I finished the demo because some games start out with a lot of story and not much game to get you grounded. This one continued with more story than game through the whole hour.

You CAN adjust the sound level - but you have wait until you are actually in the game. Very odd. Music and effect blaring in my house until 5 minutes in. Weird.

If the story were all together at the start of each card section AND you could click through after reading the dialogue (without listening to it all), it would probably be OK because the story is pretty good. But I am guessing I was in story mode at least 70% of the time - should be more like 20% story and 80% game.

I too liked the connections approach. Too bad it wasn't in a game with better design.

This is a wonderful game.

Pros:
* NO REPEAT scenes - that's right: 25 levels without a single repeat!
* Lovely illustrated scenes
* No murder or mayhem
* Scenes are well lit
* Hints are generous, if you need them
* Interaction is easily understood, but you are not lead by the hand
* Nice long game play: over 3 hours for me. Few games are more than 2 for me.
* Hidden items are fair - no tricks

Cons:
* Music is only mediocre
* Story is disjointed at times, but at least there is a plot that reaches a conclusion.
* Replay will have to be at intervals as the interactive items play a big part and will not change.

It is not a hard game, but I played it straight through and did not have a minute's boredom due to the great graphics and constant new scenes. I was apprehensive because of the picture hints, but I easily adjusted.

.5/

Not my game either but it definitely fits the bill for those looking for something less creepy than most games seem to be these days.

The concept is not bad but none of these people seem like people I would have any interest in meeting. They are all just paper cutouts with no back story. And let's get a mix of younger and older people. 35 isn't old but it is the youngest person I encountered in 4 matches.

The "gifts" for the first dates are just creepy - that hideous hat and the kitchy seashell ship. Who gives an ancient Myan mask as a gift on a first date? Be realistic - there are appropriate gifts but none of these are them.

The whole games feels a bit socially awkward and dowdy to me. It might have been fun if it was people I would be interested in, but none of these matches intrigue me at all. Sorry.

No technical issues and the pointing cupid is cute.

/

Hi sketchygirl-
There is a Blog Walkthrough link on the game page (probably here in the forum too but I found it on the game page). I got stuck once during the demo and checked the walkthrough - and it set me free.

I don't use the walkthroughs unless I am absolutely stuck, as I was in this case.

In this game you can move back and forth between the scenes with the map to use or discover new items - a feature I like a lot. That adds a little interest to otherwise linear games for me. But sometimes I am not sure where I am supposed to be!

Depending on what you are looking for this could be just the game for you. It is not dark. The objects are not so tiny you can never find them. It has lots of hints. You don't have to tromp back and forth from room to room looking for god knows what to open something you never heard of. The graphics are decent but not anything special. The Pharaoh with the tennis shoes did make me laugh.

If you want a straightforward HOG that you can play when you are tired or just want to relax, this might be for you.

I played the full hour, read all of the dialog and all of the journal entries. I finished about half of the chapters. But I will say chapter 4 and 5 each had one more scene than the proceeding 3, and I do not know if they get even longer.

Things I did not like: the use of signs of the zodiac as objects. It just struck me wrong in in an Egyptian themed game (symbols like the Eye of Osiris were much more appropriate). Some minor factual errors (Thebes and Luxor are not the same city - they are across the river from each other). The ridiculous story line (no archeological dig would proceed anything like that nor would finds be transported before extensive studies had been done in situ). I have come to accept the last point as the norm in games however, much to my despair.

Overall, too easy for me. If the other aspects were of higher caliber I could probably put up with the easy pace. But certainly not a disastrous game as some above seem to think (even if they have never played it).

My rating:
.5/

HA! Now, I read the comments that this one has been around for awhile. As I was playing, I kept thinking how the style and quality seemed like something that could have come out a few years ago. And now I see it did!

Extremely poor graphics quality. Tedious repetitive hidden objects. Horrible find the differences. Boring casino games - how can you manage THAT!

