Posted July 06, 2011
The 2nd and 3rd instalments, which are catalogued together as the whole "Beyond Atlantis" series seems to be the better reviewed of the first 4 Atlantis titles made by Cyro Interactive, and I can understand why - later below.
I used to play the PS1 version of this title a bit on the ePSXe emulator, but I was young, so the logic part of my brain was not fully developed for the highly-complex adventure games, especially in the 90's. Also, probably the PC version of this game controls differently to the PS1 port in that in the PC version may have a freeform mouse-controlled view movements, whereas the PS1 one is divided into maybe 8 angles in the horizontal eyesight view, plus I think up and down, too. You'd have to press some buttons to move your view around.
A comment from the user Wishbone in the announcement of this title article (http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/new_release_atlantis_the_lost_tales):
"Oh dear. I must admit that this game is on my personal hate list. It has beautiful graphics, wonderful sound, and absolutely shitty gameplay. Also, some of the worst puzzle design I've ever seen. It was so bad that the developers themselves couldn't even explain the logic behind some of the puzzles.
I'm glad to see that some people enjoyed it, though."
Yes, I so agree with you. Continued below...
Then some years later, I'd wanted to play it again, and so I did. I finally succeeded in going through some environmental obstacles/puzzles, until I came to that dreaded flight-up-the-stairs puzzle. That's where if you don't make the correct movements and cut a rope, WITHOUT even looking back at the hostile guard at the bottom of the stairs who'd throw a knife at you if your eyesight view moves towards him, then you'll be throw-knifed to death. I died there too many times, so I downloaded a walkthrough, and it's helped me. There are just too many illogical, and badly-designed puzzles that this game deserves an abysmal rating.
Still, with a walkthrough, you can enjoy the ride much better, but you'll need to be aware of some timing-based puzzles (ie. the guard walking between two opposite ends of one line, and then you pass through), and the atrocious ones (being throw-knifed to death!). I didn't play much of the PS1 version, so now with this digital download, I wouldn't have to buy a big box from online, and will add to my collection of the Atlantis games. In fact, this 1st instalment is probably better to play than the 4th one! Don't forget that there's also a FIFTH one by Atlantis Interactive Entertainment, staffed by some former members of the Cyro Interactive team. It's called "The Secrets of Atlantis - The Sacred Legacy". Beautiful graphics. But I haven't heard anything since from that team, so maybe they're gone, too... *sobs...
I used to play the PS1 version of this title a bit on the ePSXe emulator, but I was young, so the logic part of my brain was not fully developed for the highly-complex adventure games, especially in the 90's. Also, probably the PC version of this game controls differently to the PS1 port in that in the PC version may have a freeform mouse-controlled view movements, whereas the PS1 one is divided into maybe 8 angles in the horizontal eyesight view, plus I think up and down, too. You'd have to press some buttons to move your view around.
A comment from the user Wishbone in the announcement of this title article (http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/new_release_atlantis_the_lost_tales):
"Oh dear. I must admit that this game is on my personal hate list. It has beautiful graphics, wonderful sound, and absolutely shitty gameplay. Also, some of the worst puzzle design I've ever seen. It was so bad that the developers themselves couldn't even explain the logic behind some of the puzzles.
I'm glad to see that some people enjoyed it, though."
Yes, I so agree with you. Continued below...
Then some years later, I'd wanted to play it again, and so I did. I finally succeeded in going through some environmental obstacles/puzzles, until I came to that dreaded flight-up-the-stairs puzzle. That's where if you don't make the correct movements and cut a rope, WITHOUT even looking back at the hostile guard at the bottom of the stairs who'd throw a knife at you if your eyesight view moves towards him, then you'll be throw-knifed to death. I died there too many times, so I downloaded a walkthrough, and it's helped me. There are just too many illogical, and badly-designed puzzles that this game deserves an abysmal rating.
Still, with a walkthrough, you can enjoy the ride much better, but you'll need to be aware of some timing-based puzzles (ie. the guard walking between two opposite ends of one line, and then you pass through), and the atrocious ones (being throw-knifed to death!). I didn't play much of the PS1 version, so now with this digital download, I wouldn't have to buy a big box from online, and will add to my collection of the Atlantis games. In fact, this 1st instalment is probably better to play than the 4th one! Don't forget that there's also a FIFTH one by Atlantis Interactive Entertainment, staffed by some former members of the Cyro Interactive team. It's called "The Secrets of Atlantis - The Sacred Legacy". Beautiful graphics. But I haven't heard anything since from that team, so maybe they're gone, too... *sobs...