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:
Return to Rosemount to stop the Ice Queen in this updated classic!
Overall rating
5
/
5
17 of 18 found this review helpful
Won Me Over
PostedMay 18, 2020
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
4
/
5
This one won me over. There is the obvious objection that people who paid for the original are now required to pay again for the "remastered" version, and so the question is, would it be worth it? That's an awfully strong wind to try to walk against, and much to my surprise the answer to me seemed to be yes, this one is that much better. Player character is occupied with recovering her lover Edward from the clutches of the Ice Queen, an endeavor that takes us through a fantasy world that seems familiar, but frankly much more colorful and detailed than before.
Pros: Graphics are a major improvement, very good voice acting, atmosphere, especially the music, is immersive. Plot is straightforward but includes enough side characters and plots to keep interest level high. Game mechanics good and it's weighted more toward HO scenes than mini-games, which are on the whole good enough to stand on their own. Plenty of game play - that much is reminiscent of the Good Old Days of 2012 - and bonus ice squirrels that are absurdly addicting.
Cons: Both main and bonus game are inconclusive, the former so much so that SE players may feel a bit cheated, and both of them pointing clearly toward some sort of sequel. Our love Edward hasn't really much of a function but damsel-in-distress in reverse and strikes me as a bit of a dim bulb not entirely worth the trouble, but such is love.
Bonus game: It's actually the coda to the main game. Edward is still enchanted and must be freed by an additional round of daring-do. A couple of good puzzles in this one.
Overall, I stated that yes, this one is that much better, and it was, but I certainly wouldn't want this to become a new direction, new lamps for old, because all of them cannot and won't be. This time, though, the eight years between have accorded us a startling improvement in graphics and smoothness of play. For me that and the length of the game tipped it into the five-star category.
I recommend this game!
When Leitan Keyes, a famous inventor, finishes his latest invention a sudden visit from the future will shatter his world.
Overall rating
5
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Terrific SF Atmosphere
PostedApril 28, 2020
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
4
/
5
This one was certainly a surprise. Coming from an unprepossessing opening into an SF thriller the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time, I found myself sucked in and enjoying every minute of it.
Pros: Colorful graphics with a cool blue tint, very atmospheric music and surroundings, and many challenging and original puzzles, some of which are sequential after the old MCF pattern I just love. Story line had a couple of nice twists and the main characters were nicely developed. HO scenes incorporated morphing objects in an innovative way. Nice pacing, smooth game play, excellent production values throughout.
Cons: A small thing really, but persistently missing articles in the text and the dialogue made it sound like a story told to you by a Russian friend, which perhaps it was. "Is missing articles in sentence" or something like that. Sure isn't much to complain about.
Bonus Game: The villain, as all proper cyber villains should, has a backup that the player must eradicate. Some nice puzzles in this one too.
Overall, a wonderful change of pace. We just don't seem to get enough SF games these days, especially not ones with this much imagination and attention to detail. Full marks to the Devs for this one and I'll be looking forward to their next effort.
I recommend this game!
Can you live up to your family’s legacy in time?
Overall rating
4
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Pleasant Play
PostedApril 14, 2020
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
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Quite a pleasant game, really. The Nevertales franchise has left us playing as a grandson fated to follow his grandmother's footsteps into a land created by the human imagination, threatened by a figure we meet in the game's beginning cut scene and nicely revealed toward the end. The mood of the game is augmented by some particularly nice music that is serene rather than threatening. The plot and the internal monologue tend toward the saccharine in places but there are some interesting secondary characters and a combination of quest and damsel-in-distress tropes keep the thing flowing. Some good mini-games in this one.
Pros: colorful scenery, wonderful atmosphere. Ethereal music and some excellent voice acting, particularly on the part of one Jonathon Cooke, who presents us with a tough-guy miner and a Shaman with an accent you'll love to hear. Male POV with a female foil who spends nearly as much time getting our hero out of a jam as he does getting her out. Plot resolution is anticlimactic but is picked up beautifully in the Bonus Game.
