Overall, this has been a great series. Precise graphics, decent music, refreshing game play, and a fun story line. One of the few that make a CE worthwhile if a Fishie wants to spend more money. This game features new production buildings including a farm and a market. What you build makes the difference. The Easy option is very generous in the number of days needed to complete goals. The Normal option limits play to fewer days. I didn't try Relaxed. As the other reviewers said, there's no strategy guide, hidden items, or extra challenge levels in the SE. OK with me. I've bought the Campground CEs before. Never got through the challenge levels and didn't need the strategy guide. Hope there are more sequels.
The graphics and music were the only redeeming feature of this game. They're same as the rest of the Hercules series. But, once again, the Hercules series gives no stars for playing in relaxed mode. The last two Hercules I played required tedious replays to get three stars. Not fun. And there's no way to make the achievements since beating the developers' score is impossible for me. No stars for relaxed mode means no building or puzzles. The CE Extras are wall papers. That's it. The Emma artist is an added feature but not worth a BFG credit. No way I'd purchase the CE version. Doubt if I'll ever buy another Hercules.
Played in Relaxed/Untimed mode and found out that you can't build the palace. You don't get any stars. The puzzles didn't work right in that mode either. So, why have a relaxed mode if you're getting half the game. Played the whole game in Casual mode. The basic strategies were very simple. Watched a couple of levels on the video channel and I was doing the same moves. But, the only way to get three stars all the way through was by replaying each level until I had every move memorized and clicked fast. Sometimes more than three or four times. Not my idea of fun. Very tedious. There's no way to get all of the achievements because you have to beat the developer's scores. Really. This is the last Hercules I'll purchase. The only reason I gave it three stars was for the graphics and music. They were great as usual. Game play was awful.
While similar to the Legends of Rome: The Wrath of Mars, this match-3 presents a different story line, buildings to build, and achievements. I really liked the tiles. They're the same in both games. Relaxed/Untimed mode will let you get 3 stars, build, and attain achievements. Some match-3 and other games don't let you build or attain achievements while playing in relaxed/untimed mode. I appreciated that feature since I have a life and can't drop everything to play a game. It's very annoying to play a game in relaxed mode that doesn't allow any progress or features. The levels are short enough to finish while just passing the time or watching tv. Overall, I would recommend this to match-3 fans just looking for a different game to play. Maybe during a BOGO weekend or if it's ever a deal of the day.
The ClearIt series seems to be a hybrid of Match 3 and Shooter games. But, the graphics are not that great. It doesn't highlight the row of the shooter target. The different types of orbs are OK but not that interesting. Not sure if I can recommend a similar game, but Quadrium 3 was a buy for me. This isn't. Can't imagine why nine ClearIt versions of the same thing would be needed.
Only played the demo. The graphics were flat which made it hard to see what to pick up. For example, some trees could be cut for wood while others were not for cutting. The tutorial said "dead trees" but some of the cutting trees had leaves. I had to mouse over them which took time. The workers seemed really slow which made it a tad boring. Had not received any kind of speed up bonuses as far as I went in the game.The music was looped penny whistle music so common to this fantasy theme. The timed mode was challenging only because I wasn't sure what to do next. Not really working out a strategy. In fact, there wasn't a great deal of strategic planning when the only way was along a road with bridges to repair. The only plus was the multi-click feature that worked really well. You could click way ahead even if resources or workers were unavailable. Anyone who really likes this type of TM game might like it, especially beginners. Not a buy for me.
Overall, the game is a snore. Fetch & carry with a lot of grunting. Loop music. The graphics are good. The story line is the same as most of these types of games.The game offers timed and untimed modes. But, if you play the untimed mode, you can't get enough gold to build the world or play the bonus rounds. That puts this into rip-off territory. Why have bonus rounds no one can play if they're not mad clickers. I'm not wasting my time playing levels over and over just to play bonus rounds. Very sorry I bought this. Only glad I didn't buy the CE.
I don't recommend this game.
+2points
2of2voted this as helpful.
Elements
Embark on a scientific adventure using your matching skills to distill and combine the essences of mythic elements.
Bought this game in 2008. I've replayed it umpteen times. Not a typical 'match 3' because it becomes more complex as you progress through the elements. Looks like the set ups are randomized because I don't get the same levels over and over like some match-3 games. The art, music, and story line are fantastic. I rarely turn my speakers up but it adds to the experience with this game. Almost a meditative game. I've played all three modes. Classic, Timed, and Relaxed. Classic is very relaxed but more complex as you progress. My favorite mode. Relaxed is totally relaxed with no timer and less complex. Timed presents a different challenge as the candle burns down the side. The timer will cause the game to be over so it's only for the clock watchers. But, some of the points and achievements are only available if you play timed. So far it's worked fine on my Win7 and Win10 laptops. My only negative is that the elements become very small as you progress so, for me anyways, a full screen is necessary.
Really enjoyed playing this series. Finding caches adds another fun factor. The art, music, and story line are similar to previous editions. However, this edition has glitches, slow play, and installation issues. Not sure if I would buy the CE just for the cache maps. The extra levels would be OK but I might just wait for the SE. I recommend this game edition with reservations. The previous editions were great so newbies might want to start with one of them first.
After the 5 star reviews, I bought this as a daily deal. Should have paid attention to the two and three star reviews. Regret the time I've already spent on it. The "relaxed" mode is still timed. The relaxed timer moves only slightly slower than the "easy" mode. Relaxed should not be timed at all. With the different activities, a true relaxed mode would be fine. Far too often, one of the little workers got stuck running in place forcing a restart. Very distracting and annoying glitch. I found that if I didn't take the exact path the developers laid out, the level either timed out or didn't work at all. That's poor. Players should be able to use different solutions to a level. The upgrades at the Village didn't really make much of a difference. The characters were supposed to run faster but they seemed to be the same. The ugly roaches didn't show up until after I played the demo. If I saw them earlier in the game I wouldn't have bought it. They're gross, distracting, and extremely annoying. Several times, the runner got to the resource before the roach but the roach got the resource. Glitch or poor development? Both the game cursor and the system cursor functioned slowly requiring two and sometimes three clicks to get the check mark. The music and sound effects were annoying at best. Overall, I'm sorry I bought this and wasted my time really trying to play. I had hoped it would start to work better with the upgrades but it didn't.