oh_mags's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.8
- Helpful Votes:34
- Reviews Submitted:8
- First Review:December 4, 2011
- Most Recent Review:November 18, 2024
- Featured reviews0
oh_mags's Review History
What does the future hold?
Overall rating
1
/
5
I gave up on this game.
PostedNovember 18, 2024
oh_mags
fromBehind You.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Time Management
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
If I spend money (or in this case, Big Fish points) on a game, I will play and finish that game. I gave up on this dumpster fire.
I have never played a game in this series and purchased it on a whim. I hadn't been able to play any games for a while, so decided to spend some BF points and get some games.
It starts with a baby dragon, got me hooked! Then, we immediately leave said baby dragon. I guess that was my fault as I decided to help the guy who comes knocking.
The choices that lead you down different possible paths is neat, allows for totally different play throughs. It has one thing going for it. Well, the art is okay, but it can become a mess of colors that you cannot find things in... good thing this isn't a hidden object game, oh wait.
The story isn't good. I have never played one of these games, so I have no idea who any of these people are or what has happened before the events of this game. There is a vague scene at the beginning where it shows the characters and says some evil dude is gone. Lucky evil dude. There seem to be several callbacks to the previous game(s), but it just leaves new players confused and doesn't help you understand what is going on.
The WORST thing about this game is the poor gameplay. Holy moly, the terrible, awful gameplay.
You find items, you go to use item where it obviously can be used. NOPE! Can't use that there, even though it would totally work. You have to find the item that would NOT work there in reality and then you can do it. At one point, you have to pull out some nails from some boards and have SEVERAL items that could do it, including tools meant to pull out nails. But you have to wait until you have a HAIR COMB to pull the nails out with. What.
Many, many times, I had an item, tried it on a spot where it seems like it would work. Nope, so I continue on, trying to find the worst item to do that job, maybe then it will work. Then, I would get stuck, unable to do anything else. So, I use a hint, which I hate doing. And, yes, the item I tried to use was correct, I just didn't click it on the correct pixel! This happens constantly throughout the game. You end up taking items and clicking them all over the screen trying to see if they work because you have to find the exact right spot, or it doesn't work. You end up doing this with items that you would normally never attempt to use in that screen because, maybe the game wants you to use a nonsense item like a hair comb on nails instead of the tools you have.
I gave up on this game in what can only be described at a pink nightmare hellscape. The clashing colors and patterns of the psychic lady's mind almost made my eyes bleed and is the worst looking part of the game. I have found lots of random items and parts of items. I am stuck. The hint feature brings me to one spot. I have click all over it and used every item all over it. I must be missing the single pixel you have to click to make it do something.
I have given up on this game and wasted my money.
Don't make the same mistake as I did. Get anything else.
I don't recommend this game.
Literature’s most famous vampire and his brides’ world is at stake!
Overall rating
3
/
5
Unbalanced
PostedNovember 18, 2024
oh_mags
fromBehind You.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Time Management
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This game isn't balanced well. Each section of the game was so different in difficulty and length that I thought I had missed something.
But, no, one section of the game took a decent amount of time to get through, then you move into a completely different world, and you are out in a few minutes. It is actually jarring how quickly you go through a major area/plot point.
Also, I assume the people who made this are not native English speakers, so there is a mini game where you match words to a story, but incorrect English is the correct answer.
It also isn't very intuitive, so you end up clicking around trying to figure out what to do next at times. You have "parts" of items in your inventory, but all the areas to search have been searched and nothing else seems to be searchable. So, you click around, and hope there is something, somewhere. Instead of an actual intuitive game, where you get items and the story/game play lead you where to use things and how to look for new items.
Can you reveal the murderer’s identity before it’s too late?
Overall rating
3
/
5
9 of 13 found this review helpful
An Average Game, that could have been Great.
PostedMay 31, 2019
oh_mags
fromBehind You.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Pros: Lovely graphics, the use of color and light is well done. Sound and music are also nice, the voice actors did a fine job. Hidden Object sections are fine but seemed few and far between while wandering around.
