fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Available at BFG since 2018. Review based on completed game. A very good game! I haven’t been much of a Nevertales fan, but this game had enough glorious details in several scenes, a story-line that didn’t struggle, and interesting-enough characters, that I enjoyed the whole thing! Many of the scenes were mesmerizing, but a few were a higgledy-piggledy mess. Sound control has 4 options, which I appreciate. Good fun to play, HOPS, & easier puzzles rather than difficult.
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Review based on completed game. A 2018 game with all the usual options available. I played it from start to finish, over the span of a Saturday. WHAT I LIKED: 1. Cityscapes, 2. Cool, street-wise characters, minimal violence (only enough so you get the gist). 3. Moonlit, rainy city, with glowing fluorescent lights, 4. Warehouses and railway depos, 5. Lots of metals, large glass windows, 6. Lots of spacious areas. Plenty of HOPS - 12? Enjoyable to play. The PUZZLES were varied and quite unusual from say a couple of years ago. The MUSIC was so good I turned it up! I liked the background sounds of humming and general noises of machinery and other city sounds –it was relaxing. The BONUS GAME was good, but I think the morphing objects and collection of little-red riding hood doll from scenes didn't really make it CE worthy. Unless you particularly want all the selection of goodies you get in the EXTRAS, I think the SE would be a fine choice. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Right after the demo, and lasting around 30 mins, there is a lull in the story. It's a bit of an outlier – and not in sync with the atmosphere of the city. I was relieved when the story reverted to the more obviously city-based story.
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Review based on completed game. Magical scenes of serenity are waiting to be discovered: underwater wonderland, billowing flags, racing clouds, glittering gold, hypnotizing music, distant hills and flying fish! There's more than one world to visit!
Lighthearted and unexpected surprises made me smile. Layers and depths of sounds had a mesmerizing effect on me (headphones recommended). Spacious environments were created through clever artwork and perspectives. Not a fast-paced, action game. You CAN DISABLE BLACK BAR TIPS, and you really will get no info! Fantastic! Character interaction is frequent but of a short duration (you can speed up the dialogue with a quick click).
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
RIDICULOUS and FRUSTRATING. Not only is the INVENTORY BAR bright red, huge and distracting, but the GUIDE button in this CE is sat almost in the middle of the screen! You couldn't get it much higher! Try and lose yourself in this game...oh I forgot! You can't! You can't even "Unlock" anything to remove it! It's just there, permanently! What a disaster. Extremely disappointing.
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Review based on completed game. Everything is artsy and every scene has had thought put into it. I like the way the scene flickers when the medium is having an insight into what happened. Dark and eerie, haunting and relaxing... but lots of color too! Light highlights and dark shadows are used to maximum effect. Couple that with the echoing background sounds and you get a game that works. The characters are actually very good- I liked hearing the characters talk in this game! You can see that they used live people at one point to get the main image.
You'll roam around a European, hilly, coastal town, with winding and climbing alleys, and centuries old buildings all crammed in together. The cobbles, the kitchen tiles, the stonework on the tavern side, the mottled glass in the door frame, the velvet upholstery on the sofa...all realistic/real details...I love that! Details are not just on static scenes, but in the clouds, the leaves...the tarpaulin moving in the breeze – especially in the first half.
Lots of interesting puzzles and the HOPS are lovely to play because they're really nice to look at. The sound effects and music only add more and are spot on. The sound is mellow (and not an annoying thin sound.)
I wondered if the game would change intensity and quality once I'd got past the demo...and...no it didn't! This is my favorite game from this developer so far! I hope there are more like this on the way! Try it for yourself.
"Fright" is Fascinating with Ultra-Realistic Graphics
PostedJanuary 27, 2018
SparkleGlow100
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Available at BFG since 2014. Review based on completed game. Beautiful graphics, strewn with realistic images and scenes. The clarity is such that you can see each blade on the cornstalks, little wear-marks on the concrete, peeling wood, rust and grime of the fading motel, and eddies and swirls of the dark, ominous, racing storm-clouds. By contrast, the farmhouse is in pristine conditions, and quite charming. The characters themselves are real people and are done superbly. The HOPS are gorgeous. The few puzzles there are, are very easy, but still very interesting. You'll find yourself way out in the middle of nowhere, with grassy banks perched on sandy mounds and fields of corn.
For me it was a full evening's worth of entertainment.
