I agree with what the majority of the other reviewers said before me… Yep, me too. I think what hurt this game the most was the storyline. I can’t stand when a weird fantasy creature monster is plunked in the middle of a mystery genre game. They should have just kept it as a typical haunting and not added fins to the ancestor’s head and given her octopus arms. My biggest problem with this game was the storyline. Here are some of my favorite storylines to maybe help the DEV with ideas. Seeing these older games revamped with jump maps would be so great. > The Reincarnation Series > Mysteries of the mind- Coma > Paranormal Pursuit- The gifted One > Angelica Weaver- Catch me if you can > The Agency of Anomalies- The Last Performance What I didn’t like- ~ Usually I don’t mind gadgets as much as some of the other reviewers, but I really disliked the puking shell. You’d be in trouble if your evidence was bigger than 2” x 2”. lol ~ The entire demo is played at night with no switch in time from scene to scene so the player gets bored and feels tired, instead of creating suspense like it was meant to. ~CE content lacked for me. I would buy so many more of MHG CE’s if they offered a screensaver and not just wallpapers. ~ Seeing the momma bird caught in a net away from her babies. We do save her but I’m a huge animal lover and hate seeing animals in distress. ~ I wasn’t a fan of these graphics. I thought they were a bit fuzzy- without definition. They needed more contrast & deep shadowing. I thought many of the items in the HOS were lacking detail. In one scene in Chapter 2, I needed to match an eraser to something in the scene but had no idea it was an eraser until using hint.
What I liked: ~ The character presentation was just awesome. They look life-like with perfect mouth movements. ~ I love when a DEV shows that small icon of who is speaking. It is so helpful to know who is who and makes you feel a part of the story when you know what your own character actually looks like. ~ I liked the MG where you carve the animals. ~ I liked the HOS where you match the items in your list with an item in the HOS scene, like seeing the wineglass in the scene and using your bottle of wine to fill the glass.
I wish MHG would go back to their roots. They have some of the best games at this site imo, which I listed below. I completed them all (all over 5 hrs to finish).
I felt the best in the ROP series were: -ROP The Perfect Show (2012 an older game you need to adjust the screen) -ROP Children of the Forest (2014) -ROP Hide & Seek (2015)
My 2 favorite games by MHG are: -Maze #1- Subject 360 and -Beyond #1 Light Advent
Unfortunately, I can't recommend ROP Bloodlines but instead- I highly recommend the CE version, of the MHGs I listed above, over the SEs. Try the demo to them if you haven’t already- because these games are really worth the money. I purchased the CEs to all of them and just can't say enough how great they are from beginning to end.
This game feels like a knockoff of a game, made years ago, that was actually done to perfection. If a DEV tries to emulate a game they should improve on the older game and in this case that isn't even close.
What I didn't like: ~ It's a Halloween themed game that doesn't have enough Halloween icons to match. The decorations for the this tank were also really kind of boring.
~ You are able to add fish and decorations to a fish tank, and that's really good. But where this game goes wrong- the tank items are too small, too expensive, not every level gives enough currency to upgrade the tank and...
~ My biggest disappointment with this game is that the tank of swimming fish you've created can't be saved as a screensaver. You can't even "snap a photo" of your tank to keep as a wallpaper here.
~ The graphics are too cartoonish, with teeny items that can't be moved, added and removed in the tank. At one point I put a new fish in and had to squint to find if it was swimming or not.
What I liked: ~ I really enjoy M3s that have a reason for matching; in this case adding fish and items to a fish tank. ~ It had pretty good sound effects.
Bottom line: Maybe it's tough to match perfection. This game is lacking on so many fronts. There is a version done elsewhere that blows this game (and it's fish) out of the water. Too bad, because if it were made with those missing features, I would have bought this one for sure.
This M3 has so many things wrong with it that I'm not sure where to begin. It had such potential. A lot of the things I point out can actually be seen in the intro video for this game on the game's page.
