This game is much more than your averge visual novel. Of course at heart it's an atmospheric story with great characters and an interesting serial killer murder mystery but the game does not just require you to press a key to continue reading. This game actually has an inventory and a second mode in which you can inspect the surroundings freely. You also will have to combine the clues collected and confront certain suspects with those clues or the correct items to be able to progress with the story. There also are some mini games included to add even more variety into the gameplay. Storys will always be subjective but as a fan of SciFi and serial killer stories I loved this one. I liked the characters, the atmosphere, the artwork, the soundtrack and the setting. I also liked the twists the story is doing again and again and the choices that in some cases had different results than I thought they would have. Choices really do matter here. After finishing the game (which took me about 15 hours at least) I decided to replay it and make different choices. I expected some minor things to change but I got a completely different ending chapter (approx. 30 minutes alone). The ending was very different but it also complemented the ending of my first playthrough and offered me additional information I did not get before. Also this ending was highly emotional - so I decided to revisit this game again and try to unlock the final third ending. If you like detective stories, SciFi with social critique, serial killer mysteries or all of the above you really shoud play this game. If you are still unsure check out the free demo.
As it has been said, the artwork, frame by frame animation (both hand drawn), the self composed OST and the additional effects (which are optional to make it run on lower specs machines as well) are amazing. Artwork is detailed in extreme (so thanks for the option to zoom using right mouse to see all those details). You can clearly see the effort they spent animating the characters and painting the backgrounds. You will have several subtle light and shadow effects, rain and even some surface mirroring. If you listen too long to the soundtrack you probably won't get those themes out of your head for a long time. For a team consisting out of three people with only one programmer it's a giant task to even offer so many different languages (they only promised EFIGS on Kickstarter) and voice overs (English) not only for the dialogues but also for every item or hotspot combination. You can combine everything with everything and in most cases you will get a - often funny - response. No more "I can't do that". The game is all about enjoying. It is not very hard (for a veteran 6-10 hours long) but it is so much fun to examine and trying everything. You will have laughs and great references. There is a hint system implemented, autosave is available as well as unimited manual saves and with the recent release (1.3) you can turn off the subtitles and the game is NOT phoning home anymore (The devs patched this out the moment they realized it). Also achievements should get added soon (no TM) and the devs are planning updates to implement requested features as well as bugfixes (most importantly some localisation issues in Russian, Korean and Japanese). They also promised several times that they'll keep GOG up to date as well which unfortunately is a thing we here on GOG cannot say for every developer. With so much love and work invested for so many years, so much game enjoyment and such a support even in future this HAS to be a five star rating without any question!
If you expect a game like Monkey Island or any other of the classics you probably will be disappointed. Demetrios is more like the point and click part of actual hidden object games. so we are talking about mostly still screens, no spoken language and some comic-like cutscenes - nearly no animations and no cinematic cutscenes that will blow you away. Demetrios however still is a fun point and click if you are aware what it wants to be. The main character is pretty dumb and lazy and his view of the world is more or less childish to say the least. So the "middle school feel" people complained about before is pretty much intended since you are playing the game from the POV of this guy. Just imagine being such a guy and stumble into a pretty big adventure spanning multiple countries including archeological sites just like you know from the Idiana Jones adventures. Add to this that the character has company in the form of his neighbor Sandra (who is pretty much out of the league for the main Charactar Bjorn) and her annoying smartass daughter Caroline. That's a combination that can only result in fun and silly situations and that is what the game wants to be: pure and silly lighthearted fun with characters you like to talk to and situations such characters normally would not experience. Bjorn is like a fish out of the water without even knowing it and it is fun to see how he will behave and solve certain situations. Demetrios offers achievements, unlockable extras and even unlockeable mini games (that can be played from the menu after unlocking them). There also is an option to change the level of toilet humor from "none" to "all" and last but not least you can change the names of some main characters (maybe to the names of some people you know? ;)). If you are up for several hours of light hearted and silly fun doing what you normally won't do and enjoy what happens without any real consequences Demetrios is for you.
