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:
Can you stop a dangerous curse from destroying the realm?
Overall rating
3
/
5
15 of 20 found this review helpful
If It Quacks Like A Duck, It's A Swan
PostedSeptember 24, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
An odd game and a difficult one to review. The Dark Parables series has been, to this point, centered around fractured fairy tales, some hilariously and successfully such as the Red Riding Hood entry, some less so such as the more recent Little Match Girl effort. In this offering we have The Ugly Duckling, torn from its fairy tale moorings and cast into the maelstrom of a princess fantasy that has precious few moorings of its own. In short, the writing is a mess that can't keep up with its own convolutions. More of this in a moment. The game, though, is really quite good and is very long, which has risks of its own in terms of repetitiveness.
Pros: Colorful graphics, nice scenery, especially the interiors. Major props to the music under composer/producer Kristina Markovic, who saved the game from boredom (for me) over and over again. Adequate to good voice acting, and very generous with the game play. Puzzles on the easy side with two exceptions. Quite a few HO scenes, mostly of the junkpile sort but that junk is actually quite beautiful. So many, in fact, that they become somewhat repetitive. You're going to build a lot of amulets.
Cons: We play as The Detective, whose mini-cassette voice recorder seems as out of place as a cell phone in a Tolkein story. There isn't actually much detecting to be done between magical this and amulet that, but there are more shape-type locks to open than pages in a phone book. The inventory is frequently more than full because the time between the presentation of the pertinent object and its actual use is generally long enough for you to forget you have it. That also leads to a proliferation of open issues and a marathon of back-and-forth, and thank heaven for the map. I don't recall hitting the Hint button this much in any three games because the player is in a near constant state of "what do I do now?"
Writing: Apparently written by committee, a large caffeinated one, involving several sub-plots, each with issues of its own. It all falls together in the end more like a pile of bricks than a building. We have by turns a princess, a prince, two disapproving families, a dynasty of helpful (or not) knights with traitors in its midst, two art students, and a duck. And a resolution that leaves no one satisfied, including the duck and, unfortunately, the player.
Bonus Game: Here we play as Benno, the hero's friend and that poor fellow is in trouble again. A few loose ends were tied up in this one, some not so much, but it's a true bonus game in the profusion of HO scenes and the relatively easy puzzles. The plot's in the parables, such as it was.
Overall: Beautiful scenery and a lot of play are what one might purchase this product for. It isn't really a DP game in the sense that nothing of the tale of the Ugly Duckling is left but its honker and its web feet. If you're looking for a pretty game with lots of play and plenty of HO scenes, this might work. If you're looking for a mystery with a cohesive plot, this one isn't it. It wasn't really a happy ending at all, it was just an ending. A very qualified recommendation in this one based on, having completed it and knowing all this, would I still buy it? Probably yes. The play's the thing, the plot is not.
I recommend this game!
Can you save Vienna from a masked Phantom’s wrath?
Overall rating
5
/
5
6 of 8 found this review helpful
Vienna, A Dark City? Never!
PostedSeptember 18, 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
"City" themed mysteries always raise the question, "How much of the city do we get to see?" In the case of Vienna, not enough but what we do see is (understandably) gorgeous. The year is 1886. We play as The Detective, male POV with internal monologue restricted to the deduction scenes, with one gadget that lights up clues that real detectives would probably kill for. The "fill the folder with clues and sort it out between chapters" trope is not overdone and for a change, doesn't interfere too much with game flow. Some amusing references to period composers.
Pros: beautiful graphics, a fine if somewhat convoluted mystery with enough reveals per chapter to keep it interesting, very good voice acting albeit with some occasionally painful American accents, and lush music that fits the theme - you don't often hear comments on the music, but I liked this set a lot. Great mix of HO scenes. A reasonable amount of back-and-forth with a useful map.
