Ratings by Houie

Story: There is no real story, but that’s the beauty of it. No violence, no worries - totally family friendly. Lots of needing to figure things out on your own and interpreting abstract events as they come.

Gameplay: The game has a very unique and well executed blend of music, puzzles, and exploration. This is not found in any other game I have played. The environment oozes with music and custom tones that are affected by what you do to the environment. The game is not super easy, which is very good, because I like a challenge. The only thing I would have liked to see more is a bit more variance in the puzzle mechanics - many of them are represented as synth / equalizer adjustments to get the right combination. But overall, the game did still boast a good variety of puzzles.

Visuals and Audio: Superb. Game is beautiful in both regards. ESPECIALLY audio (of course!). There are loads of environments and the music and abstract visuals actually blend together in harmony - very nice!

Note: my review doesn’t even consider the aspects of the custom synthesizer aspect of the game in which you can compose your own works of music. If you add that, and you enjoy that, this makes the game all the more enjoyable.

The trilogy was excellent and this 4th entry in the series does NOT disappoint. The games challenge your brain and provide many places and puzzles to explore. I love how the game creator took the time to create unique puzzles that require you to be attentive to your environment and require you to piece together things that you have discovered in multiple different locations. The best part is that the puzzles make sense (most of the time), so when you get the “AHA” moment when you realize how to solve a puzzle, it is extra special.

I also love how the game is family friendly and non-violent. A part of this is due to the fact that there is not a huge story to the game - it is mostly explorative and puzzly. But I believe the designer did consciously choose to make the game family friendly and I give him props for this.

Rhem 2 is still my favorite, but Rhem 4 comes very close. I believe this to be personal preference on the setting/environment; I enjoy digging around in tunnels more than being outside I guess? Rhem 4 has very interesting puzzles and game environments from my perspective. It’s actually quite awe-inspiring how the developer can continue to come up with these puzzles.

One area of improvement would be the graphics. Considering the release date of the game, the graphics could have been better (higher resolution notably). Although I understand there are limited developer resources for this.

I hope he continues making more games like these as they are hard to find.

PS: Bring your own music (in my opinion, this is more of a Pro than a Con!)

This game is very abstract, but provides a very interesting environment for which to explore. I believe it definitely is worth playing for those seeking for exploration in truly unique (and lonely) settings.

The puzzles were not terribly challenging, but did require logic thinking to solve. Although, some were a bit more intuitive than others (but what would you expect in this type of a world the game takes place in).

The game is also family friendly - anyone can play this and take full investment in it. The price is also very fair, so I do encourage to at least give it a try

This game is more about exploration than puzzle solving, although it does have a fair number of puzzles and some of which are fairly good.

It has decent voice acting, although sometimes hard to understand behind the static-radio quality; it seemed intentional but degraded the experience a bit for me.

I would also have liked a bit more music in the background; as opposed to the emptiness and eeriness that is in the game now.

The game boasts the potential to raise awareness of dementia which is a noble cause. However, it also has storytelling that tells of violence; to make it worse, it is told in a way that is like being told to children, which doesn’t seem very family friendly…

Lastly, The puzzles range from mind-numbing easy to “why would I think to do that”. To make things worse, several of the puzzles are bugged and I could not restore all the projectors because of it, this is very frustrating. FYI, here are some (WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER):

—
BrimCliff Mines: DO NOT EXIT this area when you are doing the reels puzzle, otherwise a reset will cause you to lose a reel. Similarly for the Bible puzzle.
Pinwheel Village: When doing the piano quest, the rope pulling wasn’t working for me. To finish the Export area projector, you need a sharp object. If you had previously got rid of your broken bottle or previously already used the Presser machine in the Brewery, you may be at a loss…
—

The trilogy is excellent as a whole. The games challenge your brain and provide many places and puzzles to explore. I love how the game creator took the time to create unique puzzles that require you to be attentive to your environment and require you to piece together things that you have discovered in multiple different locations. The best part is that the puzzles make sense (most of the time), so when you get the “AHA” moment when you realize how to solve a puzzle, it is extra special.

I also love how the game is family friendly and non-violent. A part of this is due to the fact that there is not a huge story to the game - it is mostly explorative and puzzly. But I believe the designer did consciously choose to make the game family friendly and I give him props for this.

Rhem 3 would be my 2nd choice out of the trilogy (Rhem 2 is still my favorite because of the puzzle and environment type). Rhem 3 still boasts some rather unique puzzles I had not seen before. Not sure where the designer keeps getting these from!

I hope he continues making more games like these as they are hard to find.

