Opinions on Azada: Ancient Magic

What do YOU think about this newest game??

I personally am in love!!

The one thing I didn't like about the first Azada is that it didn't take me long to finish (about 10 minutes PAST demo ending).

I can tell I'm not even partially done, and I just bought the game after the hour demo!

*squees happily and goes to play more*

Mixed reviews so far. My cursor runs slow and choppy in many places and just willy-nilly in others. I thought I got rid of this problem when I bought a new computer.... like last Sarturday!

I was hoping for more "puzzles" like in Azada. So far, it's more of the hunting back & forth through/between scenes. Those are fun, but I liked doing the actual "puzzles" in Azada better then the "hunting" scenes. So far (it's early) the puzzles have been very easy. I'm sure they will get harder as I go along.

No relaxed mode.
It still gives you that hand slap time penalty if you put something in the wrong place.

Can't say I am in love just yet. I have to play more. It's kind of distracting though with my cursor moving weird.

I now have to go back & replay the Robinson Crusoe book because my time ran out.

Scotcat, sorry you're having choppy cursor problems. I run Vista and have had no problems thus far.

Ok, well... Mixed review from me too.

LOVE the story idea, love the use of different real books and how knowing something of the actual stories can help a little in some places (I noticed this mostly in Secret Garden). I HATE that there is a timer that penalizes for trying things. Whaaaa? That is the corner stone of adventure games: don't know what to do? try everything with everything else. That being said it is a very generous timer so far and I've had plenty of time to complete each book. Also the timer isn't on for the symbol puzzles that wrap up each group, which is good because I find them a bit challenging. Graphics are great, love the interface, puzzles are pretty easy but challenging enough to be fun. Lots of neat little "Ah ha!" moments that make ya feel smart. So far I've only had to use one hint on The Dive book. I suspect the game is going to be short as I am better than half-way and I've been playing less than 2 hours, but ya know me, if I get 2+ hours out of a game I am happy, and if that game is as pretty and fun as this it's $7 well spent.

So my half-ish-way point review:

for story, graphics, interface and puzzle quality
for penalizing timer and length

So definately worth the download and the Game Club price.

Forgot to mention: no cursor issues here, sorry scotcat. I run XP until they pry it outta my cold dead mouse hand.

Clicked - just for the heck of it - on the fish over the computer in Azada 2. LOL "A really big fish" LOL should have said a really big UGLY fish

AM getting so frustrated cant download it keeps saying interrupted have tried for hours best leave it till tomorrow see if that makes any dif so diappointing

stilldeva wrote:AM getting so frustrated cant download it keeps saying interrupted have tried for hours best leave it till tomorrow see if that makes any dif so diappointing

If you are getting this message in the Game Manager, do NOT close the manager. wait a minute or so and click the down arrow to the right of the interrupted message. Worked for me. Good Luck

I had to quit for a while. I am getting a headache. I will pick it back up when I get some rest since I haven't been to bed yet. Right now I am stuck in Voyage with the ball thingy. I am sooooo close to the hole, but no cigars yet. I see there are 15 books to do & I am on my 4th already playing tired & with a headache. I think this Azada will be shorter then the first one.

Music, Graphics = two 's up. Altho, I did like the more whimsical & uplifting music in Azada 1.

I can't give a good review until I can play more & I get some , but thus far, I liked Azada 1 & HE - Amazon better.

I still have XP on my laptop. I will download it there on Friday & see what happens.

PS - Haven't used any hints yet. I forgot or didn't know they had any + I haven't really needed them.

thanks cesse will keep trying rill I grow older and greyer (if possible) LOL

K...so, here's my not-quite-final review. (SEMI SPOILERS!)

Overall good game. Can't really say much about the sound/music, because it's 4 in the morning, and Handsome is trying to sleep. (No sound for me!) However, that's something I'll try in the daytime and think about.

The game is very enthralling to me. As I've already stated, it's 4 am, and the game came out at 1 am for me, so that's 3 hours of playing time. Not bad at all. The storyline was good, although I think it could have incorporated the books themselves a bit more. It almost seemed like it was just....a random selection of books that really didn't have much to do with anything else.

One thing I missed seeing in this one were the utter diversity of "minigames". There were several, and they were fun....but it seems like that in the first Azada there were more. I miss that.

I the fact that this Azada (Ancient Magic) is longer than the first one. I was very disappointed that the first one was so short. Thanks ! Big plus in my book!

While this isn't a game I would finish and immediately play again (unless I just really wanted to beat my time on it) I do think it has replay-ability.

All in all, unless the music/sound is awful (which I *highly* doubt, but will find out after I wake up), this customer is extremely pleased with her purchase of Azada: Ancient Magic.

Share your thoughts?

I bought the game without even trying the demo. Can honestly say I absolutely love it some of the mini games are a challenge but thats part of the fun. I will highly recommend for this game to be bought. Thank you Big Fish.

One thing I missed seeing in this one were the utter diversity of "minigames". There were several, and they were fun....but it seems like that in the first Azada there were more. I miss that.

