dancemom1's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.6
- Helpful Votes:13,287
- Reviews Submitted:871
- First Review:April 15, 2012
- Most Recent Review:November 26, 2024
- Featured reviews0
Status:
A time-traveling killer is taking out the Gray family, one by one.
Overall rating
4
/
5
8 of 19 found this review helpful
Thanks, Dad!
PostedJanuary 25, 2018
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Hello friends! As always, I review on the game play and not the story line, as others do a much better job than I can. Wow, is this really #14 in this series? The graphics in this addition are very well done, very clear, with nice colors, even though sometimes a bit faded. Now and then, you would see a tiny blur, but not enough to be annoying. Game play was excellent, with no problems during the demo and it fit my large screen quite nicely. Animation was very well done, very smooth and realistic. Voice overs were well done, when we had them, which was not often. This game had very little character interaction during the demo, so hopefully it picks up as the game progresses. You can click through the dialog if you read read faster than they speak, without missing any hints or needed information to continue through the game. There wasn't much music either, sort of came in and out. Of course, Dad is back to help you out, but he is not a nuisance and only shows up when really needed. We do travel back a bit into the past, to find out what is happening and why, but I didn't notice any bright blinding lights. The only things that I have to laugh at in this series, is watching the characters constantly breathe while talking...not easy to do.
HOPs are varied and done well. You have matching pairs, interactive lists, and silhouettes. The scenes are very clean and clear and items are not difficult to find. I did not see that you could switch to a different game. Some of the puzzles had some challenge, but mostly in the time it took to complete them. Well done. The SG is the standard, and something I use in case I can't find a collectible. Hint system is very helpful and it does transport you to longer locations. This is very helpful, as you do a lot of jumping from scene to scene in this one for one or two items, and not just backtracking a few steps. The jump map can be used, but is very bland. Transport feature is much faster.
I really like the variation of collectibles. You have morphing objects, that sometime morph quickly and other times are slow, so they are not as easy to catch. We also have 14 character statues that are fairly large and 26 puzzle pieces, which they call "screensaver collection." These are not your standard jigsaw shapes either. Of course, we use these to put together a puzzle, not sure why yet. Guess I have to finish the game to see what happens when I collect them all. The collectibles are not difficult to see, but you do have to remember watch for them.
I really like how this series picks up where the last left off and is continuing through the Gray generations. The story flowed quite well and we had a lot of things to do and look for, so you are constantly on the move. This addition has enough challenge for any level of player and kept me interested and moving from the very beginning. Yes, I am adding this one to my collection of CE games.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
The Kingdoms of Lanceya and Winterhelm are in peril!
Overall rating
4
/
5
11 of 16 found this review helpful
Dang that mirror!
PostedJanuary 19, 2018
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Hello friends! Well, it looks like we have #8 in this series. As always, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story review to others who do a much better job than I. As usual with this developer, the graphics in this addition are exceptional. We still have the blur when going in and out of cut scenes and sometimes in other areas, but mostly very well done. Colors are bright and clear, but not over powering at all. Exceptional animation throughout, very realistic. Game play was excellent, with no problems during the demo. The voices weren't bad, but the fairy was extremely annoying and our Prince sounded rather wimpy. I just feel a Prince should have an accent. They are age appropriate and spoke with some emotion, except for the Prince...his voice was off-putting. As usual, I turn down the music, as I much prefer sound FX. I didn't notice that much music anyway. Sound FX, when we had them, are nicely done.
HOPs are a fun variety of interactive lists, silhouettes, place item in scene, highlighted words, and match picture using the slider bars. Scenes are very clean and clear and items were not difficult to find. Very nice selection, so you don't get bored, but if you do, you can switch to a match 3 game. Puzzles were not difficult, but one did take a little thought to complete. We can still choose between easy and hard for the puzzles and the full game play as well, for those who want more challenge. Hint system is very helpful and it does transport to longer locations, by opening the map and showing you where your next move is going to be. Yep, my favorite map, very clear, areas are well marked and identified, and it shows you which location has a missed collectible. I find the Strategy Guide to be useful if I just can't find that elusive collectible.
Collectibles are extremely well done, with challenge. We need to find 15 various artifacts that are quite small and hard to find in most cases; 48 pink lilies that we use to buy items for the boudoir; 12 chess pieces that are actually game characters, and which are easy to overlook. Nothing really jumps out at you, so be on the look out for them all.
