rosekaufmann's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.2
- Helpful Votes:18,036
- Reviews Submitted:831
- First Review:April 2, 2012
- Most Recent Review:July 27, 2014
- Featured reviews0
Status:
You thought this would be just like any other investigation. But now you find yourself lost in a mysterious mansion brimming with strange creatures, comatose colleagues, and mysterious tentacles around every corner...
Overall rating
5
/
5
36 of 44 found this review helpful
BE AFRAID OF NIGHTMARES
PostedDecember 27, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The story is really interesting (especially since we all have had nightmares). The HOS are very nicely done indeed - not junk piles like many - and very colorful, bright, and detailed. The puzzles, especially the one with the goggles which is played many times, are unique and refreshing. There is a real sense of humor, like the pepper-eating frog and the fancy flight of the flamingos when they hear bagpipes (guess they're not Scottish). Lovely graphics and artistry. Exceptional production values, as are all the Haunted Halls games. A nice addition to my gamelist.
I recommend this game!
Stop the bitter Spirit of Cold from killing your ancestors!
Overall rating
5
/
5
110 of 144 found this review helpful
GRABS YOU RIGHT AWAY AND DOESN'T WANE
PostedDecember 26, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Promises to be the best Redemption Cemetery yet. It immediately grabs your attention with the first cutscene and it gets better from there. Find out the history of the freeze as you go back in time to save your ancestors (so you can be born). Collect snowflakes along the way. Nice spread out and colorful HOS, followed by a "put-it-together" puzzle with winter and Christmas themes.
In your journey, you do have the help of your first ancestor who gave up the spirit world to be with his human love, starting your ancestry line. You also have the help of a feather which enlarges things (so that a simple scissors, for example, can become a garden shears and perform useful tasks).
The animation and special effects are superb and the voice overs are professional and portray the reality of the situations (no flat tones here). This is a well-detailed and thought out game that is an immediate must-buy.
I recommend this game!
Find out who stole your magic animals, and reveal the secret of the Dark Minotaur.
Overall rating
5
/
5
17 of 17 found this review helpful
AVERAGE LENGTH ADVENTURE WORTH LOOKING AT
PostedDecember 25, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
As the princess destined to defeat the evil Mortis in the neighboring kingdom, the adventure to bring her defeat took about 3 ½ hours to complete. Feed the recovered pets for help in pursuing your goal. Good ratio of HOS (list-based) and HOPs (interactive silhouettes, where placing one silhouette correctly releases another silhouette until you get the final goodie). Puzzles were of varying difficulty; a couple of them had instructions which were difficult to understand unless you’ve come across them before, but you can use the skip button. Found ISA to be a paradox – was he playing both sides of the coin or merely using his wiles to lure you into Mortis’ kingdom? Still perplexed about that, which is okay. Good graphics and voice overs. Peppy music. Nicely produced values.
I recommend this game!
Find out who stole your magic animals, and reveal the secret of the Dark Minotaur.
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
AVERAGE LENGTH ADVENTURE WORTH LOOKING AT
PostedDecember 25, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
As the princess destined to defeat the evil Mortis in the neighboring kingdom, the adventure to bring her defeat took about 3 ½ hours to complete. Feed the recovered pets for help in pursuing your goal. Good ratio of HOS (list-based) and HOPs (interactive silhouettes, where placing one silhouette correctly releases another silhouette until you get the final goodie). Puzzles were of varying difficulty; a couple of them had instructions which were difficult to understand unless you’ve come across them before, but you can use the skip button. Found ISA to be a paradox – was he playing both sides of the coin or merely using his wiles to lure you into Mortis’ kingdom? Still perplexed about that, which is okay. Good graphics and voice overs. Peppy music. Nicely produced values.
I recommend this game!
Gatsby's criminal past intrudes as Judy, a young architect, is caught up in a kidnapper's scheme to unearth the socialite's secret treasure.
Overall rating
4
/
5
27 of 31 found this review helpful
DESTRUCTED SPLENDOR
PostedDecember 25, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
SUMMARY: Lovely color palettes for a decayed mansion and old machinery; see the splendor flashbacks to Gatsby's days; pleasant voice overs need passion; and very well-done challenging HOS.
