JustTheFacts's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.9
- Helpful Votes:33,148
- Reviews Submitted:681
- First Review:December 7, 2011
- Most Recent Review:June 4, 2018
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Are you ready to fight for another innocent soul?
Overall rating
3
/
5
11 of 12 found this review helpful
Uninspired Prequel
PostedMay 6, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
This game should have been icing on the Exorcist series cake. It has EXCELLENT GRAPHICS, a COMPELLING STORY, and INTERESTING GAMEPLAY.
But it was totally ruined for me within the opening moments.
This STORY is set in Jacob’s (our character from Exorcist II) childhood. He has been kidnapped by a demon, and his father calls in the boy’s godfather, none other than our old friend Garret Ghostfinder. Once again we get to play him at his prime.
But it is absolutely sacrilegious! They have substituted Ghostfinder’s very proper English VOICEOVER to one with a broad American accent. Unthinkable. It would have been much better to simply call on an American exorcist, and leave Ghostfinder out of it altogether. The STORY didn’t really require that it be him to make sense. It was just a fun aspect.
Other than this, the game has become pretty much your every day mainstream SE game. They have messed not only with the VOICEOVERS, but the AMBIENT SOUNDS AND DEMONIC MUTTERINGS have been replaced by BLAND MUSAK. Ick!
The GRAPHICS are GREAT, the HO SCENES are clear, not too cluttered, and – an important improvement from the previous games – there are no more objects too tiny to identify. The scenes are visited twice, not always spread sufficiently apart.
WELL DONE on the PUZZLES though. These had some of the usuals, but they also had some INTERESTING & ORIGINAL ones as well.
On the Quirk-O-Meter, this game scores very low compared to the other Exorcist games, but it retains a bit of that maverick spirit – some of the items used, well, interestingly.
And there is really only one character outside the father and Ghostfighter and he DEFINITELY rates as QUIRKY.
This Exorcist takes itself a bit too seriously for my tastes. The previous ones always give me a good giggle.
I recommend this game!
Take up the cross and slip into the role of a young exorcist on his first solo battle with the forces of evil in The Exorcist 2!
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 4 found this review helpful
Garret Ghostfighter Is In Trouble!
PostedMay 6, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
Do you remember our friend Garret Ghostfighter, from the original Exorcist game? It doesn’t matter if you don’t, you’ll meet him here, but it was good to see him in his prime, because we are certainly not seeing him at his best here.
The STORY. We are Ghostfighter’s humble and earnest pupil Jacob, venturing out on his own exorcisms at last, when we discover our old mentor seems to have succumbed to demonic temptation! No, impossible!, we cry, and we’re off to the rescue.
Like its predecessor, Exorcist II is a quirky game, though not as different as Exorcist is. The major part of this one’s eccentricity is in the STORY, which develops in quite unforeseen directions.
Its opening moments also reveal much improved GRAPHICS, which are exceedingly WELL DONE, even to including a side panel for WIDESCREEN. ANIMATION now plays a large part of the VISUALS and is wonderfully done.
The DEMONS are masterly imagined and depicted.
The game’s first and greatest asset is the VOICEACTING and AMBIENT sounds, which are fun for their own sake, and the SATANIC WHISPERINGS throughout the game definitely ratchet up the creep factor.
Jacob’s (our) VOICE is so earnest and somehow innocent, one wonders how he manages in his world of demons and devils.
Primarily, this is a HO GAME, so don’t expect too many PUZZLES, but what there are, are FUN & SOMETIMES TRICKY.
The ADVENTURE component is a greater part of the GAMEPLAY than the previous game, and you will need to brush up on your DEMON DISPELLING TECHNIQUES, or you’ll end up like me, asking a DIRECTIONAL HINT for, well, directions, far too often.
The JOURNAL can be of some help with that. Unfortunately, NO MAP, although, really, there are not a lot of locations.
The HO SCENES are INTERACTIVE LIST, very clear, but the ITEMS are sometimes VERY SMALL.
I thoroughly enjoyed this game, was very much caught up in it almost immediately, but for me it did PLAY SLOWLY. I suspect, however, that was just because I couldn’t seem to get my head around the LOGICAL FLOW of the adventure.
Final verdict? A well developed sequel, showing considerable maturing since the original Exorcist, becoming a game with MORE UNIVERSAL APPEAL.
I recommend this game!
Garret Ghostfighter was born with the gift of being able to see demons! Help him use his gift to defeat the evil Mephisto!
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 5 found this review helpful
Quirky? Yup, Definitely Quirky
PostedMay 5, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
I have some odd games in my collection, I’m something of a fan of the unusual, and this one rates very high billing on the quirk-o-meter. Its two brothers in the same series are, in their way, also odd, and the three together make a lovely trio of eccentricity.
