[Krystal]

Originally Posted by aimless

As for a boxed version, Dave has one used copy at Interact for $25. That's about ten bucks off the price of the game new.

Thanks Aimless, I order it you definitely make my day.

[aimless]

That's great, Krystal, glad I could help. Dave is a very nice guy who treats you like a person, not a number (shades of The Prisoner), if you have any reason to email him and gives you super fast service if he has a game in stock. Enjoy the game!

[Krystal]

Finished it and love it, glad that I wait. Definitely one of my favorites, love the story and looking forward to see more adventures of Fenton and Kim. I wouldn't mind seeing Nina & Max and Fenton & Kim after and adventure with them. You know back stories, finish one game and play another with the other characters. It was very entertaining and the graphics were great.

[kymira]

I finally picked this up and played this after passing it off for the last year or so (Cover Art didnt help) I must say I was very surprised and enjoyed this game very much. I found the premise of Shambala very interesting and the varied locations you get to travel to in each chapter a refreshing take.

I was already a fan of Deep Silver's Secret Files 1 & 2, but after playing this I think I actually enjoyed Lost Horizon much more.

I hope they bring back a sequel, they've made a fan out of me

[Christian IV]

I had a look at it some times ago and it looked promising but the copy I had a chance to see was not dubbed, so I will have to reserve judgement until i can play through the full game. Because of the subject and looming shadow of Indiana Jones, it is a difficult topic to do in a new way, but i do love the genre so I am hopeful. It is good to see adventure games of the classic style still being made in this era of dark and gloomy shooters and hyperactive mega graphiced trash.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by terhardp

... very straightfoward gameplay, which makes a rather short game seem even shorter. ...

Originally Posted by millenia

- Short

Odd, I thought this game was actually quite lengthy...


Don't really agree with a lot of the cons mentioned in the thread. The errand-running is innate to adventure games, and you have a purpose for every one of them (even if it is farfetched - which game doesn't have these?).

Originally Posted by kymira

I was already a fan of Deep Silver's Secret Files 1 & 2, but after playing this I think I actually enjoyed Lost Horizon much more.

I hope they bring back a sequel, they've made a fan out of me

^ This.

Originally Posted by Christian IV

Because of the subject and looming shadow of Indiana Jones, it is a difficult topic to do in a new way, but i do love the genre so I am hopeful.

Why change a winning team? Indiana Jones is practically the definition of "adventure" (except for that horrible Crystal Skull movie, damn you, Lucas!) and I applaud any game developer (or movie producer for that matter) that goes as close to Indiana Jones as is humanly possible without having George Lucas sue somebody.

[Oscar]

It beats me why Deep Silver is working on Secret Files 3 when Lost Horizon was better in every way - better characters, better locations, better story. I'm not complaining though, Secret Files is a decent "B" game and I'll probably still get the new one.

[aimless]

Originally Posted by Oscar

It beats me why Deep Silver is working on Secret Files 3 when Lost Horizon was better in every way - better characters, better locations, better story.

Amen.

[Christian IV]

Secret Files 3 does have pretty locations. I like those.

[rickeb1]

I just finished Lost Horizon, and have to say that I haven't so much fun playing an adventure in a long time! Loved the story, the graphics, the music, and the puzzles seemed to flow right into the story rather than being tacked on for no reason like in some other games.

I had finished Secret Files - Puritas Cordis just prior to playing Lost Horizon, and despite really wanting to like it, I just didn't get on with it. I think a lot of it was due to many of the puzzles that, to me, were just "loopy" and didn't make sense (i.e. I knew what needed to be done, but not the very convoluted way the game wanted me to do it), which just made it a frustrating experience and had me too often looking for a walkthrough. I really had to force myself to finish it. But I'll probably still get the next sequel anyway and hope that it's better.

That said, can anyone recommend any newer games similar to Lost Horizon? Again, I really enjoyed playing this game, and would love to find something similar to start playing!

[Obscurista]

I absolutely loved this game at first - gorgeous settings, admirable historic/geographic authenticity, likeable characters (I thought Fenton and Kim had great chemistry and cute voices), *great* music (the "Follow Me" theme is still stuck in my head), fun 'cinematic' storytelling style...

However, I started getting bored in the Germany section and have put the game on the back burner for awhile. I *will* finish it eventually, I promise.

(I also found the semi-constrained 'finish puzzle on these two screens and then move on to the next pair' gameplay style a little off-putting at first, but it bothered me less and less as I got deeper into the game... until I reached the Germany section. )

[TimovieMan]

Funny, I thought the Berlin chapter was one of the best in the game. Well, definitely the most fun, not the most logic...

