Chronicles of Mystery – The Secret to the Lost Kingdom review

Polish developer City-Interactive are definitely not known for their fantastic voice work and English translation in their games.  However, I have always enjoyed the Chronicles of Mystery series.  Don’t get me wrong, I know the games aren’t going to blow anyone away, but if you take it for what it is.  A fun, easy to play game with enjoyable graphics and puzzles; it makes for a pretty good day of gaming.

However, it turns out City-Interactive actually have feelings.  They have received so much criticism for the voice acting and Polish to English translation on their games that they have made a drastic decision in order to conquer this.   I put in the disc for the newest Chronicles game (The Secret of the Lost Kingdom) only to discover they have taken out the voices altogether!  (Note: City Interactive released Chronicles of Mystery The Legend of the Sacred Treasure and Art of Murder: The Secret Files at the same time and none of the games have voices.)

Chronicles of Mystery:  The Secret to the Lost Kingdom also centres around a new “heroine” (term used loosely).  Chelsea Connor is an American journalist trying to find answer about her father’s death.  This game actually continues on from Legend, although if you ask me they can be played on their own (I personally didn’t even notice it was a continued game until I put I read the blurb on the Legend pack.

Other than the voices no longer being there, the first thing that seasoned Chronicles players will notice is that you now play in first person.  This speeds the game up a little, as you no longer have to wait for the character to move.  I don’t find this difference to hinder the gameplay at all, although I was surprised to see it.

One of the things City Interactive have been known to do pretty well is give their games quite a good visual element.  Have they continued to do this here?  The answer is; kind of.  The background graphics are fine but my issue is with characters you meet.  They stand on front of you but they remain completely still while talking to you.  Given this is the 21^st century and we have access to great technology and visuals this isn’t acceptable.  I feel like everyone Chelsea is talking to is a ventriloquist but I don’t see Strassman or Ted.E Bear anywhere.  What makes it worse is while the characters are still, the background does move, really just emphasising the issue even more.

The story starts with Chelsea in Alexandria.  Her father was in Africa exploring when he was killed in mysterious circumstances.  Chelsea is looking to open a vault to find some answers.  You really don’t get to go to as many different places as you did in the previous titles.  In fact Chelsea technically spends all her time in Alexandria and goes to one other place only by means of Time Travel.  The big problem here is that for the entire game you only see about 15 different screens.  This is disappointing for a publisher that really had graphics as the best thing going for it.

I am now going to talk about the biggest problem with the game:  The puzzles.  Don’t get me wrong, the puzzles are mostly fun.  The problem is there are only about three different kinds of puzzles that you reappear throughout the entire game.  The first type is a find the object puzzle, where you are given a screen full of objects and a list of objects to find.  The relationship between the game and the puzzle is that after you have found all the listed objects, one of them turns out be relevant to you continuing and you get to keep it.  I estimate that I did about 50 of these puzzles throughout the game, so to say it got tedious towards the end is an understatement.  There is also spot the difference and a jigsaw type puzzle, but these two are less frequent in the game.  The thing is all these type of puzzles are fun but would it have been that hard to think up a few more?  As a paying customer, I found this very insulting.

I’ll now address what you are all probably wondering.  Does removing the voice acting improve gameplay?  The answer in my opinion, is no.  I was actually quite entertained by the occasional translation error and I didn’t have the problem with it that so many did.  Also, having no voices doesn’t mean City Interactive spent that extra time improving the quality of conversation.  The same sort translational errors still appear via textual display.  In fact they do not only appear in conversation they also cause occasional problems with the puzzles.  For example on one I had to find a paintbrush and I couldn’t find it for the life of me so I clicked the hint button (yes the hint feature is still present) and it turned out to be a dust brush.  You also have the option to skip puzzles by finding a certain number of diamonds (ironically, they are hidden in the puzzles themselves).

