This is hard to stomach if you can't disassociate the main character from a child. If you can, the game is a tumultuous spiral into the incomprehensible prison from which you are desperately seeking refuge. The foes become more terrifying along the way and the challenges become more harrowing. You continue to search for the light at the end of the tunnel, but will it ever come?
This was my first opportunity to play as an orb and what a brilliant concept. I love the ghost horror genre and this provided a gorgeously spooky experience. The game is mostly a scavenger hunt with some very challenging connections to make in solving puzzles. I appreciated the lack of dialogue because it allows for more thought and imagination while playing.
I was surprised at how patient I was with this crime drama and loved how the story unfolded. It may have been due to the impressive architecture that was Walter Jones' tower or the believable character interactions. Either way, the game is realistically beatable without cheats if you pay close attention to detail. I really enjoyed the development of the characters and appreciate the logic involved in unraveling the mystery.
I read a few recent reviews and am floored by anything negative in relation to this game. I have nothing negative to say about it immediately following completion. This is what I will say: 1. The animation is incomparably fantastic. So many styles and they are all beautiful and unique. My mouth was agape at many different points in the game. 2. The character development is on point. The actors have really done an amazing job at making their characters both believable and lovable. 3. The dialogue is absolutely NOT overdone. You learn exactly what you need and it is almost only needed one time for each verbal exchange between characters. 4. There are a few different subgames available while completing the main game. This provides a nice break, especially when you are feeling stuck for a moment. 5. The combination of inventory items is almost always logical, but not always obvious. 6. The storyline is inventine and captivating. There are twists and turns along the way that you don't even need, but increase the game's appeal and value. 7. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? If you like point and click games (I saw Sierra mentioned by another reviewer and I was raised by the same games), I'm sure you will be as enthralled as me.
I had a bad experience with the high speed scrolling that made me feel like I was going cross-eyed and should have attempted to correct the problem before entirely giving up. I did, however, continue on to find 3 of the first 4 elements before throwing in the towel. That being said, I did search through and discover a good initial quantity of the game and had so much trouble tying any of the theme into its Zork predecessor. It completely lacked the wit and silliness that the original (and third game) contained, which made them so lovable to me in the first place.
With only the nostalgia of Zork Returns prior to playing this, I was so happy to see the return of our live video character experiences. This game stayed true to the problem-solving theme of the first game and also continued with the same level of humor, if not more. What could be construed as either a positive or a negative, the object combinations were much more straightforward in this game. I was thoroughly impressed.
Nostalgia has likely made me biased, but I can't help but love this game. The live character video animation is so fun and they throw in the option to choose how you react to each character to elicit game progression. There is so much problem solving needed and attention to detail, which I believe makes it incredibly challenging. Perhaps it is in part to the sometimes illogical combination of inventory items or functions of those items that make cheating sometimes seem necessary. If you learn to save often and try just about every combination of everything, you will make it through this game in a very lengthy period of time. I just love it.
I somehow remembered this from my teenage years as being just average, but I loved this sooooooo much 25 years later. The mid-90s was a time when video game technology was all about using live actors, which did not seem to last that long and will likely never happen again. I think this is why it is such a fantastic experience. There are tough puzzles; so much so that I had to look up a few cheats when my memory failed me. I love the actors (I'll chalk some of that up to nostalgia), the script, the history, and the excitement.
Yes, we have done away with the star-studded cast of voice actors here, but it is the same game with amped up animation. The theme and personality of the characters remains in tact. This game uses enough humor and character development to make even the most machismo, self-absorbed lead become a lovable protagonist. Still enjoying it like I did the original almost 30 years ago.