I the fact that this Azada (Ancient Magic) is longer than the first one. I was very disappointed that the first one was so short. Thanks ! Big plus in my book!

That's what I thought! I liked all the mini games in Azada 1. That was the main reason I liked the game. I think Azada 1 will have more replay value then Azada Ancient Magic. I lost count on how many times I played Azada 1. I don't think that will happen with this version.

You think this game is longer? Humm, I had the opposite feeling..... but I haven't finished the game yet.

All in all, so far worth $6.99. No regrets. I think with all the hype, I was expecting a bit more.

I had to take a break from Azada 2, fourth book. Getting concentration headache. But for me, this one is more my style, I'm still having trouble with the first Azada. Will cheat and get my grandson to play the difficult puzzles for me. Stuck on pipes and my robot keep bumping into the wall. Running out of time and having to start the level all over again. Like in Amazon, Azada2, moving from one frame to the next is a challenge for me.

So far I'm enjoying the new release. Played a lot of the books in a matter of a few hours and am about to start The Detective.

One thing I really like, is the variety of story books since they seem to mirror much of what was on our shelves as a kid growing up, and what I have now.

The graphics are very nice, the mini-games repetitive (so far), I turned off the music since it became annoying after the first book, and the font and text size is a bit difficult for me to read even with my 'cheaters' on. Not crazy about the "timing" element to finish a book. Get's this OB a bit anxious. Unless that's the coffee I've consumed since midnight. Or a combination.

Haven't come across any troubles with the mouse, download, anything.

While I haven't finished the game, yet, I am glad I purchased. So far:

Revised Review:

for story, puzzles, graphics and sound

for ridiculous timer (It is INSANE to penalize in adventure games for trying stuff) and maze puzzle in last book (mouse issue or what unsure, very very hard and tedious to get the ball to move) and the fact that the "password" given to open deal behind painting doesn't match up with letters...??? AND froze my computer when I tried to exit after last book when I discovered that issue.

The timer makes me so angry every time I do something logical and get time whacked off that I have a hgeneral bad taste left in my mouth. Oh, ytou can use this pick to open this lock, but not this one, but of course you try both, have to in fact, and get docked for doing so? Also I question the logic behind a relatively short game making you hurry to finish it?

So what could have been a nearly perfect game has instead left me with a gut ache and less than happy, *most* of which could have been solved just by making the timer optional. WHY is this not standard???

Hopefully someone out there can answer my question about the code at the end asked in a different discussion because I don't want to cause a spoiler.

Hey,

The code that you get at the end of Azada: Ancient Magic is for.. that thing that's mentioned in the next screen after that one

Behind the safe, you can enter the code that was given at the end of Azada 1.

About the timer, we did consider an untimed mode, but it would really take the fun of figuring the puzzle out away. What we did instead was to limit penalties, provide a more generous timer (Az1 was a bit tight at times) and implement the fact that running out of time isn't that big of a deal; you restart the current book and that's it, instead of the whole page set in Az1.

Best regards,
Emmanuel Marty
Director, Big Fish Games Studios Europe
Lead developer, Azada Ancient Magic

Emmanuel_BFG wrote:
About the timer, we did consider an untimed mode, but it would really take the fun of figuring the puzzle out away.

I would strongly beg to differ. For many of us it would not take a thing away and would add considerable enjoyment to the game to not watch the clock or worry about the clicks. I play to relax and work my brain. I do not enjoy an adrnaline aspect at all. As an option it's the best of all worlds. Let people enjoy the game the way they'd like, not the way you imagine they will enjoy it more. I know for myself the timer added nothing positive and I am betting I am far from alone. I did appreciate it was for the most part a generous timer. I only ran out once on The Voyager. I also appreciated it just made you replay the one book, had it made me go back farther I would have been really annoyed. But I still say nothing would be lost with it being optional. Then those that want that added challenge can have it and those that don't aren't forced.

So I have to replay Azada for the code, huh? I will write the code given in this game in big letters and hang it on my wall for the next game then.

I checked my notes for Azada and found two codes. One is all numbers ... which won't work on the safe behind the picture in Azada 2. The other is all alpha ... which won't work because all the letters are not available. Hmmmmm, have to rethink this.
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I've had plenty of time for each of the books I've played thus far so have basically ignored the clock. Time penalty for wrong clicks doesn't seem as harsh as several other games so ... no problem.
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I do like the music ... but did turn it way down after about the sixth book. It sounds like the same orchestra that performed for Amazon. Reminds me of music from Harry Potter movies. I like it. (Normally, after a few minutes I turn sound off completely and listen to books. LOL)
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Emmanuel_BFG -- please extend my thanks to all who worked on this game. I think they've done a wonderful job and I'm really enjoying it. Thank You.
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I am really enjoying this game.

cesse, thanks for reminding me to be thankful too. I AM very happy when a quality game such as this is released, and I really appreciate Emmanuel Marty stopping by to see what we all are thinking. The game in concept is fantastic, as was the first, and I am always really pleased to see unique and engaging games. It *is* quality stuff, and for that I am grateful.

...just quit with the timers already...

...and in spite of all my whining, I am already looking forward to the next installment.