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Casual Games Thread

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I also finished Emberwing - Lost Legacy. Since Becky wrote such an excellent review of the game, there’s no need for me to rehash everything she said.

I must say that I did have a problem with hotspots in the game. One example: There is a lever you need in the game. You will use it to raise a gate. The lever is under a rock. You only have a few tools in your inventory, so you must use one of them, right? So you try all the tools on the lever, and none of them work. Using a Hint confirms that this is the place you are supposed to be. I finally resorted to looking at a walkthrough. In fact, you do have the tool required. Except the precise spot the tool can be used to release the handle is no more than a few pixels wide, and it takes more than a few random clicks to find a way co complete the puzzle. There were too many puzzles like this. While the game was nice, my experience with these puzzles made me feel as if I wasn’t enjoying the game as much as I otherwise would have.

     

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rtrooney - 26 September 2014 09:30 PM

Finished Other Side - Tower of Souls. Good, but not great. I had some problems with the latter part of the game. Part of that was the graphics. It seemed that Tiki ran out of money and subcontracted the latter HO scenes to ERS. (Complete with non-period-specific items that plague ERS games.)

I finished Other Side: Tower of Souls and loved it right up until the end as well. I thought it showed promise and hoped that it would be as good as Tiki Lab’s E.P.I.C. Wishmaster Adventures, but it didn’t finish as strongly as Wishmaster did. The game does a good job of keeping you guessing about which of the characters you should trust and tells a story that has a couple of different interpretations, which increased the mystery aspect rather effectively.

I especially enjoyed Boris, whose attitude about life is unusual, to say the least. The writing in the game was good, and I looked forward to hearing from the cynical blue cat. I got 81 out of 100 of the collectables. I paid attention way more than usual and scoured every environment for the cat’s paws, and I still fell way short in terms of finding them all. I think collectables make more sense on a replay than on a first time through, where they tend to slow the story down.

I liked the little touches in the graphics—the demonic eyes peering out and the bizarre rubber duckies. I wish they had expounded a bit on the rabbit fixation—maybe just sheer whimsy?

At game’s end, when given the choice between two endings, I chose not to trust Beatrice (who, for the last portion of the game was sometimes called Beatrix. I thought it was a pretty good outcome. I’m curious as to whether the alternate ending was satisfying, if anyone else happened to choose it.

Anyway, to illustrate the way the Hidden Object screens change near the end, here are a couple of examples of the oddball screens that were the norm through the beginning and middle of the game.

And then the way the HO screens looked at the end—much more traditional.

 

     
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I’m replaying the game. Hope to up my pathetic collectibles score. But mainly because I want to experience the second ending.

Just like the late graphics, the Beatrice/Beatrix problem can be seen as evidence they ran out of money. Quality control is probably the first item to get the axe when $$ run short.

     

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OK! It’s time to start thinking about a new Casual Community Playthrough.

A few things are different from the last time.

I will open the nominating/voting page tomorrow. We will not do our nominating/voting on the Casual Games thread.

Also, those games that received enough votes to make it through to the second tier of voting will automatically be nominated. (Excluding Angelica Weaver of course.) E.I.P.C. - Wishmaster is an example. Those games not making it into the second tier, or not receiving any votes will not be automatically nominated. House of 1000 Doors - Serpent Flame is an example.

That does not mean that those games can’t be re-nominated. Just that they won’t automatically appear on the ballot.

The balloting process opens tomorrow, October 5, and closes at midnight on October 18.

As I mentioned earlier, if you feel strongly about a game, please consider leading the playthrough.

I hope we have as much fun this time around as we did with the Angelica Weaver playthrough.

     

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rtrooney - 04 October 2014 01:41 PM

OK! It’s time to start thinking about a new Casual Community Playthrough.

Yay! Sounds good.

Meanwhile… I finished the Fright CE which takes place in a setting I’ve never visited before in a casual game – a Kansas farm and motel in the middle of cornfields. The time period is the 1950s and early 1960s. This is a horror adventure with lots of paranormal stuff going on, with black fog swirling around, creepy scarecrows that won’t stay quietly attached to their poles, and a farmer and his wife who are even more gothic than the couple in the famous painting.

I was caught up in the mystery and enjoyed sneaking around the house and motel, uncovering past events that led a wholesome family into a strange form of corruption.

This game strives to be different than the average Hidden Object casual game, and it succeeds. The setting and time period is not only unusual, but the characters are memorable, with a chatty bus driver, a menacing farmer, a put-upon farmer’s wife, and a mysterious girl who hangs out on the roof of the farmhouse. (I did this a couple of times myself as a kid – the barn roof is a great place until your mother sees you up there.)

Characters are portrayed in full-motion video. Sometimes this makes them more menacing (there’s one particular jump scare that still has me jittery), but at times the actors are a bit over-the-top. Occasionally the voices are not in sync with the actors’ mouths, and the lag is significant enough that it drags down the believability factor.

The HO screens are highly interactive, effectively becoming puzzles in their own right. The game has plenty of inventory challenges, most of which are actually sensible, and some mini-games that suit the time period and the story, with glimpses into old-fashioned Americana. There are also references to The Wizard of Oz—these bring back memories of another story set partly in the Kansas heartland.

Tim mentioned earlier that he didn’t think that the bonus chapter was essential, but I disagree. I understood the characters’ motivations much better after the bonus chapter, and I thought that was important in order to fully grasp what was happening in the story.

I still don’t understand the last video at the end of the SE portion, though. Did the reconciliation between sisters somehow change the timeline? Or does the picnic involve one living girl, one ghost girl (who doesn’t look ghostly anymore) and the bus driver talking to a completely different person, having been resurrected somehow?

