AdrianaIP's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.1
- Helpful Votes:1,317
- Reviews Submitted:343
- First Review:April 18, 2012
- Most Recent Review:July 4, 2022
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Take on Time Mysteries: The Ancient Spectres, a challenging Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game! Stop the evil witch Viviana!
Overall rating
3
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
When does it become too much?
PostedAugust 11, 2013
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
The game has a lot going to it. Great visuals, an intriguing story, and a helpful transporting map. Also the chance to skip HOS (for those who do not enjoy them that much) to play toggle instead.
And yet...
It was an ambitious idea, going back and forth not only in space, but in time, to pick up objects in the past that might have been destroyed in the present. But it fell prey to the problem that games with too much backtracking have. You end up with a lot of stuff in inventory, and a vague memory of where they might be. Or just no idea at all. You end up looking at the map, and the map tells you where to go. At the end, it is the map that decides, telling you where you might pick up an object, that you have no idea what to do with at the tme, or bringing you to a place to put an item thaqt you had forgotten you had.
My impression is that I was more of an spectator than I player. I did not make the decisions, did not reach any logical conclusion, just went along to see how it ended.
And the toggle option has one problem. It may take even longer than finding the objects,
If you are madeof sterner stuff, you might enjoy this game a lot more than I did. I know I did not.
I don't recommend this game.
Life's not always a fairytale… especially when you’re a witch! Explore this magical world in The Witch and The Warrior!
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 8 found this review helpful
Nice story to play slowly
PostedAugust 10, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The graphics are primitive but pretty. The battles, not precisely gripping.
But the storyline is great. Plenty of side trips, pelnty of characters, plenty of different directions for you character to take. She is growing up and making more and more seriouls decisions. And while the visuals and mood may be primitive, the characterization and storyline are not.
This is best played slowly, in differnt stages, so that you can do the exploring you want and roam all over, until you figure out what to do. Who knows, in your wandering, you may get yet another quest.
Great fun for a long time.
Luna's friend calls her to a remote island after unearthing ancient mystery. Now together they face the cult of the Wolf Man.
Overall rating
5
/
5
4 of 5 found this review helpful
The visuals alone are worth it
PostedAugust 10, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Breathtaking visuals, reminiscent of "Empress of the Deep" and very much in the mood. Woderful charatrization of Brinna, the werewolf fighter. Linear narrative, where you do not explore an aread until you are done with the previouls ones. Puzzles challenging but not frustratingly so.
Another winner for this developer.
I recommend this game!
Vivien Ambrose has just discovered how to travel through time! Set off through history in Time Mysteries: Inheritance!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
It grows on youA
PostedAugust 5, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
At the start it seems too simple, too primitive, compared to more contemporary games, but then you notice that the settings tend to be beutiful, and also without obvious anchronisms. The characters we meet are pleasant enough (all members of the same family). There is enough of adventure to space the HOS. The HOS are not a random assortment of objects (except the archive room, of cour) but may be thematicallly related or be there logicallly (One HOS takes a whole room) If the HOS gets too tough, you can use the hints and then recharge them playing a match-3 minigame, which is a lot more fun than waiting for the HINT button to recharge.
In the end, it turns up that it was a lot of fun
I recommend this game!
Rescue the princess, defeat the villain and save your homeland!
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
Swordfights!!!
PostedAugust 4, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Some of these games can be a bit boring when you are waiting for things to get built, or for resoures to replentish themselves. Boring this is not. Frantic it can get when you have to fend off mercenaires and trolls. Your warriors have their hands full keeping them at bay, and more and more keep coming. Also, when they attack, the workers are too frightenned to come out and their tasks accumulate wating for a lull in the fight. Just like in real life. Also, if a troll or mecenary slips past your defenses, one building at least goes up in flames, and yuo have to put your resources into extinguising it and rebuilding.
The other details. You never have all the information you need at the start. You may build a big sstructure, which is supposed to be your main task, only to be told it needs upgrading. Back to collecting resources... Or there are some unknown areas, taht once you investigate, are more structures that need to be built.
All in all, never a dull moment. Keeps the adrenalie flowing.
It is hard to get the gold. Sometimes it is even hard just to get a medal at all. If you have been attacked by mercenaries and trolls, you may end up with none. Thankfully the game still lets you finish the episdoe, and contratulates you on your victory no matter how long it took. Eventually, with practice, yu may get the gold there. But gold or not, you had a great time.
Did I mention the Cyclops taht makes his living by lyiing on the road?
I recommend this game!
The survival of an ancient kingdom has been threatened. Restore the four elements with help from an adorable fairy in this enchanting Puzzle game.
Overall rating
2
/
5
13 of 16 found this review helpful
Game shows a problem in developers connecting with users
PostedAugust 2, 2013
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
This game has a lot going with it, but it highlights a problem that happens when the developer does not consider the demographics.
People like different kinds of games, and they tend to buy the ones they enjoy and avoid the ones they do not, or know that they are not good at. That is why in there is a SKIP button in many mini-games. Some people are good with some and not iwth others, and then there are people for whm the reverse is true.
