Dark Parables: The Swan Princess and The Dire Tree Collector's Edition

The Swan Princess and The Dire Tree is the 11th game in the Dark Parables series. Though stand alone, for anyone who has been following this series there are omages to the previous games (Rapunzel #7 and Goldilocks #10 come to mind immediately) and adds even more history to the Prince James (Frog Prince #2) saga. (For those who care the 1st Swan Princess, Odette, was one of the Prince James' (Frog Prince) 5 wives. Also Ross Red (Prince Ross Red) is the fraternal twin of Princess Snow White, now Queen Snow White also known as the Snow Queen (# 3), who was also one of Prince James' 5 wives.) I do so enjoy a series that keeps their overall long term story straight and without plot holes. But enough about the series as a whole. Storyline: As soon as the flying 'Seed of Life' from the Dire Tree (omage to Yggdrasil, Tree of Life) germinates it is stolen by the Black Swan, a title giving to a Swan Guard traitor in the Swan Kingdom on Dire Island. (Swan guards are the lifelong protectors of the Goddess Flora and the Dire Tree.) The whole Swan Kingdom and the entire island of Dire is now facing utter destruction since the 'Seed of Life' used in a life regenerative ritual by the Goddess Flora now can not be performed unless returned. Huge lava filled cracks are appearing all over the island and the present and 6th Swan Princess has sent for aid. That aid comes from the Master Tailor (omage to a fairy tale), who can literally sew the earthen cracks shut with his enchanted "sword" which looks like a sewing needle, and you, the player as the Fairy Tale Detective. Your task find the traitor, the Black Swan (once Head of the Swan Guards) and the flying 'Seed of Life' then return them both to the Swan Princess. The situation is not as it seems, appearances are deceiving and everything changes when the Goddess Flora dies. (Chapter 2). The mission then becomes find out what is really going on, the reasons behind everything and of course, saving the Swan Kingdom from annilihation. That is part of the job description after all, Fairy Tale Detective. The Game: 8 chapters plus 2 bonus chapters. Intricate storyline that has all the plot twists of a corkscrew with magic, mayhem, intrigue, treachery and murder. And I still call this a family friendly game. Fast travel map with things to do highlighted with a star. Pastel color pallette. Built in strategy guide. Four game modes: Casual, Hard, Insane and Custom. No hand holding in this game, and at times the clues are a bit obsure, if not missed because the dialogue disappears way too fast. Personally I recommend Casual for all the little sparklies that are hard to see anyway and the hints on the fast travel map. No reason not to play on Casual. There is no achievement for playing on Hard mode. There are no hint penalties unless in Hidden Object Puzzle (HOP) and no skip penalties. The in-game achievements are same as the Steam achievements. There are even trading cards. All achievements can be earned in a single playthrough, and if any are missed (except the parables) during gameplay (including the collectibles) they can be picked up through the Extras menu. All Hidden Object Puzzles (HOPs) and mini-games can be replayed in the Extra menu. There is a mini-game called Souvenirs where the player goes back through every scene in the game and looks for a single item (watch for cursor change, if the item is not immediately apparent.) The Extra menu includes art concept, wall papers, music, video, etc. The main game screen includes buttons for achievements, parables and collectibles so the player can keep track of their progress without leaving the game. One of the newest features of the game series is the 3D elements. This feature is quite prominent when opening smaller boxes. Also they have stirred away from the traditional morphing/ghost objects and made their morphing objects (which morph into a flower) their parable pieces. The other extra hidden find, the collectibles, are tiny acorns with wings on both sides. Some of these can be quite tough to find. (Did I mention that built in strategy guide that so happens to have at the end the location of all parable pieces and acorn collectibles.) Gameplay: A smooth blend between point and click, problem solving, HOPs, and puzzles. Nothing is contrived, all four of those elements appear where they should. Point and click to adventure about, problem solving when a task needs to be done, HOPs when looking for or needing a specialized object like a key and puzzles on anything that locks or opens usually. The problem solving bits can be a bit obsure at times and chase about on the fast map. But it does not happen often and the clues are there. Just be very observant, click on everything, and look for cursor changes. Some places are rather small in out of the way places or seemingly unimportant places like a brazier at the top of a staircase. Everything is very logical in the story progression and what one would normally do if presented with the same type of situation in real life. And yes, keys are the only thing that open locks. (Though the "key" may not necessarily be a standard type of key. Gems are used as keys.) The HOPs are pictures unlike the usual list finds. These types of HOPs are standard for this series. Basically some object has been disassembled into pieces and the HOP consists of finding all the pieces. The game will automatically assembly the pieces when finished. The pieces are divided into three different sections, so as the pieces of each section are all found that part will assembly itself. When all three sections have assemblied, those three pieces will assembly into the completed object and go into inventory. Once the mind accustoms itself to this, the HOPs can become very easy. Nothing is unfairly hidden, though some pieces are half hidden behind other things or obsured in some way, and the size or color can change slightly. Color changes are generally due to "poor light" or "shadows" in the game scene. For example the game scene is heavily shaded by trees and slightly in creviss. Every item is drawn according to these light conditions. Though in this game finding the mosaic pieces on the mosaic itself was a challenge. It was like looking for jigsaw puzzle pieces on the jigsaw puzzle itself. The puzzles are varied, diverse and something NEW. There are several types of mazes including a vertical tower maze, sliders, rotators, a jigsaw puzzle, a tangram, a recipe, logic puzzles, matching and a NEW type of puzzle my friend mickmane called a logic connector. I would call it a math logic connector or even a circuitry puzzle. These puzzles are found on the rune pedestrals. How they work is there are numbered dice (the amount of connections allowed) scattered all over the board and to solve the player must connect lines to every die for that amount of connections. Seems simple when hearing it explained, looks daunting when seen, and logic is the name of this game. And it is NEW. After a lifetime of puzzles, I have never played this type of puzzle before. Thumbs up!! Well I think I covered everything, and thanks for putting up with all the history about Dark Parables but I have been playing this series since 2010, more then once. I highly recommend this game even at full price. It is a bit more difficult then the usual fare and certainly not cookie cutter or predictable.

