XenSpiderbrains's Profile
 
 
 
Stat Summary
 
  • Average Rating:
    4.5
  • Helpful Votes:
    240
 
  • Reviews Submitted:
    42
  • First Review:
    March 31, 2012
  • Most Recent Review:
    March 24, 2024
  • Featured reviews
    0
 
 
XenSpiderbrains's Review History
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 Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles Collector's Edition
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles Collector's Edition
Charles Baskerville is the latest victim of a centuries-old curse! Help Holmes break the curse before the next murder occurs!
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
So worth it!
PostedMay 4, 2013
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
 
Current Favorite:
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles
4.7 out of 5(97)
 
 
 
 
 
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
This is one of the more lively and well paced HOGs I've played. I bought it a year ago and I've only just started playing it out of curiosity. Now I feel like a chump for not trying it sooner. So much fun!
I recommend this game!
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
 
A disastrous avalanche... an evacuation... did anyone survive? The ski trip you've dreamed of for so long turns into a nightmare.
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Another Winner from Ers
PostedFebruary 27, 2013
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Match 3, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
 
Current Favorite:
 
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
I loved the first Phantasmat, and I loved this one too. I played it on hardcore, so it took me longer than usual, but everytime I figured something perplexing out, it felt like victory. Such a fun game!
0points
1of 2voted this as helpful.
 
Face a 200-year mystery and save your best friend! Discover how strong friendship ties can be and to what extremes unrequited love is ready to go.
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
3 of 5 found this review helpful
Fun and atmospheric!
PostedFebruary 7, 2013
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
 
Current Favorite:
 
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
The people who gave this a bad review must have been having a bad day. Mountain Trap is a fun, classic HOG.
I recommend this game!
+1point
3of 5voted this as helpful.
 
Travel from the deepest trenches of the Atlantic Ocean to the awe-inspiring wonders of Mars as you solve the greatest archeological puzzle known to man: the origin of Atlantis.
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
Best HOG I've played in months!
PostedJanuary 23, 2013
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Hidden Object, Match 3, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
 
Current Favorite:
 
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
The amount of detail that went into this game is not to be believed. Plus, it's a cool Aliens-esque sci-fi story. This game is perfect.
I recommend this game!
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
 
After a terrible traffic accident, Amy Walters finds herself trapped in dark, mysterious world that seems to have a mind of its own!
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
0 of 1 found this review helpful
Gave me the Jitters
PostedJanuary 17, 2013
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Match 3, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
 
Current Favorite:
 
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
I NEVER jump or startle during Big Fish Games, but this one has caught me upward of four times already. I'm actually really impressed that they figured out how to spook me when the creepiest games in the world leave me feeling ho-hum. Really, really worth a look!
I recommend this game!
-1point
0of 1voted this as helpful.
 
After inheriting a manor in England, you begin to explore the Kangale Estate and discover its history!
 
Overall rating 
Liked it!
4 / 5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Falls a bit short of the first
PostedSeptember 11, 2012
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Good
4 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Good
4 / 5
This is one of the more beautifully rendered horror HOGs I've seen and the locations are genuinely spooky. The score isn't intrusive and adds to the ambience and it is relatively easy to navigate.
That being said, there are very few minigames and none of them are that fun. If you're only going to have a few, you might as well take out the minigames altogether.
And the ending...if you don't have the collector's edition, which I do not, you will have zero closure. Because the game does pull you into a fairly involved storyline, it ends up feeling like you've been a bit cheated.
Still, like Shiver: Vanishing Hitchhiker, Shiver: Poltergeist is a game worth buying. I'd like to see more of the Shiver series.
I recommend this game!
+2points
2of 2voted this as helpful.
 
