Three stars for the actual game: Above average, simple, entertaining, and definitely original setting/central idea. A solid 3/5. Good for them. Plus one star for worker-owned company. We need more of those if we want to once again have some fresh ideas on gameplay and scenarios, like we used to years ago. To get out of the loop of rehashing the same "proven" recipes for games. To avoid having corporate heads that know nothing about gaming, keep messing up the developer's vision. Worker-owned companies. Good for them. Plus another star because it was a free giveaway. Good for us.
Oooo, the spellcasting felt so good...! The only things that I remember from when I played the game 12 years ago, is that it was taking place in an underground medieval civilization, and that I was really enjoying the spellcasting system in which you used the mouse to draw the rune symbols in the air, making the mouse kind like your magic wand!
Great (albeit short) game from LucasArts' golden era, great (faithful/respectful) remaster with welcomed extras (commentary track, in-game soundtrack, in-game concept art) Minus one star for short duration, and somewhat annoying mini-games (I think Tim had just begun to experiment with blending various game style together, but the end result is not on par with his later mixed-genre games)
Commits the carnal sin of adventure games: Ends on a cliffhanger, promising a sequel/conclusion that never came. Even worse, IT IS NEVER STATED that this is just Episode 1. otherwise I wouldn't have bought. I feel cheated. I also feel validated about my stance to never buy a "series" until all episodes have been published.
What a lovely point and click adventure! It is both a sequel and a prequel to "Yesterday", so I strongly suggest that you play this after you've played (and liked, of course) the previous game. Pros: - Gripping story: You simultaneously want to learn the whole story about your origin, and eager to see the present day conclusion! - Catchy visuals: Screenshots speak for themselves, the signature Pendulo style at its best! - On-the-spot soundtrack: Catches the mood perfectly in every instance used, whether it is medieval times brooding places, or present day "Guy Richie-esque" shenanigans. - Well written characters: Although many of the secondary ones are a bit one-sided, all characters serve their purpose well (story-wise), and no one acts "out of character". - All the above create a great atmosphere... ...which is somewhat impaled by some technical problems Cons: - Lack of optimization, really: It should run waaay smoother on lower level machines which play the previous title flawlessly. I had to watch the cinematics on you tube. (Should run ok on powerful machines, though) - 3D closer-look-inventory can be a bit of a drag - The hot-spot indicator is just awful: First of all, it cannot be done from keyboard. You have to drag the cursor to the top-left corner of the screen to click the icon that reveals the hot-spots. Worse yet, when you click the icon, the hot-spots do not light-up at the same time. They don't even light up, they are flashing, one after the other. Even worse, they light-up randomly! Not from left to right, not from top to bottom, not diagonal, but totally random! WHY? And to add insult to injury, the don't stay lit if you keep pressing the icon. By the time the last hot-spot starts flashing, the first one will be long gone, no matter what you do. I could easily detract one star just for the hot-spot mess. Verdict: Minus a star for lack of optimization and extremely poor hot-spot indicator, on an otherwise near perfect title.
REALLY sloppy ports of these pieces of gaming history. Full of glitches, bugs, game delays, choppy animations, lousy OSD, this is a mess. It is May 2020 and still no fix. Do not give a single penny for this in its current state. Even if they give you the game for free, you still get a lousy deal, as you'll be doing play-testing withouht getting payment, nor the satisfaction that you helped on the improvement of the game, as all bug-glitch reports seem to fall into deaf ears... What a pity!