PS: Bring your own music (in my opinion, this is more of a Pro than a Con!)

The trilogy is excellent as a whole. The games challenge your brain and provide many places and puzzles to explore. I love how the game creator took the time to create unique puzzles that require you to be attentive to your environment and require you to piece together things that you have discovered in multiple different locations. The best part is that the puzzles make sense (most of the time), so when you get the “AHA” moment when you realize how to solve a puzzle, it is extra special.

I also love how the game is family friendly and non-violent. A part of this is due to the fact that there is not a huge story to the game - it is mostly explorative and puzzly. But I believe the designer did consciously choose to make the game family friendly and I give him props for this.

Rhem 2 was my favorite. It had the most interesting puzzles and game environment from my perspective. It also boasted the first major graphics revamp since the first Rhem 1.

I hope he continues making more games like these as they are hard to find.

PS: Bring your own music (in my opinion, this is more of a Pro than a Con!)

The game is different from the first 2, so be warned. It is more puzzly and less hidden-objecty. There is also a bit of repetition in the usage of the puzzle types. Overall, the game feels a bit more mechanical (also worth noting that there is less story than the first 2). However, I still enjoy this type of puzzle gameplay, so the game was fun for me.

Again, as with the other games, the graphics are stellar. Also new here is that there is voice acting! Yay!

The game is still clean and family friendly!

I think I liked the first 2 better (I really liked them, in fact). This one was a bit more hidden-objecty than I like. Although the game time was longer than the first 2. Also the story was not as involved as the first 2.

The game still boasts amazing visuals, a vast improvement in fact from the first 2.

The game is still clean and family friendly!

Even though it is a casual game, it has game-play that is sufficiently different that it distinguishes itself it a positive way.

The graphics are wonderful and the story is still great, although not as enthralling as the first one, which seemed to have more narration.

Worth mentioning, I liked the introduction of new puzzle mechanics like riddles, which also makes the game unique.

Do not expect gameplay that is very challenging, but the game still does well in providing a fantastical experience.

The game is also clean for all ages!

Difficulty: Just right

This game has a good balance of hidden object scenes (HOS’s) and puzzling/adventuring. It has great voice acting and terrific graphics. The music could have been made a bit less repetitive though and a little more uplifting

The mechanics of using a card and pet were pretty well done and did add to the gameplay enjoyment of the game. I like how the pet was not part of the HUD, as often times they are (in which case they would flash and immediately give away the fact that you need to use them in the scene).

I like the variance in the different settings that the game takes you through.

I would have preferred a little less HOS’s though, and a bit more of cheering atmosphere.

The game is suitable as a family game I believe, since there is no actual lethal violence in this game.

Difficulty: Almost just right (blackbar tips are a bit too obvious some times) (blackbar tips are the text that shows on the top of the screen when tapping on an interactive item)

This game looks great (the world is absolutely fantastical and marvelous to see), sounds great (great sound FX and voice acting), the extras in the Collector’s Edition are great (a very neat side story book about some of the little furry creatures in the game, and great bonus content including many fun puzzles), the mood is very positive and charming, some of the puzzles were quite refreshing (new, that I hadn’t seen in other casual adventures), and the focus is clearly _not_ on hidden objects (although there are a few, they are relatively painless to go through and objects are listed as silhouettes rather than as pure text), and finally the story is also very good and interesting.

Also, I like that the game is suitable to all ages, I believe, as there is not very much violence in the game (there’s a bit of spell casting later on, but it doesn’t seem to be of the “lethal” kind).

The game was very good. There is a lot of immersion and interaction in the game and the graphics, audio, voice are splendid.

The puzzles were quite original and required careful thought to find the solutions. The puzzles merged well with some interesting game mechanics, like a notebook that the player can interact with. The mechanic with the good vs. bad meters is also a clever twist for game mechanics.

The story is also very intriguing and I learned a bit about Leonardo Da Vinci in the process, which is a plus.

I was hoping for a peaceful game, but there actually is violence in this game, so it is not family friendly; I docked some marks for this.

As with other Kheops games, the games visuals are wonderful. The atmosphere and settings are very foreign to me and looked splendid. It makes you feel like you are in the old age depicted according to the story. It felt very adventurous.

The puzzles were also quite fresh, and I love how they integrated the puzzles in to the environment of the various settings.

The story is good but not too involving; the main interesting parts of the game are how they involve you directly in to the center of the story.

You may also learn some things from playing this but it is completely optional, as there is a hub that keeps track of things you encounter and give you some interesting historical facts.