Cons: dialogue is a little over-earnest in places and we occasionally cringe at the player character's naivete. Plot could have used a couple of twists to keep interest up and make up for the occasional triteness of the characters, but the villain's motivation (although belatedly revealed) is much better than most.
Bonus Game: this one is really good from a plot perspective. We find out that our reservations about the villain at the end were justified and now that we're walking a mile in his shoes it offers a nice rounding out of the overall plot. Final puzzle in this is delightfully frustrating.
Overall, not the strongest entry in the franchise but a colorful, melodious ride through some lovely scenery. Plenty of play and a generally relaxing atmosphere, a nice thing to sit down in front of with a fire going and a nice cup of tea. I enjoyed it a lot.
I recommend this game!
A recent expedition uncovered unique, priceless artifacts, but at what cost?
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 8 found this review helpful
Every Body Loves Some Body
PostedMarch 28, 2020
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
A lot of fun in this one for some unusual reasons. We play as Rick Rogers, the greatest paranormal detective in the business and if you don't believe that he'll tell you so, you don't even have to ask. Of course, every time he does, he gets his comeuppance, which is part of the fun of the game. Full marks for creative writing in this one with twists that make it much less predictable than the average straightforward quest game. At times it's a real - ahem - out of body experience. We have a particularly strong supporting cast and voice acting that is up to the challenge.
Pros: generous game length, plenty of puzzles and HO scenes, excellent graphics. A twisty mystery plot that has our hero alternately aided and betrayed by nearly everyone. Rick prevails, of course, or does he? Great art and immersive music.
Cons: the main plot twist either works or it doesn't for the individual player's tastes. No spoilers, but it's really nicely pulled off by the voice acting. If you can't laugh at Rick you'll probably end up hating him.
Bonus game: more generous game length, we get to play as Rachel here, whose ambiguous motivations and ambition come through very well. More great graphics and puzzles. It may be that we'll be seeing more of Rachel...
Overall, a whole lot of fun. One gets the impression it was for the writing team as well. I had the privilege of beta-testing this one and the Devs came through with flying colors. Can't wait for the next installment.
I recommend this game!
Can you catch a magical culprit behind a string of strange robberies?
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 7 found this review helpful
Light And Easy
PostedMarch 20, 2020
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
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
A seasonal game that is accessible to beginning players. We play as The Detective, tasked with figuring out certain kidnappings performed by what appear to be Banshees, although these don't screech very much. It unwraps to ancient family histories and fortunes in gold. Puzzles are quite easy and violence level is very low, making it attractive for family play.
Pros: beautiful graphics, especially in the Dublin street scenes. Straightforward plot punctuated by frequent summations in which we are brought up to date on the plot developments we may have missed in the interim.
Cons: plot requires a suspension of disbelief approaching stratospheric levels, but it probably wasn't intended to be taken very seriously. But we are, after all, talking about a kidnapping ring underneath it all so maybe not quite seriously enough. Character development of the villain is late and perfunctory, obviously an afterthought. One suspects that no actual Irish people were involved in the voice acting.
Bonus Game: more of the same, really. Adequate game play, forgettable plot.
Overall, the easy puzzles and period atmosphere help to make up for the improbability of the thing. Definitely best for beginning or intermediate players as there's little in it to challenge the advanced ones. Still, game play was smooth and graphically and atmospherically it was a fun romp through a fantasy Dublin.
I recommend this game!
Could you survive a deadly game where your opponent knew your secrets?
Overall rating
4
/
5
8 of 11 found this review helpful
Nice But Short
PostedMarch 8, 2020
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
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
A welcome break from the spate of cartoonish Time Management games that has been our fare of late. This one has up-to-date graphics, plenty of HO scenes, and only a few fairly easy puzzles. We play a male POV with a female partner and a somewhat gadgety mind-reading superpower, the result of a youthful dabbling in scientific experimentation (and the only real explanation for the reference to rats in the beginning of the game). He/we are now a police psychologist teamed with a tough wise-cracking detective, trying to track down a not-so-mysterious villain with a penchant for elaborate traps.