The STORY is fairly straightforward, at least at first. You are an exorcist, in pursuit of an evil being calling himself Mephisto, who is taunting you by cursing places that have meaning for you, and leaving havoc behind him. You must exorcise his pet demons while tracking him down. So far, so good. Later on, things will get a little weirder and a lot more personal.
Where you first notice the difference from other games is in the INITIAL GAMEPLAY. The gameplay actually EVOLVES as the game progresses, changing a couple of times before you finish.
This is a HOG with a FEW SIMPLE PUZZLES to break up the game. The location you are in is the HO SCENE, with 2 or 3 HOT SPOTS where close ups or puzzles help you get some of the items on your list. The LIST is your standard, slightly INTERACTIVE, although less so than most now.
Sounds straightforward enough, right? Yet somehow when you’re playing it, all this gets very strange, as the LIST changes to MULTIPLES OF, then LIGHT SKETCHES of the items needed. You need to BUILD your demon-fighting equipment from items in the area, and exorcise each demon by a different method. And REPAIR machines or other items that have been damaged, while collecting pieces of the clues left behind for you by Mephisto.
Some of the things I really like about this game are more commonly acknowledged positives. There is quite a lot of VOICEOVERS in this game, and they are, in their way, well done. Or well over-done. I always get a kick out of the accents. And the SCREAMS & LAUGHTER are a nice touch.
The GRAPHICS are okay. Nothing to write home about, but on my large monitor they still come up okay. The scenes are mostly static, although the ticket office scene is interesting...
You travel from catastrophe to catastrophe by carriage, and the transition is done very very well.
The game is also quite LONG, as there are many twists and turns in the story and some interesting revelations to come.
If you care for something outside the norm, this is an fine choice!
If you care for something outside the norm, this is an fine choice!
I recommend this game!
Escape the Emerald Star
You awake to find your cruise ship abandoned and in disarray. Can you track down all the fragments of a map and escape the ship?
Overall rating
1
/
5
3 of 5 found this review helpful
Not If You Paid Me
PostedMay 4, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
BASED ON FULL GAME
Let’s see... Monochromatic distorted images, check. Static scenes with a little interactivity, check. Boring game formula of 25 levels with each HO scene visited 3 times and 1 very easy puzzle at the end of each level, check.
Ah, yes, we have another game in the Escape series!
If your thing is PURE HO with at most a few EASY PUZZLES and only a hollow shell of a STORY (and I’m not denying the place of such games, not everyone wants to be dragged through a mental ringer), then this game might appeal to you.
But you could do better. I’m no fan of the Big City Adventures or Amazing Adventures series, but they are both more appealing than this one, which offers you little in the way of eye candy, no personality, nothing but drudgery really.
Still interested, okay, well the good news is, this game has a timer, points for fast finding, and collectibles that unlock a free play mode.
The PUZZLES, while easy, are varied (match 3, jigsaw, rotate tiles, word search), are still fun, and for me, the best part of the game.
None of which is enough to sell me on a game that falls so far short on imagination and emotion.
I don't recommend this game.
Escape Whisper Valley
A sudden rockslide has left you trapped in an abandoned mountain village. Can you find the clues that will lead you back home?
Overall rating
1
/
5
11 of 12 found this review helpful
No Sale On This One
PostedMay 4, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
If you’ve read my reviews of any of the Escape series, you have read my reviews on all of them. They are practically identical, right down to the same objects.
In this, the second game, you are trapped in an isolated town and must find map pieces to help you find your way home. Okay, that’s the STORY covered, there is no more to it. This is NOT a HOPA, but a PURELY HO GAME, so there is no need for more elaboration.
The HO SCENES are ugly, with distorted items, and monochromatic GRAPHICS. They are cluttered with irrational junk. There are 25 scenes, which you visit 3 times each, and you have little say in the order in which the game is played.
The PUZZLES in this game are an improvement over the previous one, there are more different ones. Again, there is one at the end of each chapter, they are UNSKIPABLE, but EASY.
There are some good features: TIMER, COLLECTIBLES, UNLOCKABLE FREE PLAY GAMES, POINTS. But none of this is enough to make up for the appalling dreariness of these games.
If you like to keep it simple, my advice is try 100% Hidden Objects. At least there’ll be some colour for you to enjoy.
I don't recommend this game.
Escape Rosecliff Island
An unexpected storm has left you shipwrecked on a remote private island. Find a way to Escape Rosecliff Island!
