Adventure Gamers - Forums

Lady Kestrel - 16 November 2015 01:09 AM

It reminds me of a sci-fi novel I read years ago about a man who could change the world by dreaming.  I forget the title, but I’ll have to search my library database to see if I can find it again.  I think it was also made into a movie.

The Man Who Thought Life?
Book from 1965 movie from 1969.

That title doesn’t sound familiar, Izno.  In the one I’m thinking of, a psychiatrist who wants to change the world for the better gets involved, but, of course, things go wrong.  For example, the problems of racism disappear because everyone in the world turns a neutral and boring gray color.

Yes, that’s it, Becky!  Thank you so much!  It was one of the first LeGuin novels I read, and it made me a life-long fan of hers.  I do remember the first made-for-tv movie as well.

I finished the new Lost Lands game.

I liked it, but didn’t love it. Perhaps playing it so soon after I finished leading the Lost Lands - The Four Horsemen playthrough diminished my enjoyment.

If you played Four Horsemen you know everything you need to know about Golden Curse. The interface is identical. Navigating via the interactive map is the same process. The dwarf, who played your sidekick in the first game, is replaced with a little girl, who also happens to be Maaron’s granddaughter. While Maaron is the common figure in both games, all the other characters are different. Except for you, the protagonist.

The game’s storyline is based on the King Midas’ curse theme. I.e., if you touch gold, you’re turned to stone. Albeit with a reverse twist in that the four main antagonists were once turned to stone, but now something has happened that has allowed them release from their stone bodies, and freed them to reap their havoc. It is, of course, your job to put them back where they belong.

You are less a facilitator in this game than you were in Four Horsemen. That is, you play a greater role in actually doing things, and much less of a role in simply enabling others to do the heavy lifting.

I did purchase the CE version. The Four Horsemen’s bonus game did an excellent job of explaining how the dwarf came to your rescue. I was hoping that Golden Curse’s bonus game would do something similar. Such was not the case.

The bonus game provides a backstory for one of the game’s minor characters. Unfortunately, it is a backstory we already knew because the character already told us how she came to reside where you found her. All the bonus game provides is a visual experience to the narrative. For the additional money you could have bought a whole new game. Not worth buying the CE.

Hang onto Dark Alley until you’ve played the demo. I don’t think I said I loved it. Only that it is similar to Azada. Both are ERS games and both are HO-free.

That’s a shame. I bought the first game based on your recommendation, and liked it very much. I wasn’t aware of the sequel, but think I will try the demo first.

BTW - Nice review on the front page.   

I was also going to say that the “comment” section at the bottom of the review was missing, but I see that it is missing on all the review/preview posts.

I don’t remember whether the demo gets you to the actual motel rooms and their door lock puzzles. It’s the type of puzzle I just despise. I.e. the solution is patently obvious, as is the technique for arriving at the solution. But the method for achieving the solution is tedious beyond reason. And they only get worse/harder with each successive door.

You either “gut it out” or use the Skip. When you Skip you are essentially saying “The puzzle isn’t difficult. I just have better things to do with my time.”

Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain is part of a series from Orneon with a unique gimmick: flip the lights on/off, and the room changes… (see below for example screenshots) I couldn’t say whether the other version is earlier/later in time, or some supernatural alternate universe. But it does add another layer of spookiness to an exotic location in Thailand. This game is worth it for the visuals alone and the level of detail gives a feeling of solid reality despite the paranormal element. (Some may find the colors a tad murky, but I thought they were appropriate to the creepy storyline.)

The game follows a basic rescue storyline, in this case a friend who is trapped and about to be sacrificed by some scary weird demons. It is not strictly linear, so you wind up doing a lot of running around, and alas there is no map. However, this keeps you firmly grounded in this small town in the jungle, where they are apparently trying to get the tourist trade for their ancient temples, as the scenes include a hotel, a gift shop, and a museum.

There are a couple of dozen HO scenes, most of which fit in to the locale. Actually about a dozen scenes, which are mostly visited twice. About half the HOs are “put-back” scenes where you start with a pile of objects and have to fit them into the right place. Mini-puzzles range from moderately easy to extremely hard. Most are the kind of thing we’ve seen before, but adapted to the story, and often with a new twist.

There are almost no other characters (although you have some statues who will help you), so voiceovers are not an issue. The music is alright at first but becomes horribly repititous, and I had to mute it. I played the standard version; the CE version offers only an extra chapter, integrated guide, and wallpapers.

I loved the feeling of visiting a totally different part of the world and found the gameplay intriguing and at times challenging. Although it is an older game missing a few of the features we now find de rigeur (e.g. teleporting), Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain is a a solid 3 (out of 4) stars.

The first screenshot shows the museum when you first walk in. Notice the “halo” on the valve at the left. Touch that, and the room changes to the second screenshot.

Image Attachments

This immediately went onto my BUY list. And it moved to the TOP of the list.

Like Emerald City Confidential, there is another game out there that straddles the Adventure/Casual fence. It’s called DaVinci Secrets or something close to that. It’s available on BFG.

I vaguely recall there being a camera obscura puzzle in that game that does the “now you see it, now you don’t” type puzzle. I love the architecture lines in the first screenshot.

Did you play the SE or CE? If the latter, was it worth it?