annabelle55's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.4
- Helpful Votes:385
- Reviews Submitted:25
- First Review:October 30, 2015
- Most Recent Review:March 31, 2023
- Featured reviews0
Bring out your creative side with another colorful Pixel Art collection!
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 6 found this review helpful
We need more vibrant colors!!!!!
PostedJuly 22, 2022
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I love this game but ohmygosh the colors are so dull! Brown and brown and some grey and some sepia and then throw in some beige. It's horrific. I love this game and each time I try one I hope and pray that this will be the one which will finally look alive. But no. Portraits from the Middle Ages with black and russet. Severe Russian winter scenes of white and light blue with tiny spots of distant people in black. Mushroom still lifes in tan and brown. Yes, one or two Van Gogh's but then a Mona Lisa and of course the usual brown and black and grey and tan. PLEASE PLEASE include some color!!!!!
I recommend this game!
Race to save your son from beyond the grave!
Overall rating
3
/
5
Decent game but too simplistic
PostedJanuary 16, 2020
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Family, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
As other reviews have said, ghosts and hauntings are very popular. That drew me in to this game, but also I was surprised and intrigued that this game starts with the main character's death. He is a ghost and now must save his son who was kidnapped.
I would love to recommend this game, and actually if you want easy gameplay without having to think too much then this is for you.
If you want lots of HO scenes and mini games then this might not be for you.
The demo, which I played for perhaps 40 minutes included perhaps two HO scenes. The mini games included one so simplistic it only involved moving marbles into matching slots. A huge disappointment for me was finding the pieces to a bust and some glue. Ah ha, I thought. I get to put the pieces back together! Nope. As soon as the glue was applied, bingo, it was whole again.
The majority of game play involves looking for things: buttons which get lost, a way to pump gas into a can, something sharp to cut a tied up latch.
The game was ok. It was boring, but the music was great and added to the atmosphere. The graphics were suitably stark and looked like what you'd see in an atmospheric scary movie.
This game may be someone else's cup of tea, but not mine.
I don't recommend this game.
Your new dream home has become a deadly nightmare!
Overall rating
1
/
5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
Not scary at all, too easy, cookie cutter game
PostedNovember 16, 2019
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I think Big Fish shouldn't allow games to display a warning that their game is too scary if they're not. This game is NOT scary at all. Not cool, Big Fish.
This game is way, way too easy. The mini games were horrifyingly easy. Untie a shoelace? Boring.
The people were clunky. They looked like paper dolls which moved their heads slightly when they talked. Ugh.
The bad guy was hilariously stupidly boring. Red eyes? C'mon. An evil laugh? No.
In conclusion, this was not a scary game. Some people get easily scared and prefer something more cute than creepy. Me? Give me Redrum: Time Lies; that game earned its warning. Give me Mystery Case Files Escape From Ravenhearst. Want some creep factor? Try that one. Don't give me a red eyed weirdo and tell me that's scary.
I don't recommend this game.
The past returns inside the Zenith Museum of Oddities!
Overall rating
1
/
5
68 of 79 found this review helpful
MCF has been better.
PostedAugust 22, 2019
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Family, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy, Time Management
Current Favorite:
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles Collector's Edition
(46)Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
When I found MCF had another adventure out, I thought, ok, I'll give it a try. I'm a veteran of the original adventures, with Escape From Ravenhearst my absolute favorite. The series had some great games like Madame Fate but the quality steadily declined until MCF's The Black Veil, which many felt was the final nail in the coffin.
I read the only two reviews for Moths To a Flame which were five star and from experienced reviewers I trust. So I gave it a try.
Did I try a different game? Because I did not like this game AT ALL.
Boring. Oh my goodness, so boring. So bright, so cheerful. So linear. Go here and do this. Go there and do that. Boring.
Where's the fear? Where's the mystery? Where is the puzzle solving challenge? And the HO's could have been for four year olds.
Where are the morphing objects in each scene? We got some stamps to find but they were very, very easy. Because the scenes were so bright. And rather empty.
Well, I only tried the demo. But I would be very, very surprised if the rest of the game improved. I wouldn't waste my money on it.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you stop a past case from destroying the present?
Overall rating
1
/
5
32 of 40 found this review helpful
Such a disappointment
PostedMay 31, 2019
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I would love to give this game five stars. It sounded so promising. But I can't, and the reason is very basic: the game is boring.
If the game hadn't promised a mystery I would still call it boring but I'd give it two stars instead of one. There is no mystery. There is no "sleuthing". You don't have to use any brain cells.
You find a chest which can only open with a special key. Go find the key.
To get in the room you must find the parts to a puzzle. Go find them.
Something happened in a room. Let's find the "clues". This means you find some paw prints or scratches.
This lock is rusted; find the rust remover.
Everything is simply a seek and find game. There is no story line. No mystery.
Dull, dull, dull.
