Love this series and play them all for years. I really enjoyed this site when they showed their respect for their customers with the quality and the quantity of games. Not updating the offerings on the home page, not offering a new game every day and removing the online games was a disappointing choice from the new owners. I miss the community, the many reviews and the forums.
Three long time friends get together every year and this time they visit Hawaii! Join them as they explore exotic locations in this hidden object adventure!
I loved the previous series of Day D:, where you were able to immerse yourself all day in an all encompassing tower game that was quite difficult to do in the time allotted. Strategy was key and I was hoping for the same in this game. Not only is it not a tower game where you shoot the dinos with various weapons, but the graphics are simple and only vaguely similar to the parent games. I do not recommend this game.
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Arcade & Action, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management
Sorry, I can't recommend this game. Beautifully drawn and voiced as it was, there was nothing logical about this game's progression and I was underwhelmed with the magicical menace of the antagonist. Towards the end, her minions made an appearance that was more impressive, but was too little, too late to make a good impression. I felt the entire game was rather abruptly paced. The world building was not fully fleshed out, nor were the protagonists. The hidden objects puzzles were too straight forward and didn't add to the storyline in a logical manner. The next step to take was not intuitive most of the time so I resorted to the hint over and over to find out my next move. Most games, I don't use the hint at all. The heroine solving the mystery just jumped into the game with no real introduction and never had reactions to the strange happenings around her. I never felt like it held together as a complete story or game. I suppose it felt like a good first draft that needed more time to become a fully finished product. The promise wasn't fully delivered.
I own all the games by this developer multiple times a year and rate them as among the best for re-playability. However, I was disappointed to find this game was more akin to Roads of Rome rather than the exquisitely difficult Adelantado trilogy. The only true similarity to Adelantado is in the characters and storyline.
In my opinion, if the time management games by this developer were compared to board games, 4 Aztec Skulls would play more like 'Parcheesi', Roads of Rome would be like 'Clue' and one of the Adelantado Trilogy games would be more like a weekend long game of cutthroat 'Monopoly'.
4 Aztec Skulls is weighted heavily in the gameplay style of the newer Roads of Rome games with only a nod to the Adelantado graphics and storyline. It has 4 levels of difficulty that ranges from easy and to expert, so if you want a clever and attractive mid level time management game, you should find an option to match your desired style of play.
If, like me, you have anticipated an Adelantado IV for years now, you will have to continue waiting. This game is not in the same league. There are no bushes to clear in order to build manufacturing buildings, no refreshing buildings and you have only one area of play per chapter instead of moving between various fields. The caves have only one room and have less than 6 gold amphorae and no secret rooms, levers or jewels. There have been no quests, so far. The careful planning of where, when and how many manufacturing buildings to create is not part of this game. It is overall much simpler and straight forward. I recognize that not everyone wants such an involved game as Adelantado. However, I still enjoyed this game in the normal mode and am looking forward to more challenge when I run through the expert level. I will play 4 Aztec skulls when I have only few hours to spend enjoying a game and save the more uniquely intricate, strategic and resource sensitive Adelantado trilogy games when I want to get lost in a game for days and days.
I am surprised to see a good review of this game. I found it inane and dumbed down from the original great series of games, which I play often. I was truly looking forward to this game, but I found no challenge. I felt removed from the gameplay which was changed into something unrecognizable from the others. There were no decision trees, no divergent paths that were time/resource critical. In some levels of the previous games, there were only a few ways to play it such that you had enough time and enough resources to win gold. It was just bland, boring and generic feeling. The storyline was non engaging as well. Too bad. The Weather Lord series was heretofore in my top 10 of strategy/time management games. Give this one a try, but don't expect anything like the forerunners.
I rarely replay a HOG game if I even buy one, so 3 times is a lot for me to replay most games that aren't strategy. Saw it on the special and had to play it again. It is still fun. Very fun. Not as long as Hero OTKI but still many, many hours and the intricate side quest are just as interesting as the main quest, if not more so. Value per minute is outstanding as well as value in brain expansion when figuring it out for yourself. The hints are just really notes of the amount of torches, boards, mercenaries, etc., that are required for the next step in the main quest, not how to go get them or how to afford them. That is up to you to do, usually by pursuing the side quests. So don't take the hints as literal guide posts, they are just a small part of the game. No hand holding here, thank goodness. If you have never played a quest game or a non linear game, you are in for a treat. Don't worry though, it's pretty self explanatory. If you get lost, just check the forum for tips. The only downside to this game is that it will be hard to go back to the boring HOG and Match 3 games that appear on this site so, so much.
Yes, this is beautifully photographed, as are all this dev's offerings, but there is absolutely no challenge. Most puzzles don't even offer more than 100 pieces and a few only go up to @ 250. You can't see the shape of the puzzle piece clearly and they are a little small. Once you sort the pieces into 4 piles that belong to the same quadrant of the puzzle, it is merely a time waster to snap the colors in order. If that is all you want, to dabble in jigsaw, then this is the one for you. It is easy, no thinking involved, and it will while away about 45 minutes in a pleasant fashion. If you want a brain challenge that will align your alpha waves so that you can relax and wind down, then go to the old jigsaws BFG offers. I am disappointed that no other company's seem to be offering new games of 500+ , enlargeable, clearly defined puzzle pieces with options that change the shape, (squares, stars, animals, etc.) I haven't seen any other kind of jigsaws for at least 4 years. I prefer something that feels like I am literally playing a puzzle on the table without having to make a mess. However, this dev does give you a massive catalog of very beautiful puzzles, which is laudable.
If you want games that are snapped up immediately, even before a trial playing, do as these devs do. Make intricate puzzles that are only incidentally hidden object. The mousetrap type of puzzle, (one action leads to another) with no spoon fed instructions are massively entertaining. The rest of the game is wonderful too, but I buy these games for the super puzzles alone. And these are the only HO games I buy any more. Tower, Jigsaw, Arcade and Time management games are the only worthwhile replayable games for me, but this devs HO are worth the coin.
I recommend this game!
-7points
4of15voted this as helpful.
Subliminal Realms: The Masterpiece Collector's Edition
Albert's worst nightmare becomes reality when a creature from his grim paintings kidnaps his family. What does she want?
Overall rating
4/ 5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Intriguing puzzles, colorful, with an artistic theme.
PostedJuly 12, 2015
nefret22222
fromAustin, TX
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Time Management, Adventure, Strategy, Arcade & Action
It's a long game, which is lovely. I finished the demo with 25 minutes left, rather than an hour. I enjoyed the puzzles quite a bit. Not so difficult but with a little more imagination than usual. Neither the HO puzzles nor the entire strategic part of the game were strictly linear, which was refreshing. The gameplay was clear and the steps needed were logical and mostly necessary to the storyline. If anything, the story moved a little slowly, but I'm looking for imagination, entertainment, value and cleverness in that order when I play a game I might purchase and this hit the marks in an "artistic" manner. I will probably buy it with my monthly free purchase.