Heather_G's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.1
- Helpful Votes:663
- Reviews Submitted:127
- First Review:November 21, 2011
- Most Recent Review:June 6, 2021
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Annabel stumbles upon an ancient Egyptian curse that claims an innocent victim every ten years, and she may be next…
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 5 found this review helpful
Pretty good adventure.
PostedFebruary 1, 2015
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
As others have noted, this is not a hidden object game, but not truly an adventure either. There are items to find--often multiples of the same thing, but they are scattered around several different locations. You do need to go back ad forth a bit.
There is no map or journal, no skip, but there are hints. You can't pick up anything until you find the right trigger, like talking with someone, or encountering an obstacle. Then the item you're searching for appears at the top of the screen in gray. If you need more than one part, the number appears with it and counts down so you know how many you still need to find. Once you have the object, you go back and click on the person or obstacle and the item is automatically applied.
The graphics are 3D and not bad, if a little dated, but the figures bend as if made from rubber, which seems a little strange. The music was unobtrusive and suited each scene.
Voice acting was a mixed bag. The lead male wasn't bad, the captain was a hoot, the mean guard and bad guy were okay, the oaf guard and mummy were funny, but the LEAD part in the whole story was awful! She does get a little better as the story goes on, but then seems to slip near the end. Obviously just reading her lines. It really pulled me out of the story whenever she spoke. It's such a shame as the rest weren't bad, but she was the one with most of the lines. You could always turn the sound down and read the captions, but you'd miss a lot of the ambience and the better performers.
There's only one difficulty setting and the game is on the short side, about three hours for me. The puzzlles weren't hard. Some were run of the mill but a couple were different and interesting. Unfortunately, one near the end--a sort of match 3--wouldn't work correctly for me. I'd line up 3 in a row and often they wouldn't clear off. It's timed, soI just had to keep at it and finally got it about the sixth or seventh try. Do-able, but frustrating.
This is a decent game for beginners or anyone just trying straight adventures, and for those of us hungry for ANY adventure games.
I recommend this game!
A mysterious man in red summons you, sending you to a flying ship where a little girl needs your help!
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Good Long Game
PostedJanuary 26, 2015
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I won't repeat what others have more eloquently said, but in a sea of shorter and shorter games, this one is an excellent value. There are a lot of locations and with few exceptions, you can backtrack to most or all of them throughout the game. I played most of it at the medium setting, but near the end switched to the easiest (something I rarely do) because the hint took a very long time to recharge at the medium level. There are some puzzles I've never seen before, so that was a treat as well, and an interesting story. Overall, a very worthy game.
I recommend this game!
Travel into the past to discover the mystery behind strange disappearances.
Overall rating
3
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
No hand-holding here!
PostedJanuary 5, 2015
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Although there are a lot of HOS's, this struck me as a throwback to older adventure games. I got stuck in several places. I couldn't find a walkthrough anywhere, so you're pretty much on your own if you hit a snag. Twice I had to clicky-click pixel search to find the one item I was missing, but for the most part, the puzzles are fair with very basic instructions. There are no hints in the puzzles, or in the hidden object scenes. If you can't find that one sneaky item, your only option is to skip the whole thing. I managed to get through them all without skipping, but I didn't find all 36 crystals.
In my search for a walkthrough, I kept finding the exact same list of basic hints, so it may have been issued by the developer, which BTW, doesn't have a website anymore. In this list it mentions a map and journal that I never found.
If you don't mind comic strip-style graphics and are up for a real challenge, this is a pretty good game.
I recommend this game!
The Torment of Mont Triste
No one dares fall asleep in the village of Mont Triste... for when sleep arrives, so does the mysterious Lord of Nightmares.
Overall rating
1
/
5
6 of 6 found this review helpful
Very poor directions and glitches.
PostedJanuary 4, 2015
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Match 3
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I've played literally hundreds of adventure and HOPA games and have rarely come across such glaring mistakes in the directions for puzzles, and within the puzzles themselves.
In one puzzle, you're supposed to arrange items in columns so that no two of the same item or COLOR are in each column. You can change the items, but not the colored disks they sit on. Even after skipping (which I rarely do, and hate having to do) the finished solution did have multiple colors in each column. What?
Another was a box with some walls and holes inside and a key rattling around. You turn the box until the key would line up with a keyhole. Great. Done these many times. Unfortunately, the key went through some interior walls, and appeared to be blocked by other walls that weren't even there. How do you solve a puzzle with such glaring mistakes?
I graded this game very harshly because these errors are too significant for a game to be getting the high average rating this one did. If the puzzles had had decent instructions, and worked as they were supposed to, it would be a decent game, but as it was, I grew to hate it more and more as I went.
Until and unless they fix the problems, I can't recommend this game to anyone. It's an exercise in frustration.
I don't recommend this game.
