I'd have given this game a five stars review if it weren't marred by a very boring ending and an incredibly annoying voice over breathing "I am eviiil...!" far too many times.
That said, the music is wonderful, one of the best scores I've heard in a BF game; graphics are excellent; puzzles are fun and, up until the end, the HOS are the right mix of challenging and solvable without having to use the hint button. In-game hints are unhelpful, but I had fun playing it without once touching the hint button or resorting to the walkthrough. It also has a nice claustrophobic feel because the constant having to walk to the same places over and over again - except for the end when it's just tedious - makes one feel trapped in the manour.
I definitely recommend it, especially in expert mode.
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
One of the best games to destress or while away a lazy afternoon.
Graphics are lovely - the little darkness monster was actually pretty, I wish they had made a wallpaper with it - and the scenes are a perfect mix of atmospheric and legible; music is unobtrusive - I quite liked it - and appropriate to surroundings, which is not always the case; cutscenes are brief and to the point; minigames are easy, but fun to play; best part: no annoying sparkles everywhere, even in casual mode.
It's not very challenging and I completed it in two sessions and about four hours of play, mostly because the HOS are few and rather easy on the eyes which I appreciated, but it's one of the best relaxing, fun BigFish games I've played.
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Best features: graphics, animation and voices are excellent; iy has a story which progresses nicely and is wittily comical; gameplay is efficient and the difficulty increase through the levels is steady and interesting. There are, however, two problems: the music is very annoying as it consists of a brief jingle repeated throughout the game with only one variation for the spoken parts, I can only play it by muting it; the time constraints don't allow for any variation in problem solving which makes it not very enjoyable to replay it. It's best played in short bursts followed by long intervals, so it doesn't pall.
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Best features: freedom to place buildings and not have to click on them to get money; building placement and logical town facilities development is key to success; no time constraints on each level; increasing difficulty is increasing complexity of logistical problems; high replaying pleasure; lovely graphics and animation. Worst feature - common to this type of games - is the background music, though this game has the least annoying jingle of all.