Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver

[h1][i]Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver[/i] is good for a one-time visit but not a repeat destination.[/h1] Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (HOPA) games serve a niche audience. For those seeking a quick comfort play, something relaxing that engages your brain but not too hard, HOPA games can be an invaluable genre in their library. However, the very nature of HOPA games means that sometimes it can be challenging to find ones with good, high-quality stories that can meet that occasional needed escape as an old favorite rather than a one-time throwaway. So how does [i]Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver[/i] stack up? Read on to find out. [h1]Game Universe[/h1] The Steam store description for [i]Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver[/i] describes a premise far more intriguing and mysterious than the experience actually delivered by the game. The game begins with two expositional cutscenes; first showing a girl Aurora dreaming of and then waking to her doom, followed by her brother (unnamed at this point) writing a letter to a friend (the character controlled by the player) asking for help since he’s been having vivid nightmares since his sister’s mysterious passing. Unfortunately, the story is incredibly light on connecting and worldbuilding details even for the HOPA genre, meaning that sometimes I only deduced what was supposed to be happening in the story from the description provided in the Steam store page. As discussed later in the review, the art is probably the game’s strongest feature, but sometimes the art didn’t seem to match up with the time period alluded to by the story. [h1]Gameplay and Mechanics[/h1] The gameplay and mechanics of [i]Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver[/i] will be familiar to frequent players of HOPA games. Depending on the chosen or customized difficulty setting, there will be sparkling areas to show where the hidden object scenes are or a click penalty. The map has a fast travel feature to prevent needing to backtrack. Hidden object scenes vary between silhouette and text clues, and there are sometimes required interactions or mini-puzzles within hidden object scenes. The player has an inventory, and sometimes inventory items must be combined or used together. Although the gameplay and mechanics will be familiar to experienced HOPA players, every game has its slight variations, and this one’s variations aren’t particularly intuitive. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2551273593 The game does have a couple of unique puzzles for the genre, including ones based on [i]Minesweeper[/i] and [i]Bejeweled[/i]. The [i]Minesweeper[/i]-inspired puzzle was particularly challenging since this game didn’t necessarily provide a lot of instructions on how to solve it, so I ended up having to dredge my memory for how the classic game works. I think it would have been very useful if the player were able to somehow note the location for the spikes like a player can note the location of mines with flags in the original [i]Minesweeper[/i] game. On the downside, there were a few puzzles that seemed to be trial and error rather than requiring logic or solving using clues, and I encountered at least one bug where the instructions for a puzzle didn’t load. Since it was a puzzle that is common to HOPA games, I was still able to figure out what to do, but that may not be the case for inexperienced HOPA players. [h1]Art Style and Graphics[/h1] The art is probably the strongest feature of the game, with some of the hidden object scenes and backgrounds being quite exquisite. However, theming in the design of the user interface can make or break HOPA games. In this game’s case, there wasn’t anything notable to elevate it above the pack. While the art for the hidden object scenes is well-done, it’s nothing spectacular or memorable, and sometimes the fashion or details didn’t seem to mesh with the time period hinted at by the story. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2551273115 [h1]Sound and Music[/h1] [i]Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver[/i] has no voice acting, and the music tends to be subtle when it is present at all. For example, there was an outdoor scene that had only cricket sounds in the background. More frequently the background audio seems like it would belong on a Halloween sound effects track for a haunted house, complete with random screaming. When there is music, it is pleasing to the ear, but a stronger presence throughout probably would have helped the game’s ambience. [h1]Verdict[/h1] [i]Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver[/i] is $5.99 at the time of review with an approximately 2 hour playthrough time and no achievements or collectibles to add replay value. Although this means it technically meets the movie ticket price-to-content ratio, this game is more of a one-time experience for seasoned HOPA players rather than one I would recommend to those interested in trying out the genre. The game is typical of many HOPA games released over the past 10 years and doesn’t really do anything innovative to stand out in 2021. While the title implies a possible sequel or series, I probably won’t be watching for it at this point. [quote]Visit SaveOrQuit.com for detailed game reviews, posted daily![/quote]

[h1] Охота на ведьму [/h1] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3197449779 [h1] СЮЖЕТ [/h1] Один джентльмен написал своему другу. Нужна помощь с сестрой. Творятся странные дела. Возможно, что родственница оказалась ведьмой. Надо распутать эту ситуацию. [h1] ГЕЙМПЛЕЙ [/h1] Игровой процесс представляет собой квест с поиском предметов и головоломками. Передвигаемся по паре десятков красочных локаций. Тут разбросаны разнообразные предметы. Собираем их и применяем. Очень много поисков предметов на очень симпатичных картинках. Хороши головоломки. Есть удобная система подсказок если вдруг где-то попадаем в тупик. Откат подсказок очень быстрый, никакого особого ожидания нет. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3197450505 Рассмотрим плюсы и минусы игры, подведем итоги. [h1] ПЛЮСЫ: [/h1] 👍 Красивая графика. 👍 Хорошее музыкальное и звуковое сопровождение. 👍 Много головоломок, поисков предметов. Всё более-менее логично. 👍 Хорошая система подсказок. [h1] МИНУСЫ: [/h1] ❌ Нет русского языка текста. В основном придётся понимать по названию — какой предмет требуют найти. [h1] ВЫВОДЫ [/h1] Очень хороший, красочный квест. Любителям головоломок и поиска предметов должно понравиться. [code] [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6851324/]Если понравилось – жмите палец вверх и подписывайтесь на куратора Runner Streams. Здесь масса скрытых бриллиантов игровой индустрии.[/url][/b] [/code] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3197450092 Всем хороших игр!

