RKDN256's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.2
- Helpful Votes:67
- Reviews Submitted:11
- First Review:November 30, 2014
- Most Recent Review:March 12, 2017
- Featured reviews0
Can you escape your fate as a human experiment, or will you comply?
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
Overused Tropes but Still a Fun Story
PostedMarch 12, 2017
RKDN256
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Just like its predecessor, "Subject 360", this is mainly an interactive story interspersed with hidden objects and point-and-click adventuring, that borrows a lot from previously-popular franchises, but remixes them to make something new. The only thing that bugged me was that they weren't the least bit subtle about what they borrowed from Portal, to the point where the voice acting was obviously meant to be similar. If they had either been original with the voice, or went back to a 1960s movie robot style, it wouldn't have been so noticeable.
I recommend this game!
The legacy of the Weather Lord continues as King Victor and Queen Victoria prepare to pass the royal torch to their daughter, Jenny. But before Jenny can rule, she must learn the ropes!
Overall rating
1
/
5
11 of 14 found this review helpful
Just Busy Work for Kids
PostedMarch 12, 2017
RKDN256
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The original Weather Lord game had a unique concept where you had to think fast to build, recycle and rebuild weather patterns to accomplish specific tasks. All of the sequels replaced this with a simple set of weather-themed gizmos that you just use when the time comes, leaving little or no thinking to be done. The downfall of the original was probably the preschool-looking theme and artwork for a game that preschoolers couldn't handle. The sequels all have engaging themes and fantasy artwork, but in each case the game itself is preschool-level. If only they would take the grownup parts of both the original and the sequels and combine them together, they would have something great--maybe they can do it now that they have had a "graduation".
Utterly clueless, but full of good intentions, Robert and Laura set out to save their world in this bizarre and imaginative point and click adventure.
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
A Great Interactive Story
PostedSeptember 26, 2015
RKDN256
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
If you like old-school point-and-click adventure games and old-school hand-drawn animation, this game has everything you need. The setting is very unusual and the characters are completely new, but they'll grow on you quickly.
I think if this had been written as a feature-length animated movie, it would have had a decent box office turnout. The overall story follows a common formula, but the characters have plenty of depth, and the backstory gradually unfolds throughout the plot. The voice acting alone places this game at the front of the herd, and it makes the characters quite endearing (I'd hug Gorfelina if she wasn't covered in razors and acid).
The script would be considered PG-13 level in the US, containing occasional harsh words and unsubtle suggestive dialogue. That, plus the complex back story and puzzles make this not a good choice for young children.
The puzzles are reasonably well planned, and in cases where it is hard to tell what the game is expecting you to do, sparing use of the hint system can point you in the right direction. Some of the puzzles may look like obvious cliches at first, but it seems like they always throw in an extra unexpected curve, so there is enough of a satisfying challenge without becoming tedious or frustrating.
I recommend this game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
15 of 18 found this review helpful
It's Like a 3-D MMO Without the Drama (or People)
PostedJune 20, 2015
RKDN256
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I think this games deserves a better rating than it's received so far. Apparently a few people have assumed from the theme that this game is meant for 4-year-old kids. Here's a rule of hoof to help: If you can't read and understand words such as, "Aspirations", "Colleague", "Exhibition", "Occupation" or "Sociability", you're too young to play.
The menus and controls do seem a bit confusing and inconsistent until you get used to them, but I've seen worse. The one serious flaw is that the mouse cursor is programmed so badly that it lags behind your movement, so you have to time your mouse movements, and it takes some patience. I've tried it on different computers and had the same problem. A fast graphics card helps a little, but not enough.
The game itself is essentially a life simulator, where you have to take actions according to a daily cycle, including eating, sleeping and grooming, while working to increase your stats such as money, intelligence, looks, etc. The use of equines instead of humans is really just a cosmetic difference.
