rainworm's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.5
- Helpful Votes:5,106
- Reviews Submitted:133
- First Review:October 4, 2012
- Most Recent Review:October 20, 2018
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Save the town of Blackhill from an army of shadows!
Overall rating
5
/
5
54 of 71 found this review helpful
The case of the fog monsters
PostedApril 21, 2018
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The good old Mystery Trackers are back, we are an agent and – for the very first time - may choose, if we want Elf at our side!
So, agents, first task: choose your assistant or go ahead without him.
We stumble into our mysterious case on a bike ride, when we stop near the town of Blackhill, lying under a thick mist. Strange and we cannot leave that uninvestigated! In the town we see some shadowy outline in the mist and hear a voice, shouting for help. A man rushes us into his shop. He tells us, the shadows are monsters, and they started to come out of the fog after some mysterious flashes happened around the mansion of a scientist, Professor Xiao. An experiment, gone wrong at the Professor’s house? Possible, as according to the shop keeper, the Professor is a good man but his scientific work may bear some risks.
No way, the monsters must be stopped, so we need to reach the scientist’s mansion over the hill to investigate the source of it all.
A fast paced game, a lot to do and many variable HOS and puzzles on our way. The story may be not new but is thrilling enough. Though a look at the strategy guide reveils: the game is very short, only 3 chapters plus the bonus chapter. The extras are meagre too: no replay of HOS and puzzles. Besides the secret room, the usual incentive of collector’s editions, the bonus content offers sort of a dressing room for Elf, an Album, where you can put together collected picutures pieces, wallpapers, achievements and concept art.
No way, the monsters must be stopped, so we need to reach the scientist’s mansion over the hill to investigate the source of it all.
A fast paced game, a lot to do and many variable HOS and puzzles on our way. The story may be not new but is thrilling enough. Though a look at the strategy guide reveils: the game is very short, only 3 chapters plus the bonus chapter. The extras are meagre too: no replay of HOS and puzzles. Besides the secret room, the usual incentive of collector’s editions, the bonus content offers sort of a dressing room for Elf, an Album, where you can put together collected picutures pieces, wallpapers, achievements and concept art.
I recommend this game!
Survive a dangerous game of luck to uncover your past!
Overall rating
4
/
5
51 of 77 found this review helpful
Gambling for the truth?
PostedApril 19, 2018
rainworm
fromSometimes just one feature is too much for me to love a game
Skill Level:Expert
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The series started with a pure fantasy game, but soon turned more towards adventure, still fantastic but away from a more contemplative approach. In the Fatal Luck we are searching for our roots. We had been given away as an infant with no information on our lineage left behind. The only items, that were left with us, were half a photo, a burnt card with a stamp, saying ‘Azara’, and a poker chip.
But don’t expect us to go to the authorities and check with them – no, we make use of our clues and go to the House of Azara, a casino or ‘Gamblers Paradise’. It has reopened lately after being destroyed in a fire 25 years ago, when we were abandoned at the orphanage.
According to the doorman, those, who play here, find answers to all of their questions. And there we go. At the roulette table and with the slot machine – luck smiles at us. We meet Jonathan, who tries his luck as well and tells us about the Grand Tournament. When gets stuck in an elevator, we help him out – a good move, as we will see later. With winning the first games, we are invited to join the Tournament, where the winners will get granted a wish. Our motivation is damped a bit, when we learn, there are strict rules, not abiding to them is punished. It turns out, other players behave more or less aggressive, it will be more a fight than a game. Though not allowed, Jonathan helps us here and there, so we can win round 1, round 2…. No easy tasks. More and more we get the impression, we play not just to win but fight for our life.
This game has a truly adventurous touch but unfortunately we have a helper. It is the series’ doggie, whom many will like. For me more a contra than a pro for the game. Otherwise there is an interesting story, fast unfolding plot and not too many HOS, most of them more on the creative side. Puzzles are all easy, some quite entertaining. With only 3 chapters and a bonus part the game is rather short, as most are nowadays.
I recommend this game!
Unlock the secrets of the moor to save your niece from the banshee!
Overall rating
3
/
5
19 of 38 found this review helpful
Ghostly birthday
PostedApril 14, 2018
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Deargh Luan – Red Moon. The story of this game takes on old legends from South England and Scotland. A Blood Moon is the symbol of impending doom in many such tales and due to a Blood Moon, the inhabitants of a village in Scotland were plunged into darkness, several villagers disappeared and it was said, a banshee would have taken them.
We play as the investigator, who successfully solved cases, where paranormal activities and forces of mythical creatures caused trouble. This time we have come to Kirkwall in Scotland to see our niece Nora. It is the night before her birthday and she is excited, once because of our visit and then of course because her party is approaching. After assisting her in finishing her birthday cake, it is past her bedtime and she is sent upstairs. But soon after she left for her room, a scream and loud noise alarm us. Nora is gone and all signs point at a paranormal attack, she must have been taken by a demon or the banshee of MacConnel Island, as we later learn from a local. Of course we follow her tracks and travel to the cursed island.
