I normally review graphics quality in games, but I will begin by saying that the story has some original elements that give it some uniqueness; however, there are some long spells with not a lot going on and it becomes a bit boring at times.
Now graphics....while it won't win any awards in this area, in many cases the cut scenes are better than most BFG games these days. It does use a "washed out" color palatte and I'm not a big fan of that technique. That would be OK in some instances in the game but it's overdone in this game.
An aside, while most of the BFG developers seem to be cutting way too many corners these days, these smaller developers tend to focus more on quality. I only hope more and more of these new guys come along!
There's very little to say that's good about this game....poor graphics, female voice-overs has "vocal fry", the story is boring from the very beginning, and it's a short game. I made a BIG mistake buying this without trialing it. Won't make that mistake again with Mad Head games. I get that everyone has different tastes, but I don't understand all of the 5 star reviews for this game.
The last game in this series was the best game to come along on BFG in quite a while, so I have been enthusiastically waiting for the new one. Alas, this game doesn't even come close. Further, corners were cut in its production. This seems to be a recurring and problematic theme with all BFG. Graphics quality and production standards keep dropping, while the puzzles have mostly become childishly easy.
ERS did a good job on the story and I liked the game (purchased it). Graphics were the usual quality for ERS. Primary downside is that virtually all of the puzzles were extremely easy with very little challenge. Fortunately for me, the story was good enough to overlook this downside. I always recommend playing the trial rather than buying based on reviews alone, as everyone has a different set of preferences.
GrandMa games typically are well-done, but this is just plain BAD. There is very little good to say about it - cartoon graphics, bad VOs and a blah storyline. I highly suggest playing the demo before purchasing.
Once upon a time, folks played adventure games for the story and the biggest force within the story were well-executed cut-scenes, especially the opening scenes. It seems that this developer (and BFG developers in general) have reduced these to mere cheesy afterthoughts. The cut-scenes in this game are cartoonish and childish. If the developer had put even half as much effort into these as it did for its logo scene, the game could have been great. Just the opening scene alone was enough for me to not want to continue with the trial. Everyone is different so give it a try before buying.
I'll preface my review by saying that I have never once finished a game by Elefun (even those that I purchased - which has been quite a while). Based on less than 15 mins of the demo, I uninstalled it. It just felt boring. Games from this developer always feel a bit cheesy to me. I think it's the blah voiceovers and sound effects and drab color schemes. Everyone has different tastes, so give it a demo before deciding.
I normally don't give Eipix high star reviews because of the fuzziness of their graphics on 20+ in monitors. They are a prolific developer and could definitely do better in that regards. However, I'm about 1/2 way through this game and I have to say that it is an excellent and engrossing story. Graphix still could be better but the story doesn't lose momentum within 30 mins like so many of their games do. I will recommend this one.
So far, I have not found the game play to be that bad. I've always thought Eipix does a pretty good job with stories but the graphics fall down on larger screens because they are so fuzzy with jagged edges. I asked them directly about this issue and they told me that they create the games in HD but downscale them to reduce size before publishing. I think the move away from CGI may be to alleviate some of that problem....but this is just a guess. I have to say, that the cartoonish look of this game is not exactly a great solution. Othewise, the story to me is no big departure from their other games.
Eipix graphics keep going from worse to worst. I don't get all of these reviews that talk about EIPIX having such wonderful graphics. These folks must be playing on VERY small screens. This game is blurry and grainy on my 23" screen. The game play is mediocre at best (MCF was once my favorite series until EIPIX took over.) Most of the folks handing out these rave reviews are always the first to post and base their reviews on what's in the strategy guide.