The world they give you is decent in size, and there are plenty of varied activities and mini-games. None are mind-blowing, but a lot of high-rated games on BFG have much weaker mini-games.
There are a lot of other "ponies" wandering around in the game, and you can meet and develop relationships with them. At first glance, this may look like a massively-multi-player virtual Internet world, but none of the other ponies are controlled by a live person, and in fact they are dumb as a post. In some ways that's good though, because they'll never make demands, insult or scam you, ask your age/gender/location, or do anything cruel. The equivalent of a conversation here involves a handful of menu options and brief, wordless animation. It's actually kind of nice that way.
True, the path to achieving the goals in the game are not really obvious, but that's because it is a life simulation and not really a game in the strict sense. It definitely isn't a short game. I've played a little each day for weeks without finishing many goals.
Some notes that may help:
* Letting your pony go without food/sleep/hygiene will cause ailments that they have to cure at the pharmacy, but you can only see one ailment in the status screen at a time. Therefore you have may have to enter the pharmacy several times and re-check before you are fully healthy.
* Notice that ponies have a "marital status". You can develop a relationship with a pony that is already married, but as best I can tell that pony will never leave their spouse for you, so you need to make sure the pony you are dating is single.
* There is a secret button on the status screen that you can click to see a list of all ponies you've met and what they like to talk about. It looks like a pony-head icon in a circle, but it is clickable unlike the other circle icons.
* Only certain businesses are open 24-hours, so it is a good idea to choose an occupation at one of those places.
* Save your pony money for building up your stats. You can get enough food starting out by looking for fruit in the forest, and later you can grow cabbages or pumpkins on your farm.
* Letting your pony go without food/sleep/hygiene will cause ailments that they have to cure at the pharmacy, but you can only see one ailment in the status screen at a time. Therefore you have may have to enter the pharmacy several times and re-check before you are fully healthy.
* Notice that ponies have a "marital status". You can develop a relationship with a pony that is already married, but as best I can tell that pony will never leave their spouse for you, so you need to make sure the pony you are dating is single.
* There is a secret button on the status screen that you can click to see a list of all ponies you've met and what they like to talk about. It looks like a pony-head icon in a circle, but it is clickable unlike the other circle icons.
* Only certain businesses are open 24-hours, so it is a good idea to choose an occupation at one of those places.
* Save your pony money for building up your stats. You can get enough food starting out by looking for fruit in the forest, and later you can grow cabbages or pumpkins on your farm.
I recommend this game!
Annabel stumbles upon an ancient Egyptian curse that claims an innocent victim every ten years, and she may be next…
Overall rating
5
/
5
15 of 15 found this review helpful
An Immersive HOG
PostedJune 20, 2015
RKDN256
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
This is only the second HOG I've seen that uses 3-D polygons instead of flat drawings. Unlike "Elementary My Dear Majesty", this one does not let you view a scene from different angles, so each scene ends up playing like a 2-D HOG. However, the scenes themselves and moving between them are much more immersive, like a modern FPS, and each task requires you to move between multiple scenes, so it doesn't feel like you're staring at a painting all day.
Most of the voice acting is even more stiff and emotionless than the animation, so that it sounds like the actors are just reading the script out loud instead of performing the character voices. The one playing "Thoth" was better acted than the rest, and a bit amusing. The writers should have done better research, though since in Egyptian mythology, Thoth was supposed to be tall, slender, birdlike and male, while this character was more like Taweret, being short, chubby, busty and female.
Overall, the game was kind of short, but fun to play. Hopefully this new style will keep improving in the future.
I recommend this game!
The king's daughter has turned into a man-eating monster, and either you find the cure, or it's off with your head!
Overall rating
5
/
5
It's a HOG with real 3-D
PostedJune 20, 2015
RKDN256
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I've been wondering when somebody would finally make a HOG where you can move around in a scene and not just stare at a flat picture. This game doesn't give much freedom of movement, but it is a step in the right direction.