A casual and very straightforward HOG/HOPA game that can be completed in a single afternoon. The scenes are diverse and interesting enough, and there are plenty of puzzles in between HOG scenes, including a couple I don't think I've seen used before. There aren't any special features, achievements or collectibles, for better or worse. A few story progression based achievements would have been nice, but no achievements also means this game avoids a lot of achievement based problems many HOGs seem to have; that one achievement that won't unlock, forced puzzle type selections that require multiple plays for no good reason, 2nd speedrun playthroughs, etc. Its frustration free at least. The interface is nice and comfy with a hint feature, a journal and a map of locations. The story is fairly predictable HOG fare, but the dark/gothic theme is interesting and the scenery is pretty. There are a lot of locations for such a short game, instead of reusing scenes which is nice, as the art is the best part of the game. Would be a great in a bundle but is maybe too short and sweet to justify full price.

https://youtu.be/GBe52VIUn1A Lacking a general sense of urgency for the protagonist to resolve problems/puzzles deflates the tension of the game allowing players to question why any of their actions matter.

Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver is a mobile-esque hidden object/hotspot screen tapping game, very much like the dozens of Artifex Mundi mobile apps infesting Steam. Gameplay consists of the usual, expected hidden object puzzles and 2D static image adventuring to progress a somewhat mediocre mystery story. From a technical perspective, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. There's no options to change the resolution for the game or customise the graphics settings. There's no way for gamers to ensure this is running at the native resolution of their displays... there's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision. There's no way for gamers to try improve the low quality graphics. The controls can't be customised because the game has such a dumbed down, simplified interface that it's just iPhone screen tapping stuff. The fact that the interface is this dumbed down might be seen as a problem in itself, however... this is a fairly shallow experience if you're the kind of gamer that likes to play games with deep, rich control schemes and interaction. You'll get none of that here. This looks and feels like a mobile app, but I wasn't able to find it on the app stores. Maybe it was removed, maybe it was rejected by Apple and Google (they do have more rigorous quality standards than Valve does for Steam, after all). Regardless, for all intents and purposes this is a mobile app, it has the same limitations and dumbed down qualities. It's impossible to recommend such a game to PC gamers. We don't spend all this money building gaming rigs so we can pretend they're iPhones. These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game. The poor quality of this game is reflected in the general public reception. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the game only ever reached a peak player count of only 6 players. That's right, only 6. This is a pitiful enough number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam, the overwhelming lack of interest in the game is remarkable, but also to be expected. This complete and utter rejection of the game from gamers should be a keen information point for anyone considering buying shovelware like this. Gamers just didn't take this seriously, and for good reason. Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver has an overly optimistic price of around $6 USD, it's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings with the product, especially considering the sheer number of completely free, much higher quality games on Steam. Because this is the kind of game you can just play for free on mobile phones, it's impossible to recommend anyone should pay money for the same experience on Steam.

completed in 100 mins

Lots of varied puzzles and hidden object games.

[code]For other game reviews, please [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40640212/]follow us at What The Game?[/url][/code] Dark Chronicles: The Soul Reaver is a bit of a jumbled mess, if I'm being candid. It's one part adventure game (complete with obtuse puzzles), one part puzzle game (with the difficulty varying wildly) and one part hidden object game. It's competently made, but a better focus on one area, as opposed to trying to bring a lot of variety would have served it better. The artwork is basically what most would consider industry standard for a game of this budget and style. Some scenes are more or less attractive than others, but aside from a couple of overly-generic character designs, nothing's really bad. The hidden object scenes in particular are very detailed without resorting to cheap tricks to pad out your time in them. The music is decent, as are the sound effects. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but nothing that's really annoying or bothersome. The story, however, is BAD. It's bare-bones, often seeming to omit context that might have made things either better or actually make sense. The ending is beyond anticlimactic, with the main character essentially saying, “Okay. That's it then.” One thing I really appreciated was the ability for the player to customize the experience beyond just difficulty. You can choose whether you're penalized for a bad click in a hidden object section, and how fast you can get hints, or even how quickly (if at all) you may auto-complete puzzles that are frustrating you. It might sound minor, but it definitely is a quality of life feature that I can get behind. More games in general should do this sort of thing, particularly within the casual gaming market. One thing I do feel I should address: there's one scene with a minor character that engages in a bit of Asian stereotyping. He speaks in less than perfect English, and I could see his overall depiction being seen as offensive to some segments of the Asian community. I don't think this was done callously or maliciously, but I felt an inner cringe when I encountered him, and I would encourage the devs to be more mindful of this sort of thing in the future. I understand that the game is set “in a different time” (seemingly faux-Victorian), but we don't live in that time period any longer, and some stuff can chafe folks even if it “doesn't really affect them”. Overall, I feel like this was a perfectly fine game, despite its weak story. That being said, I'd generally advise anyone to wait for a sale, because while it's not a BAD game, it's definitely not one of the stronger ones in the genre.

The game itself is fine but insanely short. Without distractions you could finish it in under an hour.

Objets cachés correct sans rien de notable mais seulement 2 petites heures de jeu. A réserver à bundle ou grosse promo.