laurakay76's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.6
- Helpful Votes:723
- Reviews Submitted:154
- First Review:November 16, 2011
- Most Recent Review:February 13, 2024
- Featured reviews0
Status:
From the makers of the Rite of Passage series comes a ground-breaking new series that's as creepy as it gets.
Overall rating
3
/
5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Too disturbing for me
PostedApril 11, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I gave this a go because BFG is so generously providing some free games during the pandemic. (Love you guys.) But unfortunately, it's not for me. This is just plain unsettling. I'm not a horror movie fan, since I don't find being scared to be particularly entertaining. The first room wasn't too bad, but I didn't get much farther because I realized I wasn't having fun.
The graphics are top-notch, the music is appropriate, and the voice acting is very good. The puzzles are challenging, from what I saw. If you're into the horror genre, then definitely download the free trial because this one is for you.
Can you uncover the secrets of Crimson Hollow in time?
Overall rating
3
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Mixed feelings on this one
PostedApril 7, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I'm a little backwards with the Grim Tales games, because the only one I've played completely to this point was Guest From the Future. I went into this one because of what happens in that one and who the identity of a certain character is; I wanted to see what happens to bring about that situation. (I did try the first game, way back when it was released, and it wouldn't run on my old computer. I then pretty much forgot about the series until Detectives United came into being.)
I very much liked Guest From the Future, but I'm less enthused with Crimson Hollow. I was enjoying it for a while; it's well animated, the sound quality is excellent, and the puzzles are mostly very good.
I would say the latter third of the game is where I got soured on it:
- The story starts out very intriguing but gradually delves into the nonsensical.
- I don't particularly like Dorian, although the nod to The Picture of Dorian Gray is appreciated because I'm a literature nerd. He's handsome, sure, but he feels slimy to me.
- One room went completely pitch black at one point, and I don't know if that was a glitch or if the game is actually programmed that way because it didn't stop me from proceeding with the game.
- The final boss battle was incomprehensible to me. The instructions were not at all clear and I couldn't understand what I was supposed to do. It said I was supposed to pick pairs of matching runes, but that didn't actually work and then I'd get hit by the boss. I ended up waiting for the skip button to fill and just bypassing the whole thing, which made an anticlimactic ending just that much more anticlimactic.
- The story starts out very intriguing but gradually delves into the nonsensical.
- I don't particularly like Dorian, although the nod to The Picture of Dorian Gray is appreciated because I'm a literature nerd. He's handsome, sure, but he feels slimy to me.
- One room went completely pitch black at one point, and I don't know if that was a glitch or if the game is actually programmed that way because it didn't stop me from proceeding with the game.
- The final boss battle was incomprehensible to me. The instructions were not at all clear and I couldn't understand what I was supposed to do. It said I was supposed to pick pairs of matching runes, but that didn't actually work and then I'd get hit by the boss. I ended up waiting for the skip button to fill and just bypassing the whole thing, which made an anticlimactic ending just that much more anticlimactic.
I really want to like this series, because I'm a big fan of Detectives United and I love Anna in those games. But Crimson Hollow just rings hollow for me.
For 25 years, you thought you had no family. But one night, a man steps through a mirror from another world, claiming to be your uncle... changing your life forever.
Overall rating
4
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
Got time to kill? This is a good one for that!
PostedMarch 29, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I honestly don't remember buying this game, but it was in my game manager and I'm stuck inside on a rainy weekend so I gave it a go. This is a beautiful game, with nice music and very good voice acting. The puzzles are decently challenging, but not so bad that I needed to use the hint button constantly. Above all, though, like I said, it's a LONG game. The base game lasted for hours.
My only real criticism: in almost every scene in the game, there are four hidden 'leaf' images. I say images, but they're almost more like holograms. They are extremely difficult to spot, being pretty nearly translucent, and I feel like I devoted more of my game time to trying to find all of those than it really merited. Being somewhat visually impaired, I found this feature to be frustrating. Find them all and you unlock a second bonus chapter - now, that is a good reward, and I haven't seen the option of a second bonus chapter in any other game, so props for that! I just wish the things hadn't been so difficult to find.
On the whole, this was definitely worth the CE price and enjoyable.
I recommend this game!
Primrose Lake is not as quaint as it seems. Experience a new Time Management mystery where everyone has a secret.