The game is also suitable to all ages, as I am concerned. As any violence in the game is purely for the survival of the main protagonist and is characteristic of the age in which the story takes place.

This game makes me feel like I am interacting with a well made cartoon. It’s interactive and pretty fun. Visuals are simple but aesthetically pleasing. Voice acting and sound are top notch.

It’s much better than the first game because it has more puzzles and play time, although it is still only 4 hours in length.

I thought it would be family friendly, but there are some mentions of death and killing… So not entirely.

Wish Telltale would go back to their adventure roots and release more of these types of games.

This game is absolutely amazing for one of the first games an indie game developer release. The game has one of the best stylistic graphics/settings/animations I have ever seen. It’s not just about how sharp, crisp, are superb the graphics are - it’s about the style, and they delivered so well.

During the game’s relatively short duration (I hope future games will be longer) the player sleuths through many varieties of locations, each one unique and gorgeous and having their own puzzle(s) to tackle.

The story is minimal, but really, you are experiencing and shaping the story more than the story is being told to you. And for this type of adventure, the simple story suffices.

The game is also family friendly and has a wonderful/touching ending.

This game has all the makings of a great adventure. Interesting storyline, zany characters, gorgeous graphics, terrific voice acting, varied and interesting puzzles (that make sense mostly), and a variety of settings / environments.

The characters in the game are very memorable, especially the 2 main protagonists. Enough expose is made about them that the player can sympathize with them and understand their viewpoints and personalities. Every character is also extremely unique.

What I love the most about the game is the variation in settings/environments, characters, puzzles.

The game also boasts a decent game length.

I did subtract a little because there are some hints of possibly life-threatening violence throughout the game, although no one seemed to actually get hurt / die in the game that I can see. I don’t believe this to be a “kid friendly” game, but I can see it being acceptable for a teenage family.

This game delivers what it promises: a puzzling experience. There is minimal exploration, as the entire time you are inside a home. Although, the graphics are very excellent, not being able to interact with much of the environment as you would in most adventure games does break immersion.

The puzzles are all logical puzzles, although some seem to heavily rely on some assumptions of the player’s knowledge of existing puzzle types and assumes the user would know how to go about solving it.

Those seeking for an easy ride should look elsewhere as well, as the game has significant challenges ahead, which is a good thing too! Note: there are some very new logical puzzles in this game that I’ve never seen before, so props to Kheops for making those.

The voice acting is terrific, but there isn’t much of it, as most of the time you will be speaking to yourself and exploring alone. The music seems to have some issue and sometimes stops looping (and it noticeably is repetitive sometimes).

The story is also very minimal and it’s difficult to empathize / sympathize with the characters in the game because the descriptions of each are so brief. When you reach the end of the game you’ll understand why this is a drawback.

The game is family friendly and suitable to all ages.

The game plays much like the first one, except with much less item combining. The first game I believe is better. It seemed to have a fresh feel, whereas this sequel seems to be very similar to the first in terms of setting, atmosphere, appearance and types of puzzles. Notably, some of the puzzle mechanics are borrowed from previous Kheops titles. However, it steps away from the original game to introduce puzzles in which you play as the monkey, which is pretty nice.

I believe the fun in the first game of item combining is mostly taken away from the second game, with a few exceptions.

Overall, still a very excellent game that deserves a play-through. Again, those seeking a vivid storyline should seek elsewhere, but there is solid puzzling here. Great graphics and sound also are nice to have.

Many of the puzzles are rather non-sensical, and many of the puzzles are simply as follows:
-Do something that not many people would think of doing
-Something on the island then changes because of what you did
-Re-talk and re-interact with people/objects that you had already done so previously, to find that now you can proceed with the plot
Some of the non-sensical puzzles make Monkey Island look normal The plot also seems to be rather obscure and contrived. However, I commend the game for integrating the user’s gameplay very well with the plot.

The developers have obviously made an earnest attempt at making a big game here though, as the game is very long.

The sound and voice acting are great, and the graphics are simple but pretty well drawn as well.

Don’t be fooled by the surprisingly cheery look of the game. There are some mature content in the game discussed and hints at animal abuse tolerance. I would not rate this to be a family friendly game and docked some points because of that.

This game is just great. The presents a very important issue in a way that doesn’t seem too “preachy”. They do this by making the game great.

The game is essentially a great game that has a gripping & interesting story, jaw-dropping graphics, superb and exciting sound & music, great puzzles (that make sense - mostly).

Be prepared for some technical issues though: translations may not often be there (showing some German) and there are some minor audio glitches for earlier cinematics.