Chelsea’s character appears very similar to Sylvie from the previous Chronicles games she is very kind and also a pushover.  She will perform hard, manual labour just for a simple answer to a question.  Although she states she is a journalist, she does not do one bit of writing the whole game (at least Sylvie used archaeological tools once in awhile).  Because she doesn’t talk, or make any facial expression other than in a couple of animated scenes, it’s extremely difficult for any emotion to be conveyed.  I’m not sure if this is done because they want the gamer to take the position of Chelsea’s character or if they were just incredibly lazy.  Given the faults I have encountered so far I am going to assume the latter point.

I am the first to admit that I am a very average adventure gamer, I miss the most obvious clues and spend hours looking for what’s right in front of me.  This is the first game I have been able to conquer without a walkthrough (I can prove this because the game is so new no walkthrough’s have been written).  Anyway, what I’m saying is that I, Needlefeast, a novice in the adventure game world got through this game in less than 4 hours.  I would say this is about half as long as the previous Chronicles games, which were already known for being too short.  The ending is also very anti-climatic and I was shocked as I didn’t realise the game was over until the credits rolled.  (That’s the only place Chelsea can die in the game as well).

In summary, this is one of the worst games I have ever played and makes the previous Chronicles games look legendary.  City Interactive are known for being constantly mediocre but they seem to have taken a decent series and absolutely destroyed it.  I abhor this game and want to let City Interactive know they have lost a customer (I’m sure they don’t care though).

I give the game 1/2 a can of V.

Where Stephanie McMahon went wrong – WWE 2010 Survivor Series

Dear Stephanie McMahon

I am writing to inform you that you and your creative team are becoming borderline-incompetent.  Now, don’t panic, because I am here to help you.  In this letter I am going to address where you went wrong with last night’s Survivor Series.

You are a racist

Why did you put R-Truth in a dark match?  I can’t help but notice that there are no black main eventers on your roster. You could do so much with talent like MVP and Truth but you are too busy promoting lost causes like NXT.

R-Truth should become a tag team with Ted DiBiase.  The storyline should be that it turns out after all that R-Truth is in financial dire straits and asks Ted DiBiase for some money.  DiBiase helps him but then says they need to make a tag team in which Truth does all the work (we both know Ted can’t wrestle for shit) but then when they win the tag team championships, Ted doesn’t let Truth hold his belt and holds them both.  Eventually R-Truth will reach breaking point and kidnap Maryse, setting himself up perfectly for a heal turn.  Maybe he can even kafaybe kill Maryse because she is a moron.  As a heel he can compete for the United States Championship (or IC championship if he goes back to Smackdown).

MVP should also turn heel and them have a feud with Alberto Del Rio.  They can fight about who is richer and have a bling vs. championship match, or something along those lines.  He should also go back to hosting his in ring show.

I think you have an issue with shades; you are also racist against ultra white people.

What’s the point of pushing Sheamus all this time only to make him lose to the idiot Morrison? (He better not be the anonymous GM by the way, or I’ll find you).   I’m not saying Sheamus had to go for the championship yet again because I understand that it can get a little crowded, but he should have gone into that 5 on 5 match.

Divas

I didn’t mind this match last night but I am going to provide a list of the Divas that need to be fired

Melina

Gail Kim

Kelly Kelly

Maryse

You know as well as I do, that although they are all lookers, they have never mastered a wrestling move in their life.  The problem is there are too many divas on the roster and the completion of NXT is only going to make this situation worse, so it is baffling to me why you would unify their championship belt, given their matches only go for about 3 minutes each anyway.  You should at least create a divas tag team belt to help give rotate the Divas roster a little better.  This actually brings me to my next point

Time length of matches.

I’m going to say this right off the bat, unless the match is a Tables, Ladders and Chairs or it’s a career stipulation match, it should not exceed 10 minutes.  All kids (your target audience) have ADD and so these 25-minute matches you put on aren’t really good for them.  It causes these kids brains to explode and then they die.   The Edge/Kane matches went for far too long, especially on these older wrestlers who are sluggish and spend most of the time lying on the floor.