 

     

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Becky - 05 October 2014 12:16 PM

Meanwhile… I finished the Fright CE which takes place in a setting I’ve never visited before in a casual game – a Kansas farm and motel in the middle of cornfields.
Tim mentioned earlier that he didn’t think that the bonus chapter was essential, but I disagree. I understood the characters’ motivations much better after the bonus chapter, and I thought that was important in order to fully grasp what was happening in the story.

I still don’t understand the last video at the end of the SE portion, though. Did the reconciliation between sisters somehow change the timeline? Or does the picnic involve one living girl, one ghost girl (who doesn’t look ghostly anymore) and the bus driver talking to a completely different person, having been resurrected somehow?

I played Fright SE and enjoyed it a great deal, mostly for the reasons you stated. I don’t remember the ending that well, I need to replay it, but I seem to remember being a bit confused.

     
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Becky - 05 October 2014 12:16 PM

Tim mentioned earlier that he didn’t think that the bonus chapter was essential, but I disagree. I understood the characters’ motivations much better after the bonus chapter, and I thought that was important in order to fully grasp what was happening in the story.

I think what I said was

I played the Fright CE. Got it as part of a BFG BOGO. It was pretty good. Not sure I would have bought the CE if purchasing the game by itself. The bonus game is interesting, but not worth the extra money even if it does tie up some loose ends.

Which is a “bit” different than saying it wasn’t essential. What I meant was that tying up some loose ends was not worth twice the price if I had to buy the game on its own. But I know how you hate loose ends. Smile

     

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rtrooney - 05 October 2014 06:44 PM

But I know how you hate loose ends. Smile

Hey, did I just see a loose end scuttling across the floor? Get me my solid steel Grizzly trap with cast jaws and hand-forged cross and bottom pieces! Pan

     
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Did ya get him? Naughty

     

For whom the games toll,
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No. By the time I’d sorted through the tractor tire, the go-kart, the cowboy hat, the cattle prod, the weed killer, the swim wings, the rooster hood ornament, the team roping championship belt buckle, the crushed beer can, the painting of the Grand Canyon, the ancient gas pump, the pitchfork, and the Boise State Fiesta Bowl bumper sticker—the loose end had gotten away.

     
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We were talking a few weeks ago about the game Fright, and what a strange game title it was by being a single word.

And now we’re playing another single word title, Phantasmat, in the casual playthrough. And yet another single-word title, FACES, was nominated for the playthrough.

These are the only three games I can think of that have a single word as the game’s title.

Most are something like Grim Facade: The Artist and The Pretender.

     

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Here’s a title that fits the bill that Tim just described: Witch’s Pranks: Frog’s Fortune. I finished it a while back – it’s different than the typical Hidden Object game because it has a comedic tone. You stumble upon a witch’s tower and are imprisoned, along with two frog princes. It seems that the witch has decided it’s time to get a husband. She has a magic mirror that doubles as a portal, and she has nabbed Prince William and Prince Alex using the mirror.

The witch’s courting technique is to turn each prince into a frog and tell him that he’s doomed to forever remain a frog unless he kisses her – at which point he’ll turn back into a prince and will have to marry her. Neither prince has agreed to her terms, so the princes stay frogs, the witch spends most of her life at the beauty parlor becoming lovely enough to tempt one of them, and you are responsible for seeing to it that the frogs escape her clutches.

There isn’t much story after the introduction of the scenario – what there is, though, is a merry romp through each frog’s stomping grounds (leaping grounds?), solving puzzles along the way. You encounter lots of variety in the puzzles, from pattern arrangement to potion/recipe creation to mechanical repairs/constructions, and lots of variety in the difficulty level, from easy to middling to dastardly. Hidden objects challenges are shape-based, fragmented pieces of items, and are infrequent.

The locales are stylized and fairy-tale-like with extravagant, whimsical details and the occasional odd sight gag. Neither frog can speak, so each tries his best to communicate with croaky noises and pantomime gestures. The animation of these froggy antics is probably the most enjoyable part of the game. I’m including a few poses to give you an idea:

Prince Alex

Prince William

As for the ending: my experience with beasts-turning-into-princes (such as it is) has been rather disappointing in the past. When the clever, brave, one-of-a-kind (or in this case, two-of-a-kind) beast turns into his human form, somehow he seems to shrink as a personality. Who would really want to trade in an adorable frog (who never says a word of complaint or criticism) for a bog-standard prince? Even a handsome, bog-standard prince? It’s a transformational dilemma.

I won’t say whether the frogs in Witch’s Pranks turn into princes that are actually worthy of the frogs they were meant to be. You’ll have to play the game to find out.

     
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Becky,
I just played the demo of this game an hour or so ago and decided to get the full version with one of my free game codes.  The frogs are wonderfully goofy and the stylized graphics are bright and beautiful.  I’m going back to play some more right now.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Glad you’re enjoying it—goofy is exactly right. I’m curious as to what you think as you play further in, and whether you feel as I do that Prince William is the better frog.

     
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Did everyone see the lead article on the home page? Casual game, Evil Pumpkin: The Lost Halloween, was reasonably well reviewed. Unfortunately, there was no buying link accompanying the article.

I Googled it. It’s available on BFG for Mac only. Thought that strange, but I checked and it’s not available there for any other platform. Price is $6.99 or one credit. It’s also available on Steam for $9.99.

Since it was reviewed on AG, that means it is a hidden-object-free game. I was thinking of suggesting it as a bonus Halloween game after finishing Phantasmat. I’ve never purchased a game from Steam. (I did try several years ago, but had a problem with their method of payment, and haven’t gone back since. Maybe things have changed.)

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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