If the game hadn't promised a mystery I would still call it boring but I'd give it two stars instead of one. There is no mystery. There is no "sleuthing". You don't have to use any brain cells.
You find a chest which can only open with a special key. Go find the key.
To get in the room you must find the parts to a puzzle. Go find them.
Something happened in a room. Let's find the "clues". This means you find some paw prints or scratches.
This lock is rusted; find the rust remover.
Everything is simply a seek and find game. There is no story line. No mystery.
Dull, dull, dull.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you save the city from a dangerous magic-wielding criminal?
Overall rating
1
/
5
5 of 9 found this review helpful
Very slow, too many fillers
PostedFebruary 12, 2019
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I don't usually hate a game as thoroughly as I did this one. And I'd like to say that this is not a criticism of the quality or the story line. This is a critique of game play only. You may like this game. But mostly if you like to go slow.
I didn't play more than 15 minutes. In that time I wouldn't say I played. Instead, the game was doing things like slowly typing out the name of the location, then (pause) showing a photograph slowly, slowly falling toward me and landing on the ground. (Pause), I assume something was loading, because we then focus on the picture long enough for me to worry that I was supposed to do something. I clicked, worried, then there was a cut scene in which they show the main character tied up and getting a tattoo and he remembers how his tattoos are magical. Near the end of this long scene I was able to skip.
My relief at finally getting some game time was short lived, however. A girl showed up and told me, slowly, that she had something for me which a guy had given her.
I got the item and of course the game had to tell me how to interact with it. Yeah, ok. So I do and get a subway ticket.
Back to the game! Nope. They show the hooded guy running across the street. (pause) Then I'm told to follow the guy. I have no choice. Then the subway station. (pause) Then I have to wait while the words slowly appear on the screen telling me where we are (really? couldn't tell). Then more words informing me I can't tell where the guy went. Then I am notified I can use my "magic tattoos"!
Back to the game! Nope. They show the hooded guy running across the street. (pause) Then I'm told to follow the guy. I have no choice. Then the subway station. (pause) Then I have to wait while the words slowly appear on the screen telling me where we are (really? couldn't tell). Then more words informing me I can't tell where the guy went. Then I am notified I can use my "magic tattoos"!
Ok. Now some game time. Only all I do is click on the glowing tattoo on his arm and abracadabra! the way is outlined in lights. Thank goodness! I was worried!
I click once and am on the subway car. I click on the mysterious box and find I need a coin to open it. A coin? Really? Alright. I'll bite.
The scene on the subway car is pretty limited. Not much to get and what there is is very obvious. Went to another car and found something on the wall; just what I needed! A coin. Nope. Only got the gears image. Tried hints. Oh, the hand appears if I hold the pointer right. Not cool, man.
Insert the coin in the mysterious box. I am instructed to push buttons in a certain order. Nope. Gears again.
By this time, although in reading this you don't get such a sense of time, I can tell you it was about 12 minutes from when I started playing.
I will admit I like to play games pretty quickly. That's how my mind works. I will slow down if the game is engaging. But this game wasn't. It was slow, slow to load, slow to show cut scenes, and only limited interaction was allowed.
I hate to be told what to do and how to do it. I'm not a genius, but I'm not a kid, either. When I play a game I want to do things and I don't like to be told what to do when it's glaringly, clearly obvious. And I wouldn't like this game even if it was so slow because the scenes were boring and there was very little to do.
This game was offensive and boring.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you stop a madman from using puppets to take over the island?
Overall rating
2
/
5
22 of 43 found this review helpful
Beautiful, but not much of a challenge
PostedJanuary 31, 2019
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Family, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I love the look of this game. The colors are vibrant, the dolls so individual, the porcelain decor on the inventory and on the dolls so exquisite. The details of all the scenes are amazing. The story is great and makes sense. The opening scenes are really rather creepy and are a bit alarming. Love that!
But... it's so darn simple. Every mini game is so simple a five year old could do them. The HO's are too easy. There is no challenge to figure out how to rescue the character, how to find a way into a locked room. You simply go where you are directed to go. I started to feel sleepy....very sleepy.....
Oh, I want to love it, I really do. If I were given the game, I would play just to see how beautiful the art work is. But I don't think I could play it without an espresso to stay awake.
Don't let this discourage you from trying this game. Could be you'll love it. But I'm afraid it's not for me.
I don't recommend this game.
When Hector, Demon Hunter for hire, agreed to save a lost tourist from the haunted Museum of Mysticism and Monstrosity, he never imagined that he could be the one in need of saving.
Overall rating
1
/
5
9 of 12 found this review helpful
This demon hunter is a drag
PostedDecember 15, 2018
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I will start out by saying I didn't play this game more than 20 minutes. I just couldn't take it.
One thing which is a deal breaker for me on these games is the time I have to wait and can't use the mouse. This can involve cut scenes, irritating pop ups in which you are told the latest mission (yeah, we know) and the latest problem (ditto).
