talula1059's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.5
- Helpful Votes:16
- Reviews Submitted:32
- First Review:January 7, 2023
- Most Recent Review:March 21, 2025
- Featured reviews0
Delicious: Emily's Hopes and Fears Collector's Edition
Join a father on an epic journey to save his little girl's life!
Overall rating
3
/
5
MORE PATRICK LESS PAIGE = FUN GAME
PostedMarch 21, 2025
talula1059
fromUSA
The only thing that saves this game from being another whiney PaigeFest is that we get several chapters without her. Patrick is off looking for a cure to save his daughter from some rare disease. As usual, none of the women believe in or agree with anything he's doing. Part of that has to do with his own general wimpiness. For the first time, he stands up to the pushy ladies in his life and leaves for parts unknown. Those scenes are the best in the game.
Unfortunately, when we are subjected to Paige, we get treated to a lot of whining and crying because, "I miss daddyyyy. I wanna bring daddy's flowers back to health." Back to health? A little girl who has been crawling for far too long and still talking baby talk is saying, "bring flowers back to health?!" As usual, Emily is totally clueless. Her child is apparently deathly ill with a disease with no cure, but she drags Paige's bed outside in the hot sun so she can watch everyone else having fun in the pool. OK. At one point, she brings her to Patrick's flower shop so she can "be close to her daddy." If she's really that sick, why on EARTH is Emily dragging her all over town? Obviously, this ends happily. Was really hoping the developers would include an Easter egg dark ending where Patrick didn't save the day and Paige exited stage left. (Everyone take it easy! She's a character in a game!)
On a positive note, it looks like the new developers of the most recent Delicious games are moving away from the kid show and getting back to basics with Emily. Can't wait to play those games! I've got enough problems dealing with my own kids. Don't need whiny kids in my games too!
On a positive note, it looks like the new developers of the most recent Delicious games are moving away from the kid show and getting back to basics with Emily. Can't wait to play those games! I've got enough problems dealing with my own kids. Don't need whiny kids in my games too!
Delicious: Emily's New Beginning Collector's Edition
After living on a pink cloud for over a year Emily decides to reopen Emily's Place!
Overall rating
1
/
5
STUPID BABY RUINED THE GAME
PostedMarch 10, 2025
talula1059
fromUSA
I know some others have mentioned this but it is really worth repeating. In this game, the developers thought it would be a great idea to have Emilys stupid, not cute baby crawl around dirty restaurant floors, annoying customers, and probably putting things in her mouth that should not be there. The constant gurgling and cooing was beyond annoying. Emily behaved as though it was a surprise that certain customers did not like a baby crawling around their feet while they are trying to eat. Later on, clueless Emily acted like it was some big injustice that her employer would not allow her to have her child at work. In reality, a baby crawling around a restaurant would probably get it shut down. Either for sanitary violations or child endangerment. Incidentally, Emily was off for a year after she had the baby so why is she behaving as though she cannot be away from her for a second? This kind of helicopter parenting is a recipe for a disaster. At best she is in for a rude awakening when her kid gets a little older and wants to spend time with friends. At worst, she is raising a spoiled entitled brat that will never be happy.
The entire storyline revolved around the baby. Our regular cast of characters were pretty much non-existent except to coo over the baby and attend her birthday party. But when Emily needed to work apparently none of them were available to babysit...? Considering the fact that both her parents are retired and sit around reading the paper and knitting, that part of the story did not make sense.
The entire storyline revolved around the baby. Our regular cast of characters were pretty much non-existent except to coo over the baby and attend her birthday party. But when Emily needed to work apparently none of them were available to babysit...? Considering the fact that both her parents are retired and sit around reading the paper and knitting, that part of the story did not make sense.
An added task for this game is to make sure the baby does not bother the wrong customers (some like the baby, some do not). I continually pressed the play with toy button so the baby would stay put because I did not want to hear her gurgling or have to stop what I was doing to pick her up and rock her for a minute. I do not really enjoy babies in real life so finishing this game was a real chore. Was very grateful to see that future games do not seem to have this feature. Emily used to be interesting but this storylinel made her dull, clueless, and guilty of bad parenting. Suggest skipping this one completely.
In 1950s Brazil, meet a cast of colorful characters and uncover a story of romance and intrigue set in the historic Tiradentes.
Overall rating
5
/
5
BEWARE OF SPOILED REVIEWERS
PostedAugust 8, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The main point of the below review is to warn others to take BF reviews with a grain of salt. Most of the reviews on this forum are from people who didn't purchase the game or play it all the way through. Judging a game after only 15 minutes is not only arrogant, it's unfair. Just because one person didn't have the patience to use their brain and look for hidden objects, doesn't mean others won't. Personally, I find demos a waste of my time and bandwidth. My comments are based on the entire game.
