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Casual Games Thread
Not that any of you were anxiously awaiting my return, but I’m back. I’m sure Interplay will be be back shortly.
I’m still here. I’ve been mostly stalking the forums lately, as I have again been distracted by a non-adventure game, this time the superb The Last of Us. I have played a few casuals lately, but none of them have inspired me enough to post on the subject. I look forward to trying the new House of 1000 Doors when the SE comes out.
Recent casual games I have played include The Beast of Lycan Isle and the third Awakening game, Goblin Kingdom. As far as The Beast goes, I initially had high hopes but it ended up being fairly average/mediocre. I didn’t care for the 3D generated graphics (a la Empress of the Deep) as opposed to the beautiful 2D backgrounds I have become accustomed to in the genre. It would probably be a 2.5/5.
The third Awakening game turned out to totally lack the hard-to-explain fun factor of the first two. It was not a bad game by any stretch, but just was not nearly as fun as the first two. I’m currently playing the fourth and final game, which seems to be a return to good form. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I’m still here.
Just out of curiosity, how did you enjoy the Community Playthrough of A Vampyre Story? I thought it was great, and enjoyed it a great deal. Inasmuch as I didn’t like the game very much when I played it solo, it was a great suprise how much I enjoyed it playing as a group.
I can’t think of any casual game that would justify the same treatment. It would be very hard to stretch even the most complex casual into a three week gameplay.
Thoughts?
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I’m sorry, I haven’t been up for writing lately.
These are the games I’ve demoed and subsequently bought, and enjoyed, the last few months:
Otherworld: Spring of Shadows CE (Has some tiresome backtracking, and feels a bit old, but the story and the characters are good)
Dark Parables: the final Cinderella CE (if you could handle the weak storytelling of the previous Dark Parables this is sort of a step up. Sort of… Otherwise it has the same high production values and puzzles as the other games in the series)
House of 1000 doors: The Serpent Flame CE (better than the second game in the series, hate, hate, hate the bad 3D. CE is not worth it!!)
Enchantia: Wrath of the Phoenix Queen CE (If you like building elaborately decorated items through your HOG scenes, this is a good game in that style)
Rite of Passage: Child of the Forest CE (has some big scripting issues, but the really, really high production values make it worth it)
Off the Record: Linden Shades CE (This is definitely recommended. Should rank quite high among HOGs. Both this one and Child of the Forest would have benefited from not having HOG scenes, as they’re much more true to “normal” AGs in every other detail)
Timeless: The lost Castle (meh, good enough for the 0 money I paid for it)
Also picked up the Dark Dimensions series as the latest; Dark Dimensions: City of Ash seemed really good. But so far I’ve only played the first in the series: Dark Dimensions: City of Fog. It’s a good game, but it is showing its age.
I’d say they’re all good enough to buy and play, but if you only want a few; Child of the Forest and Linden Shades are the absolute best of the lot.
On a personal note I’m so annoyed that more and more HOGs seem to go for cheap - not very polished textures - 3D instead of the classic 2D painted backgrounds. Several series I’ve quite enjoyed in the past has released their latest serial with 3D instead of 2D.
I can’t stand cheap 3D!! Either get the budget for proper shading and textures or stay with the drawn assets!!
I play story-heavy games, watch animation, anime, B-movies, disaster movies, sci-fi movies and crime shows and try to write about it all on my blog: Snark, pedantry and random geekery
I bought the 1000 Doors CE game today. I normally wouldn’t buy a CE, but with the sale and my having no idea when the SE would appear, I gave it a shot.
So far, I really like it. Very similar in concept to the Zoroaster game. You’re going to go through four portals to collect four objects that will save the world.
The world here though, is in far dire straights than in the previous game. Here, you succeed or Earth dies.
Minor quibbles so far. In the Mayan/Aztec age, (not specified,) everyone speaks in a stilted high-English dialect. Maybe that’s better than a faked dialect, but it seemed odd.
I’ll need to play some more to give better thoughts.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I bought the 1000 Doors CE game today. I normally wouldn’t buy a CE, but with the sale and my having no idea when the SE would appear, I gave it a shot.
So far, I really like it. Very similar in concept to the Zoroaster game. You’re going to go through four portals to collect four objects that will save the world.
The world here though, is in far dire straights than in the previous game. Here, you succeed or Earth dies.