[dr.styles]

Originally Posted by Oscar

It beats me why Deep Silver is working on Secret Files 3 when Lost Horizon was better in every way - better characters, better locations, better story.

I totally disagree with that. Lost horizon is a childish game, atleast for me.Too easy.

[gray pierce]

Originally Posted by Obscurista

I started getting bored in the Germany section and have put the game on the back burner for awhile. I *will* finish it eventually, I promise.

The Germany section is kind of a downer in terms of story as it takes more of a back seat in that section but there are a lot of really fun puzzles in there, especially the Berlin section which I found allmost as great as the Tibet segment. The story takes a more promintent position in the final chapter again with a couple of very nice cinematics too.

[Obscurista]

You both bring up interesting points. Thinking back, the Germany section and the Morocco section before it are where the accessible game locations expand a bit and the gameplay therefore becomes more tradtionally AG-y.

I remember liking the Morocco section a lot - the puzzles were fun and more 'open' than the game's previous ones, and I still cared (for the characters, what would happen next, etc.) enough to keep playing enthusiastically.

But the game developed ADHD to a pretty serious degree in the Germany section and thereby lost the plot, IMO. I don't mind puzzle-necessitated storyline convolutions (the 1936 Summer Olympics stuff/getting to see via a PC game a virtual 1930s locker room was actually pretty interesting to me) - indeed, they're something of an AG hallmark - but my interest waned at some point in the middle of the series of fetch quests in that chapter.

But anyway, since it sounds the story picks up shortly after the Berlin section, I'm going to have to finish playing it once I finish Black Mirror 2 - another game with high highs and low lows.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by Obscurista

But the game developed ADHD to a pretty serious degree in the Germany section and thereby lost the plot, IMO. I don't mind puzzle-necessitated storyline convolutions (the 1936 Summer Olympics stuff/getting to see via a PC game a virtual 1930s locker room was actually pretty interesting to me) - indeed, they're something of an AG hallmark - but my interest waned at some point in the middle of the series of fetch quests in that chapter.

While I agree the Berlin section involved a lot of "lengthening the game without really adding to the story", it was a lot of fun. I liked the slight change of pace they put in by showing you into your friend's locker in a ridiculous disguise, and then having you running through Berlin "an hour earlier" to obtain said disguise. I quite enjoyed that.
Plus the fact that 1930s Berlin was yet another fine new location - those are definitely very diverse...

But anyway, since it sounds the story picks up shortly after the Berlin section, I'm going to have to finish playing it once I finish Black Mirror 2 - another game with high highs and low lows.

If you liked the Morocco chapter, then you'll LOVE the final chapter. That reminded me a lot of the Crete and Atlantis sections of Fate of Atlantis, with a bit of Day of the Tentacle gameplay added to it.

My favourite chapters were Morocco, Berlin and the final chapter.

There's still two chapters between Berlin and the final chapter, though. But it's there that the plot becomes apparent.

[Madskull]

I finished the game just yesterday and I enjoyed parts of it. The environments in all those locations look really beautiful and the main character is a classic good guy whom you can't help but root for.

The other characters are pretty bland in my honest opinion and usually serve just as exposition dumps. The story is also it's kinda weak side, because it's filled with a lot of cliches from adventure movies and games, like Indiana Jones and such. But the story keeps you engaged all the way through even though you will probably guess how it ends about half way through.

Puzzles are not too hard, at least not for me, and the few times i got stuck was because i overlooked some important item or the game just didn't let me continue for some reason. But they are creative and you will have fun solving them.
I think a lot of time and ideas were sunk into this game, because I was amazed by all the different locals and secrets. It makes you feel like a real explorer, and I like games that do that to me .

Overall, you won't be sorry if you buy this game and play through it, because not many adventures like this come out nowadays and that really is a shame.

[Origami]

Idea of the century: What if the Secret Files and Lost Horizon took place in the same world and Max and Nina end up traveling back in time(LH had a teaser for SF3 which made this idea look not that farfetched) and they meet with the protagonists of LH.

You may now thank me.

[sierramindy]

Hi there, Origami,
I'm not too happy with your interesting idea of combining Secret Files and Lost Horizon characters into one game. I want two games as I like both of them very much, and these days there are very few games out there that I even want to play.
In fact, since I played Lost Horizon way back in September, 2010, there has been only one game that I really enjoyed playing and that was Alter Ego, in spite of its weird ending, which I played about two months ago.