[Siddhi]

Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island - 3.5/5

A lot of people had said that the Nancy Drew games were quite decent, so I picked this one up at a steam sale to check out the series.

I started playing it last year, but the slideshow style of movement really put me off and I put it aside after a couple of hours. I recently restarted it from the beginning, and surprisingly found that the slideshow movement didnt bother me this time .

Anyway, I found the game to be quite good. The story wasn't very deep, but the puzzles were fun and challenging. This is a heavily puzzle driven game with one or two dialog and inventory puzzles.

There aren't a lot of locations, and each location is reused for a number of puzzles. I actually liked that because I built some familiarity with the locations instead of moving from place to place. The nautical and whale theme was also interesting.

There are many places where you can die, but the game immediately gives you a "Second Chance" button which takes you to the point right before the death, so you don't have to replay anything. The game took me 9 hours to finish, leaving aside the few hours from last year.

Overall, while not at the classic adventure game level, it is still very playable and enjoyable. This game is one of the early ones in the series, so I'm looking forward to checking out the newer games.

[Siddhi]

Gemini Rue - 5/5

Wow! This is an incredible game. Very story driven, and what a story! It would make a great movie actually.

Traditional adventure with mostly inventory puzzles. The inventory puzzles themselves are quite easy - I finished this game without a walkthrough.

The graphics are very beautiful in a retro looking pixel art style. One downside was that there were a couple of times when I missed a small object, but when I took a break and came back I spotted them immediately. The sound and music were perfect for setting the atmosphere.

Even with the relatively easy puzzles, it took me about 10 hours to complete. There are a few combat scenarios which are not too difficult, but I did die twice in combat. The game autosaves before any dangerous point, so its not much of an issue if you die.

I also liked that the whole game takes place in the same set of locations. I really prefer this style compared to moving to a new set of screens after every few puzzles.

I liked the use of the terminal to type searches to find info. The Blackwell games as well as the Nancy Drew game that I played (previous post) used this mechanic and its something that I've really liked.

The game also has sections where you have a companion whom you can control. A few puzzles make you work together with the companion to get ahead.

Overall, this is a must play game!

[maladroid]

Been playing the first three Blackwell games lately and just finished Convergence.

The first game didn't really grab me but that's probably due to the fact that I had already played Bestowers of Eternity (Gilbert's freeware version of the story) and Legacy's demo so not many surprises there for me. I think the puzzle design especially was very dodgy and the occasional attempts at humour were a bit..lame. Story and dialogue are ok, although not stellar by any stretch. Rosa didn't win me, either.

Overall I'd give the game a 3/5.

Unbound started off more strongly for me and I really dig Lauren as a leading lady. The chemistry between her and Joey was a delight to watch and the story kept me engaged for the first 2/3 of the game. The Countess angle and the explanation offered involving the reporter didn't work for me, though, so the last part of the game was definitely the weaker one. Puzzles still not great but perhaps slightly less frustrating than in Legacy, although I finished the game a lot more quickly as a result (in under 3 hours, Legacy took me about 4). Crude graphics, though.

Score: 3.5/5

Convergence was probably the best of the three overall. Technically, it looks substantially improved (especially over Unbound) and Rosa finally clicked with me a bit better, as a character. The story was decent enough, the puzzles were slightly improved and it had good pacing, I found. I still don't buy the whole Countess thing which seems to feed into a bigger story arc that's going on behind the scenes. At least the individual cases Rosa investigates were more interesting this time around and Joey's sarcasm felt less forced than usual. Four solid hours of adventuring.

3.8/5

As a final note, perhaps the thing I find the most annoying so far in the series are those silly "charming" smiles the characters (mostly Rosa) give every now and then, especially when embarrassed. They are probably meant to emulate some similar moments found in classic adventure games from the speechless age but back then they worked better, because they were perfectly timed and there was no speech anyway. Now they just feel wrong, completely unnatural and out of character.

[zane]

Just finished book of unwritten tales, what a strange and hilarious trip it is. It has very nice production values and the voice acting is particularly good. The game was quite easy, but the pacing was still good and the game lasted me a nice solid 16 hours. Unfortunately, as is too often the case in games, the ending was abrupt and felt very rushed. The story felt to me about 85% complete and really couldv used one last segment where you use all the protagonists again. But the game was already long, and i can easily imagine they pressed their budget limits with lots of voice acting and great art. Still, the game was a satisfying experience and is a must play for those who can appreciate its humor and want a traditional point and click adventure.
If i had to assign a number i'd give it 8.5/10

[SamuelGordon]

Max Payne 1&2 (replay)

Really refreshing to play them again after so many years. The graphical novel cutscenes are brilliant, the noir dialogue is perfect. The story is average but it's more the journey through it that makes it all worth it. Dual wielding is always fun, i just can't bored of the gameplay. It really puts the majority of today's action games to shame. The in game tv shows Lords and Ladies, John Mirra , BaseBallBatBoy are always a pleasure to follow. Oh yeah Mona Sax is such a badass "professional"^^, love the couple's chemistry. Vladimir Lem is def the opposite of Max, he loves life and has no objections to the horrible deeds he commits because there is no free will (according to him).

Anyways i can blabber on all day..

I give both games 10/10, timeless games and a must play before Max Payne 3 ( it's almost out, can't wait!)

[Ingsoc]

Sanitarium (10/10)

What a brilliant game! creepy levels and atmosphere (especially the second level), great puzzles and for a change someone actually design a horror game with an original and interesting plot rather than "stuck in a spooky house" cliche.

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by SamuelGordon

Max Payne 1&2 (replay)

Really refreshing to play them again after so many years. The graphical novel cutscenes are brilliant, the noir dialogue is perfect. The story is average but it's more the journey through it that makes it all worth it. Dual wielding is always fun, i just can't bored of the gameplay. It really puts the majority of today's action games to shame. The in game tv shows Lords and Ladies, John Mirra , BaseBallBatBoy are always a pleasure to follow. Oh yeah Mona Sax is such a badass "professional"^^, love the couple's chemistry. Vladimir Lem is def the opposite of Max, he loves life and has no objections to the horrible deeds he commits because there is no free will (according to him).

Anyways i can blabber on all day..

I give both games 10/10, timeless games and a must play before Max Payne 3 ( it's almost out, can't wait!)

I've just recently finished replaying them too! Can't wait to (hopefully!) get my copy tomorrow!

[Jubilee]

Just finished Sanitarium, if it wasn't for all the crashes and the glitchy text not staying up then it would have been a really fantastic game. I really enjoyed the whole parallel dream worlds to the real world, even though the story wasn't exactly unique, but it was presented in an original way.

[Stonez]

I just finally got around to playing and finishing Portal 2 in the last week. Wonderful immersion, nice graphics, a witty and engaging storyline which implements some fiendish puzzles makes this a 10/10 game for me. The humor and pace were just exceptional too.