Listen to the Echoes of Sorrow and remember who you are as you explore your memories in this fun Hidden Object game!
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
69 of 71 found this review helpful
What a little gem!!
PostedSeptember 1, 2012
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
I tried this game because it was recommended to me by the site, and I cannot believe it has as few as nine reviews. Why did no one try this? It is so dark and creepy and fun and twisty turny!
Here's how I know a game is a 5-star for me: I didn't have to mute the music and I didn't skip the cut scenes. Normally the music in these games makes me want to stick a fork in my ear and the cut scenes only serve to keep me from playing the game. I was deeply invested in this story. So, so well done!
I know that a whole bunch of people who play these games prefer voice overs to written narrative, and obviously that's a matter of personal opinion. Unfortunately, I think there are some people who wouldn't even give Echoes of Sorrow a shot once they found out there was no voice over. Personally, I would rather have zero voice over than some of the over-dramatized ones that I've heard on other games. Think of it as an interactive graphic novel.
The game can be a tad too easy, so if you want something more challenging, make sure to pick the hardest setting. If you want casual adventure, then Echoes of Sorrow on the easy setting will give you a pleasant distraction without a ton of frustration.
I highly, HIGHLY recommend this game. At the very least give it a try!
I recommend this game!
+67points
69of 71voted this as helpful.
 
Sinister thrills await you in this gorgeously dark and unsettling real-life ghost story from New Orleans’ shadowy history!
 
Overall rating 
Liked it!
4 / 5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Extremely Original!
PostedAugust 30, 2012
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
OK
3 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
On any other game the repetition and limitations would have driven me nuts, but Deadtime Stories can get away with it! What a fun, original game! I didn't have to mute the music, and I ALWAYS mute the music. I didn't "blah blah" my way through the cut scenes, which usually just serve to bore me -- I was that invested in finding out the whole story.
The major flaws are that it is a very narrow world in which to search and a lot of the HOSs are identical. I really dislike it when I'm sent to the same HOS to find the exact same items I found there the last time. It smacks of laziness on the part of the game designers.
However, usually I stop playing a game as soon as I figure out it is going to keep sending me back to the same place for the same things. This time, I could forgive it and it hardly bothered me at all. The game itself overcomes its flaws.
If only the world had been slightly broader, the HOSs had been all distinct, and the game was a bit longer. Best game ever.
As it is it just has to settle for pretty freakin' cool instead of perfect.
I recommend this game!
0points
1of 2voted this as helpful.
 
Escape a cursed island of lost souls by helping three of the trapped spirits in Redemption Cemetery: Grave Testimony!
 
Overall rating 
Loved it!
5 / 5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
EEEVVVIIILLLLL...........
PostedAugust 22, 2012
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Excellent
5 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Excellent
5 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Excellent
5 / 5
Storyline 
Excellent
5 / 5
I love the Redemption Cemetery series! I snap up the collector's addition the second it's released.
When I played the very first Redemption Cemetery, the background music and vocals bugged the holy heck out of me; especially the melodramatic whisper of "eeeevvviilllll...."
Now when I hear that, it makes me happy. It means I'm playing Redemption Cemetery and it's a welcome sound.
The visuals are fantastic; the storyline is REALLY original; and the puzzles are #as always with RC# excellent and fun.
If I was going to complain about anything, it would be that the game didn't feel long enough to me. However, I'm unsure as to whether that is due to the fact that the game is too short, or due to the fact that I played it obsessively for hours on end....probably the latter.
I hope this series keeps going strong!
I recommend this game!
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
 
An evil dwarf collects the souls of those who enter the neglected park! Will you be able to rid the world of his presence?
 
Overall rating 
It was OK.
3 / 5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
Hit or Miss From one Scene to the Next
PostedAugust 22, 2012
Customer avatar
XenSpiderbrains
fromPortland, Oregon
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Brain Teaser, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
OK
3 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Good
4 / 5
Storyline 
Good
4 / 5
I bought this game because based on the free trial I thought it was going to be the greatest game ever. The problem is, it's not consistently great.
Plus, the map is comparatively enormous, which means a lot of wandering around looking for what you're supposed to do next. There is an interactive map where you can click and spawn, which is crucial for a game like this, but it's still harder than it should be to figure out what the next step is. I like a challenge as much as the next person, but I don't like it when the next step is more obscure than logical.
I still recommend it because it's SO DARNED CLOSE! At first I thought it was going to be as great as MCF, but it gradually peters out as the game progreses.
I recommend this game!
+1point
2of 3voted this as helpful.