This particular game outdid itself on pauses. Here we not only got all of the above but also the most irritating and stupid voice over in which the voice actor, who sounded a little dimwitted, says really stupid things like "Here we go again" and "Well, that doesn't look good." No, duh.
The graphics in the twenty minutes I played were bright and filled with the standard death with a sickle statue, haunted house, a big hot air balloon in the shape of an eyeball (oooohhhh!) and a vending machine.
The puzzles I did try were boring and the whole time I was playing I thought I was completely wasting my time.
Inside the house it's dark and the light switch is inside a skull's mouth. It snaps closed and almost takes your fingers. Yikes! A pause while the voice says, "Well, I know what to do," or something like that. And then during this pause your hand GOES BACK INTO the mouth and it clicks the roof of the skull's mouth.
Before the light comes on a very fake white faced ghoul falls against you but it's pretty silly and of course the voice over comes again. And then there's the pop ups and then the voice talks again.
And then if you are like me you exit.
One thing which is a deal breaker for me on these games is the time I have to wait and can't use the mouse. This can involve cut scenes, irritating pop ups in which you are told the latest mission (yeah, we know) and the latest problem (ditto).
This particular game outdid itself on pauses. Here we not only got all of the above but also the most irritating and stupid voice over in which the voice actor, who sounded a little dimwitted, says really stupid things like "Here we go again" and "Well, that doesn't look good." No, duh.
The graphics in the twenty minutes I played were bright and filled with the standard death with a sickle statue, haunted house, a big hot air balloon in the shape of an eyeball (oooohhhh!) and a vending machine.
The puzzles I did try were boring and the whole time I was playing I thought I was completely wasting my time.
Inside the house it's dark and the light switch is inside a skull's mouth. It snaps closed and almost takes your fingers. Yikes! A pause while the voice says, "Well, I know what to do," or something like that. And then during this pause your hand GOES BACK INTO the mouth and it clicks the roof of the skull's mouth.
Before the light comes on a very fake white faced ghoul falls against you but it's pretty silly and of course the voice over comes again. And then there's the pop ups and then the voice talks again.
And then if you are like me you exit.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you save the city from an otherworldly predator?
Overall rating
2
/
5
36 of 53 found this review helpful
A game for a 13 year old if there weren't dead bodies.
PostedNovember 29, 2018
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy
Current Favorite:
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles Collector's Edition
(46)Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I couldn't make it through the demo. I had to turn off the sound because the voice actor who played the main character was horrific. Sounded like some guy they pulled in off the street and gave him some lines to read. Awful.
One of the problems I had was the look of the game. This is supposed to be about some supernatural creature who is killing people. Why does everything have to be so bright?
Suddenly we have a body but we're still working with hearts and flowers and ribbons.
Suddenly we have a body but we're still working with hearts and flowers and ribbons.
The police show up and immediately are impressed that the main character is a psychic. So they give him a ride to the next case. Thanks!
The next thing which really floored me is a woman is hanging over a fence with spikes. We have to find gloves to pick up some glass shards on the ground. What?? She could have been impaled on the spikes! Then the character, in his wooden voice, expresses his relief that the woman is safe.
I found the mini games to be rather boring, like one had these "runes" on a book we had to match to open it. In another, you match the colors of glass right in front of you. So easy it's a chore. The HO games weren't challenging and had too much "cute" for my taste.
I hate to not recommend this game; people might like it. But I can't recommend it in good faith. I think you should try this game first before you buy.
I don't recommend this game.
What lies within the depths of the pitch-black mirror?
Overall rating
1
/
5
140 of 159 found this review helpful
Disappointment for Mystery Case Files fans
PostedNovember 20, 2018
annabelle55
fromCT
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management, Word
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
When I saw a new MCF was out, I wasn't as excited as I used to be. I've been burned by the last few games. But I tried. Well, hope springs eternal, as they say.
It just isn't the same.
Play Mystery Case Files: Escape From Ravenhearst. Play Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate. Play Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove.
In those games the detective had a distinct personality. The games had amazing details and nuances different from every other game out there.
This game, however, was just a generic cookie cutter game. One thing leads to another, leads to another. Get bits of mirror, find a seam ripper for seams which need ripped. UGH. It wasn't even scary. Well, the woman in black did look scary, but the rest was boring, boring, boring.
Smoke and mirrors can only get you so far.
It just isn't the same.
Play Mystery Case Files: Escape From Ravenhearst. Play Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate. Play Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove.
In those games the detective had a distinct personality. The games had amazing details and nuances different from every other game out there.
This game, however, was just a generic cookie cutter game. One thing leads to another, leads to another. Get bits of mirror, find a seam ripper for seams which need ripped. UGH. It wasn't even scary. Well, the woman in black did look scary, but the rest was boring, boring, boring.
Smoke and mirrors can only get you so far.
I don't recommend this game.