every one of us has some games he/she would like to be repeated with all modern bits and pieces.
My main objection to the remastered Ice rose: why on earth did I have to pay twice? It should’ve been a half for those of us who purchased the original in the past. And in case other developers will try to capitalise on this idea – don’t. Once is OK, but parts of this game still felt terribly outdated. As to should you buy it or not, depends on how much time you have on your hands: I am sitting in a lock-down so any alleviation of this monotonous existence is welcome.
My advice: at least try.
I enjoyed this trip down a memory lane, but I have a suggestion: clearly developers these days are desperately looking for good plots, so don’t do remasterings, do remakes. Start with the first two Ravenhurst games for example, or do a totally new Dire Grove (an unsurpassed success so far). I am sure that every one of us has some games he/she would like to be repeated with all modern bits and pieces.
My main objection to the remastered Ice rose: why on earth did I have to pay twice? It should’ve been a half for those of us who purchased the original in the past. And in case other developers will try to capitalise on this idea – don’t. Once is OK, but parts of this game still felt terribly outdated. As to should you buy it or not, depends on how much time you have on your hands: I am sitting in a lock-down so any alleviation of this monotonous existence is welcome.
My advice: at least try.
I recommend this game!
What's more important - the fate of the world or the destiny of your family? Find out in this amazing hidden object adventure game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
4 of 7 found this review helpful
Even teens could be useful... sometimes
PostedMarch 5, 2020
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Match 3
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I suspect that pretty much everyone would agree that all HOPA are more or less the same in terms of mechanics: you go, you see a problem, you play puzzles or HOP to get things with which you deal with the original problem. And so it goes till the very end.
Difficult to imagine anything else. So the differences are in graphics, dialogs, plot and inventiveness of puzzles. And for me personally this game ticks all the boxes. I almost laughed allowed when Susan’s son starts with “Leave me alone I had enough!” and ends with “Mum, save me, please, I am so sorry!”
That is so deliciously true that I cannot wait for my own teens to try this game. I wonder what they will say).
Attention to details is perfect: a woman cannot possible emerge from a waterfall with her mascara intact and her white jumper pristine and without holes. Susan looks like a victim of a bad hangover after that, which actually adds to total believability of the game.
HOPs are variable, some puzzles a bit tricky and the game is long and not boring, At least for me it wasn’t. Spoiler: If you wanted to see Maaron without practically any clothes, you wish will be granted. Not sure if you will enjoy it though… but… if you like them on a hairy side…
For me so far this is the best game of this year. My advice: at least try, but I am afraid that the best stuff comes a bit later.
Difficult to imagine anything else. So the differences are in graphics, dialogs, plot and inventiveness of puzzles. And for me personally this game ticks all the boxes. I almost laughed allowed when Susan’s son starts with “Leave me alone I had enough!” and ends with “Mum, save me, please, I am so sorry!”
That is so deliciously true that I cannot wait for my own teens to try this game. I wonder what they will say).
Attention to details is perfect: a woman cannot possible emerge from a waterfall with her mascara intact and her white jumper pristine and without holes. Susan looks like a victim of a bad hangover after that, which actually adds to total believability of the game.
HOPs are variable, some puzzles a bit tricky and the game is long and not boring, At least for me it wasn’t. Spoiler: If you wanted to see Maaron without practically any clothes, you wish will be granted. Not sure if you will enjoy it though… but… if you like them on a hairy side…
For me so far this is the best game of this year. My advice: at least try, but I am afraid that the best stuff comes a bit later.
I recommend this game!
Can you save your friends from their family’s tainted past?
Overall rating
2
/
5
22 of 25 found this review helpful
Royal mess
PostedNovember 10, 2019
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Match 3
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Why, why did I buy this game without trial? My only excuse: rainy afternoon with nothing to do. I do not ask stories to be realistic, but, please, make them at least logical. If you (I am talking about you my some time ago favourite developers, Mad Head Games) decide to put you characters in 1920, then dont make the main villain a half-woman-half-octopus. If you insist on this unlikely creature to cause a total havoc, then let her live in some fantasy land.
OK, I can buy some royal island, Europe had plenty of small monarchies and principalities but nearly all of them disappeared after WWI. But if you insist on this setting, then, for... sake dont let the royal guards wear the full armour which, in case you dont know, was not a standard military uniform some 100 years ago.
Now, fine, let us forget that. Just apply some common sense: you, a young woman, enter the bedroom of a relatively young bachelor. He is poisoned and in bed. As you probably guessed, this royal castle has no servants. Well, no, just one, who is in love with the daughter of the royal family. So in this bedroom while he is sort of really unwell but totally not asleep, you are running around like a headless chicken, trying different shelves, wardrobes and even destroy an antic sofa with a crowbar. And the royal master of the house apparently quite happy for you to do so.
I can continue for a long time, since every twist of this so called plot is infuriatingly absurd.
Other people I am sure will write in far more details about the actual game play, if you in all honesty can call this a game! A game should at least be enjoyable.
I implore all the developers again: exercise your brains and do find some good PLOT WRITERS!