Nice game, but it sometimes takes awhile for the frames to load, which can be frustrating, to lowered the rating. Good color palette - shows the destruction and decay of the Gatsby mansion without being overly drab and dreary (and it isn't dark - YEAH!) - even at night. Other developers might want to take notice.
HOS were uncrowded but items were cleverly hidden - the good kind of HOS challenge. Objects were not too small. Not too many puzzles. You "drive" to new locations and keys appear when it's time to go somewhere else - you even hear the car.
Voice overs are pleasant sounding, but the woman's voice is not always appropriate. When her roomie is taken hostage, her voice doesn't sound upset or surprised. It's in the same pleasant voice, as though she's reading a story without any passion. Took off a star because it doesn't put you "in the scene." Live that you can see her imagination with a special tool as she looks at something and "sees" what it must have been like in Gatsby's days as she renovates the mansion.
I recommend this game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
12 of 14 found this review helpful
LENGTHY AND SPOOKY ADVENTURE
PostedDecember 24, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
You can enable or disable hints, so that should appeal to those who like and those who dislike hints, which do recharge fairly fast. There are a lot (!!lots!!) of locations and this is a pretty long game. Graphics are well-done (though there were spots where they could have been crisper) and the story as others have said is quite good and spooky.
The HOS are mildly cluttered, but there are spots where objects are crowded together. Items are nicely spaced out, though, so you should have no trouble finding objects. When you play the HOS a second time, objects are back in their original location. Nice variety of puzzles with varying degrees of difficulty. For some, you have to uncover quite a few pieces of the puzzle before tackling it.
Besides the creepy atmosphere, there are several startling moments, not only in what is presented in the game, but also in sounds in surprising places. I jumped a couple times because it was completely unexpected. Guess I don't want to play on a stormy night with the lights out.
Well put together production.
I recommend this game!
Save Witchville before it's too late in Guardians of Beyond: Witchville, a thrilling Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 5 found this review helpful
FIRST HALF IS MORE COMPELLING THAN LAST HALF
PostedDecember 23, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
About a 4 ½ hour adventure. Ethan has called you, asking you to come to Witchville because the population has disappeared. You have 6 hours to solve the mystery or you’ll be trapped forever. It turns out the population, including Ethan by this time, have turned into ghosts, so you will have to release them. You have to accomplish half you task in Witchville and half in New City. I thought the first half of the game was much more interesting and compelling than the last half.
Some details:
- Graphics are a bit murky at times.
- Journal has your significant events; active tasks are highlighted when you curse over the notes.
- HOS are very busy, but objects are large and spread out for visibility.
- Inventory sometimes needs to be combined.
- Animation and special effects are good.
- HINTS – Outside the HOS is very, very specific (ex: get the axe from the glass house; check Vesta’s poster in the corridor to find the code for the cash register in the toy shop; take the whetstone from it; sharpen the axe; remove branch from the tree). Played casual so don’t know if the harder difficulty would give as much information.
- It would have been nice to have voice overs
- Graphics are a bit murky at times.
- Journal has your significant events; active tasks are highlighted when you curse over the notes.
- HOS are very busy, but objects are large and spread out for visibility.
- Inventory sometimes needs to be combined.
- Animation and special effects are good.
- HINTS – Outside the HOS is very, very specific (ex: get the axe from the glass house; check Vesta’s poster in the corridor to find the code for the cash register in the toy shop; take the whetstone from it; sharpen the axe; remove branch from the tree). Played casual so don’t know if the harder difficulty would give as much information.
- It would have been nice to have voice overs
I recommend this game!
Save Witchville before it’s too late in Guardians of Beyond: Witchville, a thrilling Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
13 of 13 found this review helpful
FIRST HALF IS MORE COMPELLING THAN LAST HALF
PostedDecember 23, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
About a 4 ½ hour adventure. Ethan has called you, asking you to come to Witchville because the population has disappeared. You have 6 hours to solve the mystery or you’ll be trapped forever. It turns out the population, including Ethan by this time, have turned into ghosts, so you will have to release them. You have to accomplish half you task in Witchville and half in New City. I thought the first half of the game was much more interesting and compelling than the last half. Personally, I don't think the CE has enough extras to recommend itself over the SE.
