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July Casual Games
As marcd2011 posted yesterday….so much for the June Casual Games thread, although I would certainly continue to post there on games reviewed there.
I am asking for your help to keep things going. While not serious, I do have yet another eye surgery on 7/11. If this doesn’t do the trick, then I will have another at a date to be determined. Thank you Health Insurance!!!
So, I might not be in the mix for much of July. Not being an exclusive casual games player, I have downloaded demos of Resonance and Quest for Infamy. They might offer some distraction as I get back to gaming.
I did manage to install and play Dark Dimensions - Wax Beauty. I agree with almost everything marcd2011 said in the June Casual Games thread. I must say that I found the ending quite unusual for a casual game. No happy reunion of mother with child. No re-uniting of brother with sister. Quite the dark ending.
Keep up the good work. Not to belabor the pun, but I’ll see you when I see you.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Eye ops - the very thought of that scares me. We are so reliant on our eyes aren’t we? And me in particular, my favourite pastimes are watching movies and playing computer games, and I’m getting into web design/development for my next potential career move, all of which require sight so I can’t imagine how scary it must be putting your vision into the hands of someone else, so best of luck, hope everything goes smoothly. 
So did you find the puzzles in Wax Beauty as horrible as I did? I don’t remember the last time I’ve been so frustrated by one of these games..
I will keep the July thread going, I’m sure. Thanks to interplay I have got the Midnight Mysteries games (although after playing the first one, I don’t know if thanks is the right sentiment 
) so I’m sure I’ll review those providing they let me finish them without casually telling me they’ve deleted my save game for me.
I got through the first Poe game without a problem. The second, Hawthorn, game had technical glitches up the kazoo. Ergo, decided not to even try the Twain eoisode. Good luck with your Midnight Mysteries quest.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I started Midnight Mysteries too, I still have a busy week here but will certainly have some time to play since my holiday begins on Friday (yay). So I’ll try to contribute what I can. So far the first game has been okay. Interesting enough to play but yeah, mainly just hidden object screen after screen.
Also am I right thinking there’s going to be another BigFish sale on 4th of July? Could grab some more WMC and Carol Reed.
Currently Playing: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening
Recently Played: Red Embrace: Hollywood, Dorfromantik, Heirs & Graces, AI: The Somnium Files, PRICE, Frostpunk, The Shapeshifting Detective (CPT), Disco Elysium, Dream Daddy, Four Last Things, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu, The Signifier
Yes, the Midnight Mysteries are not my favorite casual games. I didn’t like the Poe one at all (one of the rare casual games I actually wasn’t motivated to finish the first time around), but the Mark Twain one was much, much better. I haven’t played the others, but I hear the Houdini one is the best of all. They apparently get much better as the series goes on.
Also am I right thinking there’s going to be another BigFish sale on 4th of July? Could grab some more WMC and Carol Reed.
You know, I keep waiting and waiting, but I think any day now the Steam summer camp sales will start. They usually only highlight the core games, but when that sale starts, pretty much their entire store goes on sale. I anticipate it being a great time to pick up some casual titles for cheap. In fact, when the sales start I might ask people which are the “must have” titles on sale. (I just picked up Phantasmat on sale at BFG last week and so far I think it is an excellent title).
Yeah I have grabbed some titles from Steam too but unless they’re ridiculously cheap (think 2e a piece) I prefer BigFish for it seems to offer better support and overall be the friendlier place.
Nancy Drew pack has usually been on sale but never under -50%, though the pack does not include the actually casual ones. But I’ll keep watching the recommendations too.
Currently Playing: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening
Recently Played: Red Embrace: Hollywood, Dorfromantik, Heirs & Graces, AI: The Somnium Files, PRICE, Frostpunk, The Shapeshifting Detective (CPT), Disco Elysium, Dream Daddy, Four Last Things, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu, The Signifier
I know it’s not a new game, but I just finished Phantasmat. It is definitely one of the best casual games I’ve played in a long while. Very high production values with great attention to detail. It had a good story and actually managed to create some suspense towards the end. I haven’t tried it yet, but the game also allows you to switch the traditional HO scenes with Match 3 screens, which sounds interesting. Anyway, highly recommended.
I know it’s not a new game, but I just finished Phantasmat. It is definitely one of the best casual games I’ve played in a long while. Very high production values with great attention to detail. It had a good story and actually managed to create some suspense towards the end. I haven’t tried it yet, but the game also allows you to switch the traditional HO scenes with Match 3 screens, which sounds interesting. Anyway, highly recommended.
Yeah I liked Phantasmat. IIRC there was a twist at the end which I liked.
anyway, on with my Midnight Mystery tour Today I played through the whole second game, Salem Witch Trials, and I have to say, my faith in the series is restored in a big way. After the disappointing experience of playing the HOG heavy first game, which deleted my save game about 2/3 through the game, and complaints from rtrooney about the second game’s stability, I was dreading it a bit, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t encounter any problems.