I stopped playing when it encountered an unrecoverable error (just the game not my PC)

I thought I had used up just about the whole hour (I am patient in letting games grow on me). But I discovered I had used less than half the demo time. And I was on chapter 15 or so. So time was definitely not flying as I was playing.

Ugh. Oh yes, the "investigator" wearing a midriff-revealing shirt while on the job. Sure. I have no doubt the execs from a top casino would be calling her.

/

spammy63 wrote:Too short, not challenging enough. Figured out the "mystery" pretty quickly, then it was just boring. Wasted a game credit since it's the 3rd (CE) and 4th most downloaded, which i guess means people are downloading without reading reviews.

Or perhaps they downloaded the demo, played it and liked it. Just because it is not a game for you, does not mean no one would like it.

ajjscott wrote:

cjm1998 wrote:I'm having replay problems with this game, sorry I purchased it.

Me too. The problem is that none of the puzzles will reset when you restart the game with another player, and there doesn't seem to be any other way to put everything 'back to zero'. The game badly needs correcting.

Read up a few posts. Your solution is there..

Hi again Eugene-
I am just seeing your message now and HAVE to put my opinion in

Many members here download the demo the first day or two. If they don't like it, they delete it and never come back. Some may post in the forums, most will not.

Some may read the forums before downloading the demo and others (like me) may wait until after they try it out. I want to form my own opinion before listening to others.

So, you might want to ask BFG to help you out - I know they want your games to be a success also!

How many people downloaded the demo? How does that compare with other Hidden Object Games on BFG? That should give you a clue if the subject was the problem. Just a clue though because there may have been a lot of members who never downloaded after reading about the translation problems.

Of those who downloaded, how many eventually purchased the game? How does that compare with other HOGs here? If the conversion rate is low, that would indicate that people did not like the actual game play - probably the translation issues.

But I think you were mostly hit with the very vocal dissatisfaction with the spelling and grammar problems. You fixed those, but by then people had moved on to other new games. BFG also did not publicize the fixes - I only saw it because I visited the forums here. That might have helped (although I had already purchased the game by that point). But after the first few days, you are not likely to attract new players unless you appear on the top sellers list.

Your graphics are very good, your story line is new and fresh, you have some clever innovations in play - overall really a nice game. But once you missed the first flood of players, I think it was too late.

The other things people complained about - the hint display and the shutter between scenes would not normally be enough to keep people away if they enjoyed playing. So I think it was the translation problems - and we know that will not happen next game! Good luck!

It is pretty much a straight HOG but I like HOGs.

So if you like HOGs, here are some comments:
1. I like the "chapters." I like being able to leave a scene and then return again later to find the items you could not find the first time.
2. I do not understand the complaints about hints. You start with 3. You can earn more by finding 4 or 5 items quickly. Or you can wait for the hint to recharge (I think it takes 90 seconds).
3. If you knew "who done it" before playing, you read the book. There are hints and clues spread all along the game - some red herrings and some important. But that is OK, the purpose here is to play a HOG not solve the mystery. If solving the mystery were important, none of these games would have any replay value.
4. Yes, it has a timer but I never came anywhere near close to timing out in this game (I have in others). And if you do - just replay the chapter - makes the game longer too! But I do agree that developers SHOULD ALWAYS offer an untimed option, as some people are not able to finish in the allotted time. And if not having a relaxed mode ruins the fun for some players - why not add it?
5. A fair amount of revisiting scenes. Sometimes finding the same items. Not so good.
6. Each chapter is longer than the last as the developers add an additional scene each chapter. I finished just over 4 chapters in the demo, and played another 2.5 hours after purchased to finish the 11 chapters - a total of 3.5 hours.
7. There is a "find all" round after you finish the game where you find every item in every scene. I have not played that yet.
8. Graphics are reasonably good - I have seen better and worse recently, but overall the graphic quality of games has gone WAY UP in the last year, so compared to a year old game this one is great.
9. Some things are well hidden or in dark sections. You could argue that too many are. I averaged using a little less than one hint per scene.
10 Nothing appears that is inconsistent with the story - no cell phones or jets.
11. Little popup info screens appear when you find something useful. That can be irritating and it interrupts your quick-find-extra-hint hopes.
12. There are a lot of characters and keeping track of this is all but impossible. There should be a journal or notebook to refer back to - as there was in Death on the Nile I believe.

