kandinsky's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4
- Helpful Votes:3,130
- Reviews Submitted:100
- First Review:November 26, 2014
- Most Recent Review:September 9, 2024
- Featured reviews0
Status:
There’s a secret in Queen Elizabeth’s court, and you must uncover it.
Overall rating
3
/
5
21 of 26 found this review helpful
Francis Drake here interchangable with a Cat or Elf.
PostedJune 26, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Current Favorite:
Black Viper: Sophia's Fate
(40)Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
As I played along , driven by that obsessive compulsive side which keeps me going in these games when interest and pleasure fail, and mine sank with the opening seen and the little boy shooting out the window abducted by a black cloud(not again!)-- but as I played along I noticed that everything my hleper "Sir Francis Drake" does and says could be done by a large muscular cat or elf, since the character does not remind of an Elizabethan adventurer and captain really anymore than of one those. I am thinking some players have more easily attached their imagination to his dashing appearance and let that imagination make good the character. Anyway what for some reviewers is a particular charm of the game was for me a tiresome silliness.
There is a bit of a revelation at the end which I saw coming and met with a sigh when it was pronounced...
The game is state of the art in its puzzles and hogs but lacking the pull of story or character can be drudgery nonetheless.
The story ends with reference to something that will be remembered "for a hundred years". I doubt this game will be but make your own judgement, I will withhold recommendation one way or the other but this review just to warn that if it can be a wonderful game if your imagination fits what it has to offer , it can be a tiresome task if like me it is not to your fancy.
There is a bit of a revelation at the end which I saw coming and met with a sigh when it was pronounced...
The game is state of the art in its puzzles and hogs but lacking the pull of story or character can be drudgery nonetheless.
The story ends with reference to something that will be remembered "for a hundred years". I doubt this game will be but make your own judgement, I will withhold recommendation one way or the other but this review just to warn that if it can be a wonderful game if your imagination fits what it has to offer , it can be a tiresome task if like me it is not to your fancy.
For adventurer Helen Stone, the biggest adventure is yet to come!
Overall rating
5
/
5
10 of 10 found this review helpful
An Adventure worth sharing.
PostedJune 22, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Current Favorite:
Black Viper: Sophia's Fate
(40)Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I had fun with this and bet you may too. There is,as you go along, a lot of back and forth which the map helps with but does not fully eliminate since it wont take you to places you haven't.been.
But maybe think of that as being the work of adventuring shared with the character who certainly gets quite a tour ranging from the jungle to under the sea to above the clouds. The puzzles are mostly not hard, and if hard one can skip, and the hint system works just fine, so a little exertion in going back and forth is not terrible I think.
The character Helen is not filled out in any way although we are told her journey is one of self discovery, any discoveries she makes she keeps to herself... but then Black Rainbow is not in the business of inner revelation.
What it does offer is an adventure like one of those old cliff-hanger serials with a lot of wondrous settings for the child in us and that is something to be grateful for. Lend your imagination to this world for a bit and you will not be disappointed!
But maybe think of that as being the work of adventuring shared with the character who certainly gets quite a tour ranging from the jungle to under the sea to above the clouds. The puzzles are mostly not hard, and if hard one can skip, and the hint system works just fine, so a little exertion in going back and forth is not terrible I think.
The character Helen is not filled out in any way although we are told her journey is one of self discovery, any discoveries she makes she keeps to herself... but then Black Rainbow is not in the business of inner revelation.
What it does offer is an adventure like one of those old cliff-hanger serials with a lot of wondrous settings for the child in us and that is something to be grateful for. Lend your imagination to this world for a bit and you will not be disappointed!
I recommend this game!
Black Viper: Sophia's Fate
Cop by day, formidable thief by night: Sophia, aka Black Viper, is a young woman leading a double life.
Overall rating
5
/
5
54 of 58 found this review helpful
A Game Like No Other I Know
PostedJune 16, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This is an exasperating game. Other reviewers have covered that pretty well but the hint system is strange and not sufficient--I needed help more than once from walk-through videos and the forums-- and the hidden objects were sometimes small and hardly findable if others were quite fun to find.
The character of Sophia is a comic book type character but two things about that: first she reminds of Modesty Blaise a waif who grows up to be a sort of decent underworld leader and then into service of the British Secret Service and is the hero of a series of novels and of a long running comic strip. She is a formidable character and a sort of immortal maybe...So Sophia relates to a first rate comic book.
