FINALLY! Hidden Object Scenes that engage the gamer! I hope that other devs take the initiative and ingenuity shown here rather than feeding us with boring junk pile lists.. I love interactive "search, find and use" scenes that follow a logical progression. Although not as challenging as the awesome progressive puzzles in Mystery Case Files Fate's Carnival, the HOS here bring a welcome change from the same old stuff. So far, the graphics are wonderful, gameplay rather easy in advanced mode such that you don't get lost or need to use the hint button to move forward in the rather linear gameplay. There are squirrels to find, a locking inventory, no sparkles, a decent storyline, helpful transportable map, good voice-overs, and excellent ambient sound effects without annoying music. We'll see how it goes after I play the entire game.
The story line started out interesting, but the game ended up a little disappointing for me. Loved the fact that the HOS were not at every other click of the mouse! However, you should definitely wait for the SE to come out. This game had one of the worst bonus chapters I have ever played. Easy 20 minutes with one or two things to do per scene, and a bunch of HOS thrown in to extend the time.
I understand that games under the heading Hidden Object are going to have HO scenes. But the lack of creativity and innovation is becoming very annoying. It seems that just when you are starting to get into the adventure, another HOS pops up, interrupting the flow, distracting the player from any sense of storyline, and falsely extending game length. There is an option of playing a matching game instead, but this takes twice as long as just sucking it up and tackling the HOS. The other problem with the game is that i never got involved with the characters..The imp was fine, but i didn't feel any urgency to rescue anybody. The last negative comment is that there was not very much challenge in the gameplay. If you needed something, and just went on to the next scene, almost invariably, it was there. Positives are: decent graphics and acting voices, transportable map, a locking inventory, an SG that gives you locations of missed items at the end, and a choice to opt out of the garbage heaps. Other than that, not much excitement for me,
Ok, so I finished the game and am very disappointed that I relied on the rave reviews. It was too short, too easy and almost every location had a hidden object scene which disrupted any sense of flow to a poorly developed storyline. Certainly not CE material. I would definitely do a trial on this one.
Wonderful story line with absolutely NO HOS!!! Just an amazing example of an adventure story done well. Was so sad that I finished it, I actually watched the credits scroll. I wish that launching devs would make a distinction between HOS games and pure adventure games like this one, because I much prefer not rummaging through junk piles for an item.
This game has everything: small incidental objects to find for fun, no backtracking, no need for map, challenging puzzles, optional inventory lock, different levels of play, a story that made sense, no need for time wasting HOS piles that pull you out of the adventure, wonderful graphics, voice overs, great cut-scenes, cute sidekick "semi-helper", and an SE price for a product that far surpasses most CE games. And as of today, there is even a walkthrough for those who really need one. Want more like this one PLEASE