What I didn't like: ~ Way too many words interrupt gameplay, such as "excellent" & "nice", ~Every single level you need to choose "limited" & "unlimited" moves. It should be in the options menu to check once. ~ I couldn't figure out what one of the icons even was. I thought it was a bird or mouse but turns out it is a group of nails I assume (?). There are witches hats, green gloves, a tree branch, 3 blue candles (I think). One of the icons is a tick. Ticks are gross creatures and not sure why anyone would want to match them. lol ~ In the menu/map screen there isn't much guidance as to what level you are playing. ~ During gameplay, the M3 board isn't labeled with what level you are currently playing and you can't even hit the "menu/options" button during a level to adjust the music, etc.
~ My biggest problem with the game is there is no reason for matching (at least not in the demo). I just prefer M3's that have you build things. For me, it's a huge bonus if the game lets you save the completed screen you built as wallpaper or a screensaver like in the Fishdom series. ~ The M3 playing board area is way too small for the size of a computer screen making me think the game was designed for a tablet or cell phone. This makes the icons a bit too small to fast match easily. ~ You have to wait at the end of each level for your points to compile and watch as the game plays itself with explosions etc.
What I liked: ~ I actually really liked the old style computer gen. graphics. They are clear and the background scenes are nice. ~ The music was appropriate and fit the game.
Based on completing chapters 1 and 2. The game crashed on me and lost my profile. I won't be replaying it any time soon to get to the end- maybe next year. I am rating this game on the actual game play and not that I bought it and couldn't finish it this first time.
It took me 2hrs. 15min. to get to Chapter 3, of this 4 chapter game.
If you don't like the color candy-apple green, I doubt this is your game. It is a themed game and not a scary one, and that's fine because I like both types.
~ The one thing I disliked the most was the green scenery. Funny, because green is my favorite color but this is candy apple green and EVERY scene in this game saturated. I prefer when a game changes the time of day or place you play so it isn't so monotonous. This green literally hurts your eyes. What a bummer. I would have rated it higher if it had used a color pallet of primary colors instead.
~ I liked the idea of the monster camera. There is enough character interaction to not feel isolated. ~ I don't normally like cheesy monsters with fake cutesy voices. I almost didn't buy this SE but decided I would due to the fact it was a Halloween game where they would fit the game. I really disliked the VO for the harlequin doll, Harvey. I thought it was way to over the top.
Some things I really liked: ~ The reactive items that move and respond when you click on them. Be sure to click everything in the scene so you don't miss any. When you get to Dana's house in Chapter 2, be sure to click the rug in living room Dana is in. I loved that one.
~I know a lot of reviewers don't like the storybook type of HOS but this game has some great ones. It added depth to the story and characters. This game had a lot of different types of HOS, catering to all of us.
FUNNY HAPPENINGS: This is where we meet the gray-haired Dana. As a mummy traps her in her living room chair, I decide to snoop around since she literally can't get up. Apparently, Dana has been preparing for her birthday party. I find a few of her birthday gifts and open them (in front of her, yikes, that is cold). This first gift is a skateboard without wheels which I decide will come in handy to fix the broken kitchen door. Upon entering her kitchen, there is another birthday gift on the table (yep, why not open this one too, I think, she can't have it anyway, not with the mummy holding her captive still). These are VERY crappy gift-givers in Dana's family. With anticipation, we open the 2nd wrapped bday gift to find only a blow dryer button in the box. (Good thing for me though! I needed that to put on the blow-dryer I've been toting in my pocket 1/2 this level. I use it to melt her refrigerator). Several tasks later we eventually decide to save Dana. Apparently she didn't mind that I was her only birthday guest and I opened all her gifts because she gives me a fingernail file she has been clasping the entire mummy incident. (Give me that Dana, I've needed that to open the locked living room cabinet which is holding another present which of course I take). ha ha ha ha.....
Domini- you guys are so funny! I needed that laugh. Thank you for that light moment of absurdity. It really did make my day! I laughed with every new task I did just leaving Dana in peril. I swear this is one of my favorite reasons for playing these games.
I agree with Pennmom36 and her review says it all. I don't like limited moves M3's either but this one offered enough moves that could be purchased- for the demo portion anyway. The first time I bumped into a level that needed to be replayed was #13. I suspect all the continuing levels will become harder and harder requiring you to replay and repeat many of them from here on out. The end of each level requires the player to sit and wait until all points are gathered which is so annoying.
I like to make fast matches (which can't be done in this game) and prefer when a M3 has it in options to choose whether or not you play in "limited mode".