The fate of the magical world is in your hands – free it from evil!
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
WOW... Just WOW!
PostedDecember 12, 2014
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I haven't seen such gorgeous environments since the Myst series. Okay, these are slightly less realistic, but the colors, sounds, textures, flora, fauna--just amazing. Almost every scene has movement, too, not a slideshow. Even the music was pleasant and unobtrusive. I hated to leave the place. The flyover going on behind the startup screen is almost worth the price of the game.
Coming from a long adventure gaming background, I can say this game is more adventure than hidden object. There were a few fragmented object scenes, and a couple "drag items into place" scenes, but they were few and far between. Compared to true adventure games, it was on the easy side, but for a FROG or HOG it's pretty challenging.
My only regret is that I didn't buy the CE!! I do SO recommend this game.
I recommend this game!
Can you defeat the Four Horsemen and save the city?
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Well-made game, but main character needs to man up.
PostedNovember 17, 2014
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I liked almost everything about this game, but was constantly frustrated by how helpless the main character is. He's Death, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, for heaven's sake. You'd think he could take care of himself. If he were knocked out, I might feel a little more sympathetic, but usually he's awake and simply wants you to do all the work. At one point, he falls into a small lake and is attacked by a couple of squids (they call them krackens, but they're not very big). He's just standing there in chest deep water, not struggling, just staring at me, waiting for me to help him--again. I'd like the developers to give me a better reason to help the characters in these games.
Other than that, the game was elegant, well-made, and enjoyable. Reasonably long, also.
I recommend this game!
Your murderous half-sister has escaped, and you've got the last piece of your father's treacherous film projector...
Overall rating
5
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Agree with the others with one thing to add...
PostedNovember 4, 2014
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I usually don't make it all the way through the credits, but this one is worth it! They've taken the time to make them entertaining, and they give little glimpses of the people behind the programming.
First rate game from beginning to very end. The general steals the show, though. Just over the top enough to be fun.
I recommend this game!
Solve a series of puzzles, find hidden objects, and search for a way back to your daughter in this great Adventure game!
Overall rating
2
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Pass this one by.
PostedSeptember 19, 2014
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I have to agree with other reviewers that the story is okay, the voiceovers are okay, and the scenery feels like you're in a museum, but this game has such serious problems that I couldn't wait to be done with it.
As others mentioned, no hints at all outside of the HOS's so a lot of times you had no clue what to do or where to look for things. The graphics are so grainy that it's nearly impossible to spot anything even if you were looking in exactly the right spot. In the HOS's, items are often colored to blend in exactly with another object, or placed almost entirely out of the screen. The result was you had to click on any blob that might be the right blob, but of course, you get penalized for mis-clicks. Thanks very much for that! Even after using a hint and knowing right where a thing was, many times I still couldn't see it at all, so just blindly clicked in that area until I got it.
It might have been a good game years ago, but I found it frustrating, irritating, and drudgery rather than fun. I can't recommend this to anyone.
I don't recommend this game.
Mishap 2: An Intentional Haunting
This time it’s no Mishap! Help Milton Hobblepop and the Mishap gang stop his greatest rival from imprisoning more spirits!
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Different and fun.
PostedJuly 25, 2014
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I usually like a little more adventure in my games--walking around, looking at things, figuring out where to go and what to do--but in this game, you have only limited choices at any given time, so not a lot of freedom or detective work. That said, this formulaic little game works well. The colors are bright, lots of funny animated items in each scene. Although it's mostly hidden object scenes, it doesn't feel like some of the tedious ones I've tried. The mini-games are varied and difficulty also varies. I wish they had a practice screen before each one, as they had lots of rules for each (arcade-type) game and it took a round or two for me to figure out what to do. The voice-overs are good except for the main character. The professor sounds okay but just speaks way too slowly. There are a lot of little stories if you want to read them, about each ghost and area, but that's optional. It took me over four hours, so reasonable length. Except for the mini-games, it's pretty touch-screen friendly. I'll be looking for the first one in this series.
I recommend this game!
Challenge the darkness with your swift orb-matching skills, mighty magical enchantments and earthshaking power-ups!
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Wow. Just, WOW!!
PostedJune 6, 2014
Heather_G
fromIndiana
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Marble Popper, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I have played a LOT of marble popper games and this is the most beautiful, smooth, elegant one I've ever seen. I couldn't stop until I'd played it right through to the end. Even then you can play in different modes, so plenty to do. The music is a hoot. I'd be very surprised if it isn't by the same composer that did the soundtrack for Aqua Bubble. And do check out the credits. I don't know how they did it, but the names appear in 3D, as if I had on the special glasses, but didn't. Very cool!
My hat's off to the developer on this one. I liked Sparkle 1, but this one is so much more refined. They didn't just slap on some new layouts, this is a lovely, lovely game. Even the narrator voice is perfect.
I recommend this game!