The story was interesting although told in a fairly incoherent way with the use of flashbacks and possible dream worlds, if that’s what they were. The good thing is that you get to play these segments as well, so even though it might be hard to follow the plot, you always know what your next in-game objective is and you get to see some areas in two different times/states which always intrigues me.
Graphics were decent, with lots of animation on each screen, and sound wasn’t too bad although nothing really stood out. Still no voice acting which is a shame, but fairly uniquely to casual games, Salem Witch Trials featured both conversation trees and inventory combining. Neither was used extensively but it was surprising to see it there and it was most certainly welcome. The game also had a map but it wasn’t very useful. Unless I was doing it wrong, it doesn’t look like you can actually travel using the map, and it was done in a sketch style so I couldn’t tell what everything on it was meant to be.
The HOGs were basic affairs with no concealed objects or puzzle objects, but they were all fun to play. The hint system was good like the last game, where you have to collect ravens to build up your bank of hints. There’s also an achievement for collecting all the Ravens which I didn’t get (booo!) There’s also a secondary, free hint system, where clicking on an item in your list shows a silhouette of the item in the corner of the screen.
There weren’t really a lot of logic puzzles in the game, and those that were there were all very easy. They included a couple of number based puzzles, including a Sudoku one, a block escape tile puzzle, and a safe cracking one.
There were also 50 hidden clover leaves around the game. Some in hidden object games, others in closeups of items and more still in the main scenes. Collecting all of them (I found 49, had to check a walkthrough for the last one as I couldn’t have lived with finding 49/50!) unlocks all the HOGs for free play. I don’t know why, but I love it when there are bonus objects in the game, and find myself playing the game for much longer than I otherwise would have to make sure I find them all, even though all I’ll get for doing it is an achievement or a game mode I won’t even play..
Overall, this was a solid game, with some fairly unique gameplay mechanics, that while not used enough to really make this game “different” were certainly welcome. After playing that, I have high hopes for the third game, which I may well start tomorrow. 7/10
I wanted to let people know that Amazon has the Women’s Murder Club trilogy on sale for $6.99 for all three games (pretty sweet). I know that many posters in the old thread said these were some of their favorites, so I’m going to pick them up.
When I first played the game it was on a different PC. Maybe with a new system it might behave better. Perhaps worth a second shot for both this and the Twain/Houdini duo.
To Interplay: I thoroughly enjoyed Phantasmat. I know it was in my top 20, if not my top ten casual games in 2011. A very fair game, although I pulled out what few remaining hairs I had left trying to find the last note on the island.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Big Fish now has a sale but only for the top rated titles.
Should I buy Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove or Phantasmat - or perhaps something else completely?
I am a girl who doesn’t mind gothic horror/romance setting at all
Currently Playing: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening
Recently Played: Red Embrace: Hollywood, Dorfromantik, Heirs & Graces, AI: The Somnium Files, PRICE, Frostpunk, The Shapeshifting Detective (CPT), Disco Elysium, Dream Daddy, Four Last Things, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu, The Signifier
Dire Grove is certainly the more difficult of the two.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Started Midnight Mysteries 3 last night, haven’t played enough to review so for now I’ll just say WOW, 1080p Casual Game!! How long I have waited for you!
Looks seriously good and about 20 minutes into the game I’ve already done more inventory combination puzzles than the last game had in its entirety!
Unless something goes seriously wrong from here, I expect this will get a rather good review!
I stated I had trouble with the second game, but that was on an older PC. Based on your comment I gave the demo a try. I was blown away by the graphics. Because of the discount sale, I bought the CE. I’m a bit put off by some of the mini-games, such as find the clovers, but that’s a minor quibble.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Just finished Eternal Night Realm of the Souls.
Pros: Bright and colorful, some nice spins on the usual HO scenes. Some good puzzles (constellations were my fave). Using spells and potions to help you along
Cons: a short game with really long loading times. A few frustrating puzzles that did not solve intuitively
Just finished the CE demo of Grim Facade: Sinister Obsession. I have said that ERS games have become indistinguishable from one another. This game though, offered some new puzzles that I haven’t seen in prior ERS games. The HOG scenes are fair. Because the game isn’t dated, i.e. not put in any specific era, it avoids the problem of non-period-specific HOG objects.
There are a few tongue-in-cheek references to Grim Facade: Mystery of Venice. And there are some major design elements the two games share, such as finding coins with which you can purchase needed inventory items, and the way hints are collected.
The game isn’t flawless. (But then, what game is?) In this case though, the flaws are somewhat obvious. In one puzzle you reveal a code to a lock. The code is clearly 548. The strategy guide says the code is 548, but the code is actually 518. Still, I found the demo entertaining and will probably buy it.
However, in my experience the bonus material in ERS games has never justified the additional expense. Ergo, I will wait for the SE version which should appear in about four weeks. In the meantime, I will look for something else.
Again, this is a mini review of the demo. My opinion might change once I’ve played the full game.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
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