Cena is fired storyline

This was a good storyline and I was pleased that Cena got fired.  However I am assuming he is not actually leaving the wwe.  If I am right then this is what should have happened:  Cena loses says his goodbyes and then Triple H comes out and announces he is the anonymous GM and strikes that match off the record.  Then he and Cena become tag team partners, turn heel and attack Barrett and Nexus who turn face but go their own ways within WWE.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this letter especially considering I never posted it to you.

Sincerely,

Ty Mowtt

Ty’s top 10 reasons why we can’t be friends (in no particular order)

You haven’t heard of Chicken Toobs or Muncheros and therefore cannot support their return.

Sadly, my search for Chicken Toobs on Google images generated 0 results.  So I have done my best to generate an almost exact replica of this wonderful product.

You smoke in non-smoking venues

You think Faker, Sia and Mumford and Sons are “not sell-outs”.

After looking at the word “sold” for awhile it starts to trip you out, I thought I had spelt it wrong, do you get that?

You wear thongs/sandals or any open toed shoe with socks or stockings.  I don’t care if your name IS Mark Zuckerberg your number won’t be in my phonebook.

You spend your days hating on Justin Bieber.  Nobody thinks you’re amusing.

You think that Mel from Packed to the Rafters’ death was sad.  Mate nobody wants to work with Hugh Sheridan after he released that crappy album.  If you want quality Australian drama I’ll lend you my All Saints DVD’s.

Looks like Zoe is doing just fine but Hugh’s music career seems to be headed downhill.

You think it’s Ok to use your debit card at 7-11.  What’s convenient about that?

You use a Vespa.  You don’t look cool you look like you’re using an electronic wheelchair, which bring me to ask; Why can’t electronic wheelchair users ride on the road too?

You work as one of those fundraiser people with the blue clipboards and stand outside various areas of the city and LAX and physically harass people. I’d rather go for an icebath in Alaska.

You wear leggings.  They don’t look cool they just make your calves look bigger than your thighs which is just epeecrey.

Think I missed anything?  Let me know!

Review for Runaway: A Twist of Fate

Note:  This is my first written computer game review, (although I verbally review things all the time and I guess at the end of the day the target audience is the same – Anyone that will listen) so any feedback and comments welcome.

I was stoked to hear that Pendulo were releasing Runaway Twist of Fate, the third and final instalment of the Runaway series.  Being an old school lover of adventure games, I really hadn’t found anything worth playing in about 10 years and had just about ceased looking.  Also since I had bought my wii® I has been so busy using the wii® fit system and getting super skinny that I didn’t have time for any other games*.  Anyway mid-last year I was in Dungeon Crawl and on a whim purchased the first Runaway and LOVED it so much that I threw my wii® in the bin! *  Adventure games were back.  I also have to take a moment here to apologise for being so late to Runaway fan club as the first instalment “A road to Adventure” was released in 2001.  This was followed up in 2007 by “The Dream of the Turtle”.  I’ll shut up about my ignorance now and get on with the review of “Twist of Fate”.

I’ll start by letting you know that in my abode we have about 10 computers and laptops, some are crap, some are epic.  This game has about 1000 requirements your computer needs to meet otherwise your next stop will be Crashville – population: You and anyone who still uses Windows 95.  I put most games onto my sisters PC (lets call it the “pretty great PC”) because, despite my tight arse dad installing every bit of freeware to avoid spending, well anything, it’s pretty powerful.  Unfortunately the game didn’t work.   I was surprised at this as I had the other Runaway games on here so I trawled the message boards only to find stacks of people in the same position as me and Pendulo’s support team not being too much help.  Not being a computer expert I didn’t understand what these geeks were saying so I decided to try and install it onto the best computer in the house (lets call it “The best computer in the house”) and – taadaa!  Suck on that “Pretty great PC”!  The “Best computer in the house reigns supreme!”  I think it’s the NVDIA requirement that is causing most peoples problems, as Pendulo seemed to have moved on from Direct X.  Although users need to ensure they have the system requirements to play a game, these were a little extreme and will be taken into account when I give my final score.  (This is my first review and I haven’t decided if I should have a ranking system of golden stars or cans of V).

