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Old 01-19-2012, 09:28 AM   #1
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Default Casual Games - December

When it was announced that there wouldn't be a montly Casual Games review article, someone mentioned just having a monthly thread devoted discussing recent games.

Here is the start of something good! I hope.

I wish I could be more of a contributor in the first pass, but unfortunately, I can't. I recently had serious surgery to my right eye, and haven't been able to do much, if anything, related to games. I hope to bet back in the fray during the next three or four weeks.

Latest games I played were Ravenhurst3, Drawn3 and Premature Burial which have already been reviewed. And, from looking at the BFG website, there doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz about any of the recent releases.

So....did anyone play anything new in December? What do you recommend? Was a game worth one star or four? No need for a huge review. Just what made you like or dislike the game.

I'm curious what you think, and anxious to get back to it.
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Old 01-19-2012, 10:41 AM   #2
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Quote:
I wish I could be more of a contributor in the first pass, but unfortunately, I can't. I recently had serious surgery to my right eye, and haven't been able to do much, if anything, related to games. I hope to bet back in the fray during the next three or four weeks.
Hope you feel better soon, rtrooney.
These are the most recent game I've played. The ones with the asterisk I really liked, which for me means lots of good puzzles:

*Mystery Case Files Escape from Ravenhurst - gross, but lots of exploration
Hallowed Legends Templar CE
Nightmare Realm
Dark Tales Edgar Allen Poe Murders in Rue Morgue
*Hidden Expedition Devil's Triangle - there was lots to do
*Haunted Halls Green Hills Sanitarium
*Patricia's Quest for Sun - jigsaw
Azada in Libro
*The Keepers Lost Progeny CE
*Temple of Life: Legend of 4 Elements CE - oodles of good puzzles. It was fun to do a mostly archeological themed game insteady of the usual dark/mystery/horror

Right now I'm playing Grim Tales The Legacy CE - excellent puzzles. It has a hardcore mode - no hints nor skips.
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Old 01-19-2012, 11:32 AM   #3
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Check out Brink of Consciousness: Dorian Gray Syndrome. A bit of resemblance to Escape from Ravenhurst, but then again, I love anything Dorian Gray.
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Old 01-19-2012, 02:21 PM   #4
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Well, Colpets's Temple of Life: Legend of 4 Elements and your Brink of Consciousness: Dorian Gray Syndrome. have made it to my must get list. I love archeology too, as well as things Dorian Gray. By the time I can actually play them, I should have many credits available.
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Old 01-22-2012, 08:19 AM   #5
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Are there any good casual games that aren't dark/horror/mystery based?
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Old 01-22-2012, 10:15 AM   #6
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Do you like extremely silly and fun, Siddhi? If you do, try Vampireville and Mushroom Age. I replay them occasionally since they are such fun and you're rewarded for clicking everywhere. There are some mini games in Mushroom Age, a series in which you have to place mirrors to deflect light, that aren't all that easy and you cannot skip them. The only real downside, if it is one, is the pre-set save points. The games are by Nevosoft and I wish they'd make more.
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Old 01-22-2012, 10:21 AM   #7
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Are there any good casual games that aren't dark/horror/mystery based?
Try Big Brain Wolf, the first Azada, Puzzle Bots and Tiny Bang Story.
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Old 01-22-2012, 10:55 AM   #8
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Thanks for the recommendations, I've picked up Mushroom Age and Big Brain Wolf for now.

Puzzle Bots -- I played this last year. Very nice game, but also very short
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Old 01-23-2012, 12:35 PM   #9
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I've downloaded a few demos. Figured I could play them with one eye and not risk much. One is 9 - The Dark Side. Seems as if it might be a worthwhile casual. It's slow to load, slow to save and has crashed twice. The latter may be due more to my system than anything else. Good news is that no data was lost during the crashes. I was able to restart exactly where I left off ... which is a very good thing.
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Old 01-23-2012, 02:27 PM   #10
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I really liked Grim Tales The Legacy CE, so I bought their previous game Grim Tales The Bride.
I'm playing 9 The Dark Side CE now and it has some excellent puzzles. No glitches with it so far.
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Old 01-25-2012, 03:20 PM   #11
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I played the demo of Temple of Life. I skipped one of the puzzles, and was even more confused when the solution didn't seem to match the directions. It still looks like a very probable play. The hour went by awfully fast.