This game flowed very well and was easy to follow, but the story seemed to move slowly. Hopefully this picks up as the game progresses. This story was a bit of a twist on a very old story. I like how we switch characters and play both sides...kept things interesting. It did have some challenge, so it wasn't just a walk through. This is one of my favorite series and it just seems to get better with each game. No, I'm not giving it a 5, it isn't perfect throughout. Because of the blur and the slow story, I gave this one a 4.75. That said, I am going to add this one to my CE list, because I need to see where it goes and I liked it. I think most all levels of players will find this one entertaining and sometimes challenging.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
The contract must be fulfilled, but your girlfriend will pay the price!
Overall rating
3
/
5
4 of 7 found this review helpful
Very disappointing!
PostedJanuary 14, 2018
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Hello friends! Well, I believe we have #5 in this series. I do have all of the others, as this is one of my favorite series. As always, I review mostly on the game play and not the story line, as others do a much better job on that than I. The graphics in this addition are exceptional, very clear, very well done. Colors are very bright and true, but not over powering. Game play was excellent, no problems during the demo and the scene fit my large screen very nicely. The voice overs are very well done, when we have them. I was surprised to see that this game was exceptionally quiet and had little character interaction. Animation is superb, and facial features and movements are also very well done and fit what is being said or done at the time. Sound FX are practically non-existent, and even though I turn the music down, I do not turn it off...I didn't hear anything.
HOPs are a combination of interactive lists, and find and place items in scene. You could switch to a different game that was new, and I found quite boring, if you didn't want to stay with the HOPs. Scenes are clean and clear, and items are not difficult to find. Again, we have morphing items in the HOPs. Not all that easy to spot either. Puzzles were nothing new and I found them quite simple. Hint system is very helpful, but I did not see a transport feature in this one either. You do a lot of back tracking, so a transport would have been very helpful and a big time saver. Jump map is okay, but could be a little cleaner and clearer. I prefer maps that just show the area with a picture and a name and leave the rest out...too messy.
Collectibles are very large cutouts of two people dancing, you can't help but see them. Other than the morphing objects in the HOPs, I didn't see anything else during the demo. Extremely disappointing collectibles.
As I said, this is one of my favorite series, but it just sort of fell off the map this time. Unlike other reviewers, I do not see where this game is worth anywhere near 5 stars. Others in this series had constant action and interaction, where this has nothing. The story is old, moved quite slowly, no challenge and just too quiet. It didn't help that the demo was extremely short either. There was just nothing exciting to me in this addition...so disappointing. I'm sure there will be players who will find this one enjoyable, but I am not one of them. This addition is no where near as good as the previous games in this series. No, it is no buy for me and because of the slow boring story line, I won't get the SE version either. I will give this one a 3 for beginners only.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
A vacation becomes a nightmare as you’re forced into an impossible game.
Overall rating
4
/
5
11 of 14 found this review helpful
Shades of Jumanji!
PostedJanuary 5, 2018
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Hello friends! As always, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story to others, who do a much better job than I. Well, we have #7 in this series...yes, I have them all, but not all as a CE. As always with this developer, the graphics very nice, even with the blur you get going in and out of cut scenes. Wonder why it is so difficult to fix that. Colors are very bright and clear, but not over powering. Game play was excellent, with no problems during the demo and the scenes fit my large screen very well. Animation is excellent when it comes to eye and mouth movements, but the body movement seems a bit stiff, and when a character is suppose to be trying to move a boulder, they just stand and speak to you. Voices are nicely done and are age and character appropriate. Don't know how they are with emotion, as we haven't run across any real emergencies just yet. At least they don't sound like someone is just reading from a script. You can click through the dialog if you read faster than they speak, without missing any of the story line or clues. Music is okay for background noise, as there doesn't seem to be much in the way of sound FX, except for some far off birds. Seems like there should be more, so hopefully it picks up as the game progresses.
HOPs are varied and well done. We have interactive lists, and silhouettes do far. We do have a match 3 if you prefer that over the HOPs. Puzzles were mostly simple, even in the hard mode, but one did take me some time to complete. Didn't see anything different. Hint system is very helpful, but again I didn't see that we have a transport feature. This is okay, since we have my favorite map. When you ask for a hint, the map opens and you just go from there. Each location is clearly identified by picture and location name, and which location has something for you to do, without opening them all and making you guess where to go next. It also identifies where you may have missed a collectible.
Collectibles aren't bad either. We have to find 12 artifacts, which can be very small and easy to miss; 14 fact card that tell us about each character; and 63 gold nuggets that look more like a glob of sap in a tree. These nuggets allow us to buy items for out beach shack. The only challenge was finding everything. They are all easy to miss.