[h1]고퀄리티와 스토리성도 좋은 히든 오브젝트 게임[/h1] Hidden Objects Game 업계에서 제일 큰 손이라고 할수 있는 빅피쉬게임즈의 게임이다. Dark Parables 시리즈는 Grim Tales 시리즈와 PuppetShow 시리즈 등과 함께 빅피쉬 게임들 내에서도 완성도면에서 꽤 알아주는 게임 중에 하나이다. 현재 시리즈가 무려 12편까지 나와있을 정도로 아주 긴 시리즈를 자랑하고 있다. 위에 언급한 Grim Tales 시리즈와 PuppetShow 시리즈도 각 시리즈마다 10편 이상씩 나온 게임들이다. 그 정도로 히든 오브젝트 게임들(HOG)을 좋아하는 팬들에게는 인기가 많은 게임인거같다. 본인은 한글화를 잘해주는 G5사(모바일)나 아티펙스 먼드사(모바일, 스팀, 콘솔, PC) 게임들을 주로 했었는데 최근에 본 게임의 시리즈가 스팀에 출시가 되어서 50% 세일기간에 구입하게 되었다. 명성만큼이나 게임의 그래픽, 스토리 등 완성도면에서 전혀 손색이 없다. 미니게임만 보더라도 여타 히든 오브젝트 게임들보다도 수준이 조금 더 높은 편이다. 더 말할 필요도 없이 최고 히든 오브젝트 게임사의 게임답게 최고의 게임이다. 히든 오브젝트 게임 업계에서는 알아주는 회사의 게임인건 분명한거같다. 빅피쉬게임즈 홈페이지에는 엄청나게 많은 게임들이 등록되어있는데 없는 게임이 없을 정도이다. 히든 오브젝트 게임들 중 찾는게 있다면 여기 가서 검색하면 십중팔구 다 나온다. 아마 거기서 그 게임사의 대부분의 매출을 올리는것으로 추측된다. 그러다보니, 스팀내에서는 아티펙스 먼디나 알라와 엔터테인먼트, 8플로어 이런 히든 오브젝트 게임사보다 마케팅 전략에서 소비자들(유저들)한테 등한시 하는거같은 느낌이 든다. 일단 가격이 타 히든 오브젝트 게임들보다 1.5배 비싸게 출시를 했다. 2년 전 자신들의 홈피에 출시를 했던 게임을 스팀에 2016년도에 뒤늦게 출시하면서 아티펙스 먼디사의 신작보다 비싸게 출시를 한 게임도 있다. 그리고 스팀게임의 경우 요즘 출시되는 게임은 트레이딩 카드와 도전과제를 대부분 다 갖추고 있고 스팀 클라우드도 작동이 될 정도로 고객의 편이성과 흥미를 줄만한 요소를 추가해놨는데, 빅피쉬게임즈의 게임들의 경우는 스팀에 등록된 60여개의 빅피쉬의 게임들 중 도전과제를 갖춘 게임은 본 게임을 포함한 단 2개뿐이고, 히든 오브젝트 게임으로선 본 게임만 도전과제를 제대로 갖추고 있는 게임이다. 그 정도로 이런 부과적인 요소에는 무신경한 태도를 보여주는게 빅피쉬게임즈이다. 그러다보니, 스팀 평가에도 알수 있듯이 2016년 7월 7일 출시된 게임임에도 평가는 단 2개뿐이다. 본인이 3번째로 등록하는 리뷰글이다.;; 평가가 2개란 말은 구입한 사람도 적다는 결론이 나온다. 게임 구입과 평가의 비율은 대체적으로 비슷하게 통계가 나오기 때문인다. 규모면에나 설립시기적으로나 작고 후발주자인 아티펙스 먼디같은 게임사들한테 스팀내에서는 뒤질수 밖에 없다. 자기네들 홈피에서 매출을 올리니까 스팀에서의 매출은 별로 신경을 안쓰는거같은 느낌이다. 이런 부분은 정말 실망스럽다는 생각이든다. 그리고, 빅피쉬게임즈의 게임들은 오로지 영문으로만 게임을 출시한다는 점이다. 한글화는 절대로 안해주는 회사이다. 그런점에서도 아티펙스 먼디사에게 감사의 말을 전한다. 아무리 번역이 엉망이라고해도 아예 한글화 안해주는 빅피쉬보다는 낫기때문이다. 한국뿐만 아니라 다른 비영어권 국가에게도 그들의 언어로 로컬라이징(현지화)은 안주는 회사이다. 아무리 게임을 잘 만들어도 이런점은 참 유감스럽다. 왠지 갑질을 하는거같은 느낌이 많이 든다. 앞으로 빅피쉬의 행보를 지켜보겠지만... 물론 앞으로도 빅피쉬게임즈의 게임들을 플레이하게 되겠지만 계속 이런 행보로 간다면 스팀내에서는 빅피쉬가 유저들의 외면을 받을거라고 생각한다. [h1]100번째 도전과제 100% 달성한 게임. (2016년 10월 15일 오전 12시 15분에 달성)[/h1] 플레이타임은 메인스토리가 평균 4시간, 보너스 스토리 30~40분. 게임 스토리와는 별개로 도전과제 달성과 관련한 기념품 찾기와 숨은그림찾기 골드등급으로 획득하기가 있는데, 20분 정도 소요될거같다. 모두 다 합치면 적어도 5시간은 플레이 해야 게임의 모든 컨텐츠를 즐길수 있는데 타게임에 비해서는 풀타임이 꽤 긴 편이고 즐길꺼리가 많은 게임이라고 할수 있다. 도전과제는 대체적으로 쉬운편이다. 1회차로 천천히 플레이하다보면 달성이 된다. 다만, 미니게임의 경우는 난이도가 있는 것도 있어서 플레이에 난점으로 작용하기도 한다. 좋은 게임이라는건 인정하지만 비한글화와 비싼 가격때문에 각각 -10점, -10점해서 20점 감점, 평점은 80점.