Pros: Gorgeous graphics, colorful and nicely rendered, which accompanied by immersive music and environmental sounds make for terrific atmosphere. Very HO oriented for those who like that. Adequate to good voice acting, good game mechanics, very good production values. A female partner with character who isn't simply window dressing or a Damsel In Distress (bud, take my advice, when your partner says "shoot the bad guy", shoot the bad guy, don't talk).
Cons: Weak writing. The plot is straightforward but not very well timed - we learn who the villain is nearly immediately, which makes us wonder why the silly rat mask? The villain is unmemorable and rather weak, and inexplicably finds that he can succeed at whatever his objective is - we never do find out exactly - with a Rube Goldberg contrivance instead of the player character's blood. That's quite a leap in a very short game. Player character has far too much redundant internal monologue.
Bonus game: A straighforward rescue of two experimental subjects who have been abandoned to die. A couple of excellent puzzles. As the main game, rather short.
Overall, one is so overjoyed to see a decent mystery game at last that a lot of foibles may be forgiven, and the graphics and the atmosphere are very enjoyable. One star off for short game length and poor writing, but a very promising first entry to what looks like an interesting series.
I recommend this game!
A vacation to India becomes a legendary adventure in the animal kingdom!
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Welcome To Colorful India
PostedJanuary 10, 2020
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
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Now and then a developer has to take a chance on something different or get trapped into a cookie-cutter rut. This one was such a chance and it came home with flying colors. And what colors! We play as a Seeker whose loving sister has sent him off on a "vacation", and you know how that sort of thing tends to work out. He should probably have let the monkey keep the watch.
Pros: We're in India for one thing, which is a plus all by itself given the rich traditions of that country's culture. The scenery is spectacular with colors that blast off the screen and a generally exotic atmosphere. The plot is episodic with a couple of clever twists. Excellent production values.
Cons: It's talking animals who have learned to live in harmony, which makes one wonder what most of the principal characters eat. Not quite Disney, thank heaven, but a little cloying, especially when a tiger or snake or panther is lecturing us on how humans messed up their ideal world. I'll just bet it was. Perhaps a little too much exposition along those occasionally moralistic lines, but the game does keep moving.
Bonus Game: Here we play as Princess Manu, daughter of two Seekers and the sole hope to save the world from a resurrected mammoth with a Cockney accent. Lots of potions and tea-making in this one and a few excellent puzzles.
Overall, much of the same old game processes in a fresh and colorful world, well written and well worth playing. The environment is worth the stay.
I recommend this game!
Can you save your friend and escape from Acorn Hospital in time?
Overall rating
5
/
5
11 of 13 found this review helpful
Choices, Choices
PostedNovember 15, 2019
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
There are games that are too linear - simply plod, scene to scene, challenge to challenge, until you get through. This definitely isn't one of those! Here you have a few crossroads to contemplate, choices to make that definitely affect the solution path, but which is correct? I'd recommend taking notes on which choices the player makes, because we might just be back that way on a replay. This alone gives the game unusual value.
Pros: Excellent plot, slow reveals that we have to earn. Some challenging puzzles, adequate to very good voice acting, and a couple of memorable ancillary characters. And, of course, the options - one of these leads only to having to solve the puzzle over again in reverse, others to major shifts in game strategy, and the player doesn't know the consequences until after the commit button is pressed.
Cons: Plot is just convoluted enough to make play over several sessions challenging - here the journal is invaluable. I'm not sure anyone playing the SE can completely get the plot since some of it is not completely explained until the Bonus Game.
Bonus Game: Superb. It is actually a prequel but one that makes the dilemmas of the main game's characters make sense at last. A couple of nice puzzles, and adds enough play to make the CE a good purchase.