Minor quibbles so far. In the Mayan/Aztec age, (not specified,) everyone speaks in a stilted high-English dialect. Maybe that’s better than a faked dialect, but it seemed odd.
I’ll need to play some more to give better thoughts.
FYI, for people who are interested, the SE is actually out now. 
I definitely plan on picking it up along with another of the recently recommended titles next time there is a Big Fish BOGO.
This thread is in desperate need of a bump. I can’t remember the last time it dropped off the first page, but it was down to page 4! I feel partially responsible. Anyway, it’s summer time so my casual playing has dropped down quite a bit. I’m still working my way through the last Awakening game; it’s surprisingly lengthy.
I wanted to post to let people know Big Fish is having a BOGO sale this weekend. I used a couple of credits and got the new House of 1000 Doors game, Dark Parables: The Final Cinderella, Off the Record: Linden Shades, and Rite of Passage: Child of the Forest. I can’t remember which if any of these got reviews in this thread, but I’ll leave my thoughts on them when I get to them. FYI, Collector’s Editions are also BOGO this weekend, too, if you’re into that sort of thing. (The sequel to the excellent Final Cut is out as a CE - that would probably be a good choice).
I know. I mentioned to the other Tim that I would not be playing the Obsidian Community Playthrough. I told him that I needed to get back to the Casual Game thread.
Between the Vampyre Story playthrough and going through a kitchen remodel, I really haven’t had much of a chance to do much casual gaming this summer. Although I did get the newest 1000 Doors CE when BFG had a sale that brought it down to SE pricing. The game itself is quite good, but the supplemental game…not so much. It really wasn’t that bad. It was just something I hadn’t expected. There is a conversation late in the game that hints at what I though the supplemental game would be, and it turned out to be something entirely different.
I’ve also played the demo of Cavalera - Day of the Dead. which, despite being a blatant rip off of Grim Fandango, isn’t that bad, and I put it on my to-buy list.
Also on my demo list is Namariel Legends - Iron Lord. A bit of fun, but definitely an intro-level game. I won’t be buying it.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
The game itself is quite good, but the supplemental game…not so much. It really wasn’t that bad. It was just something I hadn’t expected. There is a conversation late in the game that hints at what I though the supplemental game would be, and it turned out to be something entirely different.
I know! I was so looking forward to hearing more about that, so I jumped right into the bonus game, and was really disappointed. 
I guess they’re hinting their next game in the series, because that’s quite a cliff hanger!
I play story-heavy games, watch animation, anime, B-movies, disaster movies, sci-fi movies and crime shows and try to write about it all on my blog: Snark, pedantry and random geekery
FWIW Calavera - Day of the Dead is available as an SE game. I bought it today. There are some features that are not present in the SE that were available in the CE. One is that if you read a document in the CE you got some kind of bonus point. I have no idea what that would get you if you got them all, but they are not found in the SE.
I’m just about caught up to the point where I timed out on the CE. I’ll certainly write a more comprehensive review when I’m done.
Speaking of which, there is an active thread that discusses rating scores. I commented on it regarding this forum, which I think does a very good job of rating games. I think it would be worth your while to read and comment.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
So, I finished House of 1000 Doors: Serpent Flame. Like you guys, I thought it was a great game. Production values were fantastic. The CG cutscenes were surprisingly high quality. I also like how every interaction with a NPC was a CG cutscene. Art design and visuals were excellent. I thought the different locations in the game were varied and interesting. Like the other House of 1000 Doors games, I found the plot to be interesting as well. Puzzles were fairly easy, but enjoyable. I liked the variety of interactions in the HO scenes, and there were an appropriate number of them. A little too much backtracking for my taste, but the interactive map was helpful in that regard.
The musical score was also interesting. In places, it was almost jazzy, but became more ominous and serious as the game progressed. The ending was a little abrupt, but definitely brought the story to a close.
I played the SE. Can you all tell me what the content of the CE epilogue was?
I obviously enjoy casual games, but there’s not many (if any) that I would consider cool. But I thought this game was, indeed, cool.
As an aside, I loved the room where you open doors to the different worlds. Such a neat design!
I found it very enjoyable and would give it 8/10 (to get back in the swing of things).
Edit: it’s been so long that I forgot how I used to rate these games (on a 5 pt scale). Make it 4/5, then.
