SparkleGlow100's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.3
- Helpful Votes:3,053
- Reviews Submitted:371
- First Review:September 24, 2014
- Most Recent Review:November 18, 2020
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Your daughter's lost in the Maze of Fears, but you'll face more than her disappearance if you dare to enter.
Overall rating
5
/
5
12 of 19 found this review helpful
**AWESOME, ASTOUNDING WIN!! BEST NEW GAME OF 2015!!**
PostedMay 15, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This game maintains its high quality and high level of enjoyment throughout! The graphics’ detail, the artwork, the sound, the story, the tension are all gorgeous and superbly done The HOGS are hand-painted!
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: At the carnival fairground, you enter an attraction to test your fears! Little do you know what’s in store…? Unlike in many games, these graphics are SO good, that they even look good in daylight, if you put your computer lighting to the max setting! Detail, detail, detail everywhere. Love it! The color palette is one of a moon-lit evening. You find yourself in houses, swamps, skyscrapers, woods, in fact, all over the place!
STORY: Within seconds I was swept away into this exciting game. You play as the dad, and your daughter need rescuing again and again, for a total of 12 times! 12 fears to be tested with at the carnival fairground attraction. As the story progresses you become more and more informed as to how and why the “machine” was constructed, that creates the experiences. I was glad that at no point did the experience of having these fears tested go over the top either with regards to being too cruel to the participants and/or making me, the player, uncomfortable! Good tension and nothing gruesome; no blood, no violence and no inappropriate attire. It was really more like being in a Jumanji-type game. However, I would say that the ghost and paranormal section particularly and the emphasis on experiments would be too much for little kids to handle and the story in general wouldn’t be suitable. The cut scenes were great, don’t last long, are frequent and totally add to the drama of the game.
MUSIC & SOUND: EXCELLENT!!! 3 levels of sound to choose from: voice, effects and music. The fantastic thing is, that for the effects (ambience plus mouse-click), the balance was right!! Lovely mellow sounds accompanied the various mouse-clicking decisions I made, and they were a pleasure to listen to (instead of making me jump out of my skin or grate my teeth, like in some games). Therefore I was able to adjust this to a higher level and thus get the full effect of any background sounds!! We had birds, crickets, frogs and other creature sounds. The voice acting is excellent!
HOGS & PUZZLES: OH JOY!! Gorgeous to look at hand-painted HOGS. Nicely laid out, and with that cozy glow that I love! I counted, I think, 20 HOGS. You go back to each scene twice, so there must’ve been at least 10 different scenes. Many of the HOGS were linear –interactive where you’re go from one thing to access another, then there were the collect x2 of these and x2 of these etc, and finally the standard word lists. You have the option of playing a match-3 game instead.
Then there were the good old puzzles (mini-games) which were of a nice variety, but not too difficult: lining things up, rotating items and categorizing them correctly while turning them around circles, find matching images and more.
HINT: Shows you what to use and where, and can be used as a travel portal too! I liked the hint ‘circle’ that shimmers! Nice little touches like that made the game extra special!
JOURNAL: You get a journal, which is divided into: map, goals, memories, videos, trophies and collections. The “memories” section is where traditionally your journal type notes and souvenirs automatically go. The map has the usual indicators of tasks and places to go, but I didn’t use it.
TASKBAR/INVENTORY: Is lockable.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: 3 levels and an additional ‘custom.’
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: 3 levels and an additional ‘custom.’
EXTRAS in CE: You get your journal as above, but in addition the CE gives you a bonus game, wallpapers, concept art, developer diary (the making of video), mini games, collections and music.
BONUS in CE: The bonus game was good but lacked the tension of the main game. It continued wrapping up the main game by providing further explanations as to what went wrong to create this “monster” machine. It lasted about 45 minutes for me, but I did skip 2-3 mini-games, so it would’ve been longer. The main game had a satisfying ending in itself.
