I am no adventure expert, but I played around 15 adventure games so far, mostly ones from 1990s and early 2000s, but I wasn't prepared for this one, even though I had the patience solved the infamous "sprite" puzzle without help. The first problem is that in this game around 10 object are simply collectibles and they weren't supposed to be used at all(which wasn't mentioned in game or manual). The other one is that you can go anywhere whenever you want. So at one point, before the main story twist, I ended up with over 20 objects and got stuck in 5 different places, with no hint what puzzle I should focus on to progress. Unfortunately I had to use a walkthrough and the puzzle I had to solve then was IMO illogical, you have to physically grab an item that you witness two times is not really a physical object. Also at least two times you have to use a special object when you have several of those "collectibles" which could have been used instead, misleading you. There are also some VERY challenging and tricky puzzles, where you really have to think outside the box and remember and carefully analyze what you read or have been told before. One other flaw is that often you have a choice to talk about different topics, but after you finish, you can't ask them about the other. You have to save the game before a conversation and reload and start over or else you may miss some important info. The story starts good and the twist in the middle caught me of guard, even though there were several hints before it happened. You learn about the backstory, characters, even the history and culture by examining various objects in the game. Unfortunately the reason why everything was happening ended up being completely unoriginal. The graphics are pretty good and various animations are very well made. The music in game was great, but voice acting was pretty bad. Overall a good game, but very challenging, if not unfair.
What could have been a nice little adventure game was ruined by technical issues. The pathfinding is broken. Often I would tell my character to exit the area or talk to someone, and he would go in the opposite direction, circle around for 10 seconds and then do nothing. Now add the "virtual theater" concept, where NPCs wander around freely, and you often get 3 to 5 characters bumping into each other on the screen and getting stuck. The other problem with all this is that the game is limited by one dialog box, so if you start a conversation and some other NPCs start their own conversation those conversations will get mixed. Sometimes the text displays very fast and you miss things which can be important for some puzzles. So, is there anything good about it ? Even without these issues, at best, it would be an average game. The graphics and the story are OK, and all the objects have short descriptions, but nothing special or original. There are not many sound effects in the game, and only the intro and outro scenes have music. The puzzles are not very creative or hard, but have a high potential to get you stuck. I managed to finish the game without any help, but it was mostly luck and the fact the game world is very small, so I could recheck everything quickly. There are some fun jokes and characters in the game, and conversations between them are fun to watch, but it is hard to laugh after you get frustrated with all the issues I listed above. It is a hard one to recommend, so I will use this chance to recommend Flight Of The Amazon Queen and Beneath A Steel Sky, which are also free on GOG and are much better adventure games in every way.
I don't remember when I laughed so much while playing a video game. The game is one big adventure which doesn't take itself too much seriously, it's there to show the player a good and fun time. It is full with likeable characters and jokes. The game was inspired by Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and that is what you can expect. The puzzles are not very challenging, mostly you need to figure out how and where to use your items, so it is great for people who just want to relax and have fun, or for those who are not very familiar with the genre. I think this is the only point and click adventure where I didn't have to give up and use a walktrough, even though I got stuck once for more than an hour.