The very first scene screamed Jumanji, so I expected a lot of action. Not so in the demo. The original movie was excellent, but the update, not so much. So far, the story is slow, but from all the other games in this series, I expect this one to pick up shortly. The demo was so short that it was hard to really get a feel for the game, but there really isn't any challenge except to spot the collectibles. You know where this one is going and pretty much how it's going to end, but for some reason, I think I need to play it out. I will put this in my puddle and wait for a great sale, but I will add it to my CE collection. I think this one will appeal to most players, but probably more so to players who have never seen Jumanji. I gave this one a 4.25.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
It's more than your average survival show...
Overall rating
2
/
5
12 of 21 found this review helpful
Slow and boring...
PostedDecember 31, 2017
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story line to others who do a much better job than I. This won't be my usual review, as I found it difficult to push myself through this game. Not sure what happened since the last game in this series, but the graphics in this game are fuzzy in and out of close ups. Colors were a lot of blues and pinks, which are very tiring on the eyes. Game play was very good, with no problems during the demo. Animation was okay, a little choppy now and then. Voices are okay, but seem a bit bland, and we have to choose dialog again! Not a lot of music, which is okay with me. Sound FX were fairly nice when outside or in the bar, but pretty quiet elsewhere. Again, we have supernatural powers, which seemed out of place on occasion.
HOPs are nothing new, we have interactive and straight HOPs. Scenes are fairly clean and items were not difficult to find. I did see that we play the same one more than once. You can switch to a match 3 if you get bored. The puzzles were painfully simple and took no time or though to complete. Hint system is helpful, but we do not have a transport feature in this one. I don't think we did any real long distance back tracking, but we did a lot of running around.
Collectibles are very disappointing. All I found was that we have 72 masks, two in each scene. These are quite large and very easy to spot, so not challenge here. Definitely needed more in this department.
The story line is a little confusing. I know where they were trying to go with this one, but they just didn't make it flow very well. Why is this happening, where does it come from? It's like you were thrown into the middle of a story and now have to figure out the beginning. This game moved much too slowly for me and didn't have enough action or adventure to keep me interested. Personally, I think this game was geared to a young beginner who is just trying to get the feel of this type of game. Even if I don't care for a game, I try to find something positive to say about it, and recommend it to others, but not this time. There is no challenge at all. This is my one truly bad game for the year. Fortunately, tomorrow starts a new year! As I said, I couldn't even make myself finish the demo, which I rarely ever don't do. No, I am not adding this one to my collection, but there may be some who find it to their liking.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may find this one to be just what you are looking for. Thanks for the reviews.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you stop a dark vision from coming true?
Overall rating
3
/
5
18 of 25 found this review helpful
Zzzzzz!
PostedDecember 28, 2017
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story line to others. Well, unless I lost count somewhere along the line, I believe this might be #10 in this series. No, I do not have them all either. The graphics were actually very well done, very clear, with no real noticeable blurring. Game play was quite good and the scenes fit my large screen very well. Animation is really nice and realistic. Voices were not bad. The "bad guy" had quite a sinister voice, but the old man needed to actually sound like an old man. The one thing I really do not care for is the need to "choose" what I want to say. I wish to play a game, not figure out what I'm going to ask next. I haven't seen that it makes a difference which dialog you choose either. Music was the same few notes and got quite annoying very quickly. Sound FX aren't too bad. I did hear some background sounds now and then, but not a lot. Color was much better in this addition, than in previous games in this series, clearer and brighter. Again, we have the annoying "memory sphere" that collects energy to give a ghost enough power to help you out now and then. This really takes the fun out of a game for me. Be aware that when you are in the "dream" mode, there are bright lights. Fortunately, not often.
HOPs were a combination of interactive lists and silhouettes. The scenes were fairly clear and items were not difficult to find. Puzzles weren't all that challenging, but did take a little time to complete. None were really hard to figure out. The hint system is quite helpful, but there is no transport feature on this game. We do have a jump map, but it is very bland and only useful if you want to jump to a different location, assuming you know where you need to go. SG is the same and does show you where collectibles are hidden.
Collectibles were disappointing. I accidentally found out that I collected coins to buy items that help me progress through the game. Again, we find skulls, which are plenty large enough to see, do don't worry about missing any. This game definitely needs more in this department.
As with the last game in this series, I do not feel this game is CE worthy. The story was the same old boring line and moved too slowly for me. It was an okay game for a beginner, but it didn't have anything exciting to keep me interested and wanting more. Again, the lack of collectibles, choosing dialog and the boring sphere are the reasons I downgrade this game. I will recommend this one for beginners, but I don't feel a seasoned gamer would care much for this one. I'm sure there will be those who find this one fun, but it isn't for me, so no buy.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may find this one to be exactly what you are looking for. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
Can you and your friends escape what’s lurking in the mist?
