Simon the Sorcerer: 25th Anniversary Edition

Cash grab

Despite all the bad reviews i bought this game, since i´m a big fan of Simon the Sorcerer. Unfortunately, the game crashes right after the start, when the kid opens the book. That money was wasted. I´ll play the original again and forget this piece of crap.

None of the negative reviews seem to mention this, so it is worth pointing out again that the 25th anniversary edition on GOG comes bundled with the "legacy" edition; the original game devoid of any "improvements". You get both versions at no extra cost, so if you don't want the 25th anniversary edition, you don't have to play it. I am generally wary of any attempt to update an older title, but dislike of the "improved" version is no reason to downvote the entire game. If you let all the undeserved negative feedback put you off here, you will be missing out on a genuine Good Old Game. Simon the Sorcerer seems to have been a real labour of love; it's creators have invested a great deal of effort (and talent) into their game. StS has a "vibe" all of it's own, with a likeably unlikeable protagonist, and a large world full of sarcastic faery-tale creatures for him to explore and insult. There is the odd bit of pixel-hunting, but not much (make sure to have a good look around outside the blacksmiths). There are none of those counter intuitive how-was-I-supposed-to-guess-that puzzles, and if you do get stuck the internet is full of walkthroughs. The music and graphics are good, and the voice acting especially is top notch. Avoid the temptation to use those walkthroughs, and you will have many hours of fun.

Loved this game on the Amiga so I was actually interested in a "talkie" version like the CD32 version, wasn't worried about the "enhanced" graphics but my word! They are awful. If I had purchased the game based on improved visuals I would have been even more disappointed. It's just a rubbish filter that makes it look terrible. It's buggy, a number of times I tried to do something simple like save progress and it was glitch in and out. Frustrating things like not being able to make certain changes to settings with our first having to Save a game, close and load a save. I mean, I understand for something like maybe changing resolution, but just changing the music volume? A depressing version of a great game. Avoid it.

Simon the Sorcerer is a great point-and-click adventure game, with great soundtrack and amazing art. It also features some of the famous British humour (you have been warned) and cleverly interwoven myths legends and culture references. While some of the puzzles are hard, most are of the "how I didn't think about the correct solution from the start, it is obvious in hindishgt!", and not the "how that is a solution at all?!" variety. Note that "most", not all (and obviously, for non-British players some puzzles may appear less intuitive). It is a really great game, very much worth playing. A word about the "Anniversary edition": some may like it, some may not. Let me just say I prefer the original, as not all of the new improvements are on par with the old, and look shoddy when compared with the original. Especially the main menu looks weirdly out of place (as can be seen on the preview screenshots). Good thing is the player has an option of playing with the old version graphics and music and turning off the new features.