Overall, a rather innovative game with a high replay value. I'd love to see more of this approach.
I recommend this game!
Four friends are pulled inside a movie where the special effects are all too real!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
Spooky Fun But Very Easy
PostedOctober 13, 2019
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
2
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This one is a tribute to 80's teen slasher movies (disclaimer: no teenagers were slashed in the production of this game) and manages to pick up quite a few of the time-worn tropes just for fun: the spooky high school, the spooky house, the spooky summer camp. A very mild jump-scare or two and nearly no actual violence are what we get, making this more tongue-in-cheek than horror. It's a very easy game more suitable for beginning or intermediate players than dedicated gamers. We play as Ellie, determined to rescue her three best friends after they have been sucked into a haunted videotape by Evil Forces, which for some reason none of the adults believed when she told them two years prior. It sounds perfectly plausible to me. Each of the three others is trapped in a different horror movie and it is up to Ellie to pluck them back to reality.
Pros: some nice colorful graphics, well-constructed Halloweeny atmosphere without being gross, puzzles on the very easy side, and a rather amusing plot that does hang together if you stick around long enough. Spooky ambient music.
Cons: there's really nothing new here, which is in keeping with the retro feel of the game but may bore experienced players. Quite a bit of back and forth, HO scenes pretty much alike. Voice acting occasionally sounds a bit too much like adults trying to sound like teens rather than the real thing.
Bonus game: here we play a costumed Watson against our friend's Holmes as we attempt to track down the cause of our other friends turning into the creatures whose costumes they've donned. Evil school administrators. Who would have guessed?
Overall, a light Halloween romp that's a treat for fans of the old 80's teen horror flicks (and who watched maybe more than we should have). It isn't overly challenging and I don't think it was meant to be. I did think it was a lot of fun.
I recommend this game!
A journey into the mirror world unleashes a powerful villain!
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Just Keeps Getting Better
PostedOctober 2, 2019
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
There aren't a lot of series left whose new entries I'll leap to purchase as soon as I see them advertised, but Darkness and Flame is definitely one of them. The steampunk dystopia is mixed with a little more classic fantasy this time, but it's the same show. We return to our heroine and player POV Alice, who awakens in her room with her Mother (or is she?) assuring her that the events detailed in the first three games were all a dream. Alice and we are skeptical, naturally, and when "her" cat fails to recognize her and when her fellow adventurers turn up as stone statues, we realize that something's definitely up, but what? Surely not...a Gorgon?
Pros: The most beautiful graphics of any game I've played all year, and that's saying something. Lifelike movement, great rendering on the cut scenes, colorful, imaginative - this is one of those games you like to return to just to wander around and admire the artwork. (Which, incidentally, you get to do in the Extras while cleaning up that last collection object, and hurrah! each scene is still available whether you need it or not. Wander and admire.) Coherent plot, excellent puzzles difficult enough to sink one's teeth into. Nice variety of HO scenes, smooth game play, and obviously stellar production values.
Cons: I'm reduced to minor nagging. Certain characters simply pop up for a scene and then vanish altogether - none of them actually matter but it's a little jarring. Alice's voice occasionally has that frequency-pushed chipmunk squeak to it. I did miss the counterpoint of her Uncle Colin, but we learn that he'll be back. The dialogue has been smoothed into fluency, which should be a Pro but I sort of liked the occasional quirkiness of the predecessors. Yes, I'm complaining about an improvement. It has come to that.
Bonus Game: We play in the person of one of Alice's new companions, a learned Doctor who intends to save her old friends from their stony imprisonment. This is a straight-up quest with no major villains or plot complications and it's as beautiful as the main game.
Overall, I'm delighted with this one from beginning to end...or is it? Plainly not, since we leave Alice, poisoned tentacle in hand, racing off to save her very real Uncle Colin from, well, from dark forces. That serves both to clear the board for the bonus game and to tell us that there will be a sequel. And I can't wait! Five stars for this beauty.
I recommend this game!