Cons: the puzzles in the main game are extremely easy, and the plot is peppered with ancillary characters that don't really add much to the story except complication. You practically need a scorecard to keep track of them - on the upside, the notebook serves that function fairly well.
Bonus game: really excellent. The puzzles here are challenging and the mystery more straightforward. Here our friend Johann Strauss (naw, never heard of him) needs help identifying his Muse and nearly pays for it with his life.
Overall, a better than average whodunnit set in a beautiful locale. I'll always be complaining about not enough scenery when the topic is Vienna, but what we see is well worth a little wandering. The main game needs a little more length and by itself would be four stars but I'm giving it a five due to the excellent bonus game.
I recommend this game!
The past returns inside the Zenith Museum of Oddities!
Overall rating
5
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Avoid The Candle, Little Moths, You Might Get Burned
PostedSeptember 1, 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
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
MCF is back in all its former glory! This one ranks up there with the very best, among which I mean RTR, Madame Fate, Dire Grove, and not much else. We play, as ever, as The Master Detective, our nemesis is an Archivist who wanted to work for the MCF organization and faced more rejection than a third-rate novelist at a literary convention. It's enough to make one...evil...
We have colleagues in need of rescue but are formidable in their own way, a welcome change from the usual save-the-helpless trope. We have single puzzles, we have HO scenes in abundance, and yes, the Rube Goldberg-style multi-stage puzzles that are the hallmark of the brand. And they're good. Really, really good.
Pros: Nearly everything. Excellent graphics, smooth game play, excellent voice acting, a coherent plot with plenty of twists, the usual sly humor and a Master Detective who doesn't take him/herself too seriously. Enough references to past cases to make spot-the-case a secondary joy. None of the puzzles is overly difficult but pieces of many of them are definitely not for beginners.
Cons: Where'd the theme go? You know, Dum Dum, Dum Dum, Dum Dum, Da Da Da Da Dum Dum... Yes, OK, we have the indispensible clacky typewriter, but no MCF theme. And apparently we, the Master Detective, no longer get nice notes from the Queen to begin. It isn't much to complain about but it's all I have.
Bonus Game: One last taunt from The Archivist - or is it? And one last hostage - or is he? And one glorious finishing puzzle as dessert.
Five stars and frankly, I didn't want it to end.
I recommend this game!
If all the world is a stage, what role do YOU play? Solve the Ivory Cane mystery to find out!
Overall rating
4
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
A Developer To Watch
PostedAugust 20, 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
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
This one dropped off the charts way too soon. Cateia is a dev I am unfamiliar with but will certainly be watching for in the future. This one is a straight mystery game, our hero caught up in a crime he didn't commit by forces unknown who appear to be playing with him like a cat to a mouse as he struggles to save his lady love from...well, what, exactly?
Pros: excellent graphics, including some 3D renderings that lend realism to both game and cut scenes. An innovative three-item HO pop-up that I'd like to see again. Some excellent puzzles, good to excellent voice acting, and some sharp interior scenes.
Cons: as a mystery it lacks a resolution, perhaps an indication of a follow-on game to come, but we never really do figure out what the villain's motivation was and why the victims were who they were. One tiny peeve - how did the hero manage to get two shots in succession out of a single shot flintlock pistol?
But the play's the thing and this one has plenty of that in its all too short duration. I'll be watching for more of this from this developer.
I recommend this game!
Step into the shoes of a Private investigator with short-term memory loss and uncover the shocking truth about his involvement with a serial killer called The Executioner.
Overall rating
5
/
5
4 of 4 found this review helpful
Finally a Great HO Game
PostedAugust 9, 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
HO fans, this is your treat! We've been given a lot of puzzle-heavy games in the last few cycles but this one makes up for it. But be warned - this is the next step up in that niche and things are not always as easy as they used to be. First, we have a Chandler-like tough detective mystery that is very well written and paced, a hero who might not be quite as clean as he seems, and a mid-80's environment that is true to the age. Small cast, not a single member of it above suspicion. Well, OK, maybe the old lady...or maybe not.
