timothya's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.3
- Helpful Votes:1,143
- Reviews Submitted:192
- First Review:June 24, 2012
- Most Recent Review:December 27, 2024
- Featured reviews0
Status:
A ski resort high in the mountains hides a dark past!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
MCF Has Set A High Bar
PostedNovember 29, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Now developer GrandMa has picked up the MCF torch, or most of it anyway. We play once again as Master Detective, although the halcyon days of working directly for Her Majesty are sadly behind us. In this entry someone or something has made a party of aristocrats disappear from a deserted ski resort and we are off to locate the missing. Behind it all is that pressing question: is this really a Mystery Case Files game?
Pros: The graphics at least have managed to clear a pretty high bar. The mini-games are outstanding, including three of the Rube Goldberg puzzles that typify this series. Production values are very high indeed - smooth game play, very good voice acting. Length of play in the main game is barely adequate for, one suspects, a reason detailed below. Some nice exteriors give the game a proper brooding atmosphere and the town seems charming but a little too empty - would true skiers really allow a mere murderous bloodthirsty monster to interfere with their vacation fun?
Cons: A couple of small things first: the traditional MCF feel has been lost in the form of the clacky typewriter being silenced and is devoid of any hint of the MCF musical theme. Plot flow is occasionally disjointed and it transitions confusingly from environment to environment with no real explanation - one moment we're in a diving suit in the middle of a wintry lake and the next we're standing on a roof. Must be those randomly appearing portals again. Overall plot is dismayingly villain-was-a-victim cookie-cutter and frankly not up to the rest of the production. We are left with more than a hint of sequel that will fill in the gaping hole in the plot that is how this all came to be in the first place, and a conviction that that's where the rest of the game went.
Bonus Game: A prequel, far too short but a couple of nice mini-games for one's trouble. We play as Katie, one of the three missing skiers, whose attempt to rescue her two cohorts wraps us around to their disappearance and the beginning of the main game.
Extras: We've had some beautiful games this year worth another trip through the art and this game is one of those. You get that chance picking up the morphing objects after the game, so leave a few of them where they lie and return to that scene for a last look.
Four stars for an excellent effort and a game that is a pleasure to play; one off for brevity and the somewhat meandering plot, and the overall impression that what is left over for a sequel belonged in the game we have before us. It certainly isn't up to the bar set by past entries in the series such as the first Dire Grove or the magnificent Return To Ravenhearst, but then not a lot in this genre is. It's still worth the price of purchase.
I recommend this game!
Can you stop a magical artifact from destroying the realms?
Overall rating
5
/
5
10 of 13 found this review helpful
Really Nice
PostedNovember 22, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Some games are so beautiful that it's a crime to play them too fast, hence this overdue review for which I do not apologize. I do thank the other reviewers for encouraging me to take a chance on it - fantasy games aren't really my cup of tea but this one won me over from the first scene. We play as Grace, sent to help her Uncle Bronn to save the universe from - what, really? - a magic Spindle that can crush worlds. It has been disassembled - that never works, don't these people play these games? - and someone sinister is after the pieces. And off with us on the quest!
Pros: Yes, it's gorgeous, not in the glaring purple-and-gold of too many past games but an entire palette of vibrant colors in detailed exteriors and some intricate interiors. Plenty of game play, fairly straightforward narrative with a couple of interesting twists. Great mini-games, although a couple suffer from deficient instructions - better to have to discover the rules yourself than be misled by inaccurate ones. The rest, though are great and pitched about right for an advanced user. Nice diversity of HO scenes, very good to excellent voice acting and not too much of it, and some atmospheric music. In short, the full package.
Cons: Not much to speak of - don't take my grumbling about the mini-game rules too seriously, could have just been taking stupid pills that night. One that could have been a con but really wasn't: Grace has her customary Owl assistant, but its sparing use saves it from being obnoxious to assistant-haters.
Bonus Game: Here our quest is after Tarukan, who turns out to be...well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? I'm still laughing after that discovery. A couple of nice mini-games in this one.
Extras: Collectibles include portal amulet pearls, which I would recommend the player pass on at least once per scene, because in the Extras you can go back and re-tour all the beautiful art looking for them. If that wasn't intended by the Devs it should have been.
Overall, just a lovely effort. Thanks, GrandMa, you've done it again!
I recommend this game!
Only you can end the curse of Bird’s Nest Castle!
