This second installment in the Millennium Secrets Series was remarkable for its difficult puzzles (I played in advanced mode rather than casual mode) and its cohesive and believable storyline. The graphics were beautiful as was the heroine, and the intricacy of the puzzles at the end, which gave the player no chance to skip them, were nothing short of brilliant!
However, the one, big drawback to the game was the endless array of HOs. Just as soon as I sunk my teeth into the wonderful plot, I was hunting for a baseball or a boomerang -- nothing to do, at all, with the story.
I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY these game developers, having a good thing going with a knockout game, would even consider adding HOs. Their logic is beyond me. That's why I prefer the games such as Syberia, The Tree of Life, the Drew Series, and other similar games in which only PLOT -- only STORYLINE is important, and hang the HOs! That's why my "Fun Factor" setting is at 3 and why I gave the game 4 stars instead of 5.
I recommend this game only for those who like to hunt FOREVER and EVER for hidden objects.
This game, in my estimation, could have been another "Tree of Life," but the developers missed the point.
This game, from start to finish, was really a HOG. It was just arranged differently: find 15 gems; find 20 emeralds; find 10 keys. It was the constant shifting of boxes and stones to find the items needed to continue on.
There were times in the game when the interaction of the players was excellent and when the scenery became more like another "Tree of Life" or "Syberia II." I really wish the developers would have stayed on the character interaction concept instead of the weaker concept of just finding objects.
And yet, the game was interesting and curiously fascinating. I loved its long length.
After playing the first two "Pahelikas," I am impatiently awaiting another installment in the series. There were negative reviews of these productions and I don't understand why.
Both "Pahelikas" were very adventuresome and full of Old World intrigue. They held your attention. They even demanded it! A few of the puzzles were very difficult and some items were hard to find.
I have to disagree with Wombat, who found the second Pahelika easier than the first. I thought the first one was a "walk in the park" compared with #2.
In any case, the developers at Ironcode have a great thing going with the Pahelika Series and I hope they continue to make sequel after sequel! Buy it! It's really worth it!
The Nancy Drew Series -- that massive collection of very enigmatic games is, arguably, the best Collection in the Big Fish arsenal.
Having just finished "Danger by Design," I can state that it was intricate, challenging, and most puzzling, at times.
Ah! And Paris! The sights, the smells, the delicacies, the wine! "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd."
But, back to "Danger." It was difficult and intricate, with many major blockades and brutal puzzles for Nancy to get past. It was well thought out by the developers and it was very cohesive in nature. And It was just so full of so many beautiful locales.
Of all the many, many Drew Games, I have only criticized two. The series should receive a gold medal, and I must say, in conclusion, that this series will go on and on, and will continue to bring us new mysteries for Nancy to solve. I doff my hat to Nancy, to the series, and to the developers.
As my title says, this was a surreally wonderful adventure game with no hidden object scenes to interfere with your line of thought. This was a tightly crafted, puzzle- crammed delight that pushed you to the very edge of your wits. My hat is off to the developers for pulling off such an "illusional feat" without the use of character interaction.
I'd love to see a sequel or a prequel. This gem is worth every nickel! Bravo!
Yes, "Il Pensieroso," himself, that great masterpiece of sculpture, would have loved this "think tank" adventure. To my delight, there were no HOs to clutter things up, and all that awaited the player in this game was how to get to the next level without any help.
This was one of the ultimate "how to" adventures, and the player found himself taxed to the extreme, in some cases.
I heartily recommend this game to anyone who truly likes to think without using a guide (although a walkthrough is available, and the game itself encourages the use of YOUTUBE for the solution of the slider puzzles which could really be figured out without help).
A word to the Developers: Why not include voices and more than one character in your next planned adventure? It would add 1000 percent to the adventure factor.
The story wasn't the spookiest or creepiest or best, neither was it the worst I've ever seen. My chief complaint about this game which could have been much more exciting, was that there were three-and-one-half trillion HOG scenes!
C'mon, developers! You can do better than this, what with the good storyline and brilliant graphics you had going! And all you could think of was: "How many more HOG scenes can we squeeze in?
After I run out of large format games, I guess my goose is cooked!
I almost witheld my fifth star for this game because of its rather glum-looking opening, what with kitchen and house- keeping duties thrown into the mix.
However, once into this interesting and intricate plot, I became enthralled with the question: "WHODUNNIT?"
The puzzles, especially the fox and geese and the chase at the end are among some of the very best Drew devices,. AND, the culprits'd identity is a complete surprise. It's a twist-off from all of the information Nancy has gathered.
This is really an exciting game, as Nancy "uses" the White Wolf to help her solve the mystery which has its hidden tunnels and underground hideouts, replete with rather complicated puzzles to figure out. This was a fun and challenging "Nancy."
This game is a collosus of beautiful graphics combined with puzzles, mazes and intricacies as difficult as those in the other large format games I have played. I found this game more difficult than the Nancy Drew disappointment, "Shadow at the Water's Edge," which featured so many puzzles that had nothihng to do with the storyline, and wasted so much time.
I know that some of the reviewers of this game made the claim that the puzzles (does that count finding items to get to the next scene?) are not especially difficult. That's just not the case. The ENTIRE GAME is a puzzle, constantly throwing new challenges at you at every turn. So either those reviewers are geniuses or they used a walkthrough.
This was one of the very best of the large format games and I look forward to EGYPT IV -- an EGYPT IV that uses ONLY a linear format, as the non-linear format is so clumsy to use.
A final word about this incredible game: The gorgeous graphics are, indeed, the epitome of prismatic ornamentation, especially when the heroine deals with the various gods.
In a fading world devoid of color, the ghost of Nikola Tesla reaches through the Ether and invites you on an incredible adventure through time and space.
I usually play ONLY the large format games just to avoid the irritating and very frequent HOGs found in most mysteries. However, and, to my great delight, I found a game -- THIS ONE -- with just a handful of HO scenes thrown into the mix. This made for a charming, witty, clever, and sometimes enchanting adventure story, replete with sci-fi novelties of all sorts -- time travel -- an archvillain -- and a very happy ending, and, you really DON'T need a walkthrough, as M'sieur Tesla, "caught up in the ether" gives a hint every so often.
All in all, this was the best HOG game I have played if only because there were so few HOs.