Pros: the plot, for one. Nicely written, great voice acting, and a set of reveals that is carefully placed so as to maintain the plot through the puzzles. This one doesn't come to a thundering halt while the player is trying to figure out how to open the zipper (and yes, there is a zipper - I think it's a requirement). So, is your partner dirty or is it the femme fatale, or is it even yourself? We don't know...but I even think I like the cop I just punched out. HO heavy as noted and these are really good. Most objects need a little push to find and some morph under your eyes. Puzzles on the easy side but complicated enough to be interesting. Excellent graphics, plenty of smooth game play. Atmospheric music. Very nice production values. A very well balanced gaming experience.
Cons: I'm coming up blank here.
Overall, a wonderful tough deteckatiff mystery in a gritty Chandlerian environment and with suspects galore. More of this, please!
I recommend this game!
Can you stop a dangerous band of criminals from destroying the city?
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Nice But Brief
PostedJuly 30, 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
4
/
5
Another installment in a quirky but fun series. We play the main game as the eponymous Chris Andersen, endowed against his will with the game's central gadget, a magical tattoo that enables him to...well, to see other people with magical tattoos. Given the powers that their own tattoos confer I'd say Chris got shortchanged a bit, but the game isn't really about the gadget after all. Chris's lady friend Rachel is off to a job interview but as she is going out the door asks him to look after her little sister Nerida, who herself is auditioning as a singer that very evening. Nerida is kidnapped, her voice stolen, and the fun begins.
Pros: Intriguing plot, great atmosphere both in the slightly dystopian urban setting and in the excellent music. Nice balance of puzzle and HO scenes with the weight on the latter for a change. Smooth game play, quite a bit of back and forth but it's aided by an excellent map. Good attention to detail on the writing: even the ancillary characters are nicely drawn and memorable.
Cons: Not a lot - uneven voice acting with Carolyn sounding a little overwrought. A couple of text messages at the top were obvious debug messages that slipped by QA. Final resolution of the plot is a little underwhelming and the game is a bit too short.
Bonus Game: Now we play as Nerida, triumphant in the main game but still bereft of her voice. In chasing that down she must confront a villainess, free her fellow auditioners, and cope with the machine that appears to have captured her voice in a vat of greenish goo. Apparently the recovery of her voice costs her her nose ring to everyone's relief. Full props to Nerida's voice actor, who may have been dismayed to discover that her entire script fit on a single piece of paper. "They steal my what?" Uh...sorry about that.
Overall, a very playable, upbeat game with sympathetic characters and a sense of humor. The villain is a bit of a cad, yes, and although it is never really clear what he wishes to do with his victims it really doesn't matter that much, and we end up not entirely unhappy to see the hero and heroine attempting to save him from himself as well. I wish the game were longer, because I really enjoyed the settings and characters.
I recommend this game!
Can you stop a powerful foe from taking over Paris?
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Sacre Bleu - Ze Garde Rouge Is On Ze Case!
PostedJuly 19, 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
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Probably my favorite series at the moment, steampunk and Victorian locales, this time set in Paris. We play as young Hawkes, plunked once again by our friend Phileas Fogg into a milieu of intrigue and skullduggery with the fate of the world at stake as it usually is. The hub of the game is no longer our old friend Rufus but a French lady named Eleonore who is the Parisian Vermillion Watch - pardon, Garde Rouge - representative. Plenty of play organized around a lengthy introduction and three scenes to be investigated as the usual VW pattern.
Pros: bang for the buck, this may be one of the best games of the year. Spectacular graphics, plenty of puzzles of moderate to tough quality, a variety of HO scenes several styles, all of which are quite beautiful. Plot is straightforward but revealed gradually enough not to seem overly simplistic, just outlandish enough to remind us that the whole thing is very much tongue in cheek. Most of the puzzles are glorious, two in particular reminiscent of MCF and fully worthy. Cut scenes, especially toward the end, are very artistic, as is the theme music. Good to excellent voice acting with some nearly believable accents. Obviously high production values throughout.