But secondly compare her to the characters in hidden object games (HOPAS if you will) and Ill bet you find her far more fully and deeply realized and real than almost all of the cardboard figures in the games from the major developers.
Sophia/Black Viper has attitude and and the awareness that she only partly understands herself and her life. What she finds may leave as many questions as it answers, and the answers in comic book terms to be sure, but that they are raised goes towards the specialness of this game it seems to me.
Sophia/Black Viper has attitude and and the awareness that she only partly understands herself and her life. What she finds may leave as many questions as it answers, and the answers in comic book terms to be sure, but that they are raised goes towards the specialness of this game it seems to me.
The settings also have a certain classiness and care in their visualization which is uncommon in these games.
I think a lot of players would enjoy this game if they let themselves get into it and I hope the developer will not be discouraged from making further games as this one really seems to me a gift of something new and fresh to the genre.
I ask myself if five stars are a stretch , am I overrating it to balance a little the other reviews? But then I think of the sort of cookie cutter games ,slick but absolutely forgettable, that we get week after week and ... five stars is right. Try it and see!
I ask myself if five stars are a stretch , am I overrating it to balance a little the other reviews? But then I think of the sort of cookie cutter games ,slick but absolutely forgettable, that we get week after week and ... five stars is right. Try it and see!
I recommend this game!
A series of shocking – and otherworldly – murders has struck New York City, and you're the only one who can solve them!
Overall rating
3
/
5
18 of 19 found this review helpful
Falls Short
PostedJune 8, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Current Favorite:
Journey: The Heart of Gaia
(83)Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
The first New York Mysteries was quirky but innovative and somehow refreshing, I hoped for as much from this one. For something like the way the second Cadenza built on the first.
You may enjoy it very much and Im glad if you do for sure but here's where it falls short for me.
SETTING. The developers research on New York of whatever period this game is seems limited to a couple of good photos of Central Park. And the opening sweep into the park is the best graphic far and away of the game. The impression of China Town is laughable and for the rest it is mostly one room interior after another.
PLOT. for me not very interesting but let me point up something particular. I like fantasy and science fiction, but as children like a fantasy that holds up to their best thought on the details, so with me I want something believable at least by a stretch and the parallel subway system of the Order is in no way imaginable to me. There are problems in the plot itself but cant discuss really without spoilers so will not.
CHARACTERS. Cardboard at best.
GAME PLAY. The silhouette hidden object scenes were sort of innovative when the first game came out. Now offered without any variation one after another they leave me thinking 'here we go again' when their sparkles appear. The puzzles are mostly pretty easy but not especially fun.
You may enjoy it very much and Im glad if you do for sure but here's where it falls short for me.
SETTING. The developers research on New York of whatever period this game is seems limited to a couple of good photos of Central Park. And the opening sweep into the park is the best graphic far and away of the game. The impression of China Town is laughable and for the rest it is mostly one room interior after another.
PLOT. for me not very interesting but let me point up something particular. I like fantasy and science fiction, but as children like a fantasy that holds up to their best thought on the details, so with me I want something believable at least by a stretch and the parallel subway system of the Order is in no way imaginable to me. There are problems in the plot itself but cant discuss really without spoilers so will not.
CHARACTERS. Cardboard at best.
GAME PLAY. The silhouette hidden object scenes were sort of innovative when the first game came out. Now offered without any variation one after another they leave me thinking 'here we go again' when their sparkles appear. The puzzles are mostly pretty easy but not especially fun.
Cant mark it too low I guess,it makes the time pass although not all that much time ,seemed rather brief, but for the above reasons I do not see how I can recommend it.
I don't recommend this game.
Match your way through thousands of levels as you solve puzzles and explore colorful cities around the globe. LET'S GO GUMMY!®
Overall rating
5
/
5
759 of 901 found this review helpful
A "Free" Game Worth Playing!
PostedJune 2, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This is a delightful match Match 3 game with many touches that give it variety of play and with just a pleasant degree of difficulty so far. I have played just 21 levels of Sydney but that is enough for me to say that I am glad to have downloaded this game and have gotten 5 stars worth of enjoyment from it.
Now I understand, and if you take this game on you should too , that as we go along we will come to a point where money will be necessary to go further and ,if it is like other 'Free' games before long a good deal more than is involved in a game purchased up front. However at that point I think I will be able to set the game aside without the sense of ruefulness other such games can give in leaving them because this game does not start one on a quest through mortal dangers to set terrible imaginary wrongs right or anything of that sort at all...it is a sunlight journey in bright lands and as other reviewers have said a lot of fun too.