Now we can finally go onto initial thoughts of the game.  The graphics are great in my opinion; however, I still think Secret of Mana graphics on SNES are great so maybe you should check with someone else.  Seriously though, they have improved from the last two games but have stayed true to the game at the same time.  In Twist of Fate you get to play as Gina as well as Brian.  I have to say that Gina isn’t as an annoying character as Grace from Gabriel Knight. She is also a bit smarter than Brian (nee` luckier) in that items she is looking for are actually available and she doesn’t have to do ultra stupid combinations (hello, Brian remember putting the sunglasses in the oil in A road adventure to fool that drag lady into thinking she was tanned?  I actually refer to the process of combining items that are inconceivable in order to process in a game as “pulling a Brian Basco”**.  The game comprises of six chapters, using Brian and Gina interchangeably.  Brian has been accused of murder and is placed in a loony bin because of the “hallucinations” experienced in Dream of a turtle. Gina’s chapters are focussed on her proving Brian’s innocence.  Brian’s are focussed on him escaping the loony bin; they are played at different stages in time until they eventually cross over and meet toward the end.  I think the plot is great, in that it’s simple but encompasses enough twists for you to keep on your toes.   I really thought TDOTT was over the top and ridiculous (beyond the point of comprehension even for adventure gamers and a former Sierra fan).

I have to say that I liked playing as Gina; they gave her some depth without making her an annoying bitch (Are you reading this Grace Nakimura?).  Brian’s chapters were great too but one thing I didn’t’ like was his new voice.  OK I understand that the same voice character can’t always be available for all versions of a game but the person they hired for this one makes him sound like I should see him on TV at 11.55pm asking me to call him for the low price of 5.99 an hour.  I get that Brian is no longer the nerd that he was in the first one but I didn’t realise that a complimentary voice transplant came with every hot chick you pulled?  Speaking of voice acting, I’m going to say it was better than the previous two games but there is still room for improvement but I don’t think it really dampened my gameplay.

I’m going to bring up one of the new features of TOF – a hint system!  Not one of those lame hotspot key things (although it has that too) but it’s like a walkthrough.  You click it and Joshua (the alien lover) breaks into Pendulo studios and gives you a hint as to what you need to do next.  I know that adventure hardcore fans are going to slap the shit out of this because they like to solve things themselves and where is the challenge in that f you can’t.  Well I disagree I thought how Pendulo did this was really clever and it saves me having to print a walkthrough.   I also like how you can’t stuff the game up which was something I HATED with Sierra games. (Along with their frigging copyright protection tests – I got a receipt, bro)

In terms of value, this game is shorter than the previous two.  I thought TDOTT was too long anyway but it could have used another chapter or two.

The game is not the funniest out there but some of the characters make it hard for you not to laugh out loud (Marcelo, the contortionist mime is my favourite).  The dialogue could use a little work as it does get repetitive especially when Brian and Gina tell you items in your inventory don’t work together.

There’s no music in the game until you clock it and then it has tunes reminiscent of those in A road adventure.

I have been up and down in my review as I have pointed out what I liked and what I didn’t but overall I loved this game; it is probably my favourite in the series (or a tie with A road adventure I can’t quite decide). The pro’s far outweigh any cons.  Runaway fans won’t be disappointed.  If you are new to the series you do need to play the other two to truly enjoy this game.

I give Runaway:  A Twist of Fate 3.5 cans of V out of a possible 4 pack.  Hey, who took a sip from my V? Oh, it was the installation problems and Pendulo’s lack of support.

*Lies

**This is my term, don’t use it.

The 2010 ARIA’s have popped my blogging cherry

Hellooo..this is my first blog EVER.  I created this site to review and provide walk-through to adventure video games, however given the epic failure of the 2010 ARIA’s I feel I need to take a moment to give my thoughts.

Now I don’t like award shows in general really but I haven’t watched the ARIA’s in years because the direction Australian music is headed (Tasmania) does not appeal to me.  However, by chance last night I managed to catch the last 30 mins of it and the hilarious twitter rants on it got me curious.