If you enjoy great art and a nice soundtrack you should buy it. If you enjoy cute animal animations and good voice over (even for different languages) you should buy it. If you enjoy creative puzzle mechanics and a nice but not too complex story you should buy it. If you enjoy exploration and collecting things to be rewarded you should buy it. This game has been recommended to me a while ago but I did not know anything about it. So I bought it here on release day not knowing what to expect. The artstyle is so beautiful and the animations really cute so I enjoyed those a lot before the game introduced the seasons puzzle mechanic which is not just pretty creative and makes you think a bit, it also looks amazing. I played about a few hours and thought that this is a nice little game for 2 or 3 hours because the story seemed to end already ... but then things changed and in the end puzzles became more challenging and more diverse and the story as well became bigger. Since I tried (and managed) to collect everything you can collect and since I really took my time enjoying the great art and soundtrack I ended up with about 10 hours for 100% - but keep in mind that I really am slow so for most I'd estimate 6-7 hours - worth every second. Even after the end of the story the game lets you continue to collect missing stuff and if you collected everything you can even get an additional ending so maybe you should try this as well. Key rebinding is not possible but the devs offered several options so imo you still should be fine: You can use W,A,S,D as well as the arrow keys where W, Space or arrow up is used for jump. To change seasons you use either of the CTRL keys or the right mouse key and to bark you use S, arrow down or left mouse Subtitles for several languages are available and you can chose beween English, French or German voice over seperately. Language is not forced via OS language. Also you can play the game with capped or uncapped FPS.
I recently played part 1 of the franchise and even though I am not a big fan of hidden object games I really liked it - because they basically made the HOG scenes optional (in this game they are completely absent) and also offered quite a lot optional help as well so it won't get frustrating. Also the story they told there was amazing and mysterious. As a true story lover I could not wait to play the sequel and I thought I could finish it in6-7 hours. Boy, was I wrong. This game is far longer than the first part and - as it has been said already - much more complex regarding the storyline and all the clues you are trying to piece together to figure out what actually happened. While I do agree that the game has become longer and the plot has become more complex I consider this to be a good thing. With so many information you really are starting to figure out the true story long after the game is finished and a game that is still resonating after you have finished it will always be a good game for me. The game is the second part of a trilogy with the third part as well as an additional free extra episode is still in the making right now. Still - as with part 1 - the game has a ending that works. Several questions remain unanswered but somehow this also adds to the mystery. Graphics are even better than the graphics in part 1 and they also managed to make the inventory puzzles a lot more logical/believable. This game is highly recommended for every point and click fan.
This is a HOG, so it is not unusual that the puzzles are sometimes illogical (you can often do certain things only with certain items i.e. it is impossible to clean a window without a very certain item even though you could simply use your hand and many similar things). However it offers an atmospheric story, point and click puzzles, a few mini games and if you don't like them you won't even have to deal with the name giving hidden object scenes (aka staring at one screen trying to find some tiny object) at all since those are optional. If the option is checked (which is default setting btw) those scenes are replaced by mini point and click scenes (The inventory will be empty and everything you need to do takes place in this screen until you finish or leave the HOG screen). The mini games are skippable and the game also offers a map so you don't have to walk through several screens to get item A to point B - one click is all it takes. If you are not playing in expert mode the map also shows you in which room you still can do things (find objects or use them) so gone are the day of aimless wandering around. So as avid point and click fan I really liked the game. As additional bonus there are optional items scattered through the game for collectors and it even has ingame achievements for those who want them. Unfortunately you cannot disable them as well as you cannot disable the big "Skip" message in cutscenes which is quite distracting and ruins the atmosphere a bit. The game looks good and sounds even better (good and fitting soundtrack). In the bonus section you have access to wallpaper, concept arts and the soundtrack. You also have the possibility to replay each HOG scene (both variants) and every mini game. After finishing the base game (which took me about 6 hours) you will get access to a bonus chapter which adds at least an additional hour if not more. Probably the best HOG I ever played.