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 10 found this review helpful
Puzzles Galore
PostedSeptember 9, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
It's a brother-to-the-rescue game (haven't seen one of those in a while) wherein we play as Alex, brother of the recently married Katrina, a brilliant painter, whose new house - well, a castle, actually, wouldn't it be? - appears to have been the domicile of nobleman with an unpleasant habit of murdering his wives and stacking the bodies in the sinister Blue Room. Other than that it's a perfectly normal castle until ghosts, birds, paintings, and plants begin attacking the inhabitants and Katrina disappears. We're obviously not going to get a decent vacation out of this until we sort the whole thing out and reunite Sis with her new spouse, who actually appears to be a good guy except when he isn't.
Pros: Lots to list here. The graphics are colorful and really gorgeous, decent voice acting, HO scenes are varied and plentiful, but for me three things really stood out: the writing, length of game, and the mini-games. The mystery has plenty of twists, and who has done what to whom turns out to be a bit more elusive than it appears. Reveals are nicely timed right to the very last scene (no spoilers) and keep the narrative from going stale. There's a great deal of play here as the various kinks work themselves out of the plot, and a plethora of mini-games, hoorah! Some are easy, others delightfully challenging and integrated into the plot smoothly enough to avoid killing the flow. That's almost become a lost art and it's nice to see it done well here.
Cons: Very little. I did get stuck in a maze with no way back, the only puzzle I had to skip, which worked fine. At several points there were enough open issues to wonder what to do next, but a glance at the excellent map usually straightened that out.
Bonus Game: We play as Katrina this time. Her highly neurotic but apparently talented son Christian has gotten into the magic paints and painted his own fears. These we must dispel one by one. The writing isn't up to the main game's quality and the plot is almost too straightforward but there are a couple of nice mini-games to make up for it. Not really worthy of the main game, though.
Overall, it's a very solid, visually pleasing, well-written game with enough mini-games to keep the worst puzzle addict busy. Friendly Fox did a great job with this one - five stars from me and applause for all concerned.
I recommend this game!
What is Richard up to? Pursue Anna’s missing father through time!
Overall rating
3
/
5
6 of 6 found this review helpful
Fading Series
PostedAugust 20, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
"Richard is back!" sings the ad copy. Well, no he isn't, not exactly. Still, the attempt to rectify the enormous blunder of writing him out in the first place has given us a corrective that will have to stand on its own merits. The Grim Tales series has gone through soap opera level twists and turns, and quite a lot of us were hoping for the old magic here. That turns out to be a hit-or-miss proposition.
But this entry is carrying a lot of baggage, not to mention appearing at the rather disastrous launch of BFG's "new look". I also experienced the download failures described by other reviewers. Deleting the game and re-downloading it from the My Purchases page did the trick, which page, incidentally has been rendered a shadow of its former useful self by ordering purchases chronologically instead of alphabetically with no apparent other option. Good luck finding that old game you may or may not have purchased in 2014.
The formula of the game is the one we are accustomed to in this series: here Anna is chasing her father who is chasing an artifact for purposes known only to him. As usual she must do her usual time-travel in order to rectify wrongs inflicted on certain of the characters she meets along the way. The objective is to locate the artifact and speak to her father. Her helper is mother Anastasia, available through a task bar locket that lights up when Mom has something to say rather like Dad's skull used to.
So is the game fun to play? And does it advance the meta-narrative?
Pros: Yes, it's fun to play. Interior graphics are nothing to write home about but the exteriors are very good indeed. The Chinese scenes are particularly rich. Nice mix of HO scenes, mini-games sparse in the beginning but plentiful by the end. All three of the subplots are adequately if rather abruptly resolved, but Anna's in a chase here and there isn't time for congratulations.
Cons: Anna's Mom Anastasia Of The Jangling Locket is really just another "here, take this" NPC rather than the clever deus ex machina that Richard was. We have one "medieval" scene graced by a guillotine, which wasn't invented until 1789. Could be why they're having trouble with it. And one major annoyance is carried over from previous entries in the series: game flow is absolutely paralyzed by the constant Task announcements that seem to pop up between every scene in the game. For Pete's sake get on with it! Game's a little buggy - at the near-final scene where Richard is to reveal his motivations at last, I got an access violation and had to re-enter the game, fortunately without losing progress. Sort of a buzz kill there.
