Hello friends! Well, we have #6 in this series. As always, I review mostly on the game play and not the story, as others do a much better job than I, although I do comment a bit. Excellent graphics, very clear, very realistic. The animation is superb, with facial movements, smooth body movements. Color was very nice, even with a little fading now and then. It was still quite clear, and no blur along the way. Game play was excellent, no problems during the demo and the picture fit my large screen quite well. Voices were quite well done, being age and character appropriate, with emotion, fear, urgency. It had it all. Loved the music in this addition, and I usually turn it way down, but not this time. It was more than the usual 5-6 notes and moved with whatever was happening at the time. We even had "edge of your seat" when needed. When I beta tested this one, I was disappointed in the lack of many sound FX, but that has been corrected and they are perfect. The storm sounds were so realistic, I could practically feel the wind.
HOPs are only interactive silhouettes, which were well done, but disappointing. It needed a change now and then. Items are not difficult to find and scenes are fairly clear and clutter free. You could not switch to something else, if you get bored with the same HOP all the time. Puzzles were somewhat challenging and most did take some time and thought to complete. We did still have some that were not difficult at all. Hint system is very helpful and transports to longer locations by opening the jump map, and showing you were to go next. The map is well done, and shows you where collectibles and morph items can be found in case you miss one. Areas are clearly identified by name and picture. I did find that the hint button and the map are much too close together, making it easy to open the wrong thing.
Lots of collectibles, which I love. A lot of items are quite small, so you really have to look for them, but if you move the cursor around, a hand shows up when you move over one. Still, they are challenging. We need to find 30 morphing items, which morph quickly and are very easy to miss. We also need to find 7 each of some and 8 each of other various collectibles and again, we also find manuscript pages. Love how they do the collectibles.
I love this series. Each story is a little different and catches your attention right from the beginning. This time, we have to cure a disease from the past before it destroys the future. Very well done! I got so engrossed in this one, that I almost forgot to keep notes. You have quite a lot of character interaction, which makes it feel far more realistic. You are constantly on the move, so you certainly will not get bored. This game is challenging and fun. I feel that all levels of players will find this one well worth playing. Yes, I am going to add this to my ever growing collection. I do not give 5 stars easily, a game must be exceptional in all aspects for that. However, this one comes very close. I gave it a 4.75 only because it needed a variety of HOPs and not just silhouettes.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Hello friends! Well, it looks like we have #9 in this series. As always, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story review to others who do a much better job than I. This developer just keeps getting better and better. The graphics in this addition are exceptional. Yes, we have a bit of blur when going in and out of cut scenes and close ups, but most games seem to have that problem these days. Colors are bright and clear, but not over powering at all. Sometimes it seems like we have some blue, but the other bright colors make everything blend together. Very well done. Animation is very smooth and realistic, including eye movements and facial expressions. Game play was excellent, with no problems during the demo. The voices were well done and were age and character appropriate. We have more character interaction in this addition, which makes a game feel more realistic. Music wasn't bad and did move with whatever was happening at the time. Sound FX were nice, when we had them. I think this addition had a little more music, and not as many sound FX.
HOPs are a variety of interactive lists, place item in scene, and highlighted words. Scenes are clear and items were not difficult to find. Nothing new, but well done. You can switch to a match 3 game for something a little different. I didn't run across any difficult puzzles, but I always demo a game in "easy" mode, then move up from there. We can still choose between easy and hard for the puzzles and the full game play as well, for those who want more challenge. Hint system is helpful and actually gives you a hint as to what to do or where to go next. It does transport to longer locations, by opening the map and showing you where your next move is going to be. Again, my favorite map, very clear, areas are well marked and identified, and it shows you which location has a missed collectible. Who needs a strategy guide when you have such a great map?
Collectibles are well done, with some challenge, mostly in finding a few very small items. We need to find 15 musical instruments, which can be quite small; 48 crystals that we use to buy items for the boudoir, which are not hard to see, you just have to remember to look for them. We also have 15 opera posters that give us information on the characters. Fortunately, there is a bar over the inventory that tells you when a collectible is in a scene. A reminder to look for it.