Overall rating
1
/
5
2 of 4 found this review helpful
Don't Even Buy It On Sale
PostedMay 4, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
This is the very first HOG I ever bought, and at the time I was pretty impressed. Now, it just embarrasses me. But making great sacrifices for my art, I played some of it again before writing this, and I’ll try to find something good to say about it. *rueful smile*
Firstly, this is STRICTLY A HO GAME. There is no adventure, and VERY FEW VERY EASY and repeated PUZZLES. This game is entirely about the HOs. It is completely linear and pre-determined by its structure.
You have 25 LEVELS to beat, and an increasing number of HO scenes to complete within each. You also have one puzzle per level, and a (very generous) time limit. You cannot skip any part of the game. At the end of each chapter, you receive a piece of equipment.
You clock up points on how quickly you discover the HO in a scene, and whether you use the hint button. There are also COLLECTIBLES found in each scene that unlock freeplay HO games.
Technically, there is a STORY – you are shipwrecked on an eerie island and must find the 25 pieces of equipment needed to escape. But that's all you get. No interaction with other characters or beings, as far as you can tell you are the only living thing here.
The GRAPHICS are AWFUL. They are FUZZY, of course, the game is 4 years old, but for their time, quite high quality. But even in their day, they must have been ugly, MONOCHROMATIC and depressing. The items are scattered everywhere, badly DISTORTED and almost unrecognisable as what they are. There are, allegedly, 2400 items to find. If that’s true – 2400 items is simply not enough. Everything starts looking the same.
Even if you have never played a HO game before, I think there are better choices for your first practice runs, so I can’t think of anyone (maybe a classic game collector?) to whom I would recommend this game.
I don't recommend this game.
Explore the magical world of Enchantia as you race to save the land from the evil Phoenix Queen.
Overall rating
4
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
Fantastic Odyssey
PostedMay 4, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
The opening few minutes of this game are spectacular! The Phoenix Queen is a fiery goddess-like creature to both love and fear. Such awesome power is sure to mean trouble.
500 years ago, the races (humans, elves, dwarves) managed to capture and contain the queen, but she escapes now and pursues her sworn duty to destroy all of Enchantia and begin a new age.
When your teacher is injured protecting you from the Phoenix Queen, it is up to you to seek out the secrets of the Ancient ones, and the true story behind the legends. This will take you on a journey that encompasses many lands and peoples.
The STORY is pretty good, as far as fantasies go, and it is kept in your immediate attention throughout with help from your teacher and other knowledgeable characters you meet along the way.
This is a FRAGMENTED OBJECT game, where pieces of items are scattered in a scene and you must find and combine them. Not my usually preferred style of game. However, that opening had already hooked me.
At first I thought I was going to be sadly disappointed by the VISUALS. In the game in general they looked GORGEOUS, but in the HO SCENES, the GRAPHICS were very GRAINY. The individual pieces were often practically invisible. Think, if you know it, of Curse Of The Briar Rose. Which was great back in 2010. Not today.
The PUZZLES were almost all NEW to me, and lots of fun. There seemed to be less of them than in other games of this style.
VOICE ACTING was not bad, more natural than most, and there was a fair bit of it (SKIPABLE). MUSIC was forgettable.
I found this to be a very LONG game, yet looking at the walkthrough, I see that what took me so long, wasn’t really all that much at all. So that may just have been me.
One thing I really didn’t like, and is why it doesn’t get full marks from me, is the TRAVELLING. There is a INTERACTIVE JUMP MAP, but it is USELESS. It allows you to travel between regions via portal, but within them you are on your own. Each zone, most especially the Midnight Forest, where you spend the most time, is very confusing geographically, and since you must do a LOT of TO & FROing, getting lost is easy.
Thinking about it, that’s probably why the game took me so long.
In short, a good game, particularly if you like this genre, but not without its faults.
I recommend this game!
Castle: Never Judge a Book by Its Cover
Solving murder has never been so much fun!
Overall rating
3
/
5
180 of 198 found this review helpful
Verdict From A Non-Fan
PostedMay 4, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
BASED ON FULL DEMO
I don’t watch TV, so I’ve never seen the series this game is based on, and I am judging this one strictly as a stand-alone game.
I also am not a fan of REALISTIC VISUALS and MAP-DRIVEN GAMEPLAY. By that I mean, no point and click adventure, you move to new scenes with a simple ‘jump’ on the map. So all things considered, you’re getting a tough reviewer here.
And I thought it was okay.
The GRAPHICS were EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAR for this sort of game. Which means the ugliness I normally associate with this style of graphics was absent. HO scenes were well-lit and the items clearly visible, also a step better than usual. Everything was very professionally done.
The GAMEPLAY was EQUALLY DIVIDED between HOS and PUZZLES. You visit the HOs twice. They are fairly static, with a little interaction. There were puzzles and mini-games that were new to me, and every act involving an electronic device triggers some kind of puzzle, so there were quite a few.