Love it or hate, this game was definitely unique. Many of the poor reviews were from people who misrepresented the game or were victims of their own spoiled expectations. Let's look at the criticism. Big Fish is littered with comments from reviewers who said they were tired of the same old "Big 3" developers. This game was produced by a first time game developer. All those same people tired of the Big 3 still found a reason to complain even though small companies like this should be encouraged not torn down. Several reviewers said the HOPs were too difficult. These are the same people who complain about "junk pile" HOPs that are far too easy. Others complained that the hints just told them to look at the map. And what exactly is wrong with that? The map is interactive and shows you exactly where you need to go next. Each location only had 1-2 things you needed to do in it. How much specific direction do you need? If you want a game to break out the crayons, then play a game with a Strategy Guide. Better yet, pull up a walkthrough so you can follow it step by step instead of using your brain to figure things out. Others said the story didn't make sense because it started in 1917 and jumped to 1959. If they had played the entire game, they would have found out the significance of why it started in 1917. Big Fish is littered with reviewers complaining that they are tired of dragons, princesses, and occultism and would prefer a more straightforward unique story. This game was a historical mystery that gave them exactly what they asked for and some of them are STILL complaining. Some even said the accents were wrong or too heavy-handed. Guess they would be surprised to learn that some of the voice actors were actually of Russian and Brazilian origin. Others said the character movements unnatural. The movements were a little awkward, but that is true of most HOP games. Some even said the graphics were poor. That is also a misrepresentation as the visuals were clear as a bell without stressing the video card. Since many of these reviewers only play HOP games, they aren't really the best judge of graphics anyway. Nobody looks for superior graphics or realistic movement in games of this type. You have to play "Call of Duty" or "Rust" or even "Syberia" for that.
Aside from unrepresentative reviews, the game did have its problems. The parrot you clicked to get a Hint was constantly flapping his wings. It got annoying very fast. The collectibles were extremely tiny so did require a bit of searching to find. However, there was a collectible box that glinted to let you know there were collectibles still to be found in the scene. Surprisingly, there are no walkthroughs or strategy guides available anywhere online. I'm writing this in August of 2024 and this game came out in 2018. That's extremely unusual, but probably due to the developer being very small and extremely new to the game. (No pun intended). This became a problem for one of the collectibles. For each category of collectible, you are required to find a carrying case before you can pick them up. I could not find one the carrying cases anywhere despite starting the game over halfway through. That meant I could not pick up 10 of the collectibles since I didn't have the case. A bit disappointing.
All in all, this game had more positives than negatives.
All in all, this game had more positives than negatives.
I recommend this game!
Death and Betrayal in Romania: A Dana Knightstone Novel Collector's Edition
Can you escape from the grasp of a lovestruck ghost?
Overall rating
2
/
5
DON'T EXPECT ACTUAL WALKTHROUGH IN STRATEGY GUIDE
PostedJuly 27, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Loved the Dana Knightstone games. However, this one was the least interesting and least enjoyable to play. This time we are in Romania. Instead of ghosts popping in here and there, virtually the only interactions we have in the game are with ghosts. I saved this game for awhile because I thought it was going to be on par with the previous games so I wanted to keep it for a rainy day. I'm sorry I did because I had trouble getting through it. Same old rusty locks, wire brushes, locked doors, and finding one half of pliers.
But the real issue was the Strategy Guide. This is a Collector's Edition so you would expect a detailed walkthrough. Unfortunately, quite a few of the puzzles are listed as "random solution" in the Strategy Guide. However, this is very clearly laziness on the part of Boom Zap because there are multiple video walkthroughs available online with the exact same solutions for these supposedly random puzzles. There is one in particular that asks you to put together some kind of round mechanism that resembles the inside of a clock. The Strategy Guide lists it as a random solution but includes a photo of the finished product. Totally useless since the puzzle requires you to stack pieces on top of each other. There's very little chance this did actually have a random solution since the puzzle has to look the same every time. Again, just laziness on Boom Zap's part. If you want to people to pay extra for a Collector's Edition, give them a reason! There aren't any collectibles or other extra content beyond a Bonus Chapter. Since the story was so boring, it didn't really seem worth it.
I don't recommend this game.
Jewel Quest Mysteries: The Seventh Gate
Help Emma find her family in Jewel Quest Mysteries: The Seventh Gate, an incredible Hidden Object game!