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Time management mystery? Sign me up!
PostedMarch 20, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This game is very different from any other TM game I've played. I'm picky about them, but the premise of this one really caught my attention and I had to try it. I was hooked almost immediately. The visuals are adorable, the challenge is real, the storyline is engaging, and the characters are unique. (Also, Jenny looks like one of my coworkers, which made me laugh.) What the heck is going on in this town?
I'm not familiar with the format of serving customers - I'm used to the TM format of having avatars run around picking up resources or constructing buildings. So this was a first for me and it took a little adjustment of my thinking. It's very clever and creative, though, and it was fun to try something new!
All in all, I'm very pleased with this. I'm barely into the game, because I didn't even finish the trial before I came to buy it, but I can't wait to see what comes next!
I recommend this game!
Master archer, Robin is at your disposal as you take on the Sheriff of Nottingham and his lackeys in this challenging strategy game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Challenging time management game
PostedFebruary 10, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Card & Board, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I found this one to be just hard enough to keep my interest. There's not much in the way of a story, and the ending is really anticlimactic, but the animation is bright and colorful and the premise is entertaining.
I found some of the extra tasks with regards to dealing with the Sheriff's men to be clever, but also a little overly difficult. It wasn't always easy for me to tell what it was I had to do to engineer some of the booby traps. Also, it was occasionally tricky to put my mouse over an item in just the right way. But otherwise it was a lot of fun and it kept me amused for hours.
I recommend this game!
Detectives United is out of options and working for the villains!
Overall rating
5
/
5
9 of 13 found this review helpful
Detectives unite again, and it keeps getting better
PostedFebruary 7, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I really liked the first DU game, so I bought the second one without doing the trial and liked it even more. I was very happy when BFG announced the arrival of the third installment, and again bought it sight unseen. The sequel hook in the bonus chapter of the second game was too intriguing, I had to find out what was happening.
Long story short, this series keeps getting more interesting and I like each new installment better than the last. Dark Anna returns and makes life difficult for our heroes, splitting them up into different periods in time to collect powerful artifacts. What are they? Why does she want them? How will our heroes find each other again? How much is Richard going to snark at his daughter?
I love all three of the characters (Brown is my favorite), and the fact that you alternate between playing them is a lot of fun because you get to experience the game in so many different ways. I really love their increasing attachment to each other and the way they interact; Anna calling her friends "handsome men" was adorable, and Brown worrying about James in the bonus chapter was sweet. The puzzles are tricky but not usually frustrating, the storyline is well paced, and the sound and visual quality is excellent.
I really only have a few minor complaints. One is super minor; the background noise of the game included the repetitive sound of a phone ringing, and I found it distracting. It was a little too real, especially during scenes where such a sound doesn't logically belong.
I liked the 'case cards' which we could find during the course of the adventure, but they had so many spelling errors! These games are usually much better about that, so I found it jarring to read things like "dimention" and "confromt."
My other complaint is about Agent Shade. I noticed in the previous games, especially Darkest Shrine, that she's really... calm. In this one she's even calmer, if that's possible. Her expression just seems dazed, and her tone of voice and the slow way she talks makes her come across as incredibly detached from everything, like she's sleepwalking or something. Calm is good, but she's borderline narcoleptic.
But like I said, very minor quarrels. Otherwise it's a great game in a great series, and I can't wait for the next one. (There will be a next one, right? Don't leave us hanging!)
I recommend this game!
Can a vampire and an ordinary girl be together, if the vampire's father opposes this?
Overall rating
2
/
5
Bored.
PostedJanuary 21, 2020
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Arcade & Action, Brain Teaser, Card & Board, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
This is based strictly on the demo, as I couldn't bring myself to actually buy the game. The concept was interesting - vampire son of Dracula falls in love with a mortal girl, who promptly gets kidnapped by dear old dad.
Likes: I appreciated being able to trade the hidden object scenes for match 3 puzzles, and being able to go back and forth between the two types. I liked the achievements. The ability to purchase stuff for a mini castle and your game interface based on finding things in the different rooms was a nice touch, although it didn't do all that much for me. The graphics were absolutely beautiful and I give them full praise, and the sound effects were appropriately creepy.