Bonus Game: A prequel in which our boy Richard has some speaking lines at least. This is what happened to lead us into the first of the three mystery scenarios, Richard and a player character Detective versus the accurately named Elusive Gang. That whole sequence makes a whole lot more sense if you know how it began, which is unfortunate for SE players, who won't see it.
Overall, this offering is an attempt to put paid on the Richard story arc with a game wrapped around it. Sometimes no meta-narrative at all is better than an inadequate one - no spoilers here, but the end of the game struck me as bit of an anticlimax. Still, for GT fans who were waiting impatiently for some sort of resolution of their favorite character, it's a must purchase. For them, a qualified game recommendation.
I recommend this game!
Awaken in a mysterious castle and solve perplexing puzzles to escape in this remastered classic!
Overall rating
5
/
5
7 of 9 found this review helpful
Worth The Remaster
PostedAugust 12, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
What a beautiful game to remaster! The original was the premier of the Awakened series of some twelve years ago. We play as Princess Sofia, who has awakened and must exit her castle. Simple, right? Only who she is and what she means to the various inhabitants of this fantasy world must be discovered first, and it turns out that's no simple matter at all. We have goblins, for example. Lots of them, and they're a little skeptical that our Princess is what she is; we get their help but we have to prove ourselves worthy of it. And they do love their little challenges.
Pros: Gorgeous graphics, my gracious the art was lovely, detailed and colorful interiors, each scene unique and not blending into the others. Great game length, chock-full of mini-games and HO scenes, dialogue printed but honestly, it doesn't lose a thing for all that. The mini-games integrate well into the game flow and it doesn't seem as if they're forced on us, (in spite of the fact that the goblins are doing exactly that). Player POV has found that sweet spot where we are comfortable playing as Sofia even if we're grumpy old guys; I loved it. At several points I backtracked through the various scenes finding the collectibles but in fact just to revisit the beautiful art.
Cons: Slow start, when we wonder if this is just another silly Magical Princess game intended for the very young. That phase doesn't last very long, though, maybe two scenes, enough time for a tutorial, and then we're into the good stuff.
Bonus Game: Sofia has escaped the castle at last, only to find that Magical Princesses who aren't actually magical have a credibility problem amongst goblins and faeries quite accustomed to magic. So, off to the surrounding area to prove herself once more. No mini-game or HO replays as CE bonuses, alas.
Overall, a rich, lengthy, puzzle-filled game that never once lost my fascination. I didn't play the original but this remastering is a wonderful reminder of what the genre used to be and perhaps - fingers crossed - can be again. Immersive world, great length, plenty of mini-games, more of this, please!
I recommend this game!
You won’t need to call her three times… She’s already here!
Overall rating
5
/
5
5 of 5 found this review helpful
Second Entry In A Great New Series
PostedJuly 9, 2022
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
In this second entry in the City Legends series we are once again a mystery author turned detective, and this time it's to examine the legend of Bloody Mary, that face you do not want to see when you look into a mirror. Reality can be bad enough, but at least that horrible image that is you won't suck you into a mirror world and attempt to eat your soul. Mary, though, perhaps she ought to get a chance to tell her side of the story? And if how she got there casts ripples into your current world, perhaps you should listen.
Pros: A very generous amount of play, several excellent plot twists, good to very good voice acting. Plenty of mini-games best played in the selectable Hard mode, some creative riffs on the classical, some quite original. It is a non-linear game containing several points at which you can't go back to collect things or even to resolve sub-plots, so watch out - if you're warned, there might be a reason. Production values throughout are excellent.
Cons: The authors have fallen into a lazy practice we're seeing too often these days, leaving the exposition of various points of the story to notes written by various characters to no one in particular and under some unlikely circumstances - we have Mary trapped in a burning home, for example, taking time to write down a diary entry before she attempts to escape. Come on, really? And who writes a confession to a crime to no one and stores the note away?
Bonus Game: Lots of play in this one with several really enjoyable mini-games. Unfortunately the plot hearkens back to one of those irritating tropes wherein every character in the game from protagonists to the victim(s) to all the supporting characters is female, and so when the sole male character does finally pop up it isn't difficult to guess who the villain is. That little bit of misandry cost the writers a star. I thought we were over this.
Overall a very solid game, long and complicated enough to make the player work a little and with a resolution that makes sense. I look forward to the next entry in this series very much.
I recommend this game!
Can you take on Goldilocks’ mantel and protect the kingdom?