The 3-D aspect lets you view scenes from more than one perspective and search for things around corners and behind objects, instead of just camouflaged in the background. Instead of letting you move all around a scene, though, you only get to view it at a distance from up to 3 slightly different angles, and you can zoom in slightly and pan around with a slight parallax effect. In this respect I think it tried to stay too much like 2-D HOG games so while the 3-D does change the experience, it is only a small change.
The developer seems to have invested mostly in detailed objects and a lot of content, but skimped in the areas of animation and music. There is only one background music loop, used throughout every single scene, that sounds like it was meant to overlap every possible location theme but sounds more like an awful Camelot-Pirate-Polka.
Many of the themes would be considered unacceptably racially insensitive in the USA, especially the African, Asian and Eskimo scenes, although it is apparently perfectly acceptable in Russia. If you have children that you consider to be young and impressionable, you may want to note that this game treats divorce, deception and animal cruelty somewhat casually.
That reminds me: you should skip the "casual mode" and just play the normal game if you want any kind of challenge. The "casual" setting causes the game to let you leave a couple of objects behind for every single search.
I found the game relatively short to complete, making it not really worth full price. (Note: there appears to be no congratulations for getting all gold trophies on every level.) This game IS worth buying during a sale, just to finally add another dimension to the hidden object genre.
I recommend this game!
Violett is reluctant to move to the dreary countryside. But when a strange light lures her to into a world of magic, she may never find herself bored again!
Overall rating
2
/
5
8 of 9 found this review helpful
Hard For the Wrong Reasons
PostedJanuary 29, 2015
RKDN256
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
After trying the trial version of this game, I looked at the reviews and found a lot of controversy over its frustration level. Most players seem to think that this difficulty is purely subjective and depends on your personal preference and temperament. In fact, the first few puzzles demonstrate a serious design flaw that completely breaks the puzzle-adventure aspect of the game.
For something to be a true puzzle, it has to be possible to recognize or discover a clear goal. In the case of the first few puzzles, the goals can't be discovered just by interacting with their parts or studying the instructions or back story. Look at the sample picture with the giant blue teapot, for example. Can you see from this why the teapot won't let you leave the scene? Note that there is a housefly in the scene as well. Could you guess that you have to do something about the housefly before the teapot will let you pass? What's the connection? By trial and error, you may be able to figure out what you can and cannot do to the scene, but not by focusing on the seeming goal of getting to the exit.
The bottom line is that the supposed puzzles hide too much information to be played as puzzles. Suppose somebody asked you the riddle, "Why did the chicken do that thing it did?" "To get to the other side!" You would assume they were deranged. So, how do you get to the other side of a bathtub inhabited by a predator that is afraid of soap? Sorry, there isn't any soap! None! You have to try a lot of non-intuitive things before the pieces of the puzzle actually show up, and then you can finally see the goal--by then you have either clicked the hint button, or everything else.
Clicking the "hint" button four times is the only way provided to find out the goal of each puzzle. When you do, it basically gives away the clues to the scene, and the game changes from being a puzzle-adventure to being a follow-directions and figure out how to execute the tasks game. Granted, some players may consider that type of game "fun" instead of "work", but probably not often, and in any case this is not the kind of challenge that is promised by the game's initial appearance.
It is a shame that the nice graphics quality and appealing artwork couldn't be backed up with engaging puzzles. Sierra used to make games like this in the 1990s except the puzzles made more sense. I hope this developer tries again but gets somebody who is better at puzzle design to work with their team.
I don't recommend this game.
ArkLight
Take the X52-ArkLight for a spin and shoot your way through blockades. It's a powerful spaceship and your last chance for freedom.
