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:
Several young women have gone missing in Paris. Now only you can stop a maniac’s murderous trail of fragrance and deception!
Overall rating
4
/
5
31 of 33 found this review helpful
So Good, But Not Comfortable With The Look Of This One
PostedMarch 17, 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
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
BASED ON DEMO ONLY
This game, despite its very many good points just sits wrong with me. There is something in the way the graphics are done that harks back to an older style of game. One where the artists go for realism, but it doesn’t quite come off. Visuals are very important to me, so I won’t be buying the CE. I expect I’ll get around to the SE eventually.
Which is a shame, because the one thing I like more than good graphics in a game is a good story. And I think this has that. Heading into a plague-infected Paris in search of a serial killer is interesting enough, but then add the way the victims died. In broad daylight, and with every last sip of moisture drained from their bodies. Intriguing. Then, who is that guy who keeps trying to kill me?
And even that’s not all the unique offerings from this game.
As well, we get to track down scents and combine them using unique tools. The other good points have all been mentioned by other reviewers. The demo took me exactly 58 minutes, and I’m guessing this game is of a reasonable length. The difficulty level and HO/Puzzle mix were about right. I found the achievements fun and the collectibles just the right amount of hidden. (I liked the x idea too).
But..., as a CE,
I don't recommend this game.
Upon arriving in a strange city, you find the citizens ready to burn Menes at the stake in Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar!
Overall rating
5
/
5
38 of 43 found this review helpful
Just For The Fun Of It
PostedMarch 17, 2013
JustTheFacts
fromRural Western Australia
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
GAME COMPLETED MANY TIMES
Okay, I admit it, I am the very definition of a crazy cat lady, but this is still a delightful little game to play.
I liked the story. The locally revered cats suddenly go crazy and attack and kill an old mad couple. Menes, a young vagabond, is accused of using magic on them. We are enlisted by his sister to rescue him. This leads to discovering the history of the town, rescuing cats, and seeing ‘justice is done’. It’s a very satisfying feel good ending, that rounds the story out well.
Strictly for HO lovers, this game has many HO scenes, and each is visited three times. Each chapter one of several jigsaw-style puzzles appear – all easy. There is a fair amount of seek and find adventure, a few puzzles and mini-games, but this is a HO adventure. Viewed in that light it is a bit of light-hearted fun.
Returning to this game after a year’s worth of extravaganzas and spectacles, my initial reaction was “Oh dear, the graphics are so grainy” – not poorly drawn, just, well, washed out I guess, like an old shirt. True, but we’ve been spoiled, and sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the visual feasts and enjoy the equivalent of a home cooked meal.
I wouldn’t have wanted to pay CE price for this one, but as an SE, it is worth your pennies.
I wouldn’t have wanted to pay CE price for this one, but as an SE, it is worth your pennies.
I recommend this game!
Find the festivalgoer abducted by the gargoyles of Notre Dame and uncover the cathedral’s dark past in this reimagining of the Victor Hugo’s classic tale.
Overall rating
5
/
5
57 of 62 found this review helpful
Ah Voila! Fantastique!
PostedMarch 15, 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
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
GAME COMPLETED TWICE
Story: The gargoyles of Notre Dame come alive and kidnap a young lady. The Paris Police can’t admit the existence of paranormal events, so you are invited to solve the mystery. Unsurprisingly, the story is somehow connected to your role as the Last Descendant of the Clan of 9.
Developer: Play Favorite Games
Release Date: Mar 2013
Extras: Guardian Amulet, Interactive Jump Map, Gladriel
Release Date: Mar 2013
Extras: Guardian Amulet, Interactive Jump Map, Gladriel
A little more fanciful, light hearted and easier game than the original “9”, this sequel is a wonderfully put together game that I believe would still offer challenge enough for our ever-demanding adventure brethren. HOPA fans will be pleased to hear that the puzzles aren’t impossible, and are outnumbered by some exceptionally beautiful HOs. Which are heavily interactive and are almost a puzzle mini-game in themselves.
As everyone else will tell you, this is a beautiful, and classy game. Excellent graphics, music, voice acting. This is as you’d expect after the first “9”. The jump map is essential, and invariably helpful. I didn’t need the hint button at all, but it is a large and complex game area and I would have lost my way frequently without the map.
Gladriel is adorable, but I felt she seemed out of place in this story - just a little too much magic.
I recommend this game!
