Adventure Gamers - Forums

A new game is out in the Secret Order series. The fourth game in the series, Beyond Time, proved my theory. I.e., the first three games in a series are OK, but the downhill slide starts with sequel number four. That was really the case in the fifth game, Buried Kingdom. Nevertheless, I’m throwing caution to the wind, and have downloaded game six, Bloodline.

It’s something to occupy 90-or-so minutes of my time while I’m waiting for the new AGCPT voting process to end. Which won’t happen until August 4.

I’ll let you know what I think. Unless historical precedent is turned on it’s head, don’t expect anything great. But you never know.

If anyone has played something good recently, please post with comments or a mini review.

I finished the demo of Secret Order: Bloodline. The demo is 90 minutes, or until you reach a certain point where it tells you “Thanks for playing the demo.” I had 33 minutes to spare, and could have finished faster if I hadn’t watched all the cut scenes.

Overall impression can be summed up in two points. First, the game is easy. Second the game is stupid. The first is marginally understandable. It is not the designers fault that I have seen variations on the same puzzles hundreds of times before. Being stupid, however is not only not understandable; it is unforgivable.

Guy is in the water, dying. Do we jump in the water and save him? No, of course we don’t. Instead we scour the surrounding locations looking for tools we can assemble to drag him out of the water while we stand on the shore. We then carry the man to the hospital. Your mother is standing next to the medicine cabinet. Does she open the medicine cabinet and find the items necessary to assemble a first aid kit? Again, of course not! She makes you look for the key that will open the cabinet, and makes you look for the items she needs.

And this happens in the first ten minutes of the demo. And it only gets worse.

I can’t think of any circumstance that would cause me to buy this game. My belief in my theory that sequels turn ugly after the third game is confirmed.

furgotten - 22 July 2017 12:47 AM

Bridge to Another World: Escape from Oz was fairly short. I thought it was an interesting take on the whole Dorothy/Oz encounter although the execution was lacking something. I didn’t care much for the graphics, the puzzles did not excite me and I guess I was rather glad when it was over. It wasn’t awful, just not that good. Again, I played the SE.

I finished the demo of this. I agree with your comments. I’ll also add that I’m getting tired of sidekicks. In Bloodline it was a monkey. Here Toto plays the same role. I don’t think Emerald City Confidential is in any danger of losing its place as the best game to spin the Wizard of Oz story.

I may buy it sometime in the future. Like you said, it’s not awful.

It’s been a long time since I, or, for that matter, anyone, has posted to this thread. I’ll chalk it up to everyone being involved in summertime activities. That is certainly the case with me. Plus, I had some right-elbow nerve issues, and since I’m right handed, that restricted my ability to play games. Things seem to be doing better of late. Fortunately my guitar playing and newly-purchased ukulele playing didn’t suffer much. Which would have been the case if the nerve issue was with the left elbow.

And to top all that off, polished off another decade. I don’t feel older. Still playing with the band. Thank you my role models, Keith, Ronny, Charlie and Mick. May you live longer and prosper more.

To the task at hand. I played Vermillion Watch - Order Zero recently. I’m not going to do a complete review here, because it really isn’t necessary. The cast of characters is the same, and the basic outline of the game, which is that of a portal game similar to 1000 Doors and any number of knock-offs.

I was fully prepared to dislike the game, but instead I liked it very much. It is a long game. I didn’t time it, but I’m pretty sure I played it for more than ten hours. There was a part towards the “end” of the game when I thought I was just about through, and then I was hit with a whole new episode.

I’ll give developer, EIPIX, a lot of credit for their puzzle designs. Many puzzles “seem” familiar, but there is just enough difference to make them challenging. And, in many instances, very challenging. Unfortunately, as with many current casual games, the description of the puzzle objective is not well stated.

There is one action puzzle that involves some martial arts. It is actually a take off on the familiar “match the tone sequence” puzzles we are all familiar with. But it was done so cleverly that it took me about 1/2 an hour to realize what I was looking at.

The game does have HO scenes. Not nearly as many as we saw in older games. But they are there, albeit with an acceptable variety. So they really aren’t all that intrusive.

I recommend this game. If you have some spare time, at least give the demo a shot.

I also played Order Zero, Tim, and liked it.  I’ve gotten to the point that so many of the casual titles run together in my mind, but the Vermillion Watch games stand out for me.

Hi Tim! I know you usually play the SE editions with an occasional CE mixed in, so which did you choose for Order Zero?

I played the SE version. If The CE added another hour or more of gameplay, this would have been a monster game. The SE ended satisfactorily. And it didn’t leave much room for a sequel. Kind of like the Enigmatis 3 ending. So I’m not really sure what the bonus material would have added. Maybe I’ll look at a video.

I wasn’t looking, but the casual game thread just passed 1600 replies. Bravo everyone!

I used one of my free game codes today for the SE of Crossroads Mysteries: The Broken Deal.  The story had potential but the game switched characters without any warning a couple of times, which was confusing, and there were plot holes you could drive a truck through.  Also, I think I skipped more puzzles than I completed, which is rare for me.  It was a combination of poor puzzle design for some and poor game info for most of the rest.  I recommend staying away from this one.

Thanks for the heads up. That was a game I looked at, but didn’t get around to downloading/playing the demo. Now I won’t bother. My problem is that my theory on sequels has proved to be remarkably correct. And most of the new games are sequels. So, if I believe in my theory, there isn’t a whole lot of new stuff that is worth playing.

I don’t know who is buying the stuff that I think of as unprofessional milking of the cash cow.

I’m downloading the CE Demo as we speak. Right now Fright Chasers is only available as a CE. What’s your opinion of the bonus game? Really worth it, or best to wait for the SE to come out?