I deducted points for being very violent. I understand that to portray the message well, perhaps they need to grip the user more, but I can’t help but think this could have been achieved through other less lethal means. They have created a double-edged sword: a righteous message but achieved through perhaps unrighteous means.

Great start to a hopefully promising series. The game takes some getting used to if you play a lot of story driven games. But, please give it a try if you enjoy adventure games that are heavy on the puzzle side.

The best part of the game is that puzzles are always logical and done in very intricate ways. The satisfaction from solving puzzles is tremendous because the solution always makes sense. The world is vast to explore and so you will never feel trapped.

For being developed by one person, this game is most excellent. The graphics are not the most enticing / fantastical but they are well rendered for the time of when the game was developed (640x480). So in the graphics department the game could have been improved. At the very least, more diversity in the environment would have been nice. One must say the graphics serve a very functional purpose. In order to facilitate the intricate logical puzzles, perhaps the graphics need to be designed in this, but I can’t help but think it could have been prettier.

Regarding audio: bring your own music because there is none. I was listening to sky.fm and cranked up some New Age music which sort of suited the game. This made the game much more enjoyable. The in-game sounds are very functional and serve the purpose of giving audio queues to the user of when certain things happen.

Story: Very minimal. This is also another area the game could have improved on. At least add a bit here and there between puzzles to vary the gameplay; that would have been nice. Although, not having much of a story is good in that the game doesn’t present any immoral issues that story based games often give.

The game is non-violent and family friendly, which is awesome.

Great story, great visuals, great voice acting, great puzzle integration, relatively easy puzzles

I normally like games that are more puzzly, but this game’s story and immersion (fully integrating the puzzles too) really makes itself to be a great game.

Don’t let the game’s seemingly “normal” settings fool you, the adventuring in this game is top-notch and the strange automatons in the game keep it interesting.

The game is also family friendly, which is great also!

The game is good clean fun.

Story is interesting enough to keep you motivated and varies between episodes, which is nice.

The graphics, sound, and voice acting are top notch, as expected from Telltale.

Characters are generally likable.

The game is suitable for all ages.

The game is good clean fun.

Story is interesting enough to keep you motivated and varies between episodes, which is nice.

The graphics, sound, and voice acting are top notch, as expected from Telltale.

Characters are generally likable.

The game is suitable for all ages.

One of the best modern day adventure games.

I wouldn’t say it innovates the genre in much of any way, but it perfects it and builds on the classic adventure formula.

The art is absolutely stunning. You will feel as though you are living in a breathing fable, reminiscent of classic Disney cartoons.

And although the general premise is that the main character is very melancholic/sad (his name gives that away), there is a lot of humor in this game, although subtle.

The voice acting and music are great and very suitable for the settings.

The puzzles are great, and although in the same style as classic adventures, there were some clever twists here and there (without spoiling, like being able to use your mouth in a clever way).

The story is absolutely wonderful and the ending is superb.

The game, although it is melancholic/moody/(sad?) I feel is still suitable to most younger audiences as well as older audiences because it is mostly clean and although there is conflict, you will realize when you complete the game that the conflict was warranted and was there for a reason.

The game has a very unique feel to it. It’s hard to explain, but should be experienced first hand.

The art and characters are very charming, able to communicate ideas without explicit words.

The puzzles were fun and some were quite interesting that required the main protagonist to use his own body in strange ways, since he’s a robot.

The game is also clean and in my opinion suitable for all ages.

Return to Mysterious Island “wet my appetite” for Kheops games. I thought it would be hard to beat, but Voyage really is even a better game and longer too, and that is saying A LOT, considering how much I enjoyed Return to Mysterious Island.

This game has a wide assortment of puzzles (inventory, logic, environmental, and some “sort of timed” ones - no fear on the last type, they are easy) and so many different adventurers will enjoy the game, especially because many of the puzzles can be solved in different ways; for example the store can be used to buy items if you hate chemistry puzzles.

Notably, some puzzles put in a new twist I never saw in other adventure games. I won’t spoil it, so I won’t list them.

Great graphics (not surprising since it is Kheops who developed it), superb audio (so many ambient sounds in this game and voice acting is top notch and the music extremely well done and very suitable to the atmosphere). The story is minimal, so for story fanatics, this may not be your cup of tea.

The game also breaks new ground on immersion. When I played the game I felt like I was on the moon and trying to adapt to my surroundings, learning about the environment and culture/language of its inhabitants - creatures and plants alike.