For this reason I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Now I understand, and if you take this game on you should too , that as we go along we will come to a point where money will be necessary to go further and ,if it is like other 'Free' games before long a good deal more than is involved in a game purchased up front. However at that point I think I will be able to set the game aside without the sense of ruefulness other such games can give in leaving them because this game does not start one on a quest through mortal dangers to set terrible imaginary wrongs right or anything of that sort at all...it is a sunlight journey in bright lands and as other reviewers have said a lot of fun too.
For this reason I recommend it wholeheartedly.
I recommend this game!
Journey: The Heart of Gaia
After being kidnapped, Liz must free the Underworld from the tyranny of Scartaris Umbra.
Overall rating
5
/
5
11 of 11 found this review helpful
An Unfading Classic and Fantastic Journey
PostedMay 21, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley and in awe of this game.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This is a late review and so one thing I can tell you is that the game works as beautifully in 2015 as it did in 2012 when it came out.
The world within the Earth is realized in beautiful fantasy art and also thought out and put together in an amazing exercise of world-building for the genre of adventure games.
The puzzles are fun , the path is long (I logged 6 hours and 35 minutes to the end) ,the characters come together and make a wonderful team(somewhat like that of Dorothy and her companions on the road to the emerald city ) with skills complementing each other and at points used together.
Within its form, of fantasy adventure, I would say this is an almost perfect game and am so glad I found it and think you will be too when you start this journey.
The world within the Earth is realized in beautiful fantasy art and also thought out and put together in an amazing exercise of world-building for the genre of adventure games.
The puzzles are fun , the path is long (I logged 6 hours and 35 minutes to the end) ,the characters come together and make a wonderful team(somewhat like that of Dorothy and her companions on the road to the emerald city ) with skills complementing each other and at points used together.
Within its form, of fantasy adventure, I would say this is an almost perfect game and am so glad I found it and think you will be too when you start this journey.
I recommend this game!
Your daughter's lost in the Maze of Fears, but you'll face more than her disappearance if you dare to enter.
Overall rating
2
/
5
17 of 19 found this review helpful
Why I Disliked Twelve Fears
PostedMay 15, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
I disliked this game and am asking myself why?
It is certainly a playable longish game for the detail oriented lover of puzzles and games.
With twelve repetitive sections it is tiresome and a bit of glitzy yet boring misfire for others.
It is certainly a playable longish game for the detail oriented lover of puzzles and games.
With twelve repetitive sections it is tiresome and a bit of glitzy yet boring misfire for others.
But what I think is at the root of my dislike is the way the theme is handled. We are given a number of banal adages about fear , (we are spared some. "I will not fear for fear is the mind killer" is not included but then neither is the possibly more profound "perfect love casts out fear." ) but in the end each of all these fears is overcome by recharging an amulet to dispel it and by the usual finding and assemblage of all sorts of things.
We run through the too long series of fears ,toned down so that those with phobias can probably play this game without too much concern, and come at last to death which really is at the root of about all our fear... but we hurry past death with an amulet and a mini-game and then the game is over.
The bonus content includes photos of the developers visiting an American amusement park.
I suppose on any subject authors give what they have, on this subject it seems these authors have little to offer to give substance to what is otherwise a bright colored but tiresome game.
I don't recommend this game.
Thieves have stolen Charon's most powerful artifact: watches that can stop time. Now only you stand in their way.
Overall rating
3
/
5
13 of 15 found this review helpful
OFF TRACK
PostedMay 12, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
If you were going to arrest someone armed with time manipulating devices would you just walk up behind them and put a hand on their shoulder? This is the strategy of Charon's agent Daniel who fortunately has a marginally brighter wife to rescue him. Actually at one point she does the same thing but gets off easy since the bad guys in effect say "whatever" and leave her with chronometer (the time manipulating device) and all other inventory. That is hardly a spoiler since the good girl almost always gets captured once and escapes using a paper clip or a metal fish ornament or something...
There are other problems with the plot which it would be tiresome and also really involve some spoiling to raise and maybe one or another could be rationalized but the thing I want to say is that giving some serious thought to a plot is not rocket science and really needs doing especially in a game which is as plot driven as this one.
There are things to like, for me I do like trains and Charon has a certain style ...but he needs to get a better writer. He was let down by his writer in the first game too when he was scripted to demand Daniel do certain things if he wanted his wife back, something as good if mysterious a character as he would never have done.