CE/SE? Well, you can probably tell that I had a whale of a time with this game and enjoyed every minute. However the bonus material wasn’t great. There are no morphing objects for example and the collectables were just pictures you collect on the way that represent fears that are then pinned up on one of the character’s cork-board wall. There’s nothing you do with them. I counted an extra 4 HOGS and of course there were some more puzzles. Another not so good feature of the bonus was that various bits of information you collect were too small to comfortably read without straining my eyes. The graphics quality continued to be high. As mentioned above, the main game had a satisfying ending in itself also.
WHERE DID MY TROPHIES GO?: Once I’d finished the main game and the bonus game, I was unable to access the journal which contained my trophies. You can only access the collectibles from the bonus game and not the trophies. You should take a look at what you’ve earned before the game concludes.
*WELL, IT WAS FUN WHILE IT LASTED! …SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT ROCKY THE DOG FROM DARK DIMENSIONS: HOMECOMING!!! *
I recommend this game!
An imprisoned soul will never be free until you clear his name!
Overall rating
5
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
UTTERLY RELAXING
PostedMay 11, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The entire atmosphere was extremely relaxing. This is a slow-paced, take your time game. Sit back and enjoy this investigation-mystery.
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: Coastal and built on a cliff, a hotel from which you get great views of distant night lights shining in the water. Lovely distant views. Visit the bakery (was really hoping for a HOG there…but no such luck). Once you get to Montez Farm in Chapter 3, you’re treated to some extraordinary backdrops!
STORY: Murder! Why! Who? Is the ghost trying to lead you somewhere, to clues? A powerful family who own a famous vineyard are under suspicion. Lost a bit of momentum towards the very end. Nice interaction with characters.
MUSIC & SOUND: 2 divisions. Nice appropriate ambient sounds. Voices were done really well, but there’s no lip movement, if that’s important to you.
HOGS & PUZZLES: Medium amount.
HINT: Shows you where to go, what to use and portal.
MAP: Map will show image of place that action is required and you can use it as a jump-map.
MAP: Map will show image of place that action is required and you can use it as a jump-map.
TASKBAR: Stays visible.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY 3, which are NOT interchangeable once play has started.
EXTRAS: A Map shows you where tasks are available and you can use it as a jump-map. In addition, you get a journal.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY 3, which are NOT interchangeable once play has started.
EXTRAS: A Map shows you where tasks are available and you can use it as a jump-map. In addition, you get a journal.
I loved the scenes, locations, graphics and storyline!
I recommend this game!
After a long journey, Queen Sophia faces her enemy for the last time - but will she succeed in saving her parents?
Overall rating
3
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
FELT LIKE AN EXTREMELY LONG GAME...
PostedMay 11, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Took me weeks to finish because I didn’t find it that interesting, exciting or relaxing. The only Awakening game I HAVE enjoyed is Moonfell Woods. Note: you can’t change your level of difficulty once you have started playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To do that, you have to start as a new player.
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: Outdoors, cliffsides,valleys, tents, centaurs, dwarves. Nice backgrounds in parts, but otherwise VERY CARTOON-LIKE in many parts. Very clean and suitable for kids of any age.
STORY: Dreadmyre has cursed Sophia’s parents and now they are in an eternal slumber. You must go on a quest to find the centaur who can forge the sword to lift the curse from Sophie’s parent.
HOGS & PUZZLES: Not too many HOGS. Lots of adventure and puzzle.
MAP: OK, hover on a circle and a small picture will appear.
HINT BUTTON: Good.
MAP: OK, hover on a circle and a small picture will appear.
HINT BUTTON: Good.
(((BONUS game in CE edition only: The bonus game LOOKED so much better, both artistically and the quality and definition of the graphics. Why couldn’t they make the MAIN game of that quality throughout???)))
TASKBAR: Stays visible at all times.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY : 3 and NOT interchangeable.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY : 3 and NOT interchangeable.
I recommend this game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
BEAUTIFUL HAND-PAINTED SCENES AND HOGS, PLUS LOTS OF HOGS!