Help Sam rescue his love Anna in Brink of Consciousness: Dorian Gray Syndrome, an incredible Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
45 of 47 found this review helpful
Top Quality Game
PostedMarch 14, 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
GAME COMPLETED MANY TIMES
Story: Become Sam Wilde, an investigative journalist, and pit your wits against the murderous genius known only as Oscar. Oscar has your fiancé, and while threatening her, he plays a maddening game with you, in which you must solve the puzzles and escape traps he has set for you in his hideout, a labyrinthine old mansion.
Developer: Magicindie Softworks
Release Date: Jan 2012
Extras: Interactive Map, Film Grain Option
Release Date: Jan 2012
Extras: Interactive Map, Film Grain Option
This is an elegantly designed, superior game, serious and challenging, with a disturbing story aimed at grownups.
For me, it is its atmosphere that makes this game. The quality of the visuals is exceptional throughout. The interactive HO scenes are clear and relatively easy, though they play with the lighting a bit. Watch for some interesting uses of light to add realism.
Oscar’s voice actor gives an award-winning performance and just gets creepier and more oppressive. You, on the other hand, have only a range of grunts, sighs and coughs for expressing yourself. Along with a subtle but effective musical score, this game’s sound is at least as important as the visuals in creating a truly chilling atmosphere.
As well, the game is not easy. Despite an excellent interactive (not jump) map, just getting around the enormous mansion is tricky. There are a lot of puzzles and some of them are quite difficult. It'll keep you on your toes.
I recommend this game!
Olivia has been kidnapped by the mysterious Lonely Hearts Killer who murders those suffering from a shattered love. Save her!
Overall rating
5
/
5
39 of 52 found this review helpful
An Unprecedented Sophistication
PostedMarch 14, 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
GAME COMPLETED SEVERAL TIMES
Story: A serial killer is on the loose and has your daughter! Known as the Lonely Hearts Killer, the madman kills his victims, all of whom have suffered recent romantic loss, 30 days after they first disappear. The police of your 19th century town are without clues and time is running out.
Developer: Magicindie Softworks
Release Date: Dec 2012
Extras: Interactive Map, Film Grain Option
Release Date: Dec 2012
Extras: Interactive Map, Film Grain Option
The first game in this series was well worth its five star rating, but this sequel makes it look like a trial run. What makes this game so special?
Let’s start with its story – no magic or ghosts – just a genuinely scary human monster. Although beautifully presented, there is nothing ‘cute’ about this game. The atmosphere is unrelentingly grown up, the characters, and the tension, feel real. Our interaction with the detective is superbly presented, with cutscenes as good as any I’ve seen. And what a treat to ‘give voice’ with professionally acted voiceovers – including our own middle-aged pompous self!
Needless to say, all the visuals are extremely well done and thoroughly professional, the HO scenes are beautiful, interactive and imaginative. The balance between HOs and puzzles ‘felt’ right, although I was far too involved in the gameplay to be counting.
Gets my vote for the ‘Oscar’.
I recommend this game!
Use your botany skills to survive the strange new planet of Botanica. Can you find your way back to Earth in this thrilling Hidden Object adventure?
Overall rating
3
/
5
43 of 70 found this review helpful
Beautiful Indeed
PostedMarch 10, 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
2
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
GAME COMPLETED TWICE
Story: You are Dr. Ellie Wright, too curious for your own good. You accidentally create a portal and step through it into a beautiful but unknown planet. Luckily you are not the first from Earth to stumble into this world, so you are not entirely alone. On the down side, the locals around here are not all helpful, gorgeous and amazing creatures of the jungle. Queen Kassandra has ordered all outlanders caught and locked up.
Developer: Boomzap
Release Date: Nov 2012
Extras: Botanical Kit, PC Tablet
Release Date: Nov 2012
Extras: Botanical Kit, PC Tablet
*Phew* I am finally finished. I feel I’ve gone a round with a Heavy Weight Puzzle Champion. We’re talking hard puzzles and loads of them, instructions sometimes sketchy, with a minimum of HOs. There are even puzzles here that don’t have a skip option. *gasp* ! Why is it that so many of the truly beautiful games are puzzle adventures, and not HO games at all?
If you’re one of the 1000s of HO fans who like their games to be adventure but are not wild about puzzles, then this is a game that seems designed specifically to drive you mad.
But I had to own it. A thing of such beauty, there can be no doubting it. The alien flora and fauna are enough to make me want to emigrate, and if the technical quality was a bit shoddy in parts... Why am I nitpicking? Enjoy...
I don't recommend this game.
Help Ashley escape with her life in The Book of Desires!
Overall rating
3
/
5
40 of 42 found this review helpful
Interesting Choice
PostedMarch 8, 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
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Story: Ashley had a horrible dream where she disappears into a world inside a magic book. When she woke, her nightmare had become reality. Anyone hear this tune before? If I was to say ‘Azada’...?