Overall rating
1
/
5
COULD NOT FINISH
PostedJune 23, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Loved this game until the match 3 levels became impossible to complete. Each chapter ends with a match 3 jewel game. You are given 5 minutes to finish the match 3 level, but the it becomes extremely difficult after the second chapter due to the very small amount of time given to complete it. In the previous games, you were given the option to skip over the match 3 levels. In this game, there is no way to advance in the game without completing the match 3 at the end of the chapter. Seems like a major flaw in the game. I tried repeatedly, but always ran out of time. I don't mind timed tasks when the allotted time is reasonable. These are called casual games for a reason. Each match 3 level became more difficult requiring extra tasks to complete. However, the developers did not give players even 1 second extra time to account for the extra tasks. Since the match 3 levels went from doable to extremely difficult after the second chapter, I didn't get to play very much of this game that I paid for. Very disappointed.
Mystery writer Eleanor Grey moves to Silverwood Bay, seeking inspiration!
Overall rating
2
/
5
GAME SOMEWHAT FUN - STORY PONDEROUS
PostedApril 4, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Was expecting another Dana Knightstone or even Faircroft Antiques with an interesting supporting cast and mysterious storyline. Instead, we get a few voiceover vignettes sandwiched in between pages of boring diary entries about how beautiful the town is and listing animals seen in the next HOP. There are no other characters except for Eleanor Gray (the main character). The developers explain this by saying it's a sparsely-populated small town. These days there is really no excuse for failure to include voiceovers in games since the developers can use AI technology to simulate a real person's voice. The reality is they made the game on a budget and didn't want to take the time to write in supporting characters. It was part of the reason this game had no heart and the story was incredibly boring. We play a writer who pieces together a love story from a small town during the Gold Rush. At first, we are led to believe it was two female lovers (their names are Laurie and Amy). However, the game later reveals that Laurie is short for Laurence. That is about the only thing resembling a twist in the entire game.
The puzzles are moderately fun with a lot of HOPs that ask you to find an item to complete a task to find another item (find a shovel to dig on the beach). In between, there are rotator puzzles and find the differences games. It reminded me of the Trip to Europe games, but without the raccoon. Not a bad game, but a real dud compared to other Boom Zap series.
The puzzles are moderately fun with a lot of HOPs that ask you to find an item to complete a task to find another item (find a shovel to dig on the beach). In between, there are rotator puzzles and find the differences games. It reminded me of the Trip to Europe games, but without the raccoon. Not a bad game, but a real dud compared to other Boom Zap series.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you unlock the secrets of the mysterious meteor?
Overall rating
1
/
5
WORST OF THE SERIES
PostedMarch 16, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Not sure if Amax hired new developers, but this game was so completely different from the others in the series. The storyline was just terrible and is a big part of the reason this game was not good. Bore no resemblance to the Victorian-era/steam punk stories of the previous games. There is some kind of meteor that is trapping people in an industrial town. You play a journalist who goes to explore what happened. Your photographer is quickly taken by the bad guys so you have to rescue him. A broken funicular makes another appearance (yawn). There are all kinds of gears, metal parts, railroad ties, and other machine parts you'll have to find. Way too much of this in fact.
Our puppet helper (a staple of the previous games) is more annoying than helpful. Everything she does is extremely SLOW. If we ask her to retrieve something in a small crevasse, she will make a big show of climbing in, then falling over, getting up, brushing herself off, picking up the item, turning around, then finally handing it to us. No way to skip through it. We just have to watch her do it. I think the developers thought we would think it was cute. It wasn't. It was a waste of time.
Much of the game is grey and dark and takes place in a factory and a mine. There are railroad tracks, mining carts, conveyor belts, tractors, and dark caves. The characters were uninteresting, the locations drab, and even the HOPs seemed repetitive and washed out.
We still have the interactive jump map that marks where tasks can be completed. Without it, the game would be a chore. For some strange reason, the collectables are music notes. Music plays little to no role in the story. However, this seemed tacked on since there were only 8 of them to find in the main game. In the Extras screen, you can click on each music note and a little song plays while your puppet helper dances, does magic tricks, or performs some other cutesy task. Once again, she does it very SLOWLY.
Fair warning: the Bonus Chapter collectables are totally different and can easily be missed. Instead of music notes, you have to collect little points of light (stars) that blink off and on at regular intervals. They can be easy to miss, particularly since the game doesn't bother to tell you about this change. Had to look in the Guide to see where they were and then stare at the screen til it finally morphed on. The star on the clock in the office can be missed if you move the bookshelf before finding it.
Fair warning: the Bonus Chapter collectables are totally different and can easily be missed. Instead of music notes, you have to collect little points of light (stars) that blink off and on at regular intervals. They can be easy to miss, particularly since the game doesn't bother to tell you about this change. Had to look in the Guide to see where they were and then stare at the screen til it finally morphed on. The star on the clock in the office can be missed if you move the bookshelf before finding it.