PostedMay 11, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: Lots of different locations to go to. So many nooks and crannies to investigate in so many different styles of houses and buildings. So much fun. So beautiful to look at.
STORY: Disappearances with indications of foul play.
MUSIC & SOUND: Music nice, but repetitive. Not very pleasant sound when you click on something, a kind of downward trill. However if you place an inventory item correctly, you are rewarded with a pleasant-sounding upward trill. No talking, no mouth sync; you must read the conversation.
MUSIC & SOUND: Music nice, but repetitive. Not very pleasant sound when you click on something, a kind of downward trill. However if you place an inventory item correctly, you are rewarded with a pleasant-sounding upward trill. No talking, no mouth sync; you must read the conversation.
HOGS & PUZZLES: LOTS of HOGS. Every new location has many! All beautifully hand-painted. Puzzles were mixed but over all pretty easy. I skipped some because I couldn't figure out what to do; there's no instructions.
HINT:***NO HINT!!!***There is only a hint button in HOGS. Therefore you must have the BFG walkthrough handy, which you can locate by Googling it.
MAP: NO map. The game will automatically take you to different places that you will then have up to 3 or 4 different rooms/areas to investigate.
TASKBAR: No taskbar. Inventory items appear in little circles at the bottom of the screen.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: Only 2 and NOT interchangeable once started.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: Only 2 and NOT interchangeable once started.
CONS: -No hint except for in HOGS,
-does not fill your whole screen (didn’t mine) therefore smaller objects,
-plus those mentioned under ‘music & sound,’
-finishes rather abruptly,
- no changing your level of difficulty,once started,
-no voices.
-does not fill your whole screen (didn’t mine) therefore smaller objects,
-plus those mentioned under ‘music & sound,’
-finishes rather abruptly,
- no changing your level of difficulty,once started,
-no voices.
BUT IF YOU WANT HAND-PAINTED HOGS, AND LOTS OF 'EM, then this is just the ticket! All-in-all, I really enjoyed this game. Therefore it still gets a 4* from me.
I recommend this game!
Sable Maze: Norwich Caves Collector's Edition
Your students have gone missing during an expedition under the university. Can you track them down before the water rises?
Overall rating
5
/
5
What a gem!
PostedMay 5, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I finally know why people raved about this game! Why aren’t Developers making games of this quality anymore???
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: Norwich Caves University. Has a very Harry Potter feel to it as far as roaming around goes the place goes! Granite tiles and medieval type architecture blended with building additions of maybe a couple of hundred years ago. Really clear and sharp detail. In many places looks real. The bonus also has some beautiful lake, island scenes.
STORY: There is a team of students each from a different discipline of study, who’ve been selected to accompany a professor into the caves. Things are not all as they seem and things begin to go awry. Full of atmosphere. Not scary, but has a ghostly being who is trapped and wants justice.
MUSIC & SOUND: Top quality division into 4 categories! Me happy!
HOGS & PUZZLES: Quite a few HOGS. Very linear-interactive ie, find this thing before you use it to find the next, and so on. However, ALL the HOGS are like that and I prefer a mix, otherwise they just don’t seem like what I think Hidden Object games/scenes are supposed to be. Lots of different sorts of puzzles.
HINT: The hint will take you to where you need to go and what needs attending to, and if you still can’t figure out what to do, wait for the hint to recharge, and this time, it’ll tell you which item to use from your inventory.
MAP: The map is awesome. It shows you where you are and area that have tasks to be done, and if you hover over it, mini but perfectly clear images appear of what exactly that place is, and you can use it as a jump-map too.
TASKBAR: Lockable.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY : 3 and interchangeable by going to “options” and selecting “difficulty.”
EXTRAS: No journal. The usual abundance of extras, wallpapers, music etc.
BONUS: Very enjoyable with outdoor lakes and hills and worth buying the CE for. Explains the background of one of the characters a little more and resolves the main game fully. However, having said that, you could play the SE and that ending would be equally satisfying.
I recommend this game!
Only the Rose of Life can cure your father’s illness.