Developer: Meridian 93
Release Date: Apr 2012
Extras: None
Release Date: Apr 2012
Extras: None
I have played this game several times since I bought it, because it is an easy undemanding game, with pleasant (if somewhat gloomy) graphics, puzzles I can sometimes manage, and it’s pretty short.
Having thus darned it with faint praise, I want to emphasise, it’s really quite a good game. The story is pretty cool. A kid gets to write in a magic book her most secret wish, and it so upsets the order of things that she is dragged into the book. This oft told tale runs the course you’d expect, but some interesting diversions along the way keep things moving.
As I said, the graphics are good, and the background sounds and music are very good. I loved the way the music would gradually creep up on you.
I also loved the device used at the end of the game. And the headline? You’ll have to play the game to find out!
I recommend this game!
After finding an artifact, you're whisked away to a dying world. Can you save it from the darkness?
Overall rating
5
/
5
119 of 137 found this review helpful
A+ For Originality
PostedMarch 6, 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
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Story: You uncover an artefact that confirms the possibility of the myth of the Tree Of Life is real. You are attacked on your way to verifying the evidence by red black-shot clouds, and are hijacked into another world. What can you do to protect the artefact and get back home?
Developer: EIPIX
Release Date: Jan 2013
Extras: Archery Skills, Interactive Map
Release Date: Jan 2013
Extras: Archery Skills, Interactive Map
I have just finished playing this game for the second time in three days. It’s been a while since we’ve had a truly distinctive game, and much as we love our favourite developers, it’s refreshing to see something so original.
Needless to say, graphics are great, and the ambient sounds are extremely well done. I like that there was such a variety of music. A small touch that added enormously to this game’s appeal was a different tone for each item you picked up in the HOs.
Speaking of, the HOs are fun. If you need a wrench, you may get a HOs and collect 12 of them, other items you may get a standard item list, which you must complete before you qualify for the final riddle, which will identify the inventory item.
And a large number of the puzzles were original!!
As a package this game gets an A+ for creativity, sophistication and fun.
I recommend this game!
Help Saraja and Scott investigate mysterious disappearances and find a magical talisman in Mystery Agency: Secrets of the Orient!
Overall rating
3
/
5
15 of 17 found this review helpful
Another For The DD List
PostedMarch 5, 2013
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETED DEMO
Story: People are disappearing from the slums of an Indian city, and now there have been ghost sightings as well. A belly dancer named Saraja goes the Mystery Agency for help, and joins Scott on a dangerous adventure to find an ancient artifact before a gangster boss does!
Developer: Cranberry Production
Release Date: Mar 2011
Extras: None
Release Date: Mar 2011
Extras: None
I knew what to expect with this sequel to Mystery Agency: A Vampire's Kiss, and I was proved right. Similar features across all aspects of the game.
Same style of graphics (somewhat improved, photorealism), same puzzles (some of these get a bit repetitious, but never difficult), several types of HOs – list, fragmented, spot the difference. The game even has a ‘signature’ puzzle, which I’ve never seen except in this series. I quite enjoyed the music.
The story is sketchy, and not really part of the experience. Pop up speaking balloons happen way too often and add little to the game. Still, they’re all that holds the game together. Without it this would be just a list of disconnected HOs and puzzles.
Like the first in this series, this game is perfect for HO lovers, so if that’s you, why don’t you ignore the critics and give it a whirl.
I recommend this game!
Help Sarah find her missing friend, who was taken away by a dark being in the middle of the night, in this Hidden Object game!
Overall rating
3
/
5
14 of 16 found this review helpful
Dated, HOG Heavy, But I Liked It
PostedMarch 5, 2013
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
BASED ON COMPLETE DEMO
Story: Sarah tries to find her missing friend, who was taken away by a dark being in the middle of the night. When no one else will take her seriously, she comes to the Mystery Agency for help.
Developer: Cranberry Production
Release Date: Feb 2011
Extras: None
Release Date: Feb 2011
Extras: None
This one is old in style and game mechanics, more about the HOs and other puzzles than the story. The story is admittedly lame .But it is wrapped around a delirious number of different-styled HOs and puzzles. HOs include listed items, silhouettes, and fragmented HOs and there are quite a lot of easy puzzles – lots of spot the difference for instance.
Too many dialogue balloons slow the game down, but you can click them away. The graphics are fine, clear and easy to see – although some objects are small.
For HO lovers, this game has it all, so if that’s you, why don’t you ignore the critics and give it a whirl.
I recommend this game!