This game and story flowed very well and was easy to follow. The story was a new twist on Phantom of the Opera. Isaac is our crazed phantom, looking for people to complete his perfect opera. Christine is who he wants to help accomplish that. She gets kidnapped...Raul is out to save her, and of course, they run across many ghosts along the way. The usual story, but it was well done and interesting. There is nothing terribly challenging or difficult, but there is enough action to keep you moving and interested. This is a very nice addition to this series. I do not give 5 stars easily, as a game must be exceptional in all categories. This one fell short because of the blurring, but I still gave it a solid 4.75. Even at that, I liked this game and I am going to add it to my CE list. I think most all levels of players will find this one entertaining and worth the CE price.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Hello friends! As usual I mostly review on the game play and leave the story line to others, who do a much better job than I. Is this really #15 in this series? The graphics are fairly nice, and usual, blurring in close ups. Game play was very good, with no problems during the demo and the scene fit my large screen quite well. Colors were nice, even though a bit muted in some areas. It did not take away from the game at all. Animation was fairly smooth. The voice overs, although not a lot, are well done and are age and character appropriate. I like that we have pretty much the same main characters in each addition. We did have a few additions this time. Music was nice and moved with whatever was happening at the time. Sound FX are well done and are throughout the game.
HOPs are varied and well done. We have highlighted words within a straight HOP list; interactive lists and interactive silhouettes. The scenes are clear and items are not difficult to find. I did not see that you could switch to something else if you didn't care for the HOP. The variety keeps you interested. Puzzles were somewhat different, but nothing too difficult to complete. A couple did take a little time and thought. The hint system is very helpful and actually gives you a hint. We also have the transport feature for jumps to longer locations. This is a time saver, and faster than going to the jump map and trying to figure out where you are.
Nice collectibles as well. We have to find 12 morphing items in HOPs, which are easy to miss, as they morph in and out in about 7 seconds each. There are 36 hidden Mayan signs that look like chiseled masks. These are fairly large, various colors, and I found them easy to spot. As usual, we also have fact cards that give us information on areas and things within the game. They don't really do anything for the game, just take up more time to read.
I don't have all the games in this series, but what I have, I really like. This story is somewhat different than the usual that we have been seeing, and had enough action to keep my interest. It flows well and is easy to follow. There is some challenge to this addition, so you shouldn't get bored. I think all levels of players will find this one interesting. I like this one well enough to add it to my ever growing collection of CE games. I gave this game a 4.5.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tasted in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
4/ 5
Hello friends! As usual, I review on the game play and leave the story to others. This series is all about the cruise and where you go, not so much about someone in a story. This makes #5 in this series. If you like straight HOPs, this series is for you. I love these and have them all. Now and then, you just need to leave the spooky, dreary behind and do something fun. As in all the others, there is no speaking dialog, only reading. If you skip it, you won't miss anything important. The same annoying music, but really nice colors and sounds of the sea. Graphics are quite good in this addition.
Again, you have to find garbage and items passengers may have misplaced. There didn't seem to be as many extras in this one, as in the others in this series. Some items are still a bit small, but not really difficult to find. We need "some" challenge, right? I do like the varied puzzles. They are basically the same in each game, but for different locations. We have just enough to keep you from getting bored with straight HOPs.
I especially like that the characters no longer look like they are scared, or maybe just sat on a tack! Their eyes and faces look more "normal." These games are a nice change from my usual games. There is no extreme challenge, but they are relaxing for a change. Wish they would put out more during the year, but quantity isn't always better than quality. My grand kids love to help me with this games and they are coming for a visit. Perfect timing for a new one. Yes, I am adding this to my collection. Anyone who likes a change of pace now and then will like this one.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for it at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story to others...however, I do comment on the story as well. We have had so many additions to this series, that I lost count long ago. This game never changes. The graphics actually are quite nice in this one, with very little blurring. Colors are bright, but not overpowering. Game play was good, with no glitches or problems during the demo. Music is pretty much the same as all the others in the series. Voice overs are well done and appropriate for the character, but the male voice doesn't seem quite old enough for his character. Sound FX are the same as in all the others in this series and gets quite annoying after awhile.