Overall rating
5
/
5
7 of 8 found this review helpful
The Glory That Was
PostedJune 26, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
It took a remaster to do it, but at last we have a game that recaptures some of the genre's former glory. The traditional story of Goldilocks is continued into something much more interesting than the fairy tale, involving a romance, multiple betrayals, murder, and a changeling son struggling to find out who he really is. In lesser hands that plot could have been ridiculous, but these aren't lesser hands and this one is really good.
Pros: Excellent voice acting, familiar and rather beautiful music, colorful scenery. Plenty of HO scenes, mostly of the silhouette variety with a few more complicated variations thrown in just to keep things interesting. Mini-games are fairly easy with some good ones loaded toward the end of the main game, and one can tell where the remaster kicked in in the graphics, which are quite up to the current state of the art. Clear writing keeps what turns out to be a rather complicated plot involving multiple well-developed characters perfectly accessible. Excellent length of play, a thing that didn't used to be as noteworthy as it's become.
Cons: It's a remaster, so the question is, has enough been added to the original to justify a full price for the new edition? I would tentatively answer yes, but everyone may not agree with that because the original was pretty darn good by itself. That isn't a knock on this specific game so much as on the general idea of remastering classics.
Bonus Game: Our hero now has a beautiful wife and daughter, the latter of whom decides to play a dangerous game with the Alchemist. We are off to rescue the girl! Great game length - heck, it's as good as some main games we get these days - and some great mini-games. Spectacular scenery.
Overall, the game is good enough to evoke an almost melancholy feeling that games used to be this good, so what happened? Can new developers, writers, graphic artists recapture the old magic? If they decide to try, this game might be an excellent template of what went right in the beginning. It's the writing, it's the voice acting, the music, the ambience covering a set of challenges that at least try to seem original. This game could have been warmed-over leftovers like too much of the recent offerings, and it isn't. It's wonderful.
I recommend this game!
Can the twin detectives stop another murderous evil?
Overall rating
2
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Not Up To Its Predecessor
PostedJune 9, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
The first of this series was an engaging game with two sympathetic characters that played well off one another. This is the second. It has none of that going for it. From the moment Domini's new opening lights off - that incredibly annoying voice squealing "That tour was rrrrrilly interesting, don't you think?" - to the moment when the villain is sucked mercifully through a portal to the nether regions, we are bounced back and forth between plot fragments that do not connect, characters we haven't actually met yet, and an entire world in which everything, absolutely everything, is broken. We play alternately as cop Randall and psychic sister Eleanor. Our heroes have been called in to solve a strange case of a Draculoid murder by exsanguination, an intriguing mystery death whose solution is...well, it turns out not to matter because it never comes up again. Fangs a lot.
Pros: lots of play, frequent changes of character to keep us on our toes, and for me the bright spot of the game, some excellent mini-games, quite challenging on Hard mode.
Cons: a disjointed plot whose exposition depends on curious notes by various characters explaining their motives and their actions, but to whom? Does anyone anywhere ever do this? Cliche-ridden puzzles whose solutions make no sense at all but we've seen them all before: within the first several scenes we have a cat to feed, a missing light bulb, crows to frighten, bees to fend off, missing wheels, and the only cliche they missed was a broken zipper pull. There are sundry other animals to feed, inexplicable stashes - come on, why did that lady staple her luggage key into the lobby couch? - a diminutive woman chloroforming a full-grown male policeman, a fellow who can't get into his own wallet - it goes on and on. And on and on. We have a ladder that needs its steps nailed into place next to an open toolbox prominently displaying a hammer that cannot be used, and what is actually required is coaxing a plaster gnome out of his little plaster pickaxe. Does anybody proofread this stuff? And if you weren't annoyed enough already they chose to put a barking dog who won't shut up into the environmental sounds and include a couple of frequency-pushed voices just for good measure.
Bonus game: Eleanor solos this one, and her partner is a very curious lady officer who knows more than she's letting on. Someone has sworn vengeance from beyond the grave, but who and why? A couple of good mini-games in this one and length of play is generous.
Overall, the thing seemed thown together from fragments of other, older games with tedious activities and total lack of plot continuity. As desperate as I am for fresh entertainment, (to the point of shuffling through decade-old releases for ones I haven't played yet, and I bet I'm not alone), this one is like a handful of sand to a thirsty traveller. The good news is that a single clunker does not necessarily kill a good franchise. Better luck next time.
I don't recommend this game.
Time is running out when a killer targets a fellow detective!