I almost never purchase the CE version of games. The bonus material has yet to justify the extra cost.
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Old 01-26-2012, 05:50 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rtrooney View Post
I played the demo of Temple of Life. I skipped one of the puzzles, and was even more confused when the solution didn't seem to match the directions. It still looks like a very probable play. The hour went by awfully fast.

I almost never purchase the CE version of games. The bonus material has yet to justify the extra cost.
You are right, but I try and find reviews that let me know if the extra content is worth it.
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Old 01-26-2012, 01:43 PM   #13
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Quote:
Latest games I played were Ravenhurst3, Drawn3 and Premature Burial which have already been reviewed.
If you have played Ravenhearst 3, you should definitely try Return to Ravenhearst and the new one, Escape from Ravenhearst, both with high production quality values, especially the latter. I know they belong to the horror category but it is worth playing them.

Escape from Ravenhearst adds a new twist to the traditional hogs since you are now hunting for morphing objects in screen and not for hidden objects. The way this is blended with the plot is actually very good.
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Old 01-28-2012, 11:03 AM   #14
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Big Fish Games is having a sale right now. It's $2 off any "five star game". Eligible games are listed at the site. Several of the games we've mentioned in the thread are eligible. Even though I can't play it yet, I picked up 9 - The Dark Side for $5 instead of the usual $6.99. It's worth a look.
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Old 02-02-2012, 11:24 AM   #15
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Well, I'm unfortunately scheduled for another round of eye surgery tomorrow, so my return to the "gaming table" will be somewhat delayed.

However, I did manage to finish off 9: The Dark Side. Quite good, I thought. Not particularly heavy on HO scenes. Inventory puzzles are well-integrated into the game. Other puzzles run the gamut from standard sliders to math puzzles. Just about every type of puzzle you've ever run across is represented. All of them have Skip options. A couple of comments on that topic. One, the in-game description of the puzzle and what you must do to solve it is, I thought, woefully inadequate. Two, there is a walkthru available at the BFG site. You may want to have it open while you are playing the game. It gives a much better description of the puzzles than the game itself does. Otherwise, you'll be using that Skip button with regularity.

Finally, the end-game features an arcade sequence for which there is no Skip option. It was infuriating for me because my normal cursor speed was not set up to match the speed of the arcade sequence. I did finish it, but not without a lot of swearing. The sequence did not fit with the rest of the game, and not allowing the player to bypass it was, to me, a major flaw.

Voice acting wasn't horrible. Music and sound effects were excellent.

With the first Drawn game being five out of five stars, 9: The Dark Side rates a solid three stars.
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Old 02-02-2012, 12:00 PM   #16
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However, I did manage to finish off 9: The Dark Side. Quite good, I thought. Not particularly heavy on HO scenes. Inventory puzzles are well-integrated into the game. Other puzzles run the gamut from standard sliders to math puzzles. Just about every type of puzzle you've ever run across is represented. All of them have Skip options. A couple of comments on that topic. One, the in-game description of the puzzle and what you must do to solve it is, I thought, woefully inadequate. Two, there is a walkthru available at the BFG site. You may want to have it open while you are playing the game. It gives a much better description of the puzzles than the game itself does. Otherwise, you'll be using that Skip button with regularity.
I like to work out how to do the puzzle almost as much as solving it, so I rarely use the info button.
I'm playing Grim Tales The Bride right now, mostly because I enjoyed Grim Tales the Legacy so much. It's somewhat easier.

BTW, I hope your surgery goes well.
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