"Twilight Oracle": my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot. 

Excerpt: While Twilight Oracle is certainly fun to puzzle through, the plot is little more than an easy excuse to present a bunch of fetch quests and inventory puzzles. These are simple enough and don't take much thought, especially since the game isn't all that big. As long as you click on everything and everyone you see - often more than once, mind! - you shouldn't have much of a problem. I got through the story myself in only three hours. And there lies the rub, because I wanted the fun to last, I wanted to see more, I wanted to utilize the kids' special abilities more than once. Without spoiling anything, there's a huge deception going on and an ulterior motive for having sent these kids on their mission, but the villain in the story isn't much of a mastermind. So if you're looking to delve into the equivalent of a full interactive novel, you're better off looking elsewhere, but taken as a short story, Twilight Oracle really works and you'll definitely enjoy it while it lasts.

Classic time: "Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail" playthrough

New game!

In between reviewing Conrad Stevenson's Paranormal P.I. for Adventure Game Hotspot and testing Old Skies for Wadjet Eye Games, I found a little time to go on a classic Sierra Quest: Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail!

I loved looking for the Holy Grail as Indiana Jones.

As King Arthur... Not so much...

I'm one hour into the game and I've just defeated the Black Knight in a challenge of joust by pure dumb luck. No idea how I did it, but I did it.

Yeah, I Heath Ledgered his ass!

Other than that, I lost count of how many times I already saved and restored in this game. First I forgot to pray, so I was pretty much decapitated by the castle gates when they "accidentally" fell on me. Got killed by a boar because I didn't have a spear. Got killed by a boar even when I had a spear. My mule ran away with my provisions, but it doesn't seem like there's a way to prevent that.

First of many deaths... It's Sierra, after all...

Anyways, lots going on in this game, lots to explore, many ways to die and I'm also expecting a couple of dead ends to be honest.

Very animal friendly game, this... You can't even pick up your kill. Guess that's more a Quest for Glory thing...

BUT it's one of the classics, one I never played before, and you just have to try those out if you want to call yourself a true adventure game aficionado.

First half hour of the game: exploring all the rooms in Camelot.

I like using that word... Aficionado...

Oh, I know exactly who she wants to see returned all right...

Anyways, I'm on my way to Glastonbury Tor, since legend has it that's where Joseph of Arimathea brought the Grail, so logically speaking that's the first place to look for it.

I'm on a podcast! Again!

I've joined Seoirse Dunbar of Adventure Games Podcast to talk about the new Indiana Jones game, Tavern Talk, Conrad Stevenson's Paranormal P.I., The Fidelio Incident and The Night Is Grey!

"Enypnion ReDreamed": my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot. 

Excerpt: Dream worlds are ideal for adventure game craziness, because anything goes, so you shouldn’t be at all surprised to suddenly be confronted by a living crescent moon lounging with a book under a floor lamp. While I’m usually more a fan of realistic settings, Enypnion ReDreamed reminded me of a childhood filled with my own wildest dreams. The gameplay is quite easy overall, with casual inventory puzzles and fetch quests, but the occasional logic puzzle is so hard it’s sure to keep you occupied for a while, perhaps even frustratingly so. But then you’ll solve it, and be rewarded with another beautiful cinematic that inspires you to push on to the end. It’s a short game even with these few head-scratchers, but it really doesn’t need to be longer, because there’s only so far you can stretch out a story in which you move from one location to the next without really knowing what exactly is going on. Nevertheless, there’s a fun and charming world to explore for a few hours, and the whole experience really does pass by like a relaxing dream sequence, even if it too will likely soon fade from memory.

"The Night is Grey": my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot. 

Excerpt: During my eight hours of gameplay, The Night Is Grey constantly kept me on my toes. It challenged me with some doozy logic puzzles I was able to solve just before frustration set in, but thankfully its more straightforward inventory puzzles were able to balance the difficulty. The gorgeous scenery and frame-by-frame animation blew me away, and the chemistry between man and child, so well presented through their dialogue, made me forget they weren’t even voiced. There’s tension throughout the journey, and the quest to keep Hannah safe really makes you feel responsible, motivating you to hurry up and find your way out of danger. And then there are the story twists, the constant hinting at Graham’s past, the strange occurrences with the wolves, and a memorable ending that is sure to make you do a double take. Overall, it’s a wonderful journey that combines all of the elements that I enjoy most, and I consider it a must-play for other fans of traditional adventure games.

"This Bed We Made": my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot. 

Excerpt: I must admit, I was hoping to be a bigger snoop in this game, so I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t go into every room of the hotel at will and see everything there was to see. And yet while the narrative hijacked my intentions, it also raised the bar. This Bed We Made could very well have been a Hitchcock movie back in the 50s. The result is more of an interactive story than a true adventure game, pretty much devoid of typical puzzles, instead challenging you to think about your every move and what the repercussions might be. The intricate narrative encompasses the game’s global “puzzle,” and is certainly harder to figure out than which item or dialogue option to choose. It’s obvious there are several variations to the ending – concerning your own employment at the hotel, your relationship with your confidant, and which suspect is charged with murder – but even after a single playthrough, my curiosity is fully satisfied, as I found myself content with my particular ending. It’s a different, gameplay-lite take on the detective genre, but if you’re looking for a riveting mystery in which you leave no sheets rumpled, and even have a say in the final outcome, This Bed We Made is one you won’t want to turn down.