Granny_Gruff's Profile
 
 
 
Stat Summary
 
  • Average Rating:
    2.6
  • Helpful Votes:
    22,850
 
  • Reviews Submitted:
    883
  • First Review:
    December 23, 2011
  • Most Recent Review:
    November 23, 2022
  • Featured reviews
    0
 
 
Status:
 
 
Granny_Gruff's Review History
<<prev 1 ... 46 47 48 49 50 ... 89 next>>
 
How far would you go to save your pet? Follow a young boy on a sensational journey like no other as he sets off to rescue his dog Bear!
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
21 of 34 found this review helpful
All New Phone App Available on PCs!
PostedJanuary 24, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromThere's easy and then there is childish, followed by boring and inane.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Awful
1 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
Milo has a dog named Bear. Bear and Milo go out for a walk. Milo stops to play a video game. It starts to rain. Milo urges Bear to visit a nearby fire hydrant so they can go home. The fire hydrant grabs Bear. Moments later it grabs Milo. Milo plays a video game in the sewer. Milo looks for Bear.
Good stuff: According to BFG, this is a game. There are no choices: no play levels, no player ID; music, full screen, and text are on or off. There is a Strategy Guide.
Bad stuff: Beyond the incredibly bare bones story and the simple game, there is that strategy guide. This is the first time I have to recommend reading the strategy guide first. You may want to take notes. This is because you need to do things like pop all the bubbles in the bubble wrap in a box to get an achievement. There are odd actions that need to be done to play the game "correctly." - You need to touch a grate over your head in a sewer to be able to pick up something you need later. Miss these small peculiar actions or skip playing any of the video games Milo comes across and you will rue the day.
I also beta tested this game - twice! - first a month ago, and again this past week when it was sent out again.
I am happy to report you can now choose an "End Game" button to get out of the cartoon world of Milo, Bear, and the sewers.
I am sorry to report that they did not confine this to being a phone app - I suggested my small grandchildren would find it a decent time waster.
I used the button. Try the demo and you will find that button a great relief!
I don't recommend this game.
+8points
21of 34voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
9 of 15 found this review helpful
Current Trend Seems to be: How Low Can You Go!
PostedJanuary 23, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromThere's easy and then there is childish, followed by boring.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Poor
2 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
You have just completed your mage training and your teacher has sent another mage, Veronica, to a distant village that is having problems. She is to see what’s going on and report back. She has barely entered the portal when it explodes. You are sent after her. You arrive to find the shadow realm encroaching on the village possibly due to the bungling of the local mage who seems to have had visions of grandeur. You will need to save Veronica, the town, and return things to normal after finding out what Aiden, the evil/stupid mage did.
Good stuff: There are the expected game elements and some CE bling.
Bad stuff: The story is minimal to the point of almost disappearing. The HOPs and puzzles are beginner level. You go back and forth between the shadow realm and reality REPEATEDLY. This would be more impressive if both realms were not dark and bleak. You will have "spells" stored in a fancy cuff to help you with some actions. You have a card to collect in each scene.
The bottom line here: there is nothing we have not seen done at a better level in dozens of other games.
Please try the demo for yourself.
I don't recommend this game.
+3points
9of 15voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
It was OK.
3 / 5
35 of 48 found this review helpful
Sometimes Being Average Is Not Good Enough
PostedJanuary 20, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromThere's easy and then there is childish.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
Valeria is on her way in answer to a summons from her Grandmother when her carriage crashes. As the latest in a vast number of games that start with a crash, this one is not good enough to get past the usual repetitious game elements that you've seen in all those other games.
Once again someone chooses to try to change the past and will have exactly the usual success, unfortunately accompanied by endless back and forth between locations to collect myriad pieces of amulets and puzzles to accomplish the most basic of actions.
There will be a young griffin whose cage you dig out of the snow in front of the castle, where presumably Granny left him. He will help with some of the things out of your reach. I say some as, even though he's sitting in the corner of your screen, there are several things well above your head which he does not help you to retrieve.
There will be lots of HOPs, a weak story, weaker mini-games and puzzles, good artwork, and CE bling.
Unfortunately that weak story in the demo only takes a short time to get through, suggesting a short game ahead.
I can't recommend what I have no interest in buying.
Please try the demo for yourself.
I don't recommend this game.
+22points
35of 48voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Hated it.
1 / 5
29 of 51 found this review helpful
Revenge is a Dish Best Left Unserved.
PostedJanuary 15, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromThere are 4 other Spirits of Revenge games. There's a reason I only own one!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Awful
1 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Awful
1 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
You play as detective Brenda Gale called to a girl's school to investigate mysterious events. You arrive to see a student's spirit leave her body as it is loaded on an ambulance. The ambulance attendants seem unable to recognize a dead body. The head of the school leaves you at the door to return to her office where she will await news from the hospital about the student. You notice some more spirit activity, search the principal's office as she watches, and then wander around the school. You will see the dead student's spirit fighting another ghost and seek to work out the story.
Good stuff: There are the usual game elements, CE bling, and an bonus chapter.
Bad stuff: The game elements are entry level HOPs and puzzles that a child would scoff at. The story is logic light and evil ghost smoke heavy.
Please read LunaNik's clever review. I cannot hope to be more clear than that on how silly this game is, or how derivative.
This fifth entry in the Spirit of Revenge series is the Devs effort to sink yet another series as quickly as possible.
You need to try the Demo to see how well they succeeded!
I don't recommend this game.
+7points
29of 51voted this as helpful.
 