[i]Fair warning: one scene has a spider the size of a truck (or common house spider in Australian terms).[/i] [h1]Short version: 30%[/h1] The good-looking surface of Dark Parables 11 hides a dark, dreary, drab, and dull game. If you decide to play it, get ready for endless backtracking. [h1]Long version:[/h1] If we define a video game as a product meant to entertain players, then we cannot classify 'The Swan Princess and The Dire Tree' as one. This supposed fragmented objects game is so boring that it can murder your soul. The story is a disjointed mess about a traitorous bodyguard and her largely unexplained plot for revenge. Revenge for what; who is that chick that sometimes pops out and orders you around; why do we have to spend half of the game to play nurse to a redheaded guy? If you need answers, then gather all the hidden parables, because the cut-scenes will leave you in the dark. Then again, the dark is a comfortable place, because then you do not have to endure what I will humorously refer to as gameplay. The fragmented object scenes never invented brightness, the fragments are microscopic, and they are often the same colour as the background. The best solution for the needlessly long puzzles is waiting for the Skip button. As for the adventure-lite parts… I hope you like running in circles, because, trust me, this will be your entire life if you play Dark Parables 11 for some masochistic reason.

[b][u]Game Information[/u][/b] "Dark Parables: The Swan Princess and the Dire Tree" Collector's Edition is a Fragmented Object game. The game was developed by Eipix Entertainment and published by Big Fish Games Studio. "The Swan Princess and the Dire Tree" is the ninth episode of "Dark Parables." Previous episodes: "Curse of Briar Rose;" "The Exiled Prince;" "Rise of the Snow Queen;" "The Red Riding Hood Sisters;" "The Final Cinderella;" "Jack and the Sky Kingdom;" "The Ballad of Rapunzel" and "The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide." Since this is a collector's edition game, it comes with extra features that are not available in its counterpart; the standard edition. [b][u]The Game Review[/u][/b] Game Visuals I want to mention that the visuals for the game are nicely done. The visuals can be adjusted in the game's option menu. Game Audio I want to mention that audio for the game is well done. Even though the audio is somewhat simplistic and repetitive. The audio can be adjusted in the game's option menu as well. Gameplay There are four different game difficulty modes to choose from: Casual; Hard; Insane and Custom. There is no notebook in the game. But there is an objective panel in the game; it is used to keep track of all the objectives in the game. There is a padlock feature that is available to lock the inventory panel in place to make it stationary. There is an interactive map in the game. It allows the player to fast travel between each location quickly without having the need to constantly backtrack. It also indicates that there are a variety of tasks that can be completed at various locations within the game. The interactive map is automatically given at the start of the game. There are some interactive items in the game. Most of the interactive items may require extra components before they can be interacted with. All interactive items are marked with a symbol in one of the corners. The hidden object scenes consist of the following: Fragmented items. Some of these hidden object scenes may require little or no interaction. Most of the hidden object scenes can be replayed in the game's extra feature section. The puzzles are fairly easy to solve without having the need to skip any of them. Some of the puzzles can be replayed in the game's extra feature section as well. There are two sets of