Once again the folks at Blue Tea have produced an outstanding game, one that all HOG lovers will gravitate towards. The graphics are in keeping with other BT games and that is superb. The storyline is compelling and I really like the parables which take the original Red Riding Hood fairytale into another dimension. The FROG objects are not hard to find for the most part and the puzzles I encountered in the demo ( took me 50 minutes to complete ) are fairly easy. I take one minor objection to this game and that is the graphic violence encountered at the start of the game. I have a 6 yr old grandson who has relished all the previous Dark Parable games. I think he can handle this ok but I will need to explain to him that this is only a story and nothing should make him fearful. Other than that RRHS is terrific for children of all ages. For those who have not included the Dark Parable series in their list of games owned, the sale offered by BFG is compelling. This game grades out as an A++. Be you a CE or an SE purchaser, add this gem to your collection.
The opening music is from Night on Bald Mountain by the Russian composer Mussorgsky. Nice touch. Too bad there isn't more of it. The storyline is rather old school, no originality. The hidden object scenes are typical of all games. THey are well drawn and the inclusion of some novel items is good. In the very first HO scene, we need to find among other things a mandible. That's a new one!! We need more new things, are you listening developers?? The puzzles that I played are fairly simple to complete. There are some downsides to the game. THe most glaring is the omission of voices. If any dev is creating a higher priced CE, the inclusion of voiced characters is a must. Game sellers such as BFG should insist on this element before accepting the game. I only played the demo which took me 57 minutes to finish. Based on that I will purchase the game but will wait for the standard version. I have said it before and I will say it again, the very great majority of CE's are not worth the extra fee. For those of you who enjoy paying the higher price, the more power to you. Different strokes for different folks.
I did not have high hopes for Arizona Rose when the game began, but it grew on me as it continued. THis is a combination of HOG, tangrams and fill in the spaces ala World Mosaics. Given ( that to me at least ) the last couple of WM games have been so-so, I found that part of this game to be compelling. The hidden object sections are very easy to complete, the tangram segments are not a favorite of mine so I used the skip on them. Were this game ever offered as a DD, I would buy it for the smaller price. I think this game will greatly appeal to the novice HOGger and the folks who are also new to the Mosaic type game. Grading Arizona on a one to ten scale, I give it a 6.
This game has been around for some time now, but I just got as a punchcard freebie. Some of the cartoonish games are among the best of the HOGs and this one is no exception. Some players will be put off by the overabundance of dialogue but to me this is the highlite of the game. This storyline reads like a book. The demon who serves as the hint giver is incredibly glib and sassy. This guy has a mouth on him and I loved it. The hidden objects are small and some are really tough to find so you'll be using the hint a lot. It recharges very fast. The game is also really long so an owner gets his money's worth. Brunhilda reminds me of another cartoon HOG which has always been a favorite of mine and that is 1 Penguin 100 Cases. Give this one a go too as it is outstanding. I wish the devs would create another Brunhilda saga since there are too many doom and gloom games here today.
When will game buyers figure out that game makers will cease putting out CE's that stink when the buyers stop buying. Dutchman is a sunk ship in more ways than one. THere is no challenge in the HO scenes. The minipuzzles # in the demo # are worthy of a young child at best. The dev here insults our intelligence by constantly hand holding us with clues as what to do next. The storyline is awful. A seaman tries to rescue his buddy. But the man is afraid to cross a muddy path?? He need to put a coat over the mud to cross?? What a wimp !! One of the objects found is a discharged battery. Need I remind the devs that batteries were not yet invented given the era in which the game is played. When will players realize the law of supply and demand rules. Stop purchasing bad games, particularly overpriced CE's. When we as a group do that, the game makers will either produce better product or will stop making the CE's. I realize that there are lots of reviews praising this game. I just cannot see it.
I downloaded this soft release thinking this game would be a disaster. I could not have been more wrong. To begin, the background music is straight out of the 30's ( swing music ). In the 30 minutes of the demo I played there was never a repeat of any song. That in and of itself was terrific. This is a straight HOG. I skipped thru the storyline but I get the feeling it's better than ok. The HO scenes are tough with a lot of well hidden items. At the end of each segment there is a run of the mill puzzle # find the difference, matching squares, word searches etc. ) One of the very best features in the HO segments is that the backdrops look like old circus posters. Devs these days try to outwit each other with CE editions that end up being the same shoes just a different color. I think a lot of us HOGgers are tiring of this. Runaway is a very nostalgic game on many fronts. Every now and then an old fashioned HOG reminiscent of classics such as Huntsville are too good to pass up. I recommend Runaway wholeheartedly.
When I saw a second Shiver offering I was pleased since the first in the series is a very good HOG. After completing the demo of Poltergeist I am not as enthused. Started out well with a voiceover for Chellini and then with the butler. But Chellini never has a voice for the rest of the demo. Not good devs. So then we must get into the mansion but the doorknob is in a dirty fountain ??? Are devs running out of ideas so fast that we must suspend all logic during a game?? The storyline is no different than the fare we usually get these days in our HOGs. This is getting old too. The HOG scenes are ok, nothing special and the puzzles in the demo are run of the mill. Lots of running around within the mansion so I hope Chellini has a good pair of shoes on. Overall I am of the belief that devs want to churn out new games at such a rapid pace that quality is taking a back seat to quantity. That's sad. These guys must remember that staleness leads to boredom and boredom leads us players to doing something else entirely. I give the game a mild recommendation but only as an SE.
Can't see going thru all the time and effort to build the Titanic when we already know what will happen on its maiden voyage!! All kidding aside, this TM will please some and bore others. To me all TM games are basically the same pair of shoes with just a different color. I'm happy for the players who will enjoy it.
I knew this game was in trouble from the getgo. The opening of the storyline was practically a copy of another HOG that came out a few months ago. I wish I could remember the title of that game but there is so much blending of storylines these days that it is difficult to remember without a scorecard. I am not a big fan of the circle hunts, ala Treasure Seeker games but at least in this one some careful searching was needed. The puzzles were basically a rehash of what we see everyday. When there was some originality in the puzzle, the directions were vague. I think that I can speak for a lot of gamers who desperately want something innovative from developers. BFG itself tried with Return to Ravenhearst but many of us were offput by the morphing scenes. Otherewise that could have been an outstanding game. Many of the devs today are very clever but the majority of them really need to put on their thinking caps and offer something novel. Unfortunately we are getting a lot of same old same old. I cannot at all recommend this game.
This game initially showed a lot of promise, but the further I got into it, boredom set in. Without ever checking the credits this entry into the HOG scene must have been created by our Russian friends. They often make good games but Flower does not come near to being good. I can overlook some of the spelling typos, the main fault is the overall clunky demeanor of the game. There have been lots of turkeys lately. Perhaps BFG should consider an alternative to " a new game everyday". Heck, whenever an SE follows a CE version, that is NOT a new game. I compare it to the paperback following the hard cover book. This Flower is already wilted. Put it in the compost pile.