For many years, locals have avoided the manor by the woodside. Solve the manor’s mystery and save the journalist before it's too late!
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
60 of 77 found this review helpful
Good Translators Are Hard to Find
PostedJanuary 13, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromI bet it played better in it's original language.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
I'll keep this short and sweet, unlike the game, which is just short.
Maniac is killed by sheriff. Years later Sheriff and wife also killed. Investigative journalist snooping around their old abandoned house disappears. We investigate.
There is loads of running back and forth, over and over and over again. HOPs were few – maybe 6+. Mini-games fair. Unfortunately the story was impeded by badly translated English and horrible grammar.
I played it all the way through in a few hours and wondered why.
Please try the demo and see for yourself. You may remember it from a few months ago also.
I don't recommend this game.
+43points
60of 77voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
It was OK.
3 / 5
41 of 62 found this review helpful
OK game, But For Whom?
PostedJanuary 12, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromThere have to be other problems in this fantasy world besides Isa, really.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
Isa's back, AGAIN. This time his evil master will be released if Isa can complete a ritual using the blood of the heirs of the four kingdoms in the hall of the Castle of Spires. The Castle is where they all have to meet every twenty years to choose a single ruler for all the kingdoms to avoid war. And Evil loves war so you will have to stop Isa and his master and save your friends, the other heirs from the other three kingdoms.
Good stuff: There is the main story, an extra story, and a bonus chapter. You will have three difficulty levels and the custom level, HOPs, mini-games and puzzles, good artwork, and VO's along with CE bling and collectible portraits and crowns.
Bad stuff: ISA. The story once again revolves around the evil wizard/mage that has taken up so much of the Spirits of Mystery stories. The dark story dealing with evil, blood rituals, death, and destruction, has puzzles that are geared toward very new/young players. This go-around you have a moon mirror to charge periodically to help you remove evil vines. It is charged with moon beams, only to be found in dark corners, usually indoors.
Are you confused yet? I am.
Is this a children's twisted fairy tale?
You'd think so from the simple game play.
Is it an adult adventure?
You'd think so from the dark subject matter.
So I think it may be an OK game, I just am not sure for whom. And I don't think the Devs worked that out either.
I can't recommend what I won't buy and I am not buying this mish-mash.
Please try the Demo for yourself. It may strike you differently.
I don't recommend this game.
+20points
41of 62voted this as helpful.
 