Cons: Very short, it took me 2 and half hours to play the entire main game (with a break). About a half hour to play the bonus chapter. Game would get slow and glitch a bit when two or more items were put together to make something. Characters are lacking. Story is an old one done many times before.
Fatal Evidence is an average game. With the basic story seen a million times: A group of people have been brought together, one of them is a killer. You must find out who done it.
The game tries to liven up this tired old plot by throwing in some twists. First, someone has locked everyone together in the manor and the murderer must surrender or else! Second, you get a watch that can (somehow) tell if someone is lying or telling the truth and most of the characters seem to be hiding something. The use of the Watch is accompanied with a puzzle. The third way they try to switch it up is by giving you the victims backstory, and that he may not have been the most innocent himself.
The characters are rather bland, and before the plot hits the fan, you do not get a chance to meet anyone or find out anything about them. This is a massive problem with the game. You meet characters, but only get a small amount of time and backstory with each. Almost as if the characters were an afterthought with the developers. None of them were memorable in anyway. One might have been serial killer, instead of finding this out at the beginning of the game and having the terror of maybe crossing paths with a suspected serial killer… you find out just before you meet him and almost nothing comes from it. I just finished this game less than fifteen minutes ago and I couldn’t tell you a single character’s name, they were not memorable at all.
You can choose at the beginning to be female or male when you are putting in your profile name. I selected female, but that didn’t seem to have any effect on the game. You have no voice and my characters hands still looked male.
The puzzles were not complex, a few were what I call Time Wasters, just there so you must spend several minutes moving tiles around or turning knobs. I skipped one puzzle, due to it just being there for a time suck.
In closing, not the worst three hours I ever had, the game has a lot going for it, with the game play, visuals and sound. It is just too bad that the creators didn’t put some of that creativity into the characters and story. I do hope someone else, or maybe even Domini Games, will release a good old-fashioned whodunit. This game has the look, sound and feel for it, now they just need to put more thought into having interesting characters and I would gladly spend my money on it!
I don't recommend this game.
A strange and deadly pollen is spreading around the world, and you’ve been hired to track down its source. But the secrets you discover in the fabled kingdom of Floralia are much darker than you imagined...
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Well Done!
PostedJuly 5, 2014
oh_mags
fromIndianapolis, IN
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Time Management
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This game surprised me. The last few Dark Parable games seem to have fallen into a rather predictable pattern, but Ballad of Rapunzel was a on a whole new level!
Game play was normal Dark Parables, but some of the puzzles were much harder! And, not annoyingly long hard, actual difficult puzzles you have to think about.
The game itself had many different scenes and environments to explore, giving the game depth and interest.
The art and music were amazing! The voice acting was alright, none of the voices were so obnoxious that I had to shut off the sound (which I do with a lot of games). The art and music combination helped pull you into the game, making it feel very immersive.
The story was not too groundbreaking, but it was used well and effectively to get the player involved in the game and characters.
However, what was groundbreaking was the use of choice. You, as the player, get a choice and that choice will completely change the tide of the game and the destiny of the characters. I won't give anything away, but you will understand what I mean when you play it.
Overall, Ballad of Rapunzel was a highly satisfying game with replayability.
I recommend this game!
Help Sara find her missing husband and stop an evil pirate’s ancient curse in Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull!
Overall rating
2
/
5
6 of 10 found this review helpful
What happened, MCF?
PostedJanuary 1, 2014
oh_mags
fromIndianapolis, IN
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I am a huge MCF fan, and have been since I first found Huntsville when trolling the Internet for ways to procrastinate from sociology homework. Years later, MCF's has changed in a lot of great ways! The addition of deeper stories, better graphics, open-world concept and an increase in difficulty have brought me back, time after time, to download the newest game. I had HUGE expectations for 13th Skull. Dire Grove is one of my favorite games of all time and I couldn't wait to see where they went with the next game. With all that being said, 13S was a major disappointment.