I’m still here.
Just out of curiosity, how did you enjoy the Community Playthrough of A Vampyre Story? I thought it was great, and enjoyed it a great deal. Inasmuch as I didn’t like the game very much when I played it solo, it was a great suprise how much I enjoyed it playing as a group.
I can’t think of any casual game that would justify the same treatment. It would be very hard to stretch even the most complex casual into a three week gameplay.
Thoughts?
I’ve been mulling this over. I don’t think a casual game would justify the same treatment because casual games are generally shorter, with less complex stories and smaller environments.
Would a Community Playthrough work for a casual series, though? Play all 3 Drawn games, or all the House of 1000 Doors games together?
I’m continuing to play Namariel Legends: Iron Lord and I’m enjoying the steampunk style/atmosphere. I’ve started playing a couple of other casuals that flirt with a steampunk style—Snark Busters 3: High Society and I just finished Fantastic Creations: House of Brass.
Puzzles in Iron Lord are quite easy at first, but do become more difficult as the game progresses. Like House of Brass, a main character is a brilliant, eccentric inventor, and both games have gadgets that are based on clockwork or steam-powered inventions (a good way to introduce puzzles). So far I like Iron Lord better, mostly because I was a bit disappointed in the ending of House of Brass, where I expected a more elegant twist.
I played the SE. Can you all tell me what the content of the CE epilogue was?
Since you’ve finished, when our protagonist had the conversation with the old gentleman, and he told her to return once her quest was complete….that’s what I thought would make up the plot for the Bonus Game.
Instead, the hero, (Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the comatose guy sleeping in Simon’s room.)returns to a Twilight Zone version of the 1000 Doors house environment and performs another serpent-killing quest. Which, itself, led to another cliffhanger of sorts.
So it would appear that nothing is resolved and the ending to the main game and the ending to the Bonus Game are setting us up for two additional games. Not that I would mind that. I, too, thought the basic game was very good. But I thought it was a pretty cheezy way for this game to end. I don’t recall this type of shenanign in Zoroaster.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I played the SE. Can you all tell me what the content of the CE epilogue was?
Since you’ve finished, when our protagonist had the conversation with the old gentleman, and he told her to return once her quest was complete….that’s what I thought would make up the plot for the Bonus Game.
Instead, the hero, (Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the comatose guy sleeping in Simon’s room.)returns to a Twilight Zone version of the 1000 Doors house environment and performs another serpent-killing quest. Which, itself, led to another cliffhanger of sorts.
So it would appear that nothing is resolved and the ending to the main game and the ending to the Bonus Game are setting us up for two additional games. Not that I would mind that. I, too, thought the basic game was very good. But I thought it was a pretty cheezy way for this game to end. I don’t recall this type of shenanign in Zoroaster.
Thanks for the info.
FYI, today a game called Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren’s Call came out. It got a super glowing 5 star review at Gamezebo. I mention this because it is a sequel to Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart. The first game is currently available in a pay what you want bundle with some other casual games. Currently you can get all 6 games for $1.52! The included game is a CE as well. I just started the playing the first game, and it seems to be of extremely high quality so far. It is from Artifex Mundi. Anyway, I’ll post the link below. Go ahead and pick up the bundle; nothing to lose! We can all compare notes on the games.
https://deals.gamezebo.com/sales/the-crack-the-mystery-gamer-bundle
$1.52 seems like a fair deal even if I hate four of the six games.
Re: A-M, I received an email from them yesterday thanking me for my participation in their beta-testing program. Which I don’t because of their statement that I will be sharing computer information with them. Anyway, they were offering the CE version of Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren’s at 50% off. I didn’t take them up on the offer because I rarely buy CEs and because I don’t find Artiflex-Mundi entirely trustworthy. But they do make great games. I’ll give the bargain bundle a shot. Thanks for the tip.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I’ve been playing the demo of Rite of Passage: Child of the Forest SE which was recommended by Panthera.
This a very up in the air game. The graphics aren’t that great. Certainly not to the standards of 1000 Doors. The voice acting and character animation is nothing to write home about. But there is something about the puzzles and HO scenes that is appealing despite the game’s flaws.
I’m going to rate it a Buy. But I recommend players play the demo first. There may be enough negatives for some that will put it on their Don’t Buy list.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
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