Tanuki_san's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:5
- Helpful Votes:33
- Reviews Submitted:2
- First Review:September 20, 2014
- Most Recent Review:June 27, 2015
- Featured reviews0
Tanuki_san's Review History
The shadow of the Jabberwocky, a terrifying fantasy creature glides above Wonderland! Help Alice restore peace and harmony back to the land!
Overall rating
5
/
5
13 of 13 found this review helpful
Pleasant diversion for an otherwise idle afternoon
PostedJune 27, 2015
Tanuki_san
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Not that bad a game, actually. The lack of a walkthrough should not deter the average player with at least some experience. The puzzles are fairly easy save for a challenging maze. The HOPs, on the other hand, are a challenge and a half, but there seem to be no false-click penalties -- one does find everything eventually, and there's always the hint button for the impatient. One can skip a game by clicking on the timer bar once that's full. There is no choice in level of play.
One game-in-game requires quick reaction time to catch the requisite number of flying critters, which can be difficult for older players such as myself. Still, it only took a little perseverance and never came close to the level of being truly annoying. Another, albeit minor, carp was the sound track. Although the music was initially quite pleasant, the lack of variation and the short loop-time eventually led me to turn it down to barely audible. All dialogue is written, so one loses nothing by doing so.
The overall visual style, especially in the HOPs, is lovely, and had a different feel to it than most games of this sort here on Big Fish -- I wasn't surprised to see French names in the credits instead of the usual Russian and occasional Latvian ones. There is not the slightest attempt to evoke the original Tenniel illustrations. The plot is straightforward and serves only to push the relatively simple quest along; the story takes a back-seat to the playing of the game. There are references to incidents in the Alice books, but the story bears little relationship to the books other than using some of the characters and settings. (These are not complaints; I mention it only for the sake of Alice purists.)
I award the game extra credits for the snippets of information on Lewis Carroll, the Alice books, and later adaptations thereof when one clicks on the animated Cheshire Cat faces in some scenes and the HOPs. This is what bumped my rating up to a full five stars.
I recommend this game!
PuppetShow: Lightning Strikes
The women of Paris are being turned into puppets! Can you find out who's pulling the strings?
Overall rating
5
/
5
20 of 24 found this review helpful
Cursed when the preview ended -- that doesn't happen often!
PostedSeptember 20, 2014
Tanuki_san
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
One of the very few times I've ever cursed when the preview was over -- I was enjoying the steampunk atmosphere, the story was interesting, and the art was definitely up to the standards established in the earlier games of this series. I liked the way the HOP scenes were directly integrated into the flow of the game, and the music added much to the general atmosphere. Bought the game (standard version) and played the rest of it immediately, which almost never happens.
I was not disappointed. Some of the "puzzles" depended on speed, not always that easy for those of us who left their ten-year-old-boy reaction times decades behind us, but in the end I did not find these impossible. The translation could occasionally use some tweaking, but that is such a minor point, and I do enjoy the occasional glimpses into the (generally) Russian underpinnings of all these games in any case. A few quibbles here and there, perhaps, but absolutely no real cause for complaint -- certainly not enough to take away a star.
The action was very linear, with little backtracking or even exploring necessary (no need for a map at all, really), which did make for a very fast game, as did the fact that none of the puzzles were particularly difficult. From playing the preview to typing out this review, with a quick pause to grab a drink and a bag of pretzels, say about four hours. One could, I suppose, criticise the lack of real challenge, but sometimes one just wants to relax after a hard week at work.
I must say I also appreciated not having to play female -- that can get rather tiresome. (Not specifying gender, or a choice of gender, is a desideratum. Hint to the programmers.)
En fin, this game was worth it, certainly if you've played the previous games.
(Note: the game stands on its own, since the first story arc had already ended; this entry into the series obviously is the start of a new one.)
I recommend this game!