timothya's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.3
- Helpful Votes:1,143
- Reviews Submitted:192
- First Review:June 24, 2012
- Most Recent Review:December 27, 2024
- Featured reviews0
Status:
A series of museum robberies leads to a shocking discovery!
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 4 found this review helpful
Not So Grim Tale - Short And Sweet
PostedApril 5, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
The latest entry in a favorite series. Anna Gray's troublesome family has managed to spin into a gang of delinquent artifact thieves and it's up to her to sort things out. As always, she does not fight alone, although you might suspect that carrying around the skull of her dead father has to limit her travel options somewhat. And her father Richard, one of my favorite characters in any genre, is his usual wonderful, snarky, irritating, occasionally helpful when he feels like it, Dad-like self.
Pros: excellent graphics, high production values. The interiors are lush and colorful, the music atmospheric without being cloying. Voice acting adequate except for Anna's father, who is outstanding. HO scenes are a nice mixture, puzzles are on the easy side but still with a couple of intriguing wrinkles.
Cons: The plot is all discovery and the resolution feels a bit rushed. Well, really rushed, it's a short game. We must travel into the past of certain characters to prevent a critical event, a sort of one-scene Redemption Cemetery that could have been extended just a bit in each case to make a better balanced game. A bit more of an explanation of the Gray family relationships earlier in the game might have prevented a lot of confusion for players who aren't familiar with the series.
Overall, a lot of fun in this one. When Anna's father turned up in a cheesy helmet demanding a superhero name I almost fell off my chair. We aren't out to save the world from some hideous cosmic fate this time, and the game is oh so much better for that. It is actually the Bonus Game that puts closure on the thing, for the remaining relative has some skeletons in his closet as well, ahich Anna's father, his grandfather, helps him to erase. It's a Gray family affair, after all.
I recommend this game!
Can you find the truth hidden behind the castle walls?
Overall rating
5
/
5
4 of 5 found this review helpful
Whispered Secrets, Shouted Praise
PostedApril 2, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Ah, for a really great detective mystery! No magical princesses in this one, just a gritty detective hanging in there and a nice, tightly-plotted whodunnit with a wonderful outcome...oh, but they make you work for that even after you think you've solved the thing!
Pros: spectacular graphics, color-saturated and detailed. You can almost feel the rooms as you traverse them, which is a good thing because you'll be traversing them a lot. Atmospheric music, convincing voice acting, and writing good enough to have its own mention below. Some of the puzzles were pretty challenging at times.
Cons: the map does not, unfortunately, indicate available actions (unless perhaps I turned the difficulty level up beyond it). That meant I used the Hint button more than I like to. It's a deliciously convoluted plot but sometimes that made it difficult to tell where one might find the next piece.
Writing: yes, a mystery! Each character is fleshed out enough to be a genuine suspect as well as something more than wallpaper. The Bonus Chapter isn't quite as good as the main game but wait, there is a third, but they make you scramble back through the various scenes (I plodded, they're beautiful) to find the Sin Cards before you get to one more glorious HO scene and a very sweet resolution to the plot. Don't blow it off, it really completes the game.
Overall, a sense of satisfaction upon completion that I haven't had for some time. For mystery lovers an unreserved recommendation.
I recommend this game!
Enter an immersive world in the clouds and restore balance to your civilization!
Overall rating
3
/
5
6 of 6 found this review helpful
Fantasy Steampunk Near-Miss
PostedMarch 28, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Airships and steam pipes and valves, oh my! This one is a sort of fantasy steampunk treatment with enough lacunae in the plot to make the player suspect it's the continuation of a series he or she hasn't seen before. It isn't, it's just not a very filled-out narrative. But plot aside, there's enough scenery to keep a steam plant engineer happy and puzzles galore.
Pros: Colorful steampunk atmosphere, lots of gears and gadgets to figure out. Good number of fairly easy puzzles, game logic straightforward.
Cons: Repetitive junkpile HO scenes, although some nice art in there. Major plot holes, principally those of the villain when that individual becomes apparent. The bonus game only makes it worse. Writing is very much a patchwork and occasionally seems an afterthought. Small cast, female POV, female heroine sidekick, the only males in the game either villains or dupes, which is frankly a little irritating. Voice acting a bit over the top a good part of the time. Quite a bit of back and forth.
My general impression is that of an older game, hinted at by the dates on the development tools in the credits, none of which was newer than three years old and some going back a decade. It isn't well written but it is fun to play. The level of challenge seems to be aimed at a beginning or intermediate player, with game mechanics that will not hold them back. I enjoyed it but with a little better writing it could have been so much better.