There are other problems with the plot which it would be tiresome and also really involve some spoiling to raise and maybe one or another could be rationalized but the thing I want to say is that giving some serious thought to a plot is not rocket science and really needs doing especially in a game which is as plot driven as this one.
There are things to like, for me I do like trains and Charon has a certain style ...but he needs to get a better writer. He was let down by his writer in the first game too when he was scripted to demand Daniel do certain things if he wanted his wife back, something as good if mysterious a character as he would never have done.
And the puzzling thing to me is that the Dangerous Games series from the same developer is very well plotted as well as crafted.
Well hoping for better , and as to recommendation... will not give one either way. It is as good as many games so play it if you need a game, but alas it is not a very good game.
Enter the role of Eve Glover, one of the best CCPP's agents, sent to investigate the lack of radio communication from your scientific team on Iceland, researching harmonium radiation.
Overall rating
2
/
5
20 of 21 found this review helpful
Intricate lock on door but nothing inside.
PostedMay 2, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Seems I may be the first to give a two to this game. You may enjoy it immensely and I hope you do, these games are for fun and the more we have the better.
But I'll tell you how it seemed to me. First from a developer with a lot of expertise we expect a lot. I wish this one would retool a little and put some further effort into plot. This was another predictable running battle through a number of portals with a card board villain. Come to that the player's character too is but a firmer piece of cardboard. Two characters apparently are tortured, one to death though the other none the worse for wear (is torture necessary in a comic book type story?). It seems New York is being severely damaged by 'anomalies' and seems to have been evacuated. Certainly it does not look much like the New York I know and was born in but I guess anomalies will do that.
The HOs are fun enough but nothing new, the puzzles easy.
The graphics bright. The story ridiculous and the characters are but counters on a board with no development...
But I'll tell you how it seemed to me. First from a developer with a lot of expertise we expect a lot. I wish this one would retool a little and put some further effort into plot. This was another predictable running battle through a number of portals with a card board villain. Come to that the player's character too is but a firmer piece of cardboard. Two characters apparently are tortured, one to death though the other none the worse for wear (is torture necessary in a comic book type story?). It seems New York is being severely damaged by 'anomalies' and seems to have been evacuated. Certainly it does not look much like the New York I know and was born in but I guess anomalies will do that.
The HOs are fun enough but nothing new, the puzzles easy.
The graphics bright. The story ridiculous and the characters are but counters on a board with no development...
To go forward I think this genre needs to explore the world of story and that of character. The people at this developer have the wit to do this better than they have in this game.
*to add one pet peeve. I am SO tired of their lead in to logo of the guy in the black bathrobe making a mysterious gesture etc.
But all in all this is a fancy box which is empty, or a door to an empty room... a time spender (I dont say waster because sometimes a person needs to spend time and is grateful for such a game). I hope for better.
*to add one pet peeve. I am SO tired of their lead in to logo of the guy in the black bathrobe making a mysterious gesture etc.
But all in all this is a fancy box which is empty, or a door to an empty room... a time spender (I dont say waster because sometimes a person needs to spend time and is grateful for such a game). I hope for better.
I don't recommend this game.
Venture beyond time and space in this classic adventure game that will take you out of this world!
Overall rating
5
/
5
37 of 39 found this review helpful
The Intangibles make it a Five for me.
PostedApril 29, 2015
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley. and straying off the beaten path of puzzle adventures.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
As others say it is indeed not one of the slick new hidden object games that come out from Big Fish and that we enjoy,some more than others of course. But I am grateful that Big Fish allows us to have this adventure(or "casual adventure") game from a small team of developers who are ready to give us something different.
The simple graphics and also the large amount of text make us feel in a different way and for me a no less pleasurable way and I would say a more imaginative way then when working with one of the slickly produced and packaged games. Perhaps this sort of game can even have at least a niche market in the future and there will be those who rejoice if Big Fish will continue to be open to such...
Beyond that I would point up the conclusion with some words in a letter which seem in their simple ,well even sentimental, humanity to shine a light on what is missing in the conclusions of so many of the slick games in which the player has saved the universe with the aide of a large woodchuck or something...
The play itself has moments when a walk through would ease the way maybe but if the player is alert to the use of inventory and of the objects in place ,it will go well.
So give it a try ...it is not for everyone but maybe if it is for you ,you will know who you are and give it a try!
I recommend this game!