Adventure Gamers - Forums

Well, there actually are paved streets in Venice. But yes, you do get to take one or two gondola rides. 

If you haven’t solved the camera secret:

When the camera icon appears on the screen, you can’t load the filter into it. While confusing, the only thing the icon does is show you that this is a place you need to use the camera. You need to drag the camera itself from the lower right corner onto the screen. Then you can load the filter and take the picture.

I’ll at least try the demo of that game. Thanks.

Legend of the Snow Kingdom is a very enjoyable game. But it is somewhat contrived. If you combine the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty with the legend of the Gold King Midas and throw in a dash of the game Grim Tales - The Snow Queen, you have this game’s nailed.

This game comes from Alawar Games’ Friday Games division. Certainly a reputable publisher. I’ve enjoyed its games in the past and this game is no exception.

You, the protagonist, are neither a knight nor a farmer. What it is you actually are is never described in detail. But you are apparently wealthy enough to own a house. And wealthy enough to take time off from whatever it is you do to save a maiden.

At the beginning of the game we see said maiden, Adele, riding in a horse-drawn coach when it is attacked by some sort of demon entity in knight’s clothing. You assemble a bow and arrow, shoot the knight, scoop up the maiden, take her to your house and fall in love. While there, a mysterious gift is delivered and, unfortunately, opened. This results in Adele being trapped inside a snow globe. It turns out that Adele is actually a Princess, and the only way of saving her is to return with her to her kingdom.

Once we arrive at the kingdom our hero is tricked by an evil Prince who captures Adele. It turns out the prince turned evil when his lovely wife was given an apple by an evil witch (is there any other kind) and the wife is now in a permanent state of slumber. To get even for this dastardly deed, the evil prince gives a magic apple seed to a king. The king plants the seed. A magic golden apple tree grows. The leaves of the tree are gold, and can only be touched by the king’s queen, who dies during the childbirth of the princess Adele. Anybody but the queen and Adele, who apparently received the gift of safely touching the leaves from her mother, turns to stone. Nevertheless, the stockpile of golden leaves becomes the basis of the kingdom’s treasury. Although, from a practical standpoint one wonders how they ever spent it. “Here’s fifty gold leaves in exchange for that lovely tapestry. Oops! Sorry touching the leaves killed you. But thanks for the tapestry!”

I said the game was enjoyable. It really is. Part of the fun of the game is that it takes itself so seriously. Reading the above you can understand how I played the game in an almost constant state of “chuckle.”

As for the game itself, the entire backstory is told in ten sets of slides which you will find along your journey. It’s a familiar vehicle. In fact it was used, albeit via tape cassettes in the recently reviewed Off the Record - The Italian Affair.

The game has an interactive map which not only takes you to and from locations, but also tells you where there is an objective to be accomplished. There is one glitch in the map, though it is a small one. The map has several layers, e.g. there is a layer for Adele’s father’s kingdom and another for the evil prince’s realm. The layers must be closed individually when you are done using the map. It’s only an extra mouse click, but I used the map A LOT! Which means that there were many, many extra mouse clicks.

The graphics are top quality. Voice acting, with one exception is quite good. Fortunately, the exception is a small role at the beginning of the game, and once you are done with her you never have to hear that awful fake accent again. Music is appropriate, but like it is in many games, needs to be turned down to 40% or it will overpower everything. It’s also a little bit repetitive, but not annoyingly so.

There are nice variations in the HO scenes. The puzzles are fairly easy. There are the standard slider, find the key etc. puzzles that are common to every game. No new ground broken here. But there are some real absurdities at play. One example: You are in a situation where a polar bear is blocking your path. Solution: find something to distract the bear. So, you catch a fish and throw it to the bear. The bear starts to eat it, but doesn’t move from the path. Yet you are allowed to walk on by. Now seriously! Does anyone think that a hungry polar bear wouldn’t drop the fish and devour the tasty human on the spot? Apparently the designers didn’t. There are a few others which also contributed to my playing in “chuckle” mode for much of the game.

You do manage to save Adele. You also save evil prince’s wife, and thus turn evil prince into nice prince. All turns out well. Although, as you will see at the end of the game, Alawar is certainly planning a sequel. I’m giving this 3.5/5 stars. There is really a temptation to give it 4/5 because of the humor. The only thing stopping me is the fact that the humor was so obviously unintentional.

Since I’m not playing in the CPT, I’ve been playing lots of demos.

I’ve finished and reviewed:

Legend of the Snow Kingdom and
Off the Record - The Italian Affair

I’ve also finished Grim Tales - The Vengeance. Review coming shortly.

Demos completed in the last few days are:

Tales of Terror - House on the Hill and
Haunted Hotel - Ancient Bane

I’ll write reviews of the demos shortly, but a capsule version is that latter is merely bad while the former is horrible. I’m not going to buy either one, and don’t recommend them at all to anyone.

On the “To be Played” list are:

Myths of the World - Of Friends and Fairies and
Cadenza - Music, Betrayal and Death

Edit: My dyslexia is kicking in. That should read Fiends and Fairies!

sarahandus - 11 July 2014 03:40 PM

I have demoed “Myths of The World” and liked it, slated for future purchase.

I finished the demo as well, and have also put it on my To Buy list. The game, so far, has some of the best voice acting I’ve ever heard in a Casual. An Irish brogue is a difficult accent to mimic, yet the actors have done an excellent job doing same.

I finished the Myths of the World - Of Fiends and Fairies demo, and immediately purchased the complete SE version. I’ve now finished the game itself, and, for perhaps the first time ever, I’m regretting not purchasing the CE version.

I want to write a review. But I don’t want to write a review lest I spoil the game for anyone. I know it’s only July, but until something better comes along Of Fiends and Fairies has my vote for the Casual Game of the Year award, if there is such a thing.

The game is from EiPix. They are turning out some great games, and this one is the best yet.

The story is pure fantasy, but it is easy to immerse yourself in the struggle to set things right. The graphics are gorgeous. The music is lush. More reminiscent of the soundtrack to Titanic than the synthesized four-theme loop music found in most games. The puzzles are fairly easy, but I don’t think it was the designer’s goal to stump you with mind-numbing puzzles considering everything else that is going on. The voice acting is excellent. (I mentioned earlier how difficult an Irish brogue is to mimic. While not perfect in all instances, the voice actors did a wonderful job. The fact that none of them appear to be Irish makes their work all the more amazing.)

And then there are the Hidden Object puzzles. Yes there are the types we have seen before. But there are variations on some of these types that are mind-blowing. And there is one type that literally breaks new ground. Think of the clue/definition as being a graphical equation that must be solved in order to identify the object. Some of these are not easy, but, at the same time generate the “palm-to-forehead/why didn’t I think of that” reaction I’ve never experienced in a hidden object scene.

I’m giving this game 4.5/5 stars. There is always going to be a minor nitpick that keeps the game from earning 5 stars, but this game is really as close as it gets. I strongly recommend it, and I suggest you consider the CE version…if only so you can tell me what I missed.

Note to Becky: Now that I’ve bought it, I’m sure it will go on sale in the next 3-4 days. Just hold on for a bit.

Becky - 16 July 2014 03:15 PM

Tim—there’s actually a sale today on Big Fish. 65% off retail, so any CE can be purchased for $6.99.

Why am I not surprised?