Bottom line: good but not great. I'll play again.

/

While I had absolutely no technical problems with this game, I wholeheartedly agree with the request to be able to turn custom cursors off. As the cause of so much frustration with so many players and so many games, you would think developers would have gotten the message by now.

And I also would like to thank BFG for the constant stream of new games. I had been playing off and on for 8 months or so. Then in early June I had unexpected surgery on my foot and was off my feet for 4 weeks, then on crutches for another 4. I became a real addict then and have not recovered yet. Knowing there is something new to entertain me every day was a real help when I could not do much else. THANK YOU BFG!!

******
OK, this one. The music is awful and I did turn it off. I like good appropriate music as it add to the ambiance, but it is not a deal killer for me.

What is a deal killer is more of what is said above. Cartoon games are fine - but when it is an illustration you had better be sure the item looks like the key word. "Paper cutter" was a utility knife. Scissors, maybe, but a utility knife? No. I had the same mirror angst as above - along with a few others in the hour.

The hints were fine for me and they recharged fairly fast. I also like the image hint option. The story was OK and not too intrusive. Not at all a subject I have much interest in, but it did not get in the way of playing the game as some do.

My real problem was that things did not look like they were supposed to. A "folder" that looks like a book, a "pencil" that looks like a pen in one scene and a crayon in the next. Too much time trying to figure that out and not enough hunting objects down.

Not the worst game I have demoed but not even on the list to consider buying.

/


ETA: I would not consider this for a tween girl as suggested above. Ashtrays, lighters,drinks, full shot glasses, envy about body size. Not the kind of things I want associated with fun, glamor and adventure for the young girls in my life.

prpldva wrote:The walkthrough is posted here on the blog.

http://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/insider-tales-vanished-in-rome-walkthrough/

Well thanks for that link! I was shocked to see that I was half way through Chapter 4 of a 5 chapter game!

I like the mix they have used here - a little bit of everything. Good graphics. Fast hint recharge,. I did not have any technical problems or troubles with the minigames.

But if I have less than a half hour of game left - well, that is just not enough. I was on the fence anyway - I do not like find the difference or silhouette - and I encountered these already.

I guess I wait until tomorrow for another fix

Yes to this one!

Pros:
*Wonderful graphics
*Good voice actors, and fortunately not too much talking
*Plentiful hints if you want them
*Charming stories - finally something fresh in the story line.
*Creative gameplay.
*Mechanics are well done
*I like the navigation -"you are done here but I will not tell you where you need to go next"

Cons:
*Going to be short. I just started the 4rh mirror when the demo ran out.
*No option to turn off the handholding - would be nice to have an easy and a hard mode

For those who have complained that it is just find and place - it is not. In many cases you have to work three or four of the rooms at once to get everything you need.

Not a difficult game, but very engaging and fun. I found my 6th game for December

/

/sigh/ I so wanted to like this one.

Pros:
*Ample hints. By the time the demo was over I had 21 hints stored up.
*Nice clean graphics.
*Good navigation.
*Mini games and bonuses are nice. The bonus photography is of the quality you would expect from NG.

Cons:
*Absolutely annoying kibitzers. If I had a harpoon gun I would have shot them before another "try further to the west" came up again. I do not know if they are gone in the expert mode because they will not let you play it until you finish the relaxed mode once.
*You have to do the game in the order they want you to. So, you can not just find the wrecks and wander back and forth until you have the tools you need - you only get to see them when you have finished the prior scene. Takes a lot of the "exploration" aspect away for me.
*A couple of "find the differences" in the demo but not hard, so I won't complain about that too much even though I do not like them.

Still, if it were not for the constant repetitive "hints" from the characters, I would probably buy it. But they took all of the fun away for me. All of it. I know I can turn the sound down, but you still have to look at them saying the same thing over and over on the screen. Like water torture.

