I've seen the word "perfect" thrown around in several reviews. To think this game has no flaws is to look at it through some severely rose-colored glasses. The 1 star reviews are equally crazy, because there is plenty to appreciate, but there are enough glaring flaws to prevent me from dubbing this as anything above "good." The most obvious problem is the game's pacing. The first handful of chapters are long and deliberate, filled with large environments to explore and plenty of puzzles that make you feel like you are accomplishing something. And through exposition you are given a laundry list of magical items you must acquire. You embark on an epic quest and earn the first, feeling like there is still plenty of adventure ahead of you. But all of a sudden the game's pacing gets thrown into high gear. Environments now consist of no more than three screens, chapters are over after a mere handful of clicks, and before you know it, the rest of the dominoes fall and you possess all of the goal items without feeling like you've earned them. Soon you find yourself at the anticlimactic finale with a slight sense of disappointment. This is one of those adventure games where you can't die, which a lot of players enjoy. The problem is, the game puts you in "dangerous" situations, with harrowing music urging you to hurry. But if you merely stand still, the monster just stands right next to you, and the excitement is completely removed. Also, the solution to these scenes if never more than one click away, so there's no sense of "whew! Good thing I used my wits to barely escape!" A lot of people rave about the story, which is interesting, but the protagonist is one of the few characters that seems to care about the inherent danger to the world. The few others that care all seem to fall into the "you're the chosen one, but I can't tell you any more" camp. So much of the game is spent questing without really knowing why. Overall, a solid adventure, but far from "best ever"