Visuals and voiceovers are adapted to a fabulous story in Scotland, though cannot be sure, if the chosen accents of e.g. the landlord of a pub would use this accent. HOS are varied but no new creative attempt. Puzzles are easy, at least in the demo. Plot unfolds step by step, often we have to solve a not obvious problem before we get to the point and develop the story further. But once Nora has been abducted, we gain a bit of pace.
The game offers a map, a tasklist, the guide, collectables but with the fabulous background a sort of diary or the like, where additonal information were kept, would have been nice. On the whole the game suits well in this series of myths and fables, though for me story and performance cannot reach the quality of the predecessing games.
The game offers a map, a tasklist, the guide, collectables but with the fabulous background a sort of diary or the like, where additonal information were kept, would have been nice. On the whole the game suits well in this series of myths and fables, though for me story and performance cannot reach the quality of the predecessing games.
I recommend this game!
Delve into the Morante family’s past to stop a murderer!
Overall rating
4
/
5
67 of 98 found this review helpful
For better or worse – and beyond death?
PostedApril 12, 2018
rainworm
fromBe careful what you wish for and don't sell your soul....
Skill Level:Expert
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The series began with the merchant of Venice, in which dark forces stand against life, but those who are threatened are often also not without faults.
In this installment we have to deal with an ancient curse. The powerful Morante family has a reputation for having sold their souls for wealth and power. Now the last of the clan was killed and his young wife fears that the curse has caught up with her. She fears, the spirit of the first wife is to blame for the death of her husband and she is also in danger.
We play as the detective, who has to find out, what is behind the strange events. Our adventure leads us on the island of the Morantes and there, cut off from the outside world, we will investigate the murder of the last Morante.
A spooky atmosphere envelops us from the beginning, inviting us to an entertaining hunt for - what actually? A ghost or rather a human threat?
HOS and puzzles are present for every step and they are fun but not too difficult, so for me more entertainment than challenge. As always the visuals are stunning and plot unfolds rather fast. Again an adventure full of intrigue and mystery, a great performance but not very challenging.
In this installment we have to deal with an ancient curse. The powerful Morante family has a reputation for having sold their souls for wealth and power. Now the last of the clan was killed and his young wife fears that the curse has caught up with her. She fears, the spirit of the first wife is to blame for the death of her husband and she is also in danger.
We play as the detective, who has to find out, what is behind the strange events. Our adventure leads us on the island of the Morantes and there, cut off from the outside world, we will investigate the murder of the last Morante.
A spooky atmosphere envelops us from the beginning, inviting us to an entertaining hunt for - what actually? A ghost or rather a human threat?
HOS and puzzles are present for every step and they are fun but not too difficult, so for me more entertainment than challenge. As always the visuals are stunning and plot unfolds rather fast. Again an adventure full of intrigue and mystery, a great performance but not very challenging.
I recommend this game!
Can you save the city from a tattoo artist’s magical ink?
Overall rating
5
/
5
77 of 106 found this review helpful
Once upon a time….or a trip into the paranormal?
PostedApril 7, 2018
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Adventures following fairy tale themes – not new but, depending on the interpretation, may be exciting and it is announced as the first one in a magical thriller series.
Our first ‘account’ turns out to be a Red Riding Hood variation, not by Hans Christian Anderson but one of the well known folk tales of the Brothers Grimm. But not so fast, let’s see, what’s on offer.
Our first ‘account’ turns out to be a Red Riding Hood variation, not by Hans Christian Anderson but one of the well known folk tales of the Brothers Grimm. But not so fast, let’s see, what’s on offer.
The demo pushed me into an adventure with an astonishing mix of ingredients. We have means to gain superpower, a magic ink, used for tattoos. We have a dangerous city, in which more and more people are missing, fabled connections play a role. Our friend turns out to be not what we thought, but seems to play a role in the fabulous entanglements of the city.
So not just Little Red Riding Hood meets the big bad wolf but an intricate story. Thriller characteristics combine with magical components, the opponent has magic powers, which he receives by rather secular means, a sort of drug (the exotic ink).
We play as Chris Andersen. Our friend Rachel has moved and we haven’t seen her in a while. On our meeting in a bar in her new neighbourhood, she is kidnapped. But this is not a ‘normal’ abduction. Magic is part of it from the beginning. On the basis of this rather simple story, we get on the trail of a kind of conspiracy. Of course we are also in the sights of the masterminds, because we have seen too much.