Dislikes: Honestly, the story just didn't make much sense to me. I know I only got an hour's worth of it, so maybe some parts were explained better later, but I had no real grasp of who Enron (seriously, Enron?) and Emily were or why they fell in love. I also didn't understand Dracula's motivation, beyond 'my son needs to do what I want him to do'. How did Dracula get a son anyway? Some of the gameplay felt really tedious and some of the puzzles were a bit nonsensical, such as the one where you had to add items to Emily's portrait; who has two identical portraits of themselves hanging side by side in their own home?
Overall, I liked the concept of the game much more than I liked the game itself.
I don't recommend this game.
When the game worlds collapse, help can only come from one place. The real world!
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 16 found this review helpful
Good as long as you're not a stickler for details
PostedOctober 6, 2019
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Card & Board, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I like the idea of devs combining their separate properties into crossover games. The Detectives United series from Elephant Games is a favorite of mine, so when I heard about this one, I was curious. Now, I'm not familiar with Puppetshow, Haunted Halls, or any of the series which get mixed up in this game, with the sole exception of Dark Tales. The main reason I wanted to play was because I knew that my darling Dupin would be in it, and that was enough for me to buy it without even doing the demo. It sucked me in from the start - what fun to be literally playing as myself, brought into the world of the games!
The puzzles are good, but very little has any sort of explanation. You get a question mark icon which indicates that you're going to have to do *something*, but you'll have to figure out what that something is on your own. Some of the instructions on the puzzles didn't really make it very clear what needed to be done. Also, I wasn't too keen on the whole 'gather coins and purchase items for a collection' side quest. It serves no purpose and just gave me one more thing to worry about while I was trying to pay attention to the game.
If you're a continuity stickler, be advised that this game does not figure into the continuity of the individual series. At the very least, it doesn't fit the Dark Tales timeline; at one point in this game, Dupin is given a confirmed birth year of 1865, which is literally impossible for the Dark Tales games because some of them are dated as happening in the 1840s. But as long as you can ignore that sort of thing, you'll have a grand time.
One thing I did find fascinating was the way this game illustrated the character of Death. No Grim Reaper here, no dark mysterious figure - I won't ruin it for those who haven't played yet, but trust me when I say that you will not be expecting what you get.
All in all, this was a really interesting and unusual game and I'll be keeping an eye out for sequels. Nice one, AMAX!
I recommend this game!
Start this madcap quest with Princess and her Lady-in-waiting.
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
New favorite TM game!
PostedAugust 3, 2019
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Card & Board, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I loved everything about this game! It was visually interesting, the music was great, the challenge was present but not overwhelming, and the setting and story were hilarious. I described to a friend as being "sort of a feminist Elizabethan-steampunk hybrid with a dash of Monty Python-esque humor." It was also really neat to see the Princess grow as a person as the game carried on - she went from being almost completely vapid and self-absorbed to really caring about the people and the country, and showing appropriate gratitude to her Lady-in-waiting who helped her. The whole thing was very subtle. It was fun and entertaining and I'm really glad I got it!
I recommend this game!
An exciting time management journey through a fairytale kingdom!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
More of a resource management than a time management
PostedJuly 31, 2019
laurakay76
fromLehigh Valley, PA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Card & Board, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
The premise interested me so I bought it in a collector's edition sale. The management of your resources is increasingly challenging as the game progresses; it's beautifully animated and the background music gets stuck in my head (not in a bad way).
The story is arguably the weakest point. It has a great concept - the princess of the realm is oblivious to the real problems of her people, so a sorceress curses her to live as one in order for her to learn what really goes on in their day-to-day. I love this idea. But it's executed in a rather bland manner; she goes to the different parts of the kingdom, collecting allies who are almost a bit too eager to accept what she's telling them. She looks nothing like her true form, and the opening narration suggests that her kingdom has completely forgotten her, so why is it so easy for her to convince everyone of who she is? I was kind of entertained by the appearance of her companions, though; the way everybody is illustrated, it looks like a mildly annoyed young woman is on a quest with discount versions of Legolas and Gimli from Lord of the Rings, the Weasley twins from Harry Potter, Navi the fairy from the Legend of Zelda games, and Merlin, plus a generic farm boy.
All teasing aside, this is a fun game and it challenged me for days. But I wish I'd gotten the standard edition instead of the collector's edition, because there really aren't enough bonus features to make the CE worth the price.
I recommend this game!