Isn't all art? Nothing new under the sun, and I quite liked this version of a secret city where magical beings and magic dwell. Having said that, this version of "secret citizens" is very well done and ups the game quite a bit. Doesn't take itself too seriously and everyone has fun.
This was especially well done in the development of the characters. I could really relate to them. I especially liked the mask creating centaur - full of character and remarkable for standing out in drawings that are often lacking in strength and personality.
Speaking of not taking themselves too seriously, there also was a definite sense of humor going on here behind the scenes. There's a BBT reference that fans will get immediately and it made me laugh out loud. It's not totally obvious but more effective for that. Pay attention to the description of the mythical creatures after you complete the Bonus game. Totally great! I highly recommend this game for those who like adventure and HOS and a sense of humor, which after all is just a sense of the balance of things.
Once upon a time in the small, undistinguished town of Silentville people started disappearing. Help uncover the mystery behind these disappearances and save the town from a curse!
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
It's been years since I played this, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and want to recommend it if you are new at Big Fish. There are some awesome games from the early years. There's some duds too, but this is where old timers like me can come in have burned off the dross so you can see some great games. This is basically a HOG with an interesting story.
You go to a small town that has been stuck in time and have to figure out what to do to help the residents return to life. The scenes are well drawn and interesting and quite varied. You'll go from a 50's style train station, to a buried hidden garden, to creaky old mansions with lots to look at. These devs really had imagination I highly recommend you check this out!
Where have these devs been the past 8 years? Took a long time for a sequel but this one is a doozy. This is an amazingly hard game, and no map, fortunately the hint button revives quickly. The HOS are divided into two parts; the first is an incredibly difficult put together of hidden objects. The 2nd part is traditional HOG and pretty easy. It was a pretty long game too, for an SE. It takes awhile to get used to the flow of the game, but after about an hour I was hooked. It's an SE game with CE quality, and that is never bad!
Very good, and I’m getting used to the interminable dialog. This actually redeems the series, helped in large part in that they finally came up with a good story line, mystery and lovely Italian scenery and art; a good reason to read all that dialog!
It sounds like this is the end, but I hope this developer doesn’t give up on this combination of little bit soap opera, mystery, classic art and hidden objects. Oh wait, what happened to the mysterious stranger and friend of Gian? Was that just a red herring? Or was it in the CE? This is my favorite of the four stories, and it was perfect as an SE
I just finished this challenging game. You may notice I didn't give the storyline 5 stars - that's because there was always the question in my mind as I played the game, "What's going on here?" The directions weren't always clear.
On the other hand, by the time I finished the bonus game I was getting the hang of it. As I was doing the "Secret Room" (big kudo's by the way to the programmers who let you play the puzzle even if you didn't have all the pieces! I only missed two, so I got a good idea of the puzzle) I realised that this will be an excellent replay game; not only to find the bits I missed, but to get a better hang of the game. I always judge games not only on their excellence but on their replayability. That has served me well the past two years as I've been able to replay a large portion of my library of games, so I was never without a good game to play! Also I don't know how they did it, but you really must be honest in your answers to progress and it is very enlightening to see how the results judge your judgement, as it were. Also, in the "it's about time" category, well done to have more people of color and diversity. I really liked that this game's main character was a woman of color. Anyway a good game, and recommended!
This is an hilarious fun game, with aliens running a talk show, invading earth and poking fun at every SF trope that's been made. They even have a reference (and planet!) of the Little Prince!) I'm on my second journey through this very long HOG. It's challenging, with all the tiny characters, but you can zoom in and look up close too. My only caveat is that they could have made the zoom out a little bigger, but then it might have become easy. There are extra's to look for, like passels of different aliens or things, and a mysterious "dark" card in every scene. This is indeed a form of "Where's Waldo" but with an SF theme and lots of inside jokes. SF fans will love it (if they love HOGs at all;)
It took me over a year to get to the point of retrying an MCF game; they had become so boringly psychotic and unreasonable. But Grandma games has fixed that - these two games (Crossfade and Incident at Pendle Tower) have brought me back. Great games with intriguing story lines and not impossible tasks, not to mention they don't leave me depressed!
If you too loved the early games and then got sucked into trying the rest hoping to find the same "esprit" you will like these games. I especially liked the pace and the HOS were assorted. I managed to find all but one of the "evidence" cards, and all of the puzzle pieces, which means the story didn't have me so frazzled I forgot to look! Try this game and see. Also fun thing in the bonus chapter the focus is on Madam Fate getting involved in a lot of the action, instead of having poor old Detective do all the work!
I had to laugh several times during the game - the programmers do have a sense of humor. When the same old problem happened, like a broken key, the old hat solution wasn't going to cut it you had to find something else. This happened so many times I think it was intentional. They know there's a limit to what you can do in a game;) What made it fun was a good story that moved along, unexpected twists, (like the villain is not always obvious) and lots of things to seek and find besides the usual HOS. A true HOPA which I love. The length of the main game was not long, but the bonus game was so the total gives you a good 6-7 hours of play; of course I skip a lot of the puzzles, so your time might be longer. Yes I know the story line could have been better and the challenge maybe wasn't great, but the overall mix and way it was presented left me with a 5 star game. I'm going to enjoy playing this again.
Grandma has turned around my view of MCF games; I had grown jaded and tired of the other games; they just weren't fun anymore. For those who liked them fine, but I found most of them too grim and weird This however is a great game! Lots of HOS, an interesting and not traditional story line with no real villains or victims but a good look at what is behind the thinking in scientific research. I liked it so much I'm going to go back and purchase "Crossfade" which also looks good. I might even try "Harbinger" all though from the reviews they tried too hard to go back and recreate someone else's story; never a good idea. Grandma, you stick to your guns and do your own thing. Don't look back has always been my motto - and looks like it's serving you well:) I highly recommend this game!
It was ok, nothing new. Big black mark for not allowing one to go back and find missing houses; that always strikes me as a cheap and mean spirited shot, as the customer has already bought the game, what's to prove here? Movement of characters was cheaply done like moving stick figures about a board. Lots of the same blocks like plugging holes with wine corks, finding gloves to move leaves or broken glass, etc.
A few HOS that were actually clever but most same old, same old. Nice to have the constables appreciative of help and not defensive; of course in the main game you were doing all the work so why not?
If you need a game at least get this one on a sale!