Normally you are playing shooters - well - to shoot things. However in the case of Infinite imo the real strength is the story (and btw: I completely disagree with everything that noself633 said about the writing). When I played the game back then I really enjoyed the artstyle and the great voice overs but what really grabbed me was the story which is so mysterious and has so many twists and turns ... even after the credits rolled I had to think about it and the more you think about it the more you will understand how everything is fitting together. The gameplay itself is a bit different from Bioshock 1 and 2 though - both predecessors where claustrophobic and you had to fight in mostly small rooms. In Infinite you will fight in very large open areas so your fighting style will have to be a different one too. The most time of the game you will have a sidekick along with you. This is not your usual sidekick who is constantly in the way or who dies over and over because sidekicks are stupid ... no - this AI actually feels like a real person and one who is actually quite helpful. The journey in Bioshock Infinite is one you are not doing alone so there goes another scare factor. Bioshock Infinite is not scary like its predecessors but you still won't forget it after you have played it until the end.
The game literally has NO gameplay. You are a really good animated fox running and jumping through beautiful locations and you are collecting stars and listening to a story that is delivered bit by bit by uncovering certain places. The music is beautiful, the voice overs really emotional (in case you don't like emotions stay far away from this game). The game does not really show the player were to go and it seems to be intended so that you can search for things scattered and hidden in the area. I REALLY took my time and I thought I searched everywhere but even after 2 hours and 40 minutes I only managed to get 117 of 150 stars and also only got 42% of achievements (judging by the description because I simply did not find some things). So this game is definitely not for everybody but I enjoyed it (keep in mind I am one of those who also liked Dear Esther). Won't say anything about the story because that is what should be discovered by each player who wants to go on that ride.
I bought this instantly because I just love beautiful hand drawn frame by frame animations and point and click adventures are my favorite genre. However given the fact how time consuming frame by frame animation is, I did not expect this game to be very long and it is not. I was able to finish the game in 5 hours even though I took my time and looked at everything. Maybe some will take longer and some shorter - hard to say with the genre. The game is kind of a mixture out of Machinarium and Dragon's Lair with some mini games added here and there. Don't let the Dragon's Lair part I mentioned scare you away though it is just that there are some parts in the game in which you will have to do the correct thing at the correct moment or you will get caught and will have to try again (no loading time involved so after a few trys you'll mostly get it right). Most of the time is a true point and click though. There's no inventory combining included in the game and after a short time the game is offering several locations to go to which can be chosen freely. The story seems to be quite simple and presents itself as the classic fairy tale including (well voiced) narrator and beautiful designed "book" introduction we all know from those Disney classics. Still it offers a few surprises here and there that I don't want to spoil. Since it is important for some players: the game recognizes the language of the OS it is running on but it is possible to switch language in game as well. It is not possible to change audio and text seperately so you can only play with English language and English or German text / Polish language and Polish text (ver. 1.05). Nice and cute animations, fitting and not distracting OST, logical puzzles ... I enjoyed my 5 hours in this beautiful and cute game a lot and I'd say it is worth the 10 Euro I payed for it. So if you are into this kind of genre and don't mind the short playtime I would recommend it.
I just finished the game and while I was amazed with most levels especially the last ones I did not enjoy very much - mostly because of the mechanics and the bugs I experienced later (though saving and loading fixed these). You control a character and you try to reach the exit of each level. While doing so you will have to push some levers, turn some wheels and simply try to figure out what you'll have to do to reach the exit. Trying to figure out what the actual puzzle even is reminded me much of Myst. After finding out what to do the solution often is not that hard. The special twist here is that you have to use the abilities of your Golem companion and these do change every few levels so you'll need to adjust the way you are solving the puzzles the game throws at you every now and then. In most cases those Golem updates are really helpful and fun but there is especially one level (L8) were you'll have to walk a lot to find the correct way and while the path finding routines are not optimal also your Golem is not the fastest one. Keep in mind that there's a fast forward function (pressing space)! The implementation of the last ability of the Golem - move rocks - sounds fun but I found myself often fighting with the physics engine the game uses here to an extreme and don't even mention the automatic zoom while I try to zoom out and the game decides for me to zoom in after a while. The Story is not special at all so don't expect too much in this regard. Also there's no lore to find. This is first and foremost a puzzle game and you should not expect much more. The part "Decipher the tower's cryptic pictographs to find clues to its ancient builders and the origins of the mysterious golem." listed under features on the gamecard is simply misleading. If you are interested because of the puzzles or the artstyle however I can recommend this game despite the flaws in the mechanics in the last three levels. I enjoyed my 10 hours trip with the Golem.