HOPs were somewhat interesting and varied, but nothing new. The scenes were clear and items were not difficult to find. I didn't see that we could switch to something else if we got bored with the HOPs. Puzzles were not difficult and again, nothing new. None of them really took any time or brain power to complete. Hint system is very helpful, but I did not see that it transports to longer locations. Maybe I hadn't gone far enough yet.
The only collectibles I found were piggy banks, which are fairly large and not hard to see. You collect coins from these banks in order to update an room. This was boring for me. We also have morphing items that are all the same and plenty large enough to see. They do morph fairly quickly, so be on the lookout for them. Nothing extra.
This game was a bit better than the last in this series. We still have those creepy spider head puppets. The story was slow, HOPs were few and far between. We did have a fair amount of character interaction, which was a plus. I made it through the entire demo, but by the end of it, I had almost forgotten what I was there for. Personally, I think it is way past time to retire this series. I'm sure there are those who will find this one fun and challenging, but I wasn't one of them. This one just didn't have any challenge at all. I will recommend this to beginners only. No, I will not be purchasing this game for my collection. No sure how anyone could give this one a 5.0...I gave it a 3.0.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may find this one to be exactly what you are looking for. Thanks for the review. Play on!
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the rest to others. I believe this is #4 in this series. The graphics were very nice, very clear, and I didn't see any blurring, except when the meds were taking affect. Colors were very well done, very clear and true. Game play was very good, no problems during the demo. Music was actually quite nice. Voices are well done, age and character appropriate, and our villain has a sinister sound to his voice. I'm not real hot on the "whisper" voices, but this one fit the character. The sound FX are very well done and seem to be throughout the demo. Not a lot of character interaction, but enough that you don't get bored just walking through a game. Be aware that things do suddenly jump in your face.
HOPs were interactive lists and silhouettes. I did not see that there was something else to switch to if you wanted something different. You do need to watch for morphing objects in the HOPs, which are not as easy to see as you may think. Puzzles were mostly simple, but I did run across a couple that made me stop and think a bit. There seemed to be more puzzles in this addition. Hint system was very helpful, but I did not see that we have the transport feature in this one. We don't really backtrack that far, so not really needed. I didn't look at it, but we do have a jump map as well.
Collectibles weren't bad at all. We had to find "brains" that were quite large and easy to see. We also had morphing items outside of the HOPs. Watch for them, they morph fairly quickly.
This wasn't a bad game, but not much challenge to it. The story was nothing new, but it was well done. Didn't care for the constant swaying of the characters, and the blurring eye when the medication kicked in was quite annoying. The ghosts popping up now and then, and how we had to kill them off was boring. That said, I actually liked this game and have the need to play it out for some reason. I did give it a 4.0, but anything less is not worth a purchase for me. I believe all levels of players will find this one entertaining enough to purchase. Yes, I am going to add it to my collection.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Hello friends! As always, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story to others. Looks like this is #8 in this series. Graphics in this addition are nice, except when going in and of closeups, then it becomes very blurry. You'd think the Dev could clean this up, but all games in this series seem to have the same problem. Colors are nice for the most part, but we seem to have a little more blue and purple than is needed. Game play was excellent, with no problems during the demo and the scenes fit my large screen very well. Animation is well done, except there was a lot of "weaving" back and forth in the body movements. Good thing I don't get seasick. Voices are nicely done and are age and character appropriate. They showed emotion, with the bad guy having the sinister threatening voice. You can click through the dialog if you read faster than they speak, without missing any of the story line or clues. Music is okay. Their didn't seem to be much in the way of sound FX or character interaction during the demo. Hopefully that changes as the game progresses. Please be aware that occasionally we have very bright lights when traveling, but you can click through those as well.