Game was very difficult to get through. Just wasn't fun or compelling. Really not sure why the developers decided to change it up on the 11th game in the series.
Don't these developers realize that the majority of their customers are women who are sick and tired of the same old drab nonsense ? I would pay top dollar for a good solid murder mystery series. No ghosts, no elves, no mines or factories, no dwarves, no princesses. Just a well-written whodunit with HOPs and puzzles.
I don't recommend this game.
Maestro: Notes of Life Collector's Edition
A missing girl has been lured away by evil music! Stop the young prodigy and save everyone from the evil Maestro!
Overall rating
2
/
5
TOO MANY LOCATIONS TOO MANY ITEMS
PostedFebruary 26, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
The one word that describes this game? TEDIOUS The first game in the series had the right balance of inventory puzzles, HOPs, and other kinds of puzzles. This game kept throwing HOPs at you and adding new locations. When there isn't a map, it's preferable for the game to confine the backtracking between a few locations. This game kept adding more and more locations, piling items into the inventory, and forgetting the storyline for several chapters. Most of the game, you are alone wandering around from place to place. The storyline was only relevant at the beginning and end, but non-existent in the middle. The worst thing about this game is it will give you an item like sieve and then not allow you to use it to sift through coal dust in a fireplace. Or it will give you an item called "sack of bug poison," but not allow you to use it to kill spiders. There is very little explanation about why you can't use the item in a given context. You certainly could in real life. If they want you to add something to an item, they don't tell you. Not even in casual mode. It got more and more annoying as the game dragged on. A map would have fixed most of this. Are we expected to remember every little facet of each location? Of course not. The developers think it's more fun to have us waste time backtracking and random clicking on everything. I kept getting irritated and turning off the game, but trying again the next day. I wanted to believe the greatness of the first game was not an anomaly. Unfortunately, it seems to have been. Pass!
I don't recommend this game.
The citizens of Bordeaux are outraged after eight monks are murdered.
Overall rating
3
/
5
CHANGE IN DEVELOPER=REDUCED QUALITY
PostedFebruary 21, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
The previous game in the series was great. It had a working jump map, interesting characters, and fun puzzles. Based on that game, I purchased all the rest in the series. Now I'm regretting it. The previous games were made by ERS and this and all subsequent games were made by Amax. Even though it was technically a merger so it's probably a lot of the same people who worked on it, there is a difference in quality.
For example, this game has a jump map that marks all objectives until they are completed. It does not mark the immediate objectives. That makes it virtually useless since you could have an open objective for several chapters until it's done. Not sure why Amax chose to make this change from the previous game. When you have a laundry list of items and several locations. the map becomes essential. It makes the game a lot less fun when you're running from place to place trying to remember which thing is in which location. It's not fun puzzle to just backtrack over and over. This game also seems darker visually. Washed out. And Amax has a habit of putting this VERY annoying barking dog sound in all the outdoor locations of all their games. It does not add ambience and makes you want to shut the sound off completely. Not sure what happened here, but hoping they corrected these problems in the next games. Luckily, I purchased these games during a 70% sale so was not out much money.
For example, this game has a jump map that marks all objectives until they are completed. It does not mark the immediate objectives. That makes it virtually useless since you could have an open objective for several chapters until it's done. Not sure why Amax chose to make this change from the previous game. When you have a laundry list of items and several locations. the map becomes essential. It makes the game a lot less fun when you're running from place to place trying to remember which thing is in which location. It's not fun puzzle to just backtrack over and over. This game also seems darker visually. Washed out. And Amax has a habit of putting this VERY annoying barking dog sound in all the outdoor locations of all their games. It does not add ambience and makes you want to shut the sound off completely. Not sure what happened here, but hoping they corrected these problems in the next games. Luckily, I purchased these games during a 70% sale so was not out much money.
I don't recommend this game.
Overall rating
1
/
5
DOES NOT WORK THE WAY IT SHOULD
PostedFebruary 21, 2024
talula1059
fromUSA
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Had to uninstall this game because there were several puzzles that didn't work properly. There was one in which you are supposed to fit the puzzle pieces into their slots. The instructions say that you can right click to turn the pieces, but every time you try to right click, the piece flips back to where it had been. I tried several different times and it never did work. Game was sort've fun though some of the pictures are a bit fuzzy. Lots of find the differences puzzles and they used real pictures of ancient ruins. There is very little visible detail to them. One of the photos was of a Mayan pyramid. The only visible elements in the picture were the pyramid and some trees. Made it very difficult to find the differences if you can't even see the photo clearly. The HOs were incredibly easy, but the Find the Differences puzzles were ridiculously difficult. After the puzzle game refused to right click, I had to uninstall. Too bad Big Fish does not accept returns (not sure why they don't).
I don't recommend this game.