[Lupin The Third]

So I was noticing that the Dracula Series bundle is on sale at The Adventure Shop for $12.97.

http://us-adventureshop.gamesplanet....e-2153-49.html

I was set to buy and then noticed some inconsistencies. I thought this was a collection of all the Canal/Kheops titles. However the download info for the set lists the dl size for the entire set as less than a Gig while Dracula 2: Last Sanctuary is 2.7 Gigs alone and Dracula 3: POTD is over 4 gigs. Also none of the screencaps match from one game to the next (ie Last Sanctuary images don't match Collection Part 2 images). Is this just sloppy webmastering or are these games different? Also descriptions vary and don't seem to match either. I'm presuming these are the same games but when I look at them they appear different and I'm apprehensive about ending up with some causal/hidden object game that is not what I'm looking for.

[aimless]

Lupin,

It looks as if what they've done is divide Dracula 3 into three parts. Go to More Info and read the descriptions. You're actually getting one game, I think.

I took a look at Big Fish and they've got Path of the Dragon in three parts. You pay for each separately. A little better deal on The Adventure Shop but the same thing.

[Monolith]

Yeah, turns out it was three parts, though I've never really realized this until I saw it in parts somewhere. I was like "Oh cool, there's a part two?!?!?!" and it was just the middle part of the full game I already played. :/

Why and when was this done? lol When it was released, it was released. I don't recall it being released in any parts whatsoever.

[aimless]

It wasn't released in parts until just recently. At a guess, they're trying to bring in casual players. Sell one part, they want to buy another. Unfortunately, the reviews on BigFish aren't good. People who've played Path of the Dragon are saying that the 3-parter is missing most if not all of the puzzles and the challenge is gone. That you're just walking around talking to people. I don't know but I'm tempted to find out by downloading one of the demos.

====================

Well, I did. Trust me, this is really dumbed down. The characters look pretty much the same but they're immobile and there are text boxes in front of them as they speak. I dl'd part 2 and it began with the the professor in Budapest. She already had books for you so you never got into the library, one of the harder puzzles, as I recall.

One puzzle where you have to search words horizontally, vertically or diagonally was done for you. All you had to do was click on the page and bam, the solutions were there.

Dialogues can't be skipped so the conversation with the professor was a long one. Little arrows indicate directions in which you can go and, so help me, there are signs like small billboards in places telling you how to get help. I would have gone on to the infamous 'trace the pentagram' puzzle but I wasn't sure the demo would last that long and I wasn't ready to go through many more of those dialogues.

No wonder even the casual gamers were complaining. Most of them like puzzles, many of them prefer hard ones. This 'edition' of Path of the Dragon isn't making anybody happy.

[cbman]

Damn. What a shame to hear about this great game being treated like this. I guess if it brings Kheops a little money in it can't be a bad thing but i really doubt we'll see any more games from them. Proper ones I mean.

[aimless]

One thing, either they used the same voice actors or the dialogue wasn't changed. It's been a while since I've played the game. But the professor's voice is very distinctive and so is Father Arno's. You don't forget them.

Kheops farmed this out to another group to revamp it. Forget what it was but i've never heard of them.

[Monolith]

Wow, its like it was shredded with the cruelty of generic casual gaming techniques. :/

[aimless]

Well, they underestimated the intelligence of casual gamers. Frogwares, on the other hand, doesn't. Their Dracula: Love Kills is very well done in the formula they're all familiar with and much more likely to entice them to buy another of Frogwares' Waterlily games.

[cbman]

Originally Posted by aimless

Well, they underestimated the intelligence of casual gamers. Frogwares, on the other hand, doesn't. Their Dracula: Love Kills is very well done in the formula they're all familiar with and much more likely to entice them to buy another of Frogwares' Waterlily games.

Yes, I agree with that. I like adventure games to be proper adventure games and hidden object games to be hidden object games (which I also like) but 'Love Kills' wasn't a bad attempt at a hybrid game.

[aimless]

I'm sure not going to get het up about that opinion.

I liked Love Kills, too...except for the way they made a twit out of Van Helsing. I loved Origin and Van Helsing is one of my favorite characters, sort of a slightly more human Sherlock Holmes but just as deadpan. And if nobody agrees with me on the game or the character, that's fine.

[donatelli]

Gamersgate has the original version still I believe. Definitely DO NOT buy the split game. Casual blitz like no ones business. Love the original Dracula 3.

[Lupin The Third]

Thanks for the clarification. I have to say this seems like a completely pointless thing to do to the game Anyways, already picked hard copies of up Dracula 1-3 on Amazon for just a little over $10 total plus shipping. And I already had a digital version of Dracula Origins from Amazon's holiday sale in back at the end of 2010 (picked it up for an amazing $1.99 along with Lost Horizon for $4.99!). I hadn't gotten around to starting the franchise yet but I thought this would have been nice to have digital versions that might be a bit more compatible. Obviously not the case so I'll steer clear.