Overall rating
3
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Very disappointing
PostedMay 5, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I played the whole thing, and it never really appealed to me very much.
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: The graphics aren’t overwhelmingly good. They seem very flat overall and 2 dimensional. Nothing magical. You can’t compare it to games like Nearwood, or Dark Strokes: The Legend of the Snow Kingdom, any of the Love Chronicles or even Dark Parables: The Last Cinderella. It wasn’t even as good as that other Beauty and the Beast released a while ago that had that ridiculous imp called Saucy.
For this game, the images shown in the advert do make it look good, and infact it does start off pretty good. But that didn't last long. A few of the HOGS did have a nice look to them.
STORY: The story does seem to have promise and seems to have a positive message, but it really lacked something...the gift of storytelling perhaps. The bonus was actually more interesting than the main game, because you get to go outdoors more instead of stuck inside the circus or castle, neither of which are that interesting. Even though the story-line is along the lines of a good one, for some reason I found the whole thing CREEPY.
HOPS and PUZZLES: Overwhelmingly easy.
I don't recommend this game.
Search for a town consumed by fog! Unlock forbidden doors and uncover mysterious items!
Overall rating
4
/
5
How will you dispel the fog???
PostedApril 27, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
GRAPHICS & STORY: Beautiful, crisp, and detailed graphics. Eerie atmosphere. You leave your car parked in some woods and off you go to explore a hauntingly beautiful place. Investigate the foggy, deserted town to find out what happened. Story centers around ghosts and death and choices made which opened up… a dark dimension. Didn’t fill my whole screen, but the graphics were so sharp that there was no loss of clarity.
MUSIC & SOUND: WOW! Try headphones if you don’t already! The sound has so much depth to it. 2-level settings.
HOGS & PUZZLES: LOTS
HINT: Shows you what needs attention specifically, but not what item to use, even if you have it. You will need either the strategy guide or the walkthrough.
TASKBAR: Not lockable
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: 3 levels of difficulty which are changeable during gameplay.
EXTRAS: Strategy guide, map, hint button
BONUS: BONUS GAME IS JUST AS ENJOYABLE AS MAIN GAME.
MUSIC & SOUND: WOW! Try headphones if you don’t already! The sound has so much depth to it. 2-level settings.
HOGS & PUZZLES: LOTS
HINT: Shows you what needs attention specifically, but not what item to use, even if you have it. You will need either the strategy guide or the walkthrough.
TASKBAR: Not lockable
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: 3 levels of difficulty which are changeable during gameplay.
EXTRAS: Strategy guide, map, hint button
BONUS: BONUS GAME IS JUST AS ENJOYABLE AS MAIN GAME.
I recommend this game!
Explore a world of magic to stop an ancient evil!
Overall rating
4
/
5
11 of 11 found this review helpful
Whisked me away for a while!
PostedApril 27, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
This was the first Otherworld game I’ve played, and it didn’t seem to matter since there was enough background explanation provided.
STORY: You need to overcome a weird looking entity/creature that works for the “dark-side” and wants more power and has turned a little girl to stone to prevent her using her special qualities and abilities. Quite a few characters you meet on your journey are like dwarves and gnomes. This is not an edge of your seat game. This is a game to totally take your time with. If you are looking for action-laden adventure and thrills, this is not it.
SETTINGS, GRAPHICS AND ART: You’re in lots of different places on your journey! You’ll travel on paths through different landscapes and through dwelling areas. Starts off very visually stunning! Gifted landscape artists must have worked on this; there was the beauty of the hills, the stretches of land and fields leading to the horizon of 3 miles or more, the gorgeous garden-like woodland and a lot of amazing outdoor scenery. I sat back for several moments, and just enjoyed a few of the scenes. But there did seem to be a gradual decline in that side of things.
HOGS and PUZZLES: Good and fun. This game is geared more towards the adventure though.
MUSIC: Instrumental, and atmosphere enhancing.