I have to start off by saying that anyone who sat through this entire show deserves a medal and anyone who attended (and stayed) deserves to have themselves admitted.  This morning I was trawling the net reading article after article pointing out who and what was shit about the ARIA’s (particularly some of the presenters) and trashing the hell out of them.  The responsibility ultimately lies with Channel 10.  I don’t know who the event planners or the script writers were for this event but Channel 10 would have hired them so this is where I believe the blame needs to rest.

I’ll now point out some epic failure moments (won’t be anything different to what other people have identified).

Mumford and Sons winning over Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga

The reality is I have come to expect this type of stupidity from whoever decides these awards.  I have only heard one of Mum n Son’s songs and it was one too many.  But I know Australians, they would have heard this and been all like “Oh hey this band sound shit therefore they must be good so I am gonna become their number 1 fan”  I call this the Underground phenomenon and it basically consists of people not wanting to be labelled mainstream and attempting to like bands they think are underground.  The problem with this is that the public define underground as anything that isn’t pop.  This is how your mum ‘n sons and Birds of Tokyo become successful.  Oh well, the damage is done now Australian public.  I would have liked to have talked on the Telephone with Lady Gaga about this but I couldn’t because she didn’t win the award  .

Ricki-Lee and Eric Stonestreet segment

I need to start this one by saying I don’t really think this was Ricki’s fault.  She seems to be an upbeat happy chick who tried her best but was given nothing to work with and we know that anything, doesn’t matter how good it is, times by nothing = nothing.  I’m not sure what kind of script she was given though because although Eric Stonestreet is openly gay to mock it with a stereotypical limp hand is not funny to anyone and for a minute there I thought Ricki had a sudden case of MS because I just didn’t think there was any way anyone would include that into a script.  Eric is hilarious in Modern Family and the ARIA’s could have done so much more with him and made a really good segment.  At this stage I wouldn’t mind hearing from the script writers just to see exactly what they were trying to accomplish.

Jessica Mauboy – The De-BUTT of all jokes for the rest of the week

Poor Jess, while this mistake was a corker, I can look past it for two reasons.  1)  She lost Idol to a leprachaun 2) The flirting she was doing with Geoff Hueghill post stomach staple operation.  Poor Geoff didn’t know what to do.  In my opinion he had two options; To jump into a pool and drown like he did at the commonwealth games, or to pop those staples and drown himself in self made fat like he did 2 years ago.

Layout

I don’t have an issue with the awards being outside.  One thing I don’t like about a lot of awards shows is that artist goes on stage and gives a performance to a bunch of celebs who are seated.  I like the idea of their being a standing audience up the front and I think shows like MTV Kids Choice Awards have got this bang on by having fans as the audience up the front and celebs seated behind them.  Best of the both worlds, to quote my girl Miley.  Unfortunately, because the whole thing was outside, everyone was standing, including the artists nobody seemed to know what was happening.  They should have had one stage where artists sang and where presenters presented.  From what i saw every award was presented somewhere different.

Another thing that got me was the lack of applause, I’m not sure if this was because the audience couldn’t hear properly because they were outside or not.  When Marcia Hines acknowledged  James Freud, who had passed away earlier last week to absolute silence, only to become applause AFTER Ronan visibly clapped, I was quite mortified.  Are we Australians really so insensitive?  I really don’t think we are but I think because of how this disaster was organised nobody knew what was happening.  Also, I believe that most years these awards shows have a segment that acknowledges industry greats who have passed away, this should have happened this year and it was disrespectful to the Australian music industry (doesn’t matter what my opinions are of it) that it didn’t.

I hope at the very least that Channel 10 have the event planners and script writers fired and that they have learnt something from this.

I give the 2010 ARIA’s 1/4 of a can out of a 4 pack of V.

Can i just say that this has gone up unedited, I like writing but my grammar sucks.  I’ll try and get a cleaner version up at some point.

 

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