Not knowing the show, there were aspects of the STORY that made no sense to me, like the interaction between Castle and his family, and why a writer is a partner with a homicide detective. All else was STANDARD MURDER MYSTERY fare, very much similar to the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club game series.
I felt the game was a little slow, by the end of the hour, I didn’t feel I’d achieved much and I still had no idea where this was heading. Still, it is a mystery after all.
I would imagine this game will be enjoyable not only to Castle fans, but also to those gamers who enjoy realistic stories in realistic settings, but I don’t think it will set the world on fire.
I recommend this game!
Several young women have gone missing in Paris. Now only you can stop a maniac's murderous trail of fragrance and deception!
Overall rating
5
/
5
40 of 42 found this review helpful
Delight For The Senses
PostedMay 4, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
When I wrote my review on the CE of this game, I said I’d get around to getting the SE, and that I didn’t think the game was up to CE standards. Having played the SE, now I’m left wondering, what was I thinking?
Before I even start to analyse it, let me first wax rhapsodic for a moment about the MUSIC. I like and appreciate decent music in a game, it lends atmosphere. This game’s music was not just appropriate, but truly magical. I loved its EUROPEAN feel, and its classical harmonies were a beautiful complement to the game’s story.
This IS a wonderful game, the VISUALS are bright, bold colour, drawn exceptionally well. In fact, I’d say one of the BEST examples of HAND DRAWN I’ve seen.
The HOS have objects that are clearly visible, and for the most part match the scene. They are INTERACTIVE LISTS, where the interaction requires an extra couple of steps, making it a real exercise in lateral thinking to find them. For example, to get the magnet we need to move the chicken, to move the chicken we need to feed it, to feet it we need to find the grain, and then the mortar and pestle to grind it. That’s quite a lot of work for a simple magnet!
The PUZZLES struck me as about AVERAGE, some easy, some I had to skip, some new. The RATIO of puzzles to HOS seemed about right too.
I was more interested in the STORY than anything else. You come out of retirement to investigate a strange case of women being kidnapped and murdered by dehydration, happening in cholera-infected Paris. There is much more to this one than a simple murder case, and politics enters the equation, adding to its COMPLEXITY.
The game’s signature feature is the SCENT COLLECTOR & ALCHEMY KIT. These allow you to EXTRACT scent from your environment and mix them into ELIXIRS that can do anything from oil a rusty hinge to save a person’s life. They are a fun addition, and I hope we’ll see more of this potential series, in which they used.
I’m now kicking myself that I didn’t get the CE version, complete with its extra chapter, collectibles and achievements.
I recommend this game!
Step into the shoes of detective Sarah Green and solve the mystery of Dr. Magnus' disappearance in this beautiful Hidden Object adventure game!
Overall rating
3
/
5
7 of 8 found this review helpful
Somewhat Childish
PostedMay 3, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
GAME COMPLETED ONCE
I have now tried 3 times to get into this game and it just doesn’t work. At first, I thought it would be pretty cool. It has COLLECTIBLES & ACHIEVEMENTS.
And the GRAPHICS aren’t too too bad – they are bright, and the items are big, so even though the graphics overall are FUZZY, at least on my large monitor, I could overlook that.
Admittedly, I usually enjoy music in a game, but here the MUSIC is seriously ANNOYING, and I had to turn it down. But that’s not enough to reject a game.
And I prefer games that are HOS HEAVY, so the ALMOST TOTAL LACK of PUZZLES was not a deterrent.
I think I finally put my finger on the problem when I realised that it read like a children’s book, even though the story is not necessarily a children’s one. It’s not overly ‘cute’ and there are no fairies, big bad wolves or blind mice in it. But I did make it to the end of the game this time, and it was very CLEARLY AIMED AT CHILDREN.
Also, there are a lot of black bar comments in this one, and they were of the ‘well done you’ve found the treasure!’ and ‘oh! What will she find next?’ kind. And the story instalments are each small and simple. And often, repeated.
The gameplay would have been okay for a HO game that was light on puzzles, but the adventure component was maddening. There was almost no way to guess which would be the right place to go next.
And after you have been to a location, got the UNHELPFUL ‘there is nothing to do here’ HINT response, and moved on, the next time you go there, there’s the item you need lying on the ground. On the other hand, the inventory bar would get so filled up sometimes, that that might have been worse. Very annoying.
A lot of random clicking was the only way to get through the game – and of course there was a penalty for that! (Ok, that’s only in the HOS)
The thing is, all these things wouldn’t have fazed the average kid at all. So if that was their target audience, they’ve actually done a good job.
And so it is to the kids that I say...
I recommend this game!