Plot unravels very fast and we go forward and get clues by stepping into varying HOS and many puzzles. Obivious even at the beginning: it is about Little Red Riding Hood, but the good old wolf seems to have upgraded...... and I want to know, where this is going.
I recommend this game!
Can you save Dupin from a malevolent murderer in time?
Overall rating
4
/
5
55 of 85 found this review helpful
Surprise, surprise....
PostedApril 5, 2018
rainworm
fromBeware of illusionists, pits and be safe with a good book by Edgar Allan Poe....
Skill Level:Expert
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
It begins, as many of the Dark Tales. Dupin has written a note for you, in which he tells you in short, where to meet and what you’ll have to expect. Meeting point is the Pendulum House. A good friend of Dupin, Zula, has been threatened lately. As a medium and illusionist, she has foreseen her own death even, but Dupin and you shall protect her.
You are in front of the house now, Dupin is nowhere to be seen. A knock at the door, the butler opens, asks for your invitation. Tonight a special performance of Zula and her partner is scheduled. Through te window you are able to see something strange: Dupin is shooting at a man. Part of the show? When you finally are inside the house, Zula enters the room, vanishes in blue smoke the next moment and reapears a second later – magic. But then she is hit by a dart and falls to the floor, dead. Obviously it was her partner, who hit her, he escapes the room instantly. Dupin goes after him. Left behind are you, with the task of helping Dupin. He is soon overpowered by the illusionist and taken down into a cellar of an old building near Pendulum House. Pursuit is not easy, you have to overcome a lot of obstacles.
They are presented in minigames and puzzles, both easy as well as more challenging. One puzzle is a maze – nicely done and not too easy. HOS vary but most are lists.
Finally in the cellar, you will be able to strike the illusionist and one step before setting free the bound Dupin, he just stands up, takes the pistol and aims at you: ‘Surprise, my friend, in this case the killer is me.’ A twist, not to be foreseen. It gives the game an unusual direction. If this weren’t enough, you find yourself down at the bottom of a pit in this cellar. So, is this game in the EAP series in the end closer to the original plot of Poe’s literary template?
Finally in the cellar, you will be able to strike the illusionist and one step before setting free the bound Dupin, he just stands up, takes the pistol and aims at you: ‘Surprise, my friend, in this case the killer is me.’ A twist, not to be foreseen. It gives the game an unusual direction. If this weren’t enough, you find yourself down at the bottom of a pit in this cellar. So, is this game in the EAP series in the end closer to the original plot of Poe’s literary template?
I recommend this game!
Nobody comes back from the Dark Side unchanged, but it’s the only way to re-light the fading flame.
Overall rating
5
/
5
30 of 57 found this review helpful
Will Darkness be finally defeated?
PostedMarch 31, 2018
rainworm
fromIs this the end? Not for me. There are still questions and a won battle is not an overall victory
Skill Level:Expert
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Take on the role of Alice again, a girl blessed with a special tattoo, the Mark of the Firebird, after she found his egg in a chest one day. Since then her life has changed and she has been on the run from the Darkness. Together with her uncle Colin she thought to have found a sanctuary but couldn’t find peace there either, as Colin fought with recurring nightmares, he had lost his memory of the past. Seeking for a cure, they went on their way and finally took up the fight against Darkness.
Realizing, the Dark Warrior has not been destroyed after all, war is not over. Though first comes first: In a crash our balloon lands in the Dark Lands in a canyon. Colin and Farador could escape it but we stayed in. Now we have to find them to reunite our forces..
We find help in a settlement in a cave, where the inhabitants could live hidden from the dark side. But we are in enemy territory, so not safe. In a near bunker something happens, that will change many things…..After all, it seems not clear anymore, where the past has a destructive influence on the present. New variables appear, which may lead to new interpretations. When seeing an end of a decisive battle, I asked myself, is this the end or will we get an answer?
We find help in a settlement in a cave, where the inhabitants could live hidden from the dark side. But we are in enemy territory, so not safe. In a near bunker something happens, that will change many things…..After all, it seems not clear anymore, where the past has a destructive influence on the present. New variables appear, which may lead to new interpretations. When seeing an end of a decisive battle, I asked myself, is this the end or will we get an answer?
Again the story is engaging and it takes an unexpected turn in this game. The great visuals, combined with suiting music pull the player into the plot as if he were part of it. Game features, as HOS and puzzles are varied, disappointing for me: the very creative interactive HO scenes have partly been replaced by other types of HOS. Puzzles are not difficult but entertaining. A detailled map helps with the many locations as well as with numerous collectables and morphs – an impressive third performance!
I recommend this game!
Can you confront an otherworldly foe and save your nephew?