HOPs are very well done, with a combination of highlighted words, silhouettes, interactive lists and pictures. Scenes are clear and items were not difficult to find. We do have a match 3 if you prefer that over the HOPs. Most of the puzzles were somewhat challenging and took time and thought to complete, even on easy mode. You do have the option of choosing hard for some heavy duty challenge. They do take some time and thought to complete. Very well done. Hint system is very helpful, but personally I think a 15 second recharge is too long...10 seconds is plenty for any game. We do not have the standard transport feature. The map opens and you jump from there. This series has the perfect map. Everything is right there, so you don't have to do a lot of clicking around to open a window or try to figure out where to go next, and it shows where you have missed a collectible. Very clear, very nicely done.
This series always has really nice collectibles, and this addition is no exception. We have to find 14 book pages that tell us about Aspir; 66 gems to purchase items for a storage shelf; and 15 statuettes of mythical type creatures. It is easy to forget to look for the pages, as they don't jump off the page at you, and can be anywhere. Gems are often small, but can be seen without eyestrain. The challenge I found was the statuettes, as they can be partially hidden. Very well done.
The story is nothing new, and I found it not as easy to follow as most. For some reason, it just seemed a little choppy. Most demos I finish have at least 30 minutes left to play, so I was quite surprised to see that this one only had 4 minutes left when my time ran out. I think it was the challenge of the puzzles and the time it took to complete them, as well as the great collectible hunt. Definitely think this one will appeal to all levels of players. Again, I downgraded this game because of the blurry graphics, but still give it a 4.5. I liked it, I enjoyed the challenge and I am adding it to my collection.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story line to others. This game has beautiful color, very bright and true, without being blinding. Exceptional graphics, with no blurring when going in and out of close ups. Superb animation, very realistic and smooth movements, face and body. It also has the perfect voices for the characters. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of character interaction in this one. The music was quite annoying after a short time, with just a few notes throughout. We had a few sound FX, but not what should have been in this game to really bring it all together. The map was okay, and it did show us where we missed a memory or morphing item. Strategy Guide was messy, with too much hand holding in the collectibles section. Just show me a picture with whatever we are looking for being circled...forget the "here's one here, here's one there" wording.
HOPs weren't bad. We had interactive HOPs and interactive silhouettes, and some puzzles within the HOP. Items were not difficult to see and scenes were not too cluttered. I did not care for the need to hold down the cursor button in order to use items within the HOP. It was too touchy and needed to be grabbed more than once to hold and use. Puzzles were a combination of very simple and some that needed brain power and thought to complete. Hint system is very helpful and we do have the transport feature for longer locations. We do a lot of back tracking, so this is quite helpful and takes less time than using the jump map.
Collectibles were just okay, but nothing special. We have to find morphing items, but they are not in every scene. I found that they morphed fairly quickly, making it often difficult to find them. They morphed in 2 seconds and out 4 and you could not click on them until they morphed to something else. We also have 30 memories to find. This is an item, not a storybook that pops up. These are easy to overlook.