I recommend this game!
When a young man is apparently abducted by spirits at an abandoned movie theater, you rush to investigate. You arrive to find truth to the tales as you encounter specters from the very movies shown in the theater! Can you navigate dangerous films to save the living in time?
Overall rating
4
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Starts Slow, Nice Plot Twist
PostedMarch 22, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
A nice bit of writing on this one. We begin through a fairly conventional save-the-boyfriend scenario, which we do, and then we enter the real game just about the time we suspect it's over and that we've been subjected to another short cheat. But no, the real game involves redeeming an actress from her own roles on behalf of her lover who has placed her there in an infinite time loop, episodic plot elements somewhat reminiscent of the Redemption Cemetery series.
Pros: Lots to like, graphics, music, and a generous supply of puzzles. Good amount of game play for the buck, and a rather sweet ending.
Cons: Voice acting is often unconvincing. Certain of the puzzles suffer from a lack of direction that leaves the player wondering what in the world the Help text meant. And one tiny one: the bonus object in the scenes is not the traditional Mad Head swirl. Give me my swirl!
Overall, a very enjoyable game that finishes much stronger than it begins. I'd play it again, in fact, I probably will.
I recommend this game!
Get lost in a haunted house that keeps changing!
Overall rating
5
/
5
4 of 5 found this review helpful
This One Delivers
PostedMarch 14, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I was set not to like this game and it completely won me over. Come on now, yet another game with a cutesy assistant, an evil sorceress, and a spooky house to escape? It better be good to avoid the remainder table...and it was.
Pros: beautiful graphics, plenty of puzzles, engaging and not too outlandish plot. Plenty of game play, most tasks made sense, and some lovely puzzles reminiscent of MCF at its sadly lost greatness. Creepy worlds, immersive music. An assistant that is actually a necessary part of the game for a change.
Cons: the player characters (female in the main game, male in the bonus game) talk to themselves far too much. Quite a lot of back and forth and thank heaven for the jump map. Some of the dialogue is strained at best. Magic and technology in the plot make a very uneasy truce.
Overall, a long, beautiful, occasionally challenging game that gives full value for the money. A game doesn't have to be perfect to get five stars in my book, it just has to deliver, and this one does. And just one complaint that isn't one, really - in the Extras there is a puzzle that results in an absolutely gorgeous graphic ("to be continued") that I'd love to have for a wallpaper...and can't. Come on, purty puh-lease?
I recommend this game!
Can you save the city from a dangerous magic-wielding criminal?
Overall rating
4
/
5
7 of 8 found this review helpful
Great Atmosphere But Short
PostedFebruary 16, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
You'll have to like dystopian urban scenes to like this one, but I found the atmosphere intriguing. It is Pinocchio reworked in a modern, cyber-punk setting with enough humanity in it to save it from being too dark.
Pros: the settings are convincing, nothing too artificial, just gritty enough to be credible. This is not a nice place and nice people do not control it, but the equally gritty good guys get their licks in nonetheless. Main game POV is male, bonus game is female, which is a nice touch.
Cons: it's a short game, with a very straightforward objective, (on the good side, it doesn't concern saving the entire world from something for a change). Dialogue is good, delivery isn't, always. Graphics are a little soft but imaginative.
Overall, a solid four stars in my book, and a bit of a sleeper. I'd purchase the SE in a heartbeat.
I recommend this game!
Can you stop an ancient evil from breaking free?
Overall rating
2
/
5
0 of 2 found this review helpful
This Time, A Miss
PostedJanuary 21, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Another entry in the Redemption Cemetery series whose strengths are outweighed by its weaknesses. It's the usual formula: the player must travel back in time to undo a tragedy and redeem three souls, thereby saving his or her own in the process. This time it's from a villain with the modest objective of using them to take over the world with an army of the dead. It's the first hint we receive that the writing might be a little shaky but hardly the last.
Pros: some excellent hybrid HO scenes that hold the player's interest throughout. Good game mechanics, and puzzles quite up to the quality of the HO scenes.
Cons: the writing. The plot is thin and cliche-ridden and the dialogue stiff and unconvincing. The premise of the series makes these games necessarily episodic in form but the glue holding the three episodes together is - ahem - an evil wizard with hundreds of captive souls at his command who may be undone by the redemption of only three for some unknown reason that we begin to suspect is that it's all the dev had time for. And not a great deal of time at that: the game is quite short. The souls in question are apparently not even those of the actual victims but those of people who feel badly about their deaths. And those deaths: a house fire, a buzz saw, and Hans Brinker? It's a mess.
