Posted on: October 2, 2015

Sat42

Games: 395 Reviews: 15

A beautiful tale and a worthy adventure

I had heard of this video game years ago, and yet only got around to playing it in 2015. Simply put, if what you're primarily looking for is a good tale in another reality, then this game is made for you. If good atmosphere is something you value in particular, then again, this game is made for you. I could say the same about the graphics but those have obviously aged to a certain extent, so I'll just say that it is the art direction that shines. And frankly, while gameplay could have been better, it still manages to be good overall: while the game belongs to a genre which was often labelled as "Myst-like" (especially back then), it can reasonably be said that Atlantis: The Lost Tales made the classic formula evolve somewhat, specifically by introducing action sequences which require the player to act quickly in order to progress. And while trial and error is part of the mix, make no mistake (heh): some of the timed events can be overcome with intelligent guessing, and besides that, there are plenty of logical puzzles to keep you busy. Oh, and it goes without saying that the presence of life or death situations does manage to create some genuine moments of tension! In my humble opinion, it is this combination of brain-racking sections, moments of contemplation, and action sequences that makes Atlantis: The Lost Tales a more interesting adventure game to play than a lot of point-and-click adventure games of the 1990s (including the original Myst - not talking about any of the sequels). I might as well restate what everyone knows already: the atmosphere is really good, thanks to the presence of wondrous scenes, beautiful music, and the actual story (it becomes gradually more complex and engaging as you go along). The graphics, as such, inevitably suffer from being low res by today's standards, but they were truly fantastic at the time of the game's release, and hence they have aged well, and will look somewhere between good and very good. In short: a very good game.

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Posted on: June 2, 2017

23-down

Verified owner

Games: 283 Reviews: 5

Atlantis 1

While I don't own the GOG version but the original version I gladly recommend this game to anybody. Be advised when I first played this game I was a kid and 7 to 8 years old. I can only tell you this that it inspired me so much. While the game is pure fiction it awakened my interest in history and myths and I especially love everything that's related to Atlantis in one way or another. Be it this game or things such as Stargate Atlantis. Due to the fact that I don't own the GOG. Version I can't tell you how things will be running for you. But a general problem of the PC cd release nowadays is that npc Animations played too fast which might ruin the immersion although there were several fan made fixes that address these issues. Should the same apply for the GOG version just google for solutions. There were certain tools that slowed down your cpu speed or used only 1 cpu to bring it close to the Pentium 1 or Pentium 2 class that was high-end class back then. To the game itself in general: It has many complex riddles and also many scenes which require certain clicks at a certain time if done incorrectly resulting in your death. For that fact the game received many negative reviews throughout the internet but honestly, it's nothing uncommon for adventure games dating back from the 80s to the late 90s. Autosaves were well made in that game and you could easily skip talk scenes by pressing the mouse button. So don't be too afraid of that aspect. In general, I did enjoy the story quite a lot and gladly recommend it to people. The ending might seem to appear a little abrupt and there's another thing in game, a certain cube which might seem a little far stretched. But other than that it was a quite enjoyable game that I can recommend to get. In fact the entire game series is very well made. But keep in mind that the follow-up titles are only partially referring back to the original Atlantis 4 being the biggest exception which lets you play once more in Atlantis itself.

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Posted on: November 7, 2014

dmaravelis

Games: 319 Reviews: 4

Old time classic

I think it was Easter of 1998 when a friend of mine gave to me the Atlantis The Lost tales CD pack. Was the second 3D adventure after Lighthouse. The re-seller here in Greece where translating then in Greek some of Cryo adventures titles. For the Pc's then it was absolutely amazing. The graphics the music the story. For me some riddles where tough. Some more logic but you had to search very very much. I'm glad the GOG have it. About the gameplay as I can recall I didn't have any problems but (as a fellow player here wrote) you had to "lose"-"die" many times so you can progress with the story. So save often as possible because so choice don't turning back. That's all. Hope you like it as I did.

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Posted on: August 16, 2019

Lars_Algotsson

Verified owner

Games: 20 Reviews: 1

More to it that meets the eye!

Firstly, I'm a sucker for puzzle games since it was my absolute first genre of PC-games I've ever dealt with. Secondly, take this review with a grain of salt since this is nostalgic for me and my personal resumé of the game itself, story-driven and etc. might not be what YOU might experience. This is a good game, that has that kind of puzzle elements you'd expect with logical thinking and an exploration-driven story of a long-gone, well known lost civilisation, Atlantis. HOWEVER, the story itself have almost nothing to do with this mythological civilisation! It's a vague story in such way that this game could really had another title. You play as a heroic characteristic protagonist whose quest is to save a lost/kidnapped "queen" of this civilisation, which is presented at the start of the game. As said, the story is quite weak and puzzles start to take form early on and you'll leave places for other places with nothing but a driven straight-forward mission to get her back. You'll find new people along the way and get to know these characters in a interesting way that will leave you satisfied by the outcome in some way nonetheless. The game itself is not of a long story but it's a stuffed with good graphics (for it's time), very good music and some really interesting puzzles, therefore 4/5 for me. This game became a serie, which I'm not fond of since the others "following" games are not at all as good and has nothing to do with neighter the same characters or the same protagonist as this first original game had. So this is somewhat of a standalone story that is a exciting journey as it is. I do recommend this gem. Mostly of its atmosphere, and hectic momentens of thinking.

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Posted on: October 27, 2022

Noenki

Verified owner

Games: 459 Reviews: 10

Looks and sounds great, plays bad.

Atlantis: The Lost Tales is a great looking game for it's time, the pre-rendered graphics are diverse and detailed, and the music is a masterpiece of new age atmosphere! The actual gameplay and story is weak however. The story is simple and feels like something from a cartoon, the characters are flat and the voice acting is mediocre to bad. The puzzles are where the game fails hardest though. This game has the dreaded "oh i missed this item earlier, better hope i saved or I'll have to restart", along with puzzles that I honestly feel must have been designed with aliens in mind, it certainly didn't make sense to my human brain. It's a shame, but at least i got a nice soundtrack to listen to out of it.

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