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 4 found this review helpful
Good But Short
PostedJune 1, 2022
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Another in one of the better-written mystery series to come along in quite a while. We understand at this point that Detective Dana Strange is a wounded young woman traumatized by the death of her sister, and she has a partner, Malcolm, fortunately spared that sort of loss until now. Solitaire is, after all, a game played by one, and now, due to the death of a Corps brother, Malcolm has a deck of his own. And, apparently, the both of them face an avenger out of control whose sense of justice has been stretched to an illegal extreme.
Pros: the writing, both of this entry and the series as a whole, is excellent. We have, for example, the continuing metaphor of the bees and a slight resolution of who this mystery character than only Dana seems to see really is. The music is outstanding - guitar-accented, gritty and bittersweet. Great atmosphere throughout. Plenty of HO scenes that don't detract from the game flow. Puzzles a little on the easy side.
Cons: it's quite a short game, unfortunately, because there are certain characters (a photographer, for one, who really could be more than a simple deus ex machina), and Malcolm needs quite a bit more development as well - he's no longer a cardboard supporting character, and it was his loss, after all, that gave us the game. Shuffling him to the side at first opportunity meant a lost opportunity for a fuller game.
Bonus Game: quite refreshing - no mayhem in this one, only a clever grandfather who wants his grandson to earn his legacy through puzzle solving. Said grandson cheats a bit by getting Dana's help, but we have to forgive him because there wouldn't be a game without it. Some very nice interiors and a sense of preserved history give us a novel, relaxed atmosphere.
Overall, one star off for brevity. I understand the strictures of real-world turmoil but at times the customer stops wondering where the rest of the story went and that's not a good thing. The meta-story in this series is too good to lose and Dana Strange is too complex a character to fade into blandness. I look forward to the next entry in the series!
I recommend this game!
Can you stop the paranormal from terrorizing an award-winning winery and hotel?
Overall rating
4
/
5
8 of 9 found this review helpful
In Vino Veritas
PostedApril 5, 2022
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Another entry in the sadly diverted Paranormal Files series. Fans who hope to know what happened to the former protagonist Rick Rogers are given a small clue and then it's off to a new adventure. The events take place in the future, in 2034, thirteen years after Rick Rogers' disappearance and once again with the principals attempting to find out what happened to him until they get distracted by another apparently unrelated haunting. New players will be mystified by this reference to Rogers, so I am assuming the game is pitched toward returning players.
It's slow to develop but actually a very good game. We have a winery that is violently haunted, but why? These are definitely vengeful ghosts, and so the investigation turns toward past actions, and past sins. It turns out to be a family feud, but which family is in the right?
Pros: A very nice mystery plot; reveals well-timed. Detailed interior and some beautiful exterior shots, and a couple of pretty challenging mini-games among the majority of easy ones. Above average to excellent voice acting: only one of Rae's team's characters is even halfway developed, but he's very good, although who in the world names their kid "Daemon", anyway?
Cons: Rachel's team really isn't particularly useful except to advance the plot by being rescued from something....again, the contrast with previous entries in the series is unavoidable: Rick was fallible, overconfident, and funny; Rachel is infallible and humorless. Some reviewers have pointed out difficulty in game mechanics; what I saw was unusually small hot zones, particularly in objects you have to assemble. Dialogue is, as other reviewers have noted, done consistently with Rachel/the player facing the others weirdly lined up like a drill sergeant facing recruits in boot camp.
Bonus Game: Here at last we get a genuine clue as to Rick's disposition, which is really unfortunate for players who purchase the Standard Edition. It is, however, only a promise of more information to come. What we actually accomplish here is supply an unexpected bit of closure for the main story. Note to the Devs, who must be city kids: don't feed straw to horses, even ghost horses.
In summation, whoever thought it a good idea to take a successful series, write out the well-developed and entertaining protagonist and place his agency in the hands of Mary Sue and the Four Damsels In Distress made a terrible decision. Let's face the truth: Rick Rogers can't really come back because if he does after 13 years in limbo he won't be Rick Rogers anymore. Whether what is to come will recover his quirky appeal or consign the series to its current mostly bland cast remains to be seen. I'm still dinging the writers for waiting for the Bonus Game to give us the meta-story.
Nevertheless, despite the frustration for old Paranormal Files fans, the game is someone's earnest creative effort and deserves to be judged on its own merits, which are considerable. Give it a chance, it's worth it.
I recommend this game!