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 5 found this review helpful
A Unique Brick Breaker Game
PostedJanuary 22, 2015
RKDN256
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
ArkLight is a clever mashup of "space shooter" and "brick breaker", You have control of a supply of energy and can use as much or as little as you want by how long you hold the fire button, and you can send as many shots as you like until your energy supply is used up. The shots act like tennis balls as they bounce off their targets. To preserve your energy supply, you have to reuse the shots by using your ship as a racquet to deflect them back toward the targets, or by using your other fire button to reabsorb them. Your targets include both bricks and enemy fighters.
I found this game worth getting for the unusual challenge and three-dimensional scrolling playfields. It is a refreshing and interesting challenge compared to other brick breakers, and is far different from any space shooter I've seen. It is very original in the brick breaker arena as you find yourself often dealing with bricks as you fly between them. In the space shooter arena, it falls a little short as you tend to speed past your enemies, and you can't feel free to blast them at will.
The graphics quality is a little dated but gets the job done. The sound and music are uninteresting, but at least not unpleasant. The controls work well (I use a trackball instead of a regular mouse), but I would prefer more options. This game shines more in gameplay than in effects.
In response to the other reviews, I suggest that this game is probably too challenging for very young children, and you need to have a good, properly adjusted monitor to play this game well.
If you're looking for a bullet-crazy space shooter, this may not be your game, but if you're a brick breaker fan and want a new challenge, I highly recommend Arklight.
I recommend this game!
Erin’s boyfriend, Terry, has discovered a way to explore a world of dreams! Dive into Dreamscape and explore a mysterious world!
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
An Unusual RPG Challenge
PostedDecember 13, 2014
RKDN256
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Not to be confused with the 1984 Dennis Quaid film of the same name, this game has its good and bad points, but overall it is an unusual and fun challenge.
Bad news first.
The sound and visuals are mostly the same overused stock you find in most RPG Maker games like Aveyond.
The back story is thinner than a bubble in a dream; it provides no motivation and the game is just as fun if you ignore it, which is what I recommend. (<rant>Why go through a whole adventure for the heroine's dumb boyfriend who she'll probably break up with in a few weeks that gave her magic headphones (?!) that have the dumbest explanation ever?</rant>) The living-in-a-dream concept is a well-worn trope which was used a bit better in Whisper of a Rose, which in turn could never hold a candle to Secret of Evermore.
Now the good news.
The mechanics of the game are subtly different than most which gives it a new challenge. Basically you can only use items as soon as you find them, and they affect the entire team. Everything is in limited supply including what you can buy, so you have to build a strategy around leaving things for later. If you fail, your only recourse to continue is to touch Pinkie the Crystal (?!) and hurt your final score. Battles don't drain your health as much as in typical RPGs but you also have to deal with obstacles that drain your whole team instantly.
The game map consists of characters' dreams. These dreams can contain new characters who also have dreams you can explore. This works for all main characters and about half of NPCs. This makes for some interestingly complex navigation, and yet you can always use the "magic headphones" to jump to a different starting point (then backtrack to get to Pinkie the Crystal). Eventually you'll find that the map creator had an interesting sense of humor.
Overall I found the game took about 20 hours. As a light diversion, I highly recommend it--just don't take it too seriously.
I recommend this game!
Astroslugs
Help the Astroslugs solve the riddle of the ancient slugballs and send them on their way toward universal domination!
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 5 found this review helpful
It's Different
PostedNovember 30, 2014
RKDN256
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Arcade & Action, Brain Teaser, Adventure, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
If you're looking for a puzzle challenge that hasn't been done to death, give this a try. You have to get all the shapes to fit, but the shapes are made of rubbery goo that you stretch over objects that act as pegs. Nothing else happens during the game except for some amusing animations in the background; it's just 100% stationary puzzle. The puzzles vary in difficulty from simple to nearly hopeless, but you have to solve every single one to view the final ending scene.
The drawbacks are that it is very slow paced (like a slug), there isn't any help if you get stuck (in slug goo), it's relatively short (like a slug, I guess), and it doesn't have any replay value (like...um...salt on a slug).
I recommend this game!