Trust me, we can forgive some repetitive tasks if we are hooked on the story.
My advice: dont even play the trial. Unless it is a rainy afternoon and you truly have nothing to do. But save your money.
OK, I can buy some royal island, Europe had plenty of small monarchies and principalities but nearly all of them disappeared after WWI. But if you insist on this setting, then, for... sake dont let the royal guards wear the full armour which, in case you dont know, was not a standard military uniform some 100 years ago.
Now, fine, let us forget that. Just apply some common sense: you, a young woman, enter the bedroom of a relatively young bachelor. He is poisoned and in bed. As you probably guessed, this royal castle has no servants. Well, no, just one, who is in love with the daughter of the royal family. So in this bedroom while he is sort of really unwell but totally not asleep, you are running around like a headless chicken, trying different shelves, wardrobes and even destroy an antic sofa with a crowbar. And the royal master of the house apparently quite happy for you to do so.
I can continue for a long time, since every twist of this so called plot is infuriatingly absurd.
Other people I am sure will write in far more details about the actual game play, if you in all honesty can call this a game! A game should at least be enjoyable.
I implore all the developers again: exercise your brains and do find some good PLOT WRITERS!
Trust me, we can forgive some repetitive tasks if we are hooked on the story.
My advice: dont even play the trial. Unless it is a rainy afternoon and you truly have nothing to do. But save your money.
I don't recommend this game.
The Abomination threatens to erase all worlds from existence!
Overall rating
5
/
5
10 of 15 found this review helpful
I think they got it
PostedMarch 4, 2019
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Hi people! I shall not describe the game’s mechanics: other players have done it beautifully already. The best part is that developers finally realised that copy-paste is no longer an option. Obviously there is nothing new about the whole saving the world thing, however there is a beautiful twist that strictly speaking all the characters (apart from the immediate family of the author and probably the dog) are just different derivatives from the mind of one man.
That adds an additional twist and I wonder if psychiatrists might be interested) The rest is very good as always with Mad Head, even if music migrates from one game to another, which I personally don’t mind since I like it.
And a minor twitch: those of us, who are blessed (or cursed) with a good visual memory will notice a flower which keeps reappearing from time to time since the first Beyond. Hmmm, guys? Could you at least change its colour or some twists of its leaves?
That adds an additional twist and I wonder if psychiatrists might be interested) The rest is very good as always with Mad Head, even if music migrates from one game to another, which I personally don’t mind since I like it.
And a minor twitch: those of us, who are blessed (or cursed) with a good visual memory will notice a flower which keeps reappearing from time to time since the first Beyond. Hmmm, guys? Could you at least change its colour or some twists of its leaves?
I recommend this game!
Can you save the city from the dangerous criminal Quasimodo?
Overall rating
2
/
5
23 of 33 found this review helpful
Please read your history!
PostedFebruary 17, 2019
yanochka
fromLondon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Sorry guys, I don’t want to sound patronising. The problem is that I actually read “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” many years ago. Yep, the famous French classic wrote rather tediously, but at least historically he was accurate. I am quite ok to disregard some mistakes now and then, like modern screws in a medieval castle, but there are limits to any artistic licence.
So what do we have? A cardinal (catholic) with several wives. Paris, which suddenly became a sea port. A female captain in an 18th century outfit (presumably we are in the middle ages). A personal file of a man turned into a gargoyle in a modern paper folder? Domini, do you seriously think its ok for a gargoyle to talk about files and folders? At least the poor thing didn’t have a CV…
And just to add a last insult to our intelligence a leaky boat which… we patch with straw.
Also how thick this Frederic could be when from the very beginning everything just screams that cardinal is the villain? There even was a picture of him and Quasimodo, who calls him master! And Frederic still intends to fulfil his order?
I was almost relieved that cardinal ordered his execution. But of course he was saved and then one of the wives appeared.
My advice to the developers: stick to total fantasies or fairy-tales and leave the classics of any nation to rest on their earned laurels. So as very often happens these days good enough puzzles and HOPs are totally ruined by a demented story line. O, and, please, make the colours less purple, if you don’t mind!
So what do we have? A cardinal (catholic) with several wives. Paris, which suddenly became a sea port. A female captain in an 18th century outfit (presumably we are in the middle ages). A personal file of a man turned into a gargoyle in a modern paper folder? Domini, do you seriously think its ok for a gargoyle to talk about files and folders? At least the poor thing didn’t have a CV…
And just to add a last insult to our intelligence a leaky boat which… we patch with straw.
Also how thick this Frederic could be when from the very beginning everything just screams that cardinal is the villain? There even was a picture of him and Quasimodo, who calls him master! And Frederic still intends to fulfil his order?
I was almost relieved that cardinal ordered his execution. But of course he was saved and then one of the wives appeared.
My advice to the developers: stick to total fantasies or fairy-tales and leave the classics of any nation to rest on their earned laurels. So as very often happens these days good enough puzzles and HOPs are totally ruined by a demented story line. O, and, please, make the colours less purple, if you don’t mind!
I don't recommend this game.