This is a weird, awful story that doesn't make sense and is hard to follow. There are a ton of puzzles to grapple with. The easy ones are OK, but several don't make much sense. Expert mode allows Hint & Skip, which is nice, and comes in handy for those weird puzzles. Graphics range from great to so-so. Overall, the devs worked too hard to be original and ended up with a messy, weird, and incoherent story and puzzles.
I forgot what a good game was like, having played a series of mediocre ones for so long. The artwork is beautiful, gorgeous characters, mostly easy mini puzzles, excellent cut scenes. There is a good flow to the story, which is quite good and easy to follow. The HOPs are standard and not terribly creative. Some of the voices don't match the drawn characters (one voice actor doing 5 characters isn't always convincing). Expert level still gets helpful messages, hint & skip. Other than these minor quibbles, this is an excellent game and very enjoyable to immerse yourself in.
This isn't a knock your socks off fantastic game, but it's enjoyable to play. Most of the mini puzzles are not challenging, and most actions to progress are logically connected and easy to intuit. The story seems to have Russian influences, as many of the characters' names sound Slavic or Russian. The artwork is good, but the characters look robotic and not authentic. I am not familiar with the previous games in this series, but this game is enjoyable to play on its own.
This game is off the beaten path, but will appeal to those who like the Scrabble game. A good game for kids to learn and make words.
The game is divided into 3 parts: --Campaigns, ie spelling duels (make as many words as possible and blast the foe when you have acquired enough power, from casting words) This is in timed mode, and there is no option to go untimed, but the levels played progress from easy to hard. I liked this mode the least. It's also the longest, as it is comprised of quests, and is basically an endless loop of making words.
--Obelisks (make a word starting with each letter tile in a grid of 4x4) Buff up on words starting with "u". UPRATES is a word, believe it or not.
--Runes (make words from 4x4 grid of letters, each tile can only be used once)
Obelisks and Runes are under "minigames" section. There might be 30 quests under Obelisks and Runes. I enjoyed this part of the game the most, as it is untimed. However, when you complete all quests under these sections, the computer freezes and you cannot click on an exit button and have to get out by using the Task Manager.
The artwork is OK and reminiscent of kiddie cartoons. Not much special effects. When you play on Campaign mode, you win the ability to view pages in a book/diary, which is elaborately detailed about an imaginary world--I found this completely boring, uninteresting, and not much of a reward.
It's not a bad concept for a game, but devs need to up the game by providing better eye candy rewards like building castles, beautiful scenes, interspersed with HOPs, jigsaw puzzles, etc. As it is currently, I do not believe this game will have broad appeal.
From the reviews, you either love the game or you hate the game. I count myself in the 1st camp. Yes, there are no voiceovers. The English narrative is stilted and written by foreign speaker. If you can look past these minor quibbles, it's quite a good game. The artwork is well done and appropriate to the dark mood of the forest and the shadows haunting this village. The cut scenes are clear and crisp. Background music is entirely appropos for the overall mood of the game. Nice special effects. The HOPs are standard variety. There are a few items which are well camouflaged and "hidden". I don't understand why people gripe about items too small to see---that's the whole point of playing these games, you're supposed to use your powers of observation to find obscure objects! I would recommend playing the game with some help because the tasks to complete are all over the place and go back as far as the 1st few scenes encountered, when you're nearly done with the game! Having an exclamation point on the map is extremely helpful in progressing, as are the explanatory and helpful messages when you encounter items along your journey. The puzzles are mostly easy to manageable, but my least favorite was matching the tags to the batch of keys. There's no walkthrough, but there are some helpful videos out there. The storyline drags a bit in the beginning and middle, but makes complete sense near the end, which is done well. This game is well done. I recommend a demo to see for yourself. You will be pleasantly surprised.
I want to give this game 5 stars, but can't, because it lacks a strategy guide. The artwork is excellent, extremely charming, and reminiscent of the classic Disney animated movies. The music is good, but no voiceovers. There are some HOs, but it's not the junk pile with list of objects. You play a little boy who wanders around looking for dog leashes and play mini games that are mainly point and shoot and require good eye hand coordination, or use of a mouse. Point and shoot is not my forte, but a nice change from the usual BFG offering. However, instructions for the mini games are somewhat cryptic, and there is NO strategy guide to give you a clue on what needs to be done or the objective of a particular mini game. It seems to be deliberate to make you play the game in an endless loop. I got stuck on the arcade game where you shoot pirate ships--even my son couldn't get past without having the ship sink. Maybe one day I'll figure it out.
This is an adventure solitaire game. You earn blue crystals that allow you to upgrade various structures in the kingdom, similar to the castle building in Jewel Match game. Levels also result in relic parts. Coins earned from HOPs allow you to buy boosters. Technically, there are 120 main levels and 30 levels for earning badges. There are 2 modes of play--Timed and Untimed. The untimed mode locks up all boosters, and this becomes challenging in that each card deck ranges from 22-25 cards, and if you get a bad hand, you cannot complete the level to earn 3 stars. You have to replay a level multiple times to get 3 stars. Other than that, it's a great game. A bit repetitive, but you can play mindlessly while watching TV. The artwork is good. The HOPs repeat themselves, but some objects are camouflaged well. There is a bit of a storyline, but no voiceovers. Game would have been excellent if: 1- more levels added (150-200) 2- add screensaver capability 3- add jigsaw puzzles or mahjong for variety in between solitaire 4- no timed or untimed mode. It doesn't make sense for solitaire.
The production value for this game is excellent. The artwork is so well done and fun to wander among a well appointed manor.
I played this game on Expert mode, which disables Hint, Skip, sparks and helpful messages, but managed just fine for 99% of the game. The puzzles are easy or manageable. HOPs mostly consist of finding pairs of objects hidden behind other items, ie pretty straightforward.
In the previous games in this series the ghost helper spoke so slow, I fell asleep. But in this game he talks at a normal pace, which is soooo much better.
I really enjoyed this game, but the ending, while happy, is too abrupt and not satisfying. Nevertheless, a game with nice eye candy.
The story saves this game. The artwork could be better. The characters are drawn well and are highly appealing, but the interior scenes and HOP artwork is just so-so, on the cartoonish side and not in high def.
On expert mode, Hint & Skip are allowed, but no helpful messages, so figuring out what to do is a real puzzler. The answer is not always intuitive or logical.
Some of the puzzles stink--harder than need to be. Half of the puzzles are easy or OK, but the stinkers make the experience less enjoyable.
The game gets off to a good start, but gets hard in the middle, and has a good ending. Were it not for the story, this game would have rated 3 stars for me.
What stands out for me playing this game is the artwork, which is excellent, in high def, and easy on the eye. The story is interesting, involving jaguars and even has a jaguar who helps you at several points in the game.
The game is quite long, with a lot of actions to take, many puzzles and HOPs to play. Mahjong is an alternative to HOPs.
Hint & skip is disabled on expert mode, but helpful message and '+' indicator remains available. The Hint is in the form of '!" indicator on the Map rather than glowing arrows moving you to appropriate location.
This is a highly playable game with absorbing puzzles and HOPs. Has a happy ending, but isn't too abrupt.