The town of Brightfield is under attack by a mysterious infection!
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
36 of 39 found this review helpful
New Year, New Series Dies!
PostedJanuary 9, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromElf and I will be retiring to the Bahamas before saving this town.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
A woman, identity unspecified, is having a poisonous gas pumped out over a small town from an abandoned hospital on a hill. An evil doctor, with many IDs, is her willing henchman. A Dr. Green is being blackmailed to help. You have been dropped in town to solve all this with your doggie helper, Elf. It is unclear if the bad guys hate the townspeople or humanity in general. As the detective sent to work the case, you will run back and forth endlessly, finding the same type of tools, doing tasks that are mundane and end the demo in deep doggie doo-doo (My apologies to Elf.)
Good stuff: There are HOPs, puzzles, and a story. You and Elf both need hazmat suits and you will need to recharge your air filter periodically by finding morphing objects in the scenes.
Bad stuff: All of the game elements are done in what could be called a haphazard manner - if you are charitable. The artwork is fuzzy and very blue. The HOPs, in several instances, need an alternative as they were dark and awkward. The puzzles were not clever and occasionally just bad. The gas mask special feature was an annoyance and could be turned off - at which point you lost your morphing items as they are connected to finding new gas mask filters. As for the story itself, the less said the better.
It is becoming SOP: logic was left in the trash bin as they were developing this game. You know this when you run around getting HOT WATER to pour on a frozen ELECTRONIC bridge control. Or the second time in five minutes that you have to find a lock pick - Spoiler Alert: the second pick is a real lock pick instead of bent wire!
By the end of the Demo, I knew that the Devs had buried another long standing series under a mass of quickie bad game elements, some all too familiar to previous games they've done in the series.
As I have nine earlier MT games, I'm especially sad.
Please play the demo before deciding for yourself.
I don't recommend this game.
+33points
36of 39voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
29 of 35 found this review helpful
Last Game: Save Mom and Sis; This Game: Save Mom
PostedJanuary 8, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromI'd keep Mom at home so she won't roam!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
Jack, armed with his handy chemistry set and helped by Bertha, the friend who turns into a ferret, sets out to find his Mother, Julia. Mom found an old diary of Grandma Beatrice's that told of her leaving her father behind as she and her mother left the doomed town of Sallenville. Great granddad, Hector, was a witch hunter and was sent to Sallenville to find out why girls were disappearing.
Good stuff: the Hops are well done, puzzles/mini-games are average, artwork has a lot of orange and blue, and there are morphing items and collectibles among the CE bling.
Bad stuff: There is no diary, yet notes and other written items sometimes disappear before they can be read. How much story will you miss and how many notes can you take so you can stop playing to go to bed, eat, work?
Jack should insist that Mom wear a transponder so he can track her movements, as then he'd be better able to find her - again.
Every part of this game play, aside from the HOPs, is so very familiar. As we've already hunted Mom in an earlier game, even the story is shop worn. This game is another example of a series being beaten to death.
Try the demo for yourself. I will go find an earlier game in the series, one where it was fun to play.
I don't recommend this game.
+23points
29of 35voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Liked it!
4 / 5
19 of 25 found this review helpful
Better Than Last Game in This Series!
PostedJanuary 7, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromHow many worlds will you save to save ours?
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Good
4 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Good
4 / 5
Storyline 
Good
4 / 5
Thank Heavens, you don't have to save your sister, Margaret, again in this new Labyrinths of the World game. You do have to save the world again. The DEvs didn't do a good job on some of the details, did a great job on others, and needed a refresh on the story. So here goes:
Your agency sends you on a vacation as your reward for saving the world again. Lucky you gets sent to the one place on earth where an ancient evil god shows up to destroy civilization. You fortunately manage to avoid the Easter Island "Heads" now shooting death rays and find an ancient burial site of a "Seeker," a traveler from another world who came here to defeat the evil god in ancient times and lock him in a volcano. Now he's loose and not happy about his imprisonment. You will have to become a Seeker and find special crystals to once again save the world.
Good stuff: There are lots of puzzles and mini-games and HOPs with a Match 3 alternative. There's also good artwork, excellent VO's, and a convoluted story line that may interest you - it did me. You'll also find a variety of collectibles, including morphing items, and some CE bling.
Bad stuff: There are still very fuzzy moments while transitioning from a vista to a close-up. There is some back and forth, but only between adjacent scenes. Some inventory items get carried from chapter to chapter before they are used. Most egregious of all: that tired old save the world story twisted around the Easter Island heads and inter-galactic travel.
I can forgive the story, because saving our world will lead to helping other civilizations on other interesting and inventive worlds. The overabundance of puzzles is also something forgivable as the Match 3 alternative seemed to extend to them and I could choose to just skip them.
I liked this entry in the series much better than the last couple of games.
Please try it for yourself.
I recommend this game!
+13points
19of 25voted this as helpful.
 
Can you stop the Brotherhood of Stone Masks in time?
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
30 of 51 found this review helpful
Been Here, Done This.
PostedJanuary 6, 2017
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisa is a carriage trade Women's Liberation Hero!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
Louisa and her Dad are going to meet an old friend, Conrad, a childhood playmate of hers, an adopted son to Dad, to purchase an artifact from him.
Once again we start with a crash, this time it is a carriage on a deserted muddy road on a rainy night. Naturally as Louisa hangs over the abyss, she manages a couple of puzzles and to hang by one hand while tying a rope on a grappling hook. Wow, what a girl!
After more nonsense/puzzles/HOPs, she rides down the road, bareback, to a tavern.
After more nonsense/puzzles/HOPs, she gets inside and plays waitress for the bartender. Wow, what a girl!
She pays for the artifact that she and dear Dad traveled all this way to purchase.
This is when all heck breaks loose in the tavern.
Running up to Conrad's room, she goes through more nonsense/puzzles/HOPs. She manages to activate the artifact and goes out a window as the fire, started in the bar, spreads upstairs.
Once outside, Louisa wants back in, since her father and Conrad are still in the burning building. After more nonsense/puzzles/HOPs, she has saved the bartender from the fire and started off to save Dad, kidnapped by the bad guys. Wow, what a girl!
There's more, but I'm sure you get the point.
It is a fairly typical game with an artifact that periodically bestows a single use special power to Louisa after one of the bad guys dies. Otherwise there is nothing exciting here.
Is there romance?
Conrad professes love for Louisa, but then he got her into this mess, knowing the bad guys would object to his selling the artifact. How romantic is that?
Luckily I don't think Louisa needs any help saving the world this time. She seems able to handle anything Conrad and the bad guys can throw at her.
I'll pass.
Please try the demo to see what you think.
I don't recommend this game.
+9points
30of 51voted this as helpful.
 
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