Overall, although the puzzles and the HO scenes are really quite good, the game needs a complete rewrite to save it from being just a string of unconnected puzzles and HO scenes. I finished this one very unsatisfied.
I don't recommend this game.
A couple's fixer-upper is haunted by a fierce creature.
Overall rating
5
/
5
9 of 10 found this review helpful
Dreadful Indeed
PostedJanuary 8, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
A truly creepy game, classic escape-from-the-house scenario, wherein we play both male and female POV and oppose a ghoul-like villain who has done some rather nasty things in pursuit of what, exactly, we cannot quite figure out except that it involved a difficult childhood and a preference for privacy that extends to bathtubs full of...well, no spoilers.
Pros: Excellent atmosphere, intricate scenery and a generous supply of both mini-games and HO scenes. Straightforward plot, immersive music, adequate to good voice acting in a very limited cast, and a wonderful narrator who ties the whole thing together. We're hearing the whole story from him, and he anchors us from some very unpleasant missteps. Solid game mechanics, excellent graphics.
Cons: Certain of the games are riffs off of classic puzzles, and are over-elaborate rather than improved. Plotwise, we never do get a clear picture of what, exactly, went wrong with the villain, but the descriptions of his deeds are frightening enough to make this an adults-only game.
Overall, a magnificent game with believable protagonists and a charming narrator, excellent (for the most part) puzzles, and a rather dark prequel Bonus game, but we knew what the results would be from the main game before ever we started it. A couple of nightmare-inducing moments played for quiet horror rather than shock. I would not show this one to a child, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I recommend this game!
Survive a fictional horror turned real-life nightmare in a creepy hotel!
Overall rating
4
/
5
6 of 7 found this review helpful
You Can Check Out Anytime You Like...
PostedJanuary 2, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
It may be stretching it a bit to call this a "haunted" hotel but it's certainly stretching things no farther than need be to make for an interesting plot. We play as The Detective once more with the indispensible James at our side, and we're after the figments of a horror author's imagination that have grown all too concrete and are now threatening his very being, not to mention that of certain others who have been dragged into the fellow's surreal worlds.
Pros: Excellent graphics, particularly weird in the case of the imaginary worlds of the monsters. Limited cast whose voice actors were very convincing including a young lady named Lou who actually sounded, well, like a young lady for a change. A bifurcated plot whose other route I'm going to replay the game to explore, because it's good enough to justify the effort. Plenty of puzzles, HO scenes varied and not at all boring.
Cons: It's a rather short game, somewhat ameliorated by a generous Bonus game, but still a bit abrupt in the ending. It was rather late in the game that we got any nomenclature or reasoning behind the sundry spooky threats, which as characters of somebody else's horror novel remained a little too abstract for any real feeling of fear. Generally excellent game mechanics except for one puzzle, that got the correct solution and just sat there.
Overall: Quite an entertaining game, better than I had expected from the early reviews. In a month overladen with Santa Claus riffs it was a breath of fresh air.
I recommend this game!
The woods hide a frightening mystery only you can solve!
Overall rating
5
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Paranormal Fun
PostedDecember 7, 2018
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Simply a lot of fun in this one. We play as Rick Rogers, Paranormal Investigator, a wise-cracking detective of the old school in a new generation. A missing person, a concerned sister who turns out to be more than a bystander, a spooky forest, a mysterious mine with evil unearthed by a group of feckless twenty-somethings who need rescuing - yes, we've played this one before and the devs are playfully letting us know that. This time, though...
Pros: excellent voice acting and a character with self-mocking humor. A couple of neat plot turns prevent the cliches from becoming overwhelming; actually, by the time we get to an Indiana Jones-style challenge and it's referenced by name, the cliches are pretty darn funny. Great puzzles, some pretty challenging on Hard mode, although Easy is selectable. Useful map, immersive music, excellent game mechanics, plenty of play. Don't look for any overblown drama, this one is just fun.
Cons: not a lot, really. The villain is never properly fleshed out and perhaps that is deliberate - it's just evil and that's that. Sometimes a bad guy is just a bad guy. But in the Bonus game we learn that...well, no, that's really about it.
I was fortunate enough to beta test this one and couldn't wait for it to appear. And I wasn't disappointed in the final product.
I recommend this game!