Overall rating
3
/
5
5 of 9 found this review helpful
For beginners only...
PostedDecember 28, 2017
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and not the story line, as others do a much better job of that than I. I believe this makes #10 in this series. Graphics are very well done, but we still have a little blur in the close up scenes. Why can't these devs fix this? Very nice clear colors. Game play was very nice, with no glitches during the demo. I found the animation to be somewhat stiff, especially since their legs just don't seem to move. They just sort of float across the screen. We did have mouth and facial movements. Voices, although few and far between, are well done, with some fear, urgency, etc. You can click through dialog if you read faster than they speak, without losing any part of the story, or any helpful information. The sound FX are very well done and realistic, with mostly great storm sounds. Music is fairly quiet in this one too, which I like.
HOPs are nicely done, with a variation of interactive lists, morphing objects and matching symbols. Scenes are a little cluttered, but items are not difficult to find. You can switch to a match 3 if you prefer. Puzzles are okay, but not really challenging. So far, I haven't had to use much brain power to complete them, maybe they pick up as the game progresses. The hint system is sometimes helpful, except when it says "I suppose I better move along." How annoying is that! I want a hint, give me one. Fortunately, we do have the transport feature in this game. The map is okay, but I rarely use it when I have the transport. Strategy guide is the usual and is very easy to follow.
Collectibles were a disappointment. All I found is signs, 30 of them, all sort of look like a DNA chain. These symbols are not as easy to see as you think. They are quite small in most cases and blended into background colors.
The story started out great and looked to be quite interesting, but it didn't take long for it to start running down hill. It moved very slowly, plus the demo was very short. Makes it hard to really get a feel for a game. This dev pops these games out very quickly. The first few games in this series were quite good, but maybe they should slow things down a bit and put a little time and thought into their story before they send out the next one. This game isn't challenging at all and the story became boring very quickly. I seldom do not recommend a game, even if I don't care for it. I try to find something good about it, so here it is...I think this game is geared more toward the true beginner and not a seasoned gamer, so I will recommend it for the beginner. I actually gave this one only a 3. I'm sure there are those who will find this one enjoyable, but I am not one of them. No, I will not be adding this one to my collection.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
Can you save the holidays before it’s too late?
Overall rating
4
/
5
6 of 8 found this review helpful
New take on an old story...
PostedDecember 20, 2017
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story line to others who do a much better job than I. We have yet another Christmas story...sort of. The colors are beautiful and true. Graphics, for the most part, are quite good. The only problem is the extreme blur when going in and out of cut scenes, not a game changer in this one, but sometimes quite hard on the eyes. Game play was excellent and it fit my large screen quite nicely. Animation is very well done, except for an occasional character who walks quite stiffly. Their legs don't seem to want to move very well. Voices are well done, age and character appropriate, and don't sound like someone is just reading a script. You can click through dialog if you read faster than they speak, and not miss any of the story line or clues. Music is soothing and unobtrusive. Sound FX aren't bad at all and tossed in when needed. We do have a little dog helper...well, it is Dorothy and Toto. He is pretty quiet until you need him. He pops into a scene now and then to check things out, but doesn't get in the way. He's a pretty good boy and well behaved.
HOPs are extremely well done, and are a combination of interactive lists; silhouettes; highlighted words and place item in scene. They are fairly clean and items are not hard to find. If you don't wish to play the HOP, you can switch to a match 3. Puzzles have the option of easy or hard, which I like. Even in easy, some take time and thought to complete. Nothing new, but well done and fun. This Dev gives us the best jump maps ever. Areas are very well identified and you have the option of it showing you if you missed any collectibles, so you can go back and collect them. There is no transport feature, but you don't need it with this wonderful map. Hint system is very helpful, but I wish all Devs would put the recharge at no more than 10 seconds...15 is too long!
Collectibles are well done and somewhat challenging as well. We need to find 60 emeralds to decorate a tree; 13 fireworks that can be a bit small; and pages from our journal that tell us a story about each character in Oz. None of these collectibles are huge and none jump off the page at you either, so check everything before moving on. Very well done.
This story is not new, but was very creatively well done. You are constantly on the move, with lots of things to find and use to progress in the story. Even with the awful blurring in the cut scenes, I loved this game and I give it a 4.5. Yes, it's a Christmas story, but very well done and quite fun, with just enough challenge to keep you interested and wanting more. I think all levels of players will find this one worth the CE price. Yes, I am going to add it to my collection.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews!
I recommend this game!
Save a missing family from an infamous haunted house!