****SEE SPOILER ALERT AT VERY BOTTOM FOR RUN-DOWN ON SEVERITY OF "FRIGHT."****
GRAPHICS - Widescreen or Fullscreen. Aspect-ratio adjustment. You'll have to set your computer to full brightness to get a good view.
HOPS: Wordlists and some interactive. Very enjoyable to look at and play.
PUZZLES: All skippable
SOUNDS - with 3 adjustments: Music/Effect/Environment.
MAP: TRAVEL. Rudimentary, but has indicators.
JOURNAL: YES. Info is stored in the camera on the lower left. DIFFICULTY SETTINGS – 4 –interchangeable
HINT: Guides and leads. Lowest available recharge- 0 seconds possible on "Custom." 10 seconds to recharge on Casual. INVENTORY – Lockable
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************SPOILER ALERT CONCERNING SEVERITY OF "FRIGHT."
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************There is NO blood or gore. There are no skeletons or demonic rituals.
*There is a supernatural aspect to it, but this game relies purely on the unfolding of a well-told story.
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
I found this game extremely unpleasant. It lulls you into a false sense of security, getting you to think it's just an eccentric family who have some strange habits. However, this game went way over the top. It's one thing to imply something, but to show it... is another. Also it matters how long you show it for. As another reviewer stated, there's too much time given over to torture. I wasted money on this game.
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Available at BFG since 2015. Review based on completed game.
I didn't enjoy this game as much as the most recent, Phantasmat – Curse of the mist, or as much as Phantasmat – Mournful Loch which I've just played. It just has a different feel, and the story feels a bit "bitty." The artwork composition isn't as good in the first 2/3, but the last 1/3 takes on a more detailed artistic style, which I DID like.
MINUSES *Artwork composition of scenes ok, but improves in last 1/3 *Disjointed feel to story flow *HOPS were ok, but really, I only enjoyed a couple of them. The "zoom-in" HOP style has everything looking quite little and unattractive. *I have no fun during entire Morph-dedicated HOPS (I prefer finding morphing objects when 1 or 2 are hidden in a non-HOPS scene). * Some scenes in the first half have those slighted slanted scenes and they just make me slightly nauseous. I'm glad most developers have stopped doing thisnow.
*I found a couple of characters annoying (they're meant to be I suppose).
PLUSES
*Roaming around and discovering new scenes. Obviously some areas were done better than others.
*I loved the Sewing Room HOPS and I liked that room as well as the Observatory, with lovely raindrops shown pattering on the skylight windows.
*The evening, the rain, the general atmosphere was ok and it was good enough to play through to the end.
*A couple of characters were interesting. *Lots of puzzles. *Better than a lot of other games, if you like this genre.
Once you get INTO the CASTLE, this game becomes MUCH more interesting!
PostedJanuary 21, 2018
SparkleGlow100
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Review based on completed game. I had a lot of fun playing this game! There's no slump after the demo, the good stuff just keeps coming. There are many passages and rooms to explore in this once solidly built, cavernous castle, that's now cracking in places. Lots of rocks and lichen in general. You are able to roam freely to all scenes throughout the game.
Overall the graphics are less finitely detailed, but the composition of each scene is pleasing, well- constructed and spacious. Lots of natural colors with seaweed green to convey the dark, the rock and the general "moody-gloom" of the place.
The HOPS were ok, One or two were particularly nice to play, but there are loads of puzzles.
I'd tried to play this game before, but had always lost interest. I decided to try once more, and what a good job I did!! Also, in this Phantasmat, I found there was nothing I had to skip (to avoid feeling uncomfortable) and the general feel of the game was a supernatural-fantasy game rather than horror.
fromFavorites: Beyond the Invisible-Darkness Came, Medium Detective- Fright from the Past, Empress of the Deep- 1,2 & 3, Legacy-Mercy of the Gallows, Untold History-Descendant of the Sun, Dominic Crane 1 & 2.
Review based on completed game. What I liked about his game: the outdoors, the evening light, plenty of nature included amongst the town/village dwellings. The houses themselves were furnished in an old style and many buildings had an ornate, centuries-old appearance. A lot of the scenes felt open and spacious. HOPS were enjoyable to play of which there were 8-10.
I don't normally play Chimera games, but I'd enjoyed Chimeras-Blinding Love, so that made me take a look at this one. The story unfolded in a timely fashion, but it wasn't a game I could play in one sitting.
It's a pretty safe and enjoyable game to play, if you're waiting to play something a bit better.