/
Because all they would have to do is let you turn off the irritating talking and it would be good.

karenpro123 wrote:what is the first word to decode santa's message in level 17? Is is Nevosoft? if so.... how come I can't win it?

It is the name of the guy - Vsefoton! Ha ha! Until your post I did not realize it was an anagram of the developer. Very funny.

mst3kr wrote:I've been a fishie for quite some time with dozens of games under my belt (or is that gills?)

Definitely gills

aerenye wrote:I had 15 minutes left to play the game and was told I have to purchase the game. Some games take a full hour for me to decide if I want to purchase or not. I am very, very dissappointed that BF has started doing this on all the games. Very dissappointed and I dont think I will be coming back to BF.

I must say I find that attitude quite unreasonable. How may businesses let you use their product for AN HOUR before you decide if you want to buy or not? Does the pizza store let you eat three slices before deciding if you want the whole thing? Does the movie theatre let you watch the first hour before you decide if you are going to pay for the whole movie?

The fact that BFG lets us play for an hour or for the designed demo is amazing. Honestly, how much more will you know in 60 minutes over 45? I love the hour (or defined length) demo. The set demos (first couple of chapters usually) are fine with me - I certainly get a flavor for the whole game.

If you don't like that approach, just skip those games. BFG is certainly not "doing this on all the games" in any possible definition of "all." For the last 90 days, I would bet you would not find 10 games that have a set demo.

Quit whining.

I played the normal mode and had to replay two scenes in the demo because I did not earn enough stars.

This should have been fun, but it was just frustrating. I should have played in kids mode, but forgot about that option until here in the reviews.

The animations are very small and a bit distracting for the HOG. However, if you just look at the scene for fun, it is really quite entertaining. Unfortunately, you will not earn your stars to advance if you do that.

I had the dialogue turned way down, so I know I missed some important stuff there (I did not like the voices). Plus I had to sit through a lot of talking where I was hearing nothing. Were there some kind of rechargeable hints?

Overall, not fun. It should have been an entertaining, relaxing game but it wasn't. The illustrations are really well done and I had fun looking at the scenes just for that. But not for the game.

/

Hi Eugene -
I downloaded the updated version and everything seems to be working fine. There are a couple of brain scratching words, but that is OK - nothing "wrong."

I am about a third of the way through and am enjoying it as much as the first time.

Coming back to the game I realized how good the technical aspects are here. The graphics are outstanding and I do like the horizontal scrolling and the scene transition. Plus all of your fun innovations - like the fix the differences instead of find the differences.

GOOD WORK! I will be looking forward to your next game!

I can certainly understand why this game might be a problem for some members. It is very occult centered - with fortune telling and tarot. Not in a scary way, but if the mystical bothers you stay away.

I was having the same problem with placing items - I wish I had seen the hint about the wide-screen setting before I did the demo! I adjusted to it, but it did annoy me a bit.

Other than that absolutely no technical issues. Download and scene loading were speedy, no other glitches or bugs at all.

I DO NOT like having to move aside a hat or a bowl or whatever to find something underneath. I do not mind opening a drawer or cabinet - those are much more intuitive.

Why is her client/guest wearing gloves the whole time - did I miss something. Even while fixing lunch?

The graduated clue system is clever, although I think I only used two clues - both in the room with the pieces of notes. Both told me to move something in the room, but neither told me what to move so that was frustrating.

I also thought the riddles in the museum were clever - quite easy but added a touch of fun, nonetheless.

The street scene where you had to match drawings to the objects on the building and whatever - pfft. None of the drawings looked much like the actual items. I looked at the general shape and clicked around. They were not hard to find since they were the only items of another time and place, but they DID NOT match the pictures.

I finished the demo with 7 minutes left on my hour - so based on the scene count in another thread I would expect this game to take me about 3 hours - nice, OK, not great.

Not sure what I will do with this yet. I need one more game for my December punch card, so I will get this if nothing else catches my fancy (hard to believe that will happen with 12 days of the month left!). Otherwise, probably not.

/