The graphics, setting and music were all amazing! The integration of real people and things with the digitally created was seamless. The old house, swamps, and everywhere else you could go were well done and fit together to create a believable place. The music fit the atmosphere perfectly.
The new ability to interact with characters and take items from them is very neat! Unfortunately, this new thing seemed to take over the entire game. Instead of going through and searching for clues, you spend most of your time doing little errands for people and then asking questions. This isn't a bad thing, but it seemed to completely take over the game play and made it choppy and disjointed. Having to constantly stop to talk to overly stereotypical people was a drain for me and almost made me want shut the game off at some points.
I think they were going for funny with some of the characters, incidentally, it didn't work out most of the time.
The puzzles were basically time sucks, they didn't have much difficulty, they just took forever to complete. Truthfully, I can only remember three puzzles from the entire game, the three most annoying ones, none of the others were all that memorable.
But, the thing that didn't work for me the most was the storyline. With the choppy jumping from character to character to talk and search for little things all over the place, you start to loose the main story and why you are talking to people in the first place. I was anticipating jumping into pirate lore and there being that same urgency to find Mr. Lawson as there was in Dire Grove to find the college students. But, because you jump around to talk to so many people and only get little shards of information at a time, the game seems to lag and you feel like you are getting nothing for all your work. The ending seemed to come too soon without you getting a true feeling for what was really going on or knowing anything about the famed pirate the whole thing was supposedly about.
I don't recommend this game.
Overall rating
2
/
5
6 of 6 found this review helpful
Waste of Money
PostedJanuary 1, 2014
oh_mags
fromIndianapolis, IN
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
After finishing this game, I wanted to scream! You go through so much, only to get no conclusion. Nothing. You collect all this stuff, complete tons of puzzles and hidden object scenes only to get nothing for all your trouble.
The graphics are pretty and the 3 songs that play over and over again are okay. The voice acting is not good, the little girls fake crying made me turn the sound off.
The characters themselves were just odd, you found out things about them but what you find out doesn't help you play the game or help the story along at all. Why do I need to know the mayor is a thieving jerk? Why would I care?
You collect objects throughout the game then have to use those objects to do certain things, unlock new areas or do puzzles. Half the time you have an object that can be used multiple ways, however the way you use it is the last thing you would think of or the way you use it is something you would never, ever think of doing. So, you click around and around trying to figure what to do with this random object you just picked up.
Overall, the puzzles and hidden object areas were decent, they weren't too hard or too easy. I was mostly entertained by them, outside of the odd ways you had to use objects.
The worst part of this game is the story, or lack thereof. You have this mystery of the bronze horsemen... but there isn't really anything happening with the bronze horsemen. The horsemen just moves around... and maybe is used to break into people's homes... or something. The horsemen has nothing to do with anything. At all.
The people vanishing is part of something completely different. I have no idea what the random horse guy's purpose is. Maybe the games creators ended up using a bunch of horses in the scenery and thought they had to add a horse in the plot. That I all I can think of that the horseman's purpose was, to explain why there was a horse on everything. I am surprised they didn't add a snailman in to tie in all the snails all over the place.
The ending was horrible. You finish this super easy puzzle and then it is just over. You don't know what happens to any of the characters or towns people. Or what happened to the little creepy guy who was making all this stuff happen. He says something about why he is doing all of this, but then you never find out what it meant.
If you want to play a good HOG, go play MCF: Dire Grove, not this game.
I don't recommend this game.
Jesse is back at Flux mansion after thwarting the efforts of her nemesis, Veronica, but this time 30 years in the past!
Overall rating
2
/
5
11 of 11 found this review helpful
Flux Family Secrets: The Who-Cares Hole
PostedApril 18, 2012
oh_mags
fromIndianapolis, IN
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Strategy, Time Management, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
This game bothered me. I wasn't a huge fan of the first, but I liked the historical scenes so much and a friend told me to try this one, I gave it a go. I shouldn't have.