Cons: that constantly screeching monkey in Chapter 2 may be the single most obnoxious sound I've ever heard in a game. Fortunately the junk we're obliged to feed him in order to gain his cooperation is likely to cause his demise, unfortunately not soon enough. We have a gadget, a pair of spirit-revealing glasses that don't really add much to the game other than some interesting graphics when they're used. Certain puzzles suffer from misleading or inaccurate instructions. And I do miss the usual sly references to period literature. Minor points, really.
Bonus Game: A nice treat and a rather sweet game involving a really excellent secondary character, the fortune teller Madame Anne, and a gargoyle whose dilemma is of our own doing. Between us we make it right.
Overall, an excellent entry in a top-notch series. Plenty of scenery including a wistful reference to Notre Dame. Plenty of game play, lots to do, and a villain with a magnetic hoverboard. What's not to like?
I recommend this game!
Can you help three souls escape a deadly amusement park?
Overall rating
4
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Classic Game
PostedJuly 4, 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
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
A very pleasant surprise for what I thought was a failing franchise. There are enough of these out there now for everyone to have become accustomed to the formula: some extant threat to humanity that is dealt with by the player character returning in time to correct tragedy and injustice for three or more lost souls, the spoke of that plot wheel turning on a spooky cemetery, and yes, once more on a scary abandoned amusement park. One might not think there was much room left for new within a bag of cliches, and indeed there isn't a great deal new, but there's a great deal of room to do it better. And I think they did.
Here the overall villain is the denture-challenged Obsidian, whose gripe with humanity is suitably vague but who has definitely cheated in fomenting the tragedy amongst the souls he wishes to capture for his own. That we, as The Detective, are to set right - again, nothing new here, but the victims are varied and vividly drawn enough to be memorable after the game is done. So what has improved? This:
Pros: A nice mix of HO scenes and mini-games, especially in contrast to the puzzle-heavy games we've gotten of late. The games themselves are mostly new twists on old tropes, just different and difficult enough to absorb the player without being dull repetitions. Graphics are vivid and game play smooth, without the overabundance of cut scenes that we've also become used to of late. Nice little resolution as Obsidian gets his comeuppance from...well, now, who is this? More of her, please.
Cons: The voice acting is a little weak, the music atmospheric but bordering on overly repetitive. The structure of the game is formulaic and deliberately so, almost nostalgic. Some may find that boring (I didn't). A couple of the games seemed to beat the player into submission with an inordinate number of required moves, unfortunately without a discernible pattern. That's an awful lot of trial and error.
Bonus Game: A park worker named Robert has found and put on a very nasty amulet (don't they ever learn?) - we must destroy the artifact and allow the park to open without killing the guests.
Overall, a fresh (for me at least) piece in what was becoming a stale cake. What impressed me most was the game's balance between plot and puzzle. You already know the destination, but the ride this time was fun. This is a classic game done right, and a lifeline to a struggling franchise.
I recommend this game!
Can you help people escape their magical prisons in time?
Overall rating
2
/
5
12 of 22 found this review helpful
Unseen Fears - Stories Better Untold
PostedJune 28, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Main Game: Dark, grim, joyless. The music captures the suicidal mood perfectly. The idea is that a famous fairy-tale author finds that she can bring her daughter into her stories to address daughter's real-world failing health. Along the way certain other people have been sucked into those stories as well. Our hero's task is to rescue the innocent and resolve the difficulty that led to their capture. Some rather creepy fairy-tale scenery here with some nice graphics, but the theme is madness and a mother's grief, and the resolution...no spoilers, sorry. It isn't exactly a chuckle fest.