collectibles in the game: Parables and Hidden Signs (Acorns). They are scattered throughout the game for the player to find. There is a separate collectible in game: Souvenir. But it can be accessed in the game's extra feature section only. There are twelve different achievements that can be unlocked from playing the game. Each of these achievements does come with some requirements that need to be completed before they can be unlocked. Since this is a collector's edition game, there is a bonus chapter, but it can be accessed only after the main story is completed. Miscellaneous There are extra features in the game: Bonus Chapter; Bonus Hidden Object Scenes; Bonus Puzzles; Wallpapers; Soundtracks; Concept Art and Game's Strategy Guide. Most of these extra features can be accessed only after the entire game is completed. There are six different trading cards to collect. Only three of those trading cards are given out by the game. There are several ways to get the rest of the trading cards: Purchased from the Steam's Community Market; Trade with friends; Booster Packs and its Booster Pack Creator. Final thoughts: I have found the game enjoyable to a certain extent. The replay value for the game is low. I Would recommend this game, but not at the game's full price value.

Mmrrhhh... Unlike the other... What is it? 10 Dark Parables? This one was certainly not the same. And not just a feeling either. There was like a whole damn lot of backtracking. Yes, yes there are Map Teleports! But when you gotta go to Room C and then back to Room A, only to go to Room C to get item for Room A, again and again... You might get a tad bit frustrated... Then there was a repeat of the same kind of a puzzle... More than it should've been... The one with "connecting" things and "numbers". Did you really want me to never be able to complete this game?! D: Steam Achievements... I didn't even bother... This game didn't make me care enough to do it............ :i Also, wth did you do to the red-haired male's face?! He was elegant and handsome! Now his face look like it morphed into a potato sack! I get that he was... You know... But how long had he been there and do they do face re-arrangements like that?! Anyway, that wasn't important. Game not same. Meh. Zzz.

Шикарный квест в жанре Hidden Objects. Первое, что бросается в глаза - великолепная рисовка локаций, коих огромное множество, здесь художники постарались на славу. Каждую зону, каждый объект хочется рассматривать досконально, настолько хорошо прорисованы мелкие детали. Всё это сопровождается несколькими саундтреками, которые помогут Вам окунуться в волшебную сказку о добре и зле. За основу сюжета взяты несколько историй, здесь и "Лебединое озеро", и скандинавская мифология о Древе жизни, различные отсылки к Гарпиям, Друидам, которые почти полностью переработаны создателями игры, но не остаются незамеченными. В истории даже имеются непредвиденные повороты событий, что добавляет этой игре интригу. Так же в этой игре отсутствует поиск предметов по названию, в этом плане разнообразия меньше, присутствует только поиск по картинке. А т.к. эту игру пока что не перевели на русский язык, то такой поиск предметов неплохо упрощает эту головоломку тем, кто плохо владеет английским. Сами загадки и логические квесты заставят Ваш мозг поработать, в режиме "Эксперт", признаюсь, над парой головоломок я думала долгое время. Дикий восторг вызвала битва с финальным боссом, что нетипичино для игр жанра Hidden Objects. В общем и целом игра стоит своих денег, особенно для любителей жанра, потому что 40+ красивейших локаций должны быть увидены и оценены. Большое множество головоломок и сцен с поиском предметов крайне хорошо переплетаются с сюжетом и позволяет полностью погрузиться в роль детектива. 9 из 10 прекрасных лебедей!