The game is well suitable for all ages in my opinion, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Before I tried this game, I thought all 1st person adventure games were “Myst clones.” This game completely changed my perspective on it. The puzzle mechanics of this game are awesome. For those who are fans of item collection and combining, this is your dream come true! The introduction of a monkey companion and multi-item recipes is great. There is a great variety of puzzles ranging from (mostly) item puzzles, to logic puzzles, to trivia (I know, trivia may sound not so fun, but they way they incorporated it in to the story and gameplay was marvelous).

Great graphics (not surprising since it is Kheops who developed it), superb audio (so many ambient sounds in this game and voice acting is top notch). The story is minimal, so for story fanatics, this may not be your cup of tea.

One other thing is that the game is quite open ended, puzzles can be solved multiple ways, and some puzzles are even optional. I actually have created some interesting items in the game that I never got to use. So there is some definite replay value for completionists

However, I deducted some points due to the fact that I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with war and unnecessary violent conflict, but there was quite a bit of that toward the end.

A great addition in the classic adventure style of gaming. It has all the fixings. I deducted some points for some “immoral” things you may do on your journey, including some mild(?) animal abuse and causing people (although I guess technically these aren’t really “people?”) to die. Although, the general premise of the game is rather dark anyway (you are trying to stop evil).

The story is one of its best parts, as it integrates very nicely with the puzzles (which by the way are decently challenging and have good variance) and is very original. The ending is also very good and touched me emotionally.

The game sort of has its own sense of religion, so be warned if this may offend you.

I loved the first 2 Deponia games. They had great graphics, sound, puzzle variety, humor, character depth, story, and good length. Mind you, they weren’t perfect games either, but they were very good, very likeable.

Although this game shares many of the same traits, it fails in several categories:
1) Perhaps because it is part of a trilogy, the game ceases to innovate beyond what was done in the first 2 games (innovation meaning story, puzzles, character development, environment),
2) There is A LOT of crude and offensive humor in this game,
3) This game forces the player to perform acts of immorality (things I wouldn’t be proud of doing in real life).

The game is innovative. It conforms to no formulas or rules previously established by adventure games, except that it has a main story to tie all the sleuthing together. Great visual artwork, great sound. Minimal talking, yet conveys the thoughts and intentions of all characters.

Charming and memorable characters.

Clean conflicts and actions that are “pg” friendly.

Great replayability as there are multiple solutions to puzzles.

Best part for last: super awesome new puzzle mechanics!

Double fine at its best! I look forward to Broken Age!

Con: I wish there was more!

Great clean fantasy game. Another winner from Daedalic. Not quite as thought provoking or humorous as The Whispered World though.

The story is also a bit hard to understand.

A sure win for fantasy fans!

Also, this adventure in my opinion in suitable for all ages.

Title summarizes most of my thoughts, but this is a great re-vitalization of old school adventure games to fit the modern “pretty looking” age.

Great puzzle mechanics, goofy and varied characters, okay storyline, great graphics, great sound.

I would give this game a higher score if it didn’t capitalize on so much dark humor: some of the humor is acceptable though, but some are very morbid.

This game has some of the most detailed graphics I have ever seen in hand drawn gaming. The puzzles are also some of the most fresh I have ever seen. The story is thought provoking also; the ending was very good for what it’s purpose serves. The music suits the atmosphere and is very appropriate. The voice acting is believable and as usual of Daedalic, very good.

That being said, I would rate this game higher if it were not so dreary, sad, violent, and gory. It is definitely not a game that is suitable for kids.

This is my favorite of the Deponia series, which is also my favorite series out of all of Daedalic games.

Best of all, it doesn’t suffer from the “dark humor” syndrome found in the Edna & Harvey series. The humor here can be good and clean.

This is my favorite game series out of all of Daedalic games.

Best of all, it doesn’t suffer from the “dark humor” syndrome found in the Edna & Harvey series. The humor here can be good and clean.

A great sequel to the first. However, the first game set the standards very high, and the sequel simply is not as good as the first. That being said, still a very great game.

This game is definitely a bold step for the company’s first major release, and a bold step for modern day adventure games in general.

The game follows the same style as the other two. I wouldn’t say it does much to improve the gameplay. Again, there are some unique puzzles not found in the other games.

This is probably the best of the series in my opinion. It had some very interesting puzzles that I didn’t find in the others, and the plot was also quite interesting.

I particularly enjoyed how the game tries to involve you in action sequences as much as possible, making the game very interactive. However, there are some sensitive subject areas commented and joked about, so be warned. Also, there is quite a bit of violence in this game, although often it is presented in a “PG” sort of way.