Bonus Game 1: The prequel. Here we have Vera, the very amusing and slightly obnoxious vlogger who began the first game, probably the best-drawn character in the thing with very good voice acting behind her. She's after a paranormal scoop and you just know she's going to get into trouble again, which she promptly does. This is a very brief game and it explains how Vera came to be in the state she was in when we encountered her in the main game, and brings us to:
Bonus Game 2: Vera meets the author. This completes the prequel, which brings us into the events of the game. Why on earth the two Bonus games couldn't have been incorporated into the main game is beyond me. It would have added the length and continuity that the main game was lacking and at least given us an idea of who it was we were saving and why.
Pros: plenty of puzzles, familiar to experienced players but certain of them a bit difficult for beginners. Some very good voice acting with charming and almost believable accents. Details of the locale, gorgeous Prague, are eye candy within all too few scenes.
Cons: A gadget, this time a tattoo. Certain of the restore-the-image puzzles depend on graphics that really aren't up to a precise match and the player isn't actually aware on several unfortunate occasions of what the real appearance of the image to be restored is until he or she has made too much of a mess of things to permit an optimal solution. It's frustrating because the scenery art is quite up to the task, but in not a single case is that puzzle art good enough.
Overall, a bit of a mishmash. Had the plot not been saved for the bonus games we might have had a very nice mystery on our hands here, but as it is, we are left with a dead girl, an agonized mother, and a resolution that is ashes in our mouths. I'm sorry, this one was pretty on occasion but unpleasant, and I can't recommend it.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you stop a past case from destroying the present?
Overall rating
3
/
5
18 of 27 found this review helpful
The Game's Afoot, Well, Not Really
PostedJune 4, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Sherlock Holmes fans - I am one - will probably recoil in horror from the very title as unforgivable blasphemy, which is always the hazard of taking liberties with a classic. This one, I'm afraid, does much worse than that. My advice to other players is forget the premise, it doesn't work. Sherlock Holmes went missing from the Reichenbach Falls in 1893 (and turned up again, but never mind that). This cannot be the 15 years it's claimed as the game actually takes place around 1939 if dates on file folders and period automobiles and motorcycles are any clue - sorry, "clew". It's more like 45.
Nor, alas, is our title character a master detective as advertised, but a pasteboard action heroine who is, frankly, a little dense to be claiming the name "Holmes". Why, for example, would she discover that she can't get into her own saddlebags because she's tied them with rope and now has to go traipsing off into unknown territory seeking a sharp object that she doesn't have in order to cut her way in? Why would she meticulously repair a bicycle horn and honk it loudly outside a house she's about to break into, and then say "I have to be careful, they'll hear me," which they did? That sound from the graveyard is Conan Doyle moaning.
Pros: some excellent puzzles if a bit on the easy side, adequate to excellent voice acting (the player character is very good in her frequent asides), atmospheric music, and a nice if spare assortment of HO scenes.
Cons: cringeworthy writing - see above - and the scenery so peppered with oddly-shaped objects with which to lock other oddly-shaped objects that Ms Holmes feels compelled to comment upon it aloud. Cliches abound - the stubborn crows that impelled her to honk a bicycle horn, for example, the inevitable stuck zipper, the buzzing bees, and a young woman who gleefully pounds thugs into submission with her fists. Honestly, it's bad enough to wonder if we're not all being put on by a clever parodist of the genre.
Bonus Game: OK, I have a gripe here. It's a fine bonus game and really completes the preparation for the next game in the series, but SE players won't see it. The main game is short enough as it is. I loved the change in perspective, though.
Overall, the game isn't really salvageable except as a platform for puzzles and an occasional chuckle. What the unaccountably self-congratulatory Ms Holmes needs is the occasional dash of cold water from a Ms Watson in the very same way that Sherlock had from his, and no, I don't think young Mr. Adler will fill the bill, although the Bonus Game leads us to suspect he may be a future rival. But for heaven's sake lose the Harley and the fistfights, we get it, she's emancipated. Now if only she were a detective.
I don't recommend this game.