HINT BUTTON: The hint button was able to tell me where to go, and CAN TAKE YOU To where you need to go through a window that opens up. I found this game pretty challenging, since I found I was using the hint button much more than usual!
CONS: A flaw with the game for me which took it down a whole “star” rating was that the ambient sounds were either absent a lot of the time or drowned out by the loud mouse-click effects which was a whoosing sound. Lastly I found that the story did drag on a bit, and with the gradual decline in first-class scenery, I was eventually keen for it to conclude.
OVERRALL: A gentle-paced and relaxing game.
I recommend this game!
If you have enough courage to challenge the darkness, then you’ll manage to find out the mystery of the Rossolimo family.
Overall rating
4
/
5
Moonlit mansion on an island
PostedApril 27, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
If you’re looking for SOLITUDE and not a series of character encounters, then this might be your game. This was a good length game and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: Remote island, a mansion of marble, statues and columns. The graphics are very DETAILED and very painting-like in many places, with good contrasts of shading. There are lots of rooms to visit and you also get to go outdoors in this game for a good while too. It is set in the evening.
STORY: The lady of the manor is scared by the strange goings on there and she’d like you to investigate. The gargoyle/demon statues, a live Harpie which glares at you and blocks your way multiple times and also a cloud containing the spirit of a menacing face are the only scare factors (basically has good atmosphere and isn't scary).
MUSIC & SOUND: I liked the music for a good while, and had it playing on the lowest setting for most of the game.
HOGS & PUZZLES: The HOGS are like paintings and somewhat interactive, of the word-list type. They occur often and are just about 2 in every scene. The puzzles are not easy, but a lot of fun.
HINT: Doesn’t show you what inventory item to use from even if you have it. But does show you which location to go to and what to do next. No jumping into it though; you must travel by “foot.”
TASKBAR: Stays visible
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: 3 levels of difficulty which are not changeable during play.
CONS: Quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing up is required and you are up and down an elevator and cable-car type vehicle multiple times, although there IS a ‘skip’ button in the corner if you want to use it. There is no map in this SE.
EXTRAS: You get a journal. No map
I recommend this game!
Challenge yourself in the role of the scientist-historian-scholar of ancient civilizations and mystical legends and save your friend from the Demon of Darkness!
Overall rating
4
/
5
Great game if you’re in the mood for solitude, adventuring and testing your memory (no map)!
PostedApril 26, 2015
SparkleGlow100
fromUSA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Great game! Enjoyed this just as much, and perhaps even a bit more than Secrets of the Dark Ancestral Estate!
SETTINGS, ART and GRAPHICS: I really enjoyed the settings of the mountains and outdoor evening. Whether or not Thailand is really like that or not I have no idea. Graphics were sharp.
STORY: The story takes you through many rooms and outdoors around mountain areas and paths. When you change the illumination in a room, the room and contents change, and you even get extra doorways! You must free your friend who is turning to stone. It’s all to do with demonic forces trying to materialize in our world, but it isn’t a scary game at all. Lots of temple rooms with water and fire structures. Who are these Buddhist monks? Can they help you?
MUSIC & SOUND: Nice music when I listened to it. Lots of ambient sounds like crickets and waterfall.
HOGS & PUZZLES: Plenty of HOGS and puzzles. I thought the puzzles were different and unusual from what I’ve been playing and I enjoyed a lot of them, and skipped others. HOGS were very pleasing and attractive to look at and were mainly word list and also 'put your object where it belongs' type.
HINT: Hint button just says 'nothing more to do here' but will not tell you where to go unless you are IN that room/specific area that something needs to be done; there is no arrow to follow. You will need the walkthrough. I had to refer to it maybe half a dozen times at least. Google it, and BFG's walkthrough comes up.
TASKBAR: Stays visible all the time.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY: 3 levels, not changeable once game starts.
CONS: Didn’t fit my whole screen but didn’t really matter, because the graphics were so clear. No map, not very helpful hint button.
EXTRAS:You do get a journal.
OVERALL: A game that I enjoyed playing!
I recommend this game!