I liked how they had the matching items in between the M3 levels.
The reason for matching is horrible. You don't get to build anything in this M3. You only get game $$ to purchase tokens to wipe out different icons on the M3 boards.
The music is decent for the game but looped and looped. I turned it off. It's a decent M3 that but there are other Halloween themed games I like better. This won't be one to put on my to purchase list.
I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers. I found the storyline different from the norm. I was vested and couldn't wait to find out what happens to the characters. I will wait to buy the SE because the CE content wasn't enough for me. I would have bought the CE if it had had a screensaver.
I really liked this game; some things more than others.
What I loved: ~The thumbnail pictures when a character was speaking. It is so helpful to learn the characters better and who it is I'm playing as. ~DIARY! I haven't seen a decent storyline journal like this since the starting days of HOPA's. This is a convoluted storyline and this game really benefitted from having it. I felt so much more vested in the characters by having a background and story refresher. ~Character presentation: These look like live actors and it was perfectly rendered. The little girl was adorable and endearing. ~ Time change- I loved how this game brought us to a different time. It helps the game to not feel monotonous. ~The special effects in the "Hallway" of the face and hand pressing through the wall in 3D. ~The hair over the mom's eyes upped the creepy factor.
What I didn't like as much (minor in comparison to my likes): ~A little too much looping music. I just prefer the environmental sounds for long stretches of game play. In this game, the environmental sounds were on the same options slider as the actual "game effect sounds". I find a lot of the game effect sounds annoying and sometimes I won't even buy a game if they can't be disabled.
~Strange-land- I really dislike when a game turns a grounded reality into some strange dream state that has chairs on the ceiling and weird alternate realities. I would prefer if they had kept the time change but not go SO overboard with the "weird".
If you liked this psychological thriller you may want to demo these that I felt were similar.
1. Mysteries of the mind: Coma (an older game though, with no portal maps) 2. Harrowed Halls #1: Lakeview Lane (a psych. thriller with a very similar feel) 3. Lake House: Children of Silence (also an older game with no map)
One of my favorite things about this demo was a sign you find in the refrigerator that states: "Stop global warming! Save our planet!” I couldn't agree more.
I can't wait for this release as an SE so I can purchase and finish the game. Thank you Eipix! This spooky game was so well done, especially in time for Halloween :)
I LOVED this game. I wish I could rate it higher than 5*. The story is SO thought out, and you don’t even learn most of it until you get some files in chapter 6. They look like authentic documents with life like photos. They were so incredible I found myself reading every little thing about each character to learn more of the story. The storyline is way more involved than the demo suggests; like reading a great book you don’t want to put down. This game will keep you on your toes until the very end. You think it’s going one way and a twist happens here and there. This DEV took the time to create the most incredible end to the main game. I actually did a fist pump (that caught me by surprise LOL) at the end of the main game. :)
The SE portion took me 3hrs 15min (my total game play for the CE version was 4hrs 05min).
I play on custom, @ a normal pace, and like to work things out on my own. I don’t like a lot of the fiddle type of MG and will skip them the second I’m frustrated. I adore HOS and play with penalty when I can- so it will take some ppl a bit more time than me.
So much time, effort & detail went into many things such as notes, articles, photos, as well as environmental sound effects with A+ voice actors. The people that did the background effects and the voice actors need to be commended. I’ve been playing games for years and this game did it the best I’ve ever encountered. Just before the demo ends you hear people shouting through the woods and it wasn’t just a first person voiceover with a mic. The way it was done here, the player feels a part of the action because the baddies voices are “off in the distance” and it makes the fear of the player heighten because you as the player feel like you are actually there with the action. Some voices sound far off and some sound like they are right beside you. I’ve never seen this done in casual gaming and it was PERFECT. You can hear the echoes off in the distance and other woodland effects. I even liked the game effect sounds which aren’t too loud or annoying; they are understated.
The graphics are incredible from the beginning to the end of this game. I adore when a DEV still make game scenes beautiful to play in (gorgeous waterfall and woodland scenes) despite being a paranormal/horror game while at the same time give the player a sense of urgency and fear. PERFECTLY DONE HERE! Inventory items are not held all that long so you actually remember where they go. The cut scenes were also done with care.