Overall rating
5
/
5
14 of 39 found this review helpful
Saving the world(s)
PostedMarch 29, 2018
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
One world is not enough. We will start our journey on this planet but come to know others. In the end we may succeed in uniting apart worlds by overcoming evil plans and bring those, misusing their power, to justice. We will play as Harold, an open minded tinkerer of medieval times on earth.
The introscene shows the interior of a space shuttle, a single woman at the controls, in front of the screen on which we see Blacksands, the commander, who condemns her, Elonian, for ‘turning against her own’. The controls to her shuttle are cut.
Back on earth: We and Isaac, our nephew,are on our way to the Victoria Day Festival. Isaac has created a flying machine, a first ‘aircraft’, which we want to sell at the fair. Then the sky changes.
At the forest, we see the crashed shuttle. Isaac is curious and after touching it, he vanishes inside. Behind a bush we see a hand and find Elonian. With a special glove we can communicate. Elonian put it over our hand with the words ‘it translates our technology for us’. She warns of great danger for our world, then vanishes. The glove can do more: it produces her projection and is now our helping hand.
And we will need it, as things get out of control soon.
In the shuttle finally, we find Isaac unconscious in a closed hatch, the little aircraft combines forces with the alien technology and takes off to town. Having caught it and back in the shuttle, the hatches shut and we are unvoluntarily transported to the moon. Isaac, still unconscious, is carried into an building and shall be subject to experiments. But we succeed in freeing him, escape to the shuttle and restart it. But there is no safe return to earth. An adventurous part of our journey only begins….
A great adventure in which not only the middle ages meet a futuristic world but at the same time a tale of good and evil where the perpetrators are brought to justice in the end.
HOS and puzzles are entertaining, challenging and creative in a fast paced game. A big plus. We don’t have to perform actions in too small steps. Mostly we have a tool, when needed and may go on, so an overcoming of obstacles and keeping up the thrill of the story go hand In hand.
I recommend this game!
Embark on a secret mission to save Princess Isabella!
Overall rating
4
/
5
36 of 57 found this review helpful
Intrigue, black magic, old aquanintances.......
PostedMarch 24, 2018
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Meet again with the Cardinal (and his cat). Isabella of Spain was to marry the French Prince but she suddenly disappeared. Only clue: an envelope with the Fontainebleau crest on it was left at her quarters. The Royal Musketeers were given the task to search for her but now they have gone missing as well. The Fontainebleaus were once a powerful family but were accused of practising black magic. So the Pope pressured the King to strip them of their title. Apparently there is some truth to the rumor, as they seemed to have created a monster. Our task: Go to the island, where the family lives now and find the Princess….
On the island we see a woman, meeting the description of missing Isabella. We instantly follow. When she vanishes in direction of the castle, we have to find a way in. Trying to get into the castle, we find a strange hunchbacked man, Pascal. He was supposed to look after the Princess but when he saw the monster, he panicked and ran away. After a making our way first into the castle, then through the catacombs to the other side and to the tower, we have a real surprise: on entering the chamber, in which we saw Isabella sitting on a bed, Pascal locks a grilled door and just tells us, we would understand soon… Then a woman, who changes into a monstrous figure comes nearer.
Again a story about intrigue, a once powerful family, now in disgrace and apparently using every means to return the lost. A princess, used to regain it with black magic – in all this, we are a pawn, who has to save the princess and himself. During the demo we do not meet the usual dwarf count St Germain but are introduced to a new character – Pascal, who seems to have taken the role as helper of the dark side.
All packed in beautiful visuals, variable HOS and relatively challenging puzzles – a Haunted Legend with the known but also new details to the paranormal story.
I recommend this game!
Can you defend the townspeople from the dangerous black lotus?
Overall rating
4
/
5
22 of 39 found this review helpful
Would you do everything......
PostedMarch 22, 2018
rainworm
fromSome prices are just too high to pay and in the end - was it worth it?
Skill Level:Expert
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
This is the 4th game in the series. Theme of course a great love, threatened by hostile circumstances. In the Black Lotus it is the romantic story of a man, who tries to save his beloved from the clutches of a madman. He, an older Count, has kidnapped her for a strange experiment: he wants to recapture his youth. The Lotus symbolizes the life of the captured woman, it is darkening slowly and as soon as it is black, her life will be forfeited.
The story is a bit weird, the Count needs his youth back to charm a very young girl. His experiments let him conclude, he may be able to extract the youth from a young and beautiful woman by letting her age and thereby take her youth for himself.
Again a dramatic hunt with setbacks and progress in a visually appealing scenery. Features as HOS and puzzles seem a bit more challenging than in preceding games, on the whole a rather nice performance and entertaining gameplay.
Again a dramatic hunt with setbacks and progress in a visually appealing scenery. Features as HOS and puzzles seem a bit more challenging than in preceding games, on the whole a rather nice performance and entertaining gameplay.
I recommend this game!