January '20 Play Log

The story isn’t particularly interesting and isn’t even concluded at the end of the game. Most of it isn’t even remotely challenging to anyone remembers high school physics. I’m very much a fan of teaching and learning science, but this felt like a waste of time. It would only be relevant if you were in high school, and there’s not enough interesting content to keep the average teenager’s attention. If the story were done much better and felt urgent the boring/easy puzzles could probably have been forgiven.

Pros:

• Nice graphics

Cons:

• 90% reading, 5% solving puzzles, 5% walking to the next one
• The journal chapters you find along the way have the relevant parts for the next puzzle highlighted, all you have to do is enter it into the puzzle
• The only puzzles that are challenging are the few where it’s unclear what it wants you to do
• The story is boring, and seems to have been an afterthought
• The story doesn’t have any conclusion, but also doesn’t really seem like it’s set up for a sequel
• Only the intro is voice acted, which is good because it’s not well done

Verdict: 3/10

I have to admit I was disappointed by this. At first I wasn’t sure whether to recommend it or not, since it does some things very well. It did start well, but when it comes down to it though I just didn’t enjoy it overall. It felt kind of pointless. There’s a lesson in it with a very roundabout delivery, but it’s just not a lesson that really resonated with me. It didn’t help that I found the ending somewhat depressing. If you don’t like depressing endings/are looking for humour this probably isn’t for you. On the other hand if you like the idea of an artistic sort of experience, you may enjoy this.

Pros:

• Well voice acted
• Has a lesson in it

Cons:

• No challenge
• The lesson/story didn’t resonate with me
• I didn’t find any humour in it
• I found the ending a bit depressing

Verdict: 4/10

Cute, reasonably challenging, and enjoyable. Has some weaknesses but overall I’d recommend it to adventure game lovers. It reminded me a bit of Zelda games personally (though I really don’t play anymore, so Zelda fans may disagree with me). The spell system is pretty unique and the most flexible I’ve ever seen. If you’re a creative type you can make some pretty interesting spells. If you’re more like me, you can find some in guides/online/etc.

Pros:

• Nice art style
• When you are behind something there’s an outline of your character so you can still tell where you are
• The spell system is extremely flexible, letting you invent some pretty awesome spells.
• Despite having a fixed camera, the angle was usually pretty good

Cons:’

• The story never caught me emotionally, I never felt invested in it. I think they could have done much better here
• A certain part of the ending that was supposed to be a surprise was actually pretty predictable
• Having a map that zoomed in on the local area would be nice

Verdict: 8/10

Overall a well made game, but I found the story depressing. I’m curious how this will tie into LiS2.

Pros:

• The music fits the feel of the game well
• Well voice acted
• Seems realistic from the point of view of a child
• You find more background information on what’s going on as you explore

Cons:

• Depressing no matter what you do

Verdict: 7/10

Similar to the previous 3 games but feels a bit different. If you liked them you’ll like it, but don’t expect any improvements.

Pros:

• Somewhat interesting story that’s not just a continuation of the original trilogy
• Humorous parts

Cons:

• Still no hint system!
• I found it too difficult to do without a walkthrough (though it’s no more difficult than the original games)
• There aren’t any songs at the end of each chapter, just at the beginning and end. The chorus guys have been given electronic sound effects which sound ridiculous
• There’s another pointless collectible achievement. I wouldn’t have noticed a single hat without using a guide.
• Came across a bug near the end. If you find yourself unable to get across the bridge to the car, exit and restart the game and it’ll work fine

Verdict: 7/10

If you liked the first two you’ll like this one. The biggest flaw is that it lacks a hint system. It can be fairly difficult and since there’s a lot of things you can do trial and error isn’t a great option when you’re stuck.

Pros:

• The songs between acts continue to be marvellous
• Voice acting continues to be good

Cons:

• Quite difficult in parts
• Desperately needs a hint system

Verdict: 7/10