One thing I did like about this one, is that the Developer gave us the option of disabling the award pop ups. Nothing more frustrating than a pop up when you are in the throws of a good game. This story was the usual, nothing new or different. What was disappointing was how slowly the story moved. There was very little character interaction and very little action of any kind. No real challenge either. It started out exciting, but fell off quickly. I'm sure there will be those who find this challenging for them, but I personally did not think it was, nor do I feel it is CE worthy. It doesn't matter how great your graphics and all are, if you have a boring slow story, it shoots down the game. I will recommend this for beginners, but not for me.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may find this one to be exactly what you are looking for. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story line to others who do a much better job than I. We have another addition to this very nice series. We have excellent graphics and no blur when going in and out of scenes. Game play was very good, with no problems during the demo. Colors are a bit faded in some areas, but mostly bright and true, with none of those annoying blues or pinks that are quite tiring on the eyes. Animation is realistic with eye, mouth and facial movements and very smooth body movements as well. Voices are age and character appropriate and have emotion to them as well, fear, anger, power, urgency, and not just some one reading a script. Sometimes we have silly dialog, e.g., if I'm standing in front of a "bad guy," I am not going to deliberately antagonize them. Our young heroine's voice is a bit annoying, but at least she doesn't talk constantly. Music is rather soothing until it needs to let you know something is about to happen. Sound FX are very well done and realistic. We have an interesting helper, in the way of a machine that can do various things to help us throughout the game. Good think it blinks at me, or I'd forget to use it.
HOPs are very well done and scenes are very clear. Items are not difficult to find at all. We have a variety of interactive lists, silhouettes, and fragments. We also have a morphing item in each HOP, which is not as easy as you think. The item morphs quite slowly, so it is easy to miss it. I did not see that there was anything else to switch to. Puzzles were a nice combination of fairly simple to pretty challenging. Ran across a few that took me longer than expected and more brain power than I normally use. Very well done. Hint system is very helpful and gives you a hint, not just "move on." I didn't see that we had the transport feature in this addition. We do back track, but it didn't seem to be a lot.
Collectibles are also well done. We have to find snowflakes, which are fairly large and quite easy to see, no challenge here. We also have morphing items outside of the HOPs. Not as easy to spot as you think.
This story is well done, easy to follow and flows quite well. Even though it isn't all that different, it kept me interested and wanting more when the demo ran out. I'm not sure why, but I still cannot give this one 5 stars (I think it was the boring map). I don't give them easily, as a game must be exceptional in all aspects. This one is close, with a 4.75. I think most all levels of players will find this one interesting and challenging, and worth the price of the CE. Yes, I am adding it to my collection.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Puzzle, Strategy, Word
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
4/ 5
Hello friends! As usual, I review mostly on the game play and leave the story to others to tell. I do, however, comment on it now and then. I don't know if this Paranormal is part of a series along with the others...if so, this is #4. Graphics were actually quite good in this one. Very little blurring, but I think most of it was on purpose because of the setting and story line. Game play was excellent, with no problems during the demo. Colors are bright and true, and not over powering at all. Nicely done. Animation is well done, with smooth mouth, eye and body movements. Voices were age and character appropriate, with some emotion and sinister when needed. Music was soothing and unobtrusive. Sound FX are well done and move in and out with whatever is happening at the time. There wasn't a lot of character interaction, but enough to keep you interested and break the monotony.
HOPs are very well done, with straight lists, fragments, silhouettes, and finding words. Items are not difficult to find and the scenes are not cluttered. Puzzles were mostly very simple and took no time or brain power to complete. Hint system is helpful and we do have the transport feature for longer locations. This is quite helpful, as we do backtrack quite a lot, mostly to use an inventory item. We do have a jump map, which is nothing special, but it does show you where a collectible is found, or missed.
Collectible are many and very well done. Yes, we do have challenge in finding them! We have 12 eye silhouettes that are well blended into the background and not easy to spot. These are not in every scene, so remember to look for them. We also have raven silhouettes/pictures/statues that seem to be large enough to see, but easy to over look. Yep, there are morphing items as well. These seem to morph in such a way that if you don't look right at it, you can miss it. Of course, if you just can't find these collectibles on your own, they are listed clearly in the Strategy Guide.
This story is nothing new, but it is well done and easy to follow. Even though I think I know what's happening, I have the need to play this one out and see where it goes. I think all levels of players will find this one fun and challenging, and I feel this one is worth the price of a CE. Yes, I am adding this one to my ever growing collection of CE games. I give this one a 4.75 on my scale.
As always, try it for yourself and see what you think. We all have different tastes in games and you may not care for this one at all. Thanks for the reviews. Play on!