 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Because people have asked here's my review quoted from the topic I mistakenly posted in Chit-Chat, not being aware of this Forum already being up or of this sticky. That said it ain't much of a review, just a quicky, and it's been covered much more thoroughly above.
Only things to add is I loved this game right up until the end, took me probably 5+ hours using hints only when really stumped and reading all the stories, which I thought were great. The cursor hot spot is definitly picky which was my only annoyance. Oh, and the last mini-game I was crap at and had to skip, which was a bit of an anti-climax, but my own fault for not being willing to work it out. I skipped one other (a random dice game I found uninteresting as no skill involved) but most were good and challenging. All were different.
I knew we had a shot at something special when I saw Frogwares was the developer. They make good stuff. 
Excellent game! Super clear graphics with adjustable gamma. NO TIMER. (tho one quick click mini so far, I managed it first go). Challenging but not crazy hard, pretty logical inventory puzzles. Well hidden but not toooo jumbled hidden object searches. It seems to have pretty good duration for this sort of game. I'm about 2/3 thru at the 3+ hour or so mark, so I'll get probaly 4.5 hours or so out of it, which is excellent. I do read all the story stuff and don't use hints until desperate, so your mileage may vary of course. Refillable hints (slow) and skippable mini games - but you must wait to skip them. Good variety in those.
Only complaints I had is a bit of a sluggish cursor, but can speed up my gamer mouse on the fly, so that's a small issue, and the hidden object hotspots are picky where you click.
Still, definite Poodlebear Approved and
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I have to say, this is one great game. I really thought I was pretty much over HOGs until I bought this one.
Objects are well hidden but not ridiculously so. They're even creatively hidden - for example, there's one scene where you need to find a particular animal, but only the animal's ears are visible. They jump out at you once you see them, but this game requires you to be a little sharper, a little more observant.
The puzzles are generally very good and there is a variety I've never seen before in a game of this type. I still haven't worked out the last puzzle of the game, but suppose I eventually will.
I even got into the storyline with this one, which I rarely do.
And it's obvious from the game's end that a sequel is planned.
Way to go for to the developers. This is a keeper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This gets a pass from me. The combination of hard-to-spot items with a tiny hot-spot makes it a case of "pixel-hunting". And 2 minutes between hints is far too long.
Then, like nightstork, my game froze just as I cured the werewolf, with 3 minutes left to play. When I restarted, I was at the lab, but without the blood. Phooey.
I can wait for the next Magic Encyclopedia or Magic Island. Those games are fun!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
lordkalvan wrote:What I refer to as windowed mode is when the game is in a window, so that I can minimize it easily, and have some other window open (and visible) at the same time. Most of the time when I'm playing games Monday-Friday, I am "on call" at work, so I have to respond to email and IM immediately. Yes I know all about alt-tab, but when playing full screen mode I don't always SEE the pop-ups about the email or IM. With windowed mode, I can just mouse over the bottom of my monitor and check to make sure that nothing snuck by me while I was concentrating on a puzzle, then go directly back to the game if there's nothing showing. I tried changing to a smaller resolution but it still filled the entire screen for me, just using images that weren't as sharp.
A quick way to minimize a full screen game is to use either ALT/TAB or CNTRL/ESC. Russ told me about that one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[Post New]](/templates/wanda/images/icon_minipost_new.gif) by Marg2 on Jul 12, 09 8:31 PM
|
Just want to add my voice to all the people who already have expressed their appreciation to BF for bringing us such a wonderful game. I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable in spite of some minor flaws, i.e., a Stop is really a Do Not Enter sign, and a couple of other misnomers. The game is so well done, graphics, design, length, good background music, that it overrides any imperfection. The graphic artists did a fantastic,very skillful, job hiding the objects, no shrinking and hiding them in dark places here. The mini games are fun, and some are quite challenging. And yes, since I don't seem to get through any HOG without hints, I also wish the hint button would recharge a little faster. There were times when I was stumped and wished for a walkthrough, but somehow I managed to make it to the end. Bottom line - this game gets two thumbs up. LOVE IT!  
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
by MSJMOM on Jul 13, 09 9:55 AM
|
Wow, this is the first game in a long time to get such good reviews! I was looking at this last night, but I think tonight I will give it a go!
Thanks for all the reviews.
|
|
|
|
| |