The main story, like the first one is confusing, boring and useless. You find out next to nothing about the family and you have no reason to want Jesse to succeed, you don't know anything about her! The game kept throwing in random journal entries and letters from the family, which I thought would come together at the end to explain what it all meant... it didn't. You just get loads of random, needless information about these people who seem like jerks. Even Jesse at the end annoyed me, how she left little Jesse all alone after overhearing her mother say such mean things.
The game play was okay, but could be VERY confusing. You spend forever piecing things together and then you have search for where they go... then you have a pull something or move something, but you don't know this, all you know is that it isn't working! Moving from area to area was a pain as well, having to move the mouse around, hoping beyond hope that it would finally become a green arrow so you could click to move to a new area! Then, somethings would be near the edge of the screen and you would try to click on them, and suddenly be in the last area you were in.
The little badges you would find were okay, they added a little extra something to look for in the game. But, every time you find one, your game gets interrupted by a pop-up saying you found a badge. I know I found a badge, I clicked on it and it went to the owl... I don't need a pop-up telling me something I already know. Thanks.
A great thing about the first game, is all the different times you got to go to! This one, you get to go to three. You fix what is wrong, then it gets messed up somewhere else in the same time period, and these people can't do anything themselves (even simple things) so you must go back to their time and fix it for them.
My favorite part about this game, was a little notes and letters you would find in the different time periods. Like little notes Abe Lincoln wrote to himself or friends, you get a nice feel for the man and who he was, same with the fellows of the Boston Tea Party and Henry Ford.
I don't recommend this game.
Return once more to the haunted grounds of Ravenhearst Manor to uncover new details about this poignant saga. What you find could very well be the final chapter of this riveting story-if you escape.
Overall rating
4
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
Much Better, Big Fish!
PostedDecember 4, 2011
oh_mags
fromIndianapolis, IN
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I hated 13th Skull with a passion, but I had to try out this game when I saw we were going back to Ravenhearst.
This game was really good, I still think Dire Grove and Return to Ravenhearst were better games, just because I think they were better balanced and you didn't NEED the strategy guide to play them, you can't really play this game without it.
The graphics and music were brilliant, as always! Some areas totally creep you out there are so well done. I really need to tip my hat to the people who did the sound on this game. Unlike a lot of games were the same few songs play over and over again while you play, Escape from Ravenhearst has some of the best sounds that I have ever heard in a game... in any game! Each area you went to had its own distinct sounds, this helped pull you in and enhance the entire experience.
The actors were great too... Whoever played Charles deserves an award for Best Actor playing a Raving Psychopath! He played him just right, he was creepy, scary and, at times, funny.
It is no longer a hidden object game though, and they should really note that. Now you find morphing objects in a scene, there is no longer a list of what to find. This isn't bad, it was challenging enough, though some scenes not only had morphing objects but animation too, which could be very confusing.
The puzzles were good, but some were very confusing, and you HAVE to check the strategy guide to figure out what to do.
The story was GREAT! It was creepy, dark and kept your attention. I only wish the ending didn't seem so rushed. The first three parts are so in-depth and well thought out; the final two areas were not in-depth at all and only took a few moments to finish. The first three areas take hours to finish, so the quickness of the last two areas was a letdown.
Some of the things in the game confused me a bit, we are supposed to be playing in something set in the early to mid-1800's... but there were things that I don't think came into existence until the early or mid-1900's, so that threw me a bit. But, I suppose that is a nitpick.
I disliked that parts of the game were not logical, as in you didn't know what to do next, what would logically come to mind was not what you were supposed to do. This leads to you having to use the strategy guide a lot, which I hate to do.
The Good:
Graphics, music, sound, actors (especially Charles), morphing objects and the story were all amazing.
The Not-So-Good:
What needs work is how the final two levels are just sub-par to the first three, while the crazy stuff that does happen in the final two levels does help with the lack of stuff to do... it still leaves the game lopsided and leaves the player feeling like there should have been more, a lot more.
And, while difficulty is a good thing, throwing logic out the window so people don’t know what to do next is not increasing the difficulty, it is increasing the annoyingness.
Big Fish has made a good game, I do hope they keep it up and that next is even better!
I recommend this game!