Overall rating
3
/
5
21 of 27 found this review helpful
Disappointing...again!
PostedDecember 19, 2017
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Hi friends! As always, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story to those who do a much better job than I. Been recouping from knee surgery, so trying to catch up now. We have yet another addition to this series. I don't have all the games in this series, but what I do have I liked. Dupin is back, and for some reason, has very piercing blue eyes. Sort of creepy at first. The graphics are very nice and colors are clear and true. Game play was very good, no problems during the demo and it fit my large screen. Animation was fairly nice and smooth, with very nice mouth movements when speaking. Voices were the same as in the other games, but again, we do not speak. We have to read our dialog, which is not one of my favorite things to do in a game. Seems to make the game move quite slowly. Music was okay. Sound FX weren't too bad, but still not much.
HOPs are very few and far between again in this one. Items were not difficult to find and most of the scenes were fairly clear. HOPs are varied, with some very interactive lists and straight lists so far. I did not see that we could switch to anything else, which would have been nice. Some puzzles did have a little challenge, but still were not difficult to complete, just a little more time consuming. One puzzle I just do not care for is the "follow the line." It isn't fun for me and often frustrating. Hint system would often say "I must press on," rather than actually give us a hint. I did not see a transport feature during the demo. There is a lot of back tracking, so this feature would have been nice. The map was okay, but only helpful for jumping to a location.
Collectibles were okay, but not much. We have to find 60 fortune cookies that are holding a jigsaw puzzle piece. These are often small and easy to miss, so be on the lookout for them. Sometimes, a scene has more than one. Definitely could have used a bit more, unless I missed something.
Poe is one of my favorites, but not sticking to a story line does bother me a bit. If you are going to use a Poe title, use the Poe story. This story did nothing for me and I found myself wanting the demo to end. Fortunately, it was a short one. I found this one to be quite disappointing. It is not a bad game and one that I am sure some will like, but I do not feel this is CE worthy at all, so no buy for me. I will give the SE version a try when it comes out. Quite often, I find that the SE version makes a much better game. I will recommend this for beginners only.
As always, give this one a try and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may find this one to be exactly what you are looking for. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!
Can you break an evil curse and save the day?!
Overall rating
4
/
5
7 of 10 found this review helpful
My lovely Rose....
PostedDecember 8, 2017
dancemom1
fromYakima, WA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Hello friends! Well, we have another addition to this Holiday series. As always, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story to others who do a much better job than I. I love this series, so naturally, I have them all. The graphics are excellent, very clear and clean, with no blurring when going in and out of close up scenes. Game play was excellent, no problems at all during the demo and the scenes fit my large screen quite well. Colors weren't bad, but there seemed to be more purples in this one. Others in this series had exceptional colors, but this one fell a bit short. Voices are age and character appropriate, when we have them. Not a lot of character interaction in this game. It seems a little quieter than the others. You can click through dialog if you read faster than they speak, without missing any of the story line. Sound FX are very nice, but not many. Music is rather soothing and not really Christmas type music, other than a few bells here and there, so you don't get sick of hearing it. We have a helper in this one as well, but he is actually part of the story, which is fun. He isn't annoying, but occasionally will do squats if you don't use him for a while.
HOPs are a combination of interactive lists, silhouettes and finding pairs of objects. They are fairly clean and items are not difficult to find. I did not see that you could switch to another game if you do not care for the HOPs. Puzzles are not really difficult, but some do take a little time and thought to complete. Help system is very helpful and we do have the transport feature, which saves a lot of travel time. You do a lot of back tracking to the same locations in this one...sometimes too much. I got a bit tired of seeing them so often. Strategy guide clearly identifies where collectibles are hidden in a scene. The jump map also shows where you may have missed a collectible as well.
Collectibles were nice. This is where the challenge came in. We need to find 48 puzzle pieces to complete 3 jigsaw puzzles. These pieces are easy to miss and there can be multiple pieces in a scene. We also have 26 morphing items, which are various things you would see at Christmas, i.e. a bow, a musical instrument, etc. They morph in and out quickly, but I didn't find any that were difficult to see. We also have 14 wedding guests to find. These are not as easy to spot as you think, as they blend in to the scenery quite well.
This story line is a little different, so I'm curious to see what is happening and why. Other than finding the collectibles, there isn't really a lot of challenge to this game. I down graded it a bit because of the constant back tracking to the same few locations, and the purple background. Even at that, I liked this game and gave it a 4.5. I think all levels of players will find this one enjoyable. Helps get you in the Christmas mood. Yes, I am adding this one to my CE collection.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews.
I recommend this game!