Some details:
- Graphics are a bit murky at times.
- Journal has your significant events; active tasks are highlighted when you curse over the notes.
- HOS are very busy, but objects are large and spread out for visibility.
- Inventory sometimes needs to be combined.
- Animation and special effects are good.
- HINTS – Outside the HOS is very, very specific (ex: get the axe from the glass house; check Vesta’s poster in the corridor to find the code for the cash register in the toy shop; take the whetstone from it; sharpen the axe; remove branch from the tree). Played casual so don’t know if the harder difficulty would give as much information.
- It would have been nice to have voice overs
- Graphics are a bit murky at times.
- Journal has your significant events; active tasks are highlighted when you curse over the notes.
- HOS are very busy, but objects are large and spread out for visibility.
- Inventory sometimes needs to be combined.
- Animation and special effects are good.
- HINTS – Outside the HOS is very, very specific (ex: get the axe from the glass house; check Vesta’s poster in the corridor to find the code for the cash register in the toy shop; take the whetstone from it; sharpen the axe; remove branch from the tree). Played casual so don’t know if the harder difficulty would give as much information.
- It would have been nice to have voice overs
I recommend this game!
Stop a madman from taking over a city using a mind control device!
Overall rating
3
/
5
12 of 18 found this review helpful
AN OKAY GAME ONLY
PostedDecember 23, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
What struck me is the low-resolution graphics. Although they are somewhat pretty to look at (i.e., nice color palette), the scenes are not crisp and clear, but are on the slightly blurry side. This is especially evident in the HO scenes, which are somewhat on the dark side with some quite small objects to find. What is cool is that, in the HOS, you can mouse over objects and have some interplay even though they have nothing to do with the list you are trying to find (ex: in one HO, you can play the banjo and roll the snowman for extra entertainment).
Storyline is okay. It does seem odd that the detective remains in the study and ignores you entering, exiting and manipulating objects in the rooms while he reads. I don't find that very believable, even if he is amenable to your investigation help. There are secret objects to find to open the secret room. I find this game is okay for playing, but I don't find it to be anywhere near a 5 star game.
I recommend this game!
Castle: Never Judge a Book by Its Cover
Solving murder has never been so much fun!
Overall rating
5
/
5
9 of 10 found this review helpful
AS GOOD AS THE TV SHOW
PostedDecember 22, 2013
rosekaufmann
fromLos Angeles
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
SUMMARY: This is an enjoyable HOG which keeps you analyzing the clues along with the main characters and guessing what happened, why and, most importantly, who did it. Wonderful writing, characters and graphics. Based on a TV story, but you don't have to be familiar with it to enjoy the game.
Story is a mystery with characters based on the television program. The story is as professionally written as the TV series episodes. You play the role of Castle, accompanied by his "sidekick" Detective Kate Beckett. It won't matter whether you watch the series; the game is enjoyable.
Artistry is a nice palette of colors and looks very realistic. HOS can be quite crowded, but objects are crisp and finely detailed. If you don't want to find the objects per a list, you can opt for the silhouette if you find that easier. Objects are cleverly hidden and the HOS is slightly interactive.
Puzzles vary widely in complexity and type. Some can in fact be quite challenging and you may want to consider skipping a couple, especially if you are not too experienced in HOGs. The ratio of HOS to puzzles is good and they move the story onward.
You must use a map to move between environments that are not connected to each other (i.e., you can move amongst the rooms in an apartment, but you must use the map to move from home to the morgue to the murder scene). The map is needed because of the very vast number of scenes to visit, some many times as more and more tasks must be done. The map tells you where tasks are required.
HINT points to where you need to go next. Sometimes, you must complete an errand (e.g. to go somewhere, such as the morgue) before you complete some tasks (e.g., use the keys in the victim's apartment to see what they open).
I recommend this game!