I'm not worried about story lines. If you want that, not your game.
The HOS do make you search a bit, but not to the point of making you give up. And getting more hints involves more hidden objects, so that is what the game is anyway.
I like the music and the "sound effects" don't bother me.
Wonderful mind-occupying game. It doesn't make you feel dumb by being too hard.
I really like the look of the game, and for me the music clinches it. Wish there were more levels--or add-ons like some other games. But if I don't play it for awhile, I forget and am able to enjoy the game again.
I'm a plodder, so this game is just difficult enough for me. Three levels of difficulty, HOS with lists with interaction (moving things out of the way to find another object), tasks to accomplish, puzzles to solve, and so on.
The story line is spooky enough, Spooky seems to be what the story line is for most HOGs now.
I like the style this game company uses for its games. They have other lines besides Dark Tales.
The story line doesn't intrude on playing the game, but if you want to follow it, you certainly can.
The puzzles are familiar, but I play not to be frustrated but to be entertained and challenged a bit. If you want really hard puzzles, not your game. Sometimes there is no directions for the puzzles, but after working them a bit, you intuitively get what to do.
HOS are fine--not a list but objects to find, combine sometimes, and so on. If there are lists, I haven't played far enough yet.
I know some who review are expert and such, and I'm not. I like a game where I can make some headway with some head scratching, but not get stumped and never get further without going for help.
Long time game available on the Windows side only. It's also a game for people that find it challenging to make up words IN ANY DIRECTION with as many letters as possible.
This isn't meant to be an arcade game. Relaxing with a challenge if you want to be. If you liked the match 3 game (not the #3 game though), you'll like this.