Not everyone is a SUDOKU whiz, for example. And how would an arcade style gamer feel if, in the middle of a game he/she is good at, finds out that in order to advance, they have to solve a SUDOKU puzzle with no skip button?
That's the kind of experinece that awaits you in this game. For alll the early levels you have to strategize and build paths. Good solid thinking i twhat is expected of you. Until you get to the next to last level, where the SUDOKU puzzle is. No, not SUDOKU, just a game where you have to be VERY fast to build a path before it collapses on you. VERY fast, whethern or not you like, or are actually able to think and react quitckly, instead of thinking it through. And if you cannot, then your feelings might be of perssonal inadequacy, or a sense of being insulted by complete strangers who took your money and are now having fun at your expense.
So, unless you are actuallly good at games that requeried quick reaction time and qucik thinking, avoid this. It will do wonders for your self esteem.
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
Surprisingly dark tale
PostedAugust 2, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
The game is visually stunning, and so are the FROGS. The running back and forth is made bearable by the transport map, and a decent hint system. The storyline is gripping.
But it is no simple good vs. evil tale. It is disturbing. First the phoenix queen decries corruption, which would make her a well intentioned extremist. Worse it seeing tht there is corruption. The civil war between the dwarves which began with some dwarves being treated as second class citizens. The inforation that the wise Ancients had succumbed to the same temptation than the elf queen and been destroyed. And then the humans... The humans are divided into two tribes, who are mortal enemies. In order to acheive your objectives you (the protagonist) have to help one of them. Help them exterminate the other. No matter which tribe you choose, one is exterminated.
Pretty heady for a stalwart hero...
And having done the exterminating, you go back to your mentor whose only comment is to ask whether you got what you went to get.
Such moral ambiguity does not usually show up in fantasy games. In gritty urban dramas, yes, but not fairy tales...
So, it is a disturbing game. Will leave you thinking long after you finish.... Is Enchantia doomed to corruption? As is life, with all its corruptions, better than death?
And before you know, you are arguing deep philosophical questions..
Not bad for what is supposed to be an agreeable passtime.
I recommend this game!
When your daughter, Emily, is taken over by a mysterious force, you must travel to the Nightmare Realm to search for a cure. But nothing could have prepared you for what you find there…
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Wow!!!!
PostedJuly 31, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Totally gripping story, with twists and turns, and with a heart.
Puzzles not too hard, though quite out of the ordinary, only 4 HOS with interactive components, some with more than one level of interaction.
Origamis are collected, and allow you to access the backstory of the characters.
Great visuals.
Another one of those "can't stop playing to see what happens next"games.
I recommend this game!
Control the forces of nature in this unique time management game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
A different spin on TM games
PostedJuly 30, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
On the plus side, it is untimed. I mean, you can still get gold, but if you take too long, you still get to finish the level. So you take all the time you need, if you are like me, who likes to stop and think.
It is resource managment game, with two provisos. You can combine or break apart your resources. You start with a sun and a rain cloud. With that you can get a also two shade clouds (breaking up the rain cloud), a shade cloud and a cloudy day (combine a shade cloud and a sun) or a sunny rain. (combine a sun and a rain cloud) as needed. You may need to break up and combine a lot at the beginning, when you are tring to get crops to grow. You might be forced to return a rain cloud to get a wind that you need. But once the crops start coming in, you can buy more of what you need, and things go smoothly.
The other proviso is what makes it fun. Suns, clouds and winds, do not stay put. They move about, and somtimes hide behind the signs. You have to hunt them down, and drag tehm where they are needed. That keeps you on your toes.
Then you need to power up too the solar stations, onr wind stations, or the thuner statios (a thunder cloud is yet another combination). You need the energy to be able ro repair roads and other things. And you need it to bring the crops to processing, as processed foods bring more than raw crops. In the end, you may have to decide how much energy you need, and wheher it is worth it to divert a sun or wind there, or even to tie up a cloud and wind for a thundercloud.
Now, the animatios is a bit dull - at least compared with others games, and there is not much action, apart from the growing of crops.... But then chasing after fleeing clouds is action enough....
I recommend this game!
Find your missing fiancé in the deepest parts of the ocean. Discover the forgotten underwater city hiding many spine-chilling secrets.
Overall rating
5
/
5
Excellent plotting, and underwater scenery, what more can you ask?
PostedJuly 28, 2013
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Lovelty underwater scenery, which is always a plus for me.
And they know how to plot! There are twists and turns and reversals that you do not see coming. In other games you know that there are baddies out to get you, but you are confident that they wll leave you alone while you find your way. Here you are not so sure. And the cutscenes are not an instrusion, but an integral part of the game. For example, you are about to leave an area, and when you do a giant octopus jumps at you. And you have to figure out what to do.
Also, the game does not end abrupltly after you dispose of the Big Bad. You still have to evacaute the survivors, and that includes finding a few more things, using them, and getting through another HOS (which are nice, as you can easiily find the stuff, and the interactive items are doubly fun becaus you need to do two or three things before you get them) The games are new, and not too hard, to keep you focused on the plot.
It was like watching a movie, an action packed one.
A great game!
I hope there is another one in the series.
I recommend this game!