There is no journal/diary in this game and it would have really benefitted from one since the story was so well done. I prefer when a journal is provided (with the cutscenes added to the journal) because quite often I will wait to buy the CE on sale, or play other games in between and can’t remember the storyline from the demo to when I purchase the game. That creates a disconnect for me with the game in general. By having a journal, I am way more invested in the characters and story if I have a way to refresh the story to what I’ve played so far before buying the game.
I loved the color theme used in this game. Gray & natural tones are mostly used and they feel realistic, which again makes the player feel like they are in a more authentic environment as a whole. I’ve grown so tired of neon colors in games or oversaturated scenes from the beginning to the end of a game that has no change in the color scheme.
If you liked this game, I thought these had some similarities, so you may want to try the demo here @ BFG:
1. Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood 2. Shtriga: Summer camp 3. Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler 4. Fear for Sale 11: The Curse of Whitefall 5. Phantasmat: Curse of the mist 6. Campfire Legends Trilogy
Thank you to BFG & all of you at Mariaglorum that worked on this. You should be so proud of this series! I am such a fan yours, and can't wait for the next one.
In a nutshell it was too hard for me. Expert players will probably like it; so the challenge shouldn't be changed but the settings should.
I really like this type of game but I've never been good at this type of aerial/build TM if I'm forced to play without a relaxed mode for the beginning few levels.
With TM of any type I like to learn in relaxed mode and work up to a higher level and you can't do that here. Its not worth the extra money for me to buy the CE so BFG might want to put a blog strategy guide, like most their games, if they want people like me to buy the SE (which I probably would).
I hated that I kept killing the mouse only to replay one of the beginning levels over and over. Every time the mouse died I would have to start from scratch again. For some reason I wasn't building the right buildings to bypass the bugs to get to the cheese, to save the mouse in time. I absolutely hate a game (cartoon or not) that I see a hurt animal in. Instead of the mouse, it could have been a tangled ball of yarn in the rug that needed to be undone instead.
I think this is a decent game, that would have been a cut above if minor details were changed.
I will buy this CE version in a 241 sale because it has 7 great screensavers which I really liked (not just wallpapers). The bonus content, here, is worth it to me.
You save a few different souls in this game, and I still love that premise. I've played most the CE's in this series and usually there is 1 more soul to save in the bonus chapter.
The initial cutscene with the girl's face is worthy of it's own mention. Her expression is so perfectly rendered. I love a great story in a game and I love great cutscenes.
Looks like AMAX took our review suggestions to heart to make game #14 better. They have removed the annoying background sounds (but I'd wished it had had more environmental sounds like wind and other subdued night time sounds) and a bit less music. Unfortunately, it does still have the annoying, pick up game effect-flourish, sound that I so so wish could be turned off. I so wish this DEV would put a separate on/off slider in the options menu for game effect sounds and a separate one for environmental/background sounds. I really like games with portals (when they don't go to a "weird land") because I like when the time of day changes from the "basic color theme" throughout which I find is monotonous for game play in many games. The first portal storyline in this game has the same night time color effects so I'm hoping the other stories change the time of day as most of the other games in this series did.
If you like this game, or games with portals and saving people in different chapters, you may want to demo these I also finished and liked:
1. Reincarnations Trilogy 2. Mysteries of the Mind: Coma 2. House of 1000 door series 3. Sable Maze: Nightmare Shadows CE 4. Whispered Secrets: Everburning candle
This is a great game with a lot to do, great HOPs and attention to detail. Well done AMAX!
I thought the locations you play in this game are beautiful and I really enjoyed the demo. The sun is setting with beautiful tones and it streams through gorgeous stained glass windows in an abbey. I also loved the Nessie storyline.
The music is appropriate but plays a little too often. I wish there had been more atmospheric/environmental sounds (that could be controlled on a separate slider from game pick up sounds).
The description on the main page of this CE says it has screensavers but it doesn't; only wallpapers. I would have bought this as a CE version if it had had one. I know I would buy so many more Eipix CE's if at least one was offered in the bonus content. So I'll wait for the SE on this one.
If you haven't already tried the demo to the game~
Dance Macabre: Curse of the Banshee You may want to give it a try. It is played in Ireland instead of Scotland but it has the same pretty look and feel of this game.