Non vuole essere una review normale, ma un piccolo sfogo su questa collezione di FHO (Fragmented Hidden Objects: le parti in cui bisogna cercare roba nascosta funzionano andando alla ricerca di pezzi identificati graficamente in basso, a differenza dei più tradizionali HO in cui si cercano gli oggetti attraverso i loro nomi). Avevo valutato positivamente il primo e sono arrivato pian piano a questo. Era inutile scrivessi un commento per ogni singolo titolo: alla fin fine si tratta di una collezione molto piacevole con tante belle sequenze animate di intermezzo. Come sempre si tratta alla fin fine di avventure grafiche, senza scelta di dialoghi, ma affrontando essenzialmente piccoli puzzle, che spesso sono davvero senza un vero senso: per andare avanti lo scopo è sempre quello di trovare una chiave che apre una porta. Quasi sempre non letteralmente, ovvero la chiave è un oggetto che va messo in una posizione mancante per aprire un passaggio (da questo punto di vista l'inventiva è rasente allo zero). Si va a caso perchè spesso non ci sono nessi logici: caghi a terra, cresce un albero che produce corone, usi la corona sulla statua che ti regala lo scettro, che poi dovrai usare come sturacessi (prima ci devi attaccare sopra una coda di topo) per pulire una bottiglia. Ce la si fa solo perchè sono le uniche azioni che è possibile fare, altrimenti sarebbero guai, in una avventura tradizionale. Ma lo sfogo qual è? A volte ci sono dei mini giochi, che sono il cancro di questi titoli, perchè essenzialmente sono roba da Settimana Enigmistica. Ora... finchè sono semplici va bene, ma quando, come in questo episodio, si ha a che fare con una sequenza dei giochi delle infinite rotazioni (o le varianti in cui devi fare degli spostamenti cambiando le configurazioni adiacenti)... beh, io non ce l'ho fatta e ho cominciato a skippare (per fortuna si può). Cioè, immaginate scacchiere contorte in cui ci sono oggetti che vanno sistemati in alcune celle segnalate. Non è il gioco del 15 (magari, con tutto che quel gioco è una porcata concettuale), ma il gioco che "selezioni l'oggetto e le caselle adiacenti ruotano, facendo ruotare i pezzi adiacenti". Ora, a un certo punto c'è una versione in cui sei talmente costretto a sbagliare e non capire una cippa (perchè è impossibile andare di pianificazione: è noioso) che l'unica cosa che puoi fare è quella di fare mosse random (ma immaginando che possano dare un risultato). Dopo la cinquantesima mossa ci si rende conto che si è ritornati a come era iniziata la scacchiera. E si quitta il gioco. Quittando il puzzle viene autosvolto davanti i vostri occhi. In un caso è stato tipo 20 secondi ad autorisolversi: sono rimasto a bocca aperta. Cioè, ero nella merda fino al collo e non ne sarei mai uscito? Basta, vi prego, basta, togliete ste cazzate da questi giochi. 4/10 per sfregio. Lo devo ancora finire, ma voglio godere ad abbassare il voto medio.

This game was so boring that I almost didn't notice when it was actually over. In fact, I didn't notice until I was literally taken back to the home screen. This game abuses a lot of the tactics that hidden object games love to use to stretch out the game time. There must have been dozens of emblems that we picked up to use for this or that thing, with little point to it all. Additionally, the game logic could get so warped at points that I would end up looking for a solution just by throwing everything in my inventory at the problem until something stuck. Not exactly my definition of "fun". There is potential here, though. The story was interesting in places, though constantly distracted by new plot threads. The art was very nice, for the most part. I even liked the characters, somewhat. But I find it difficult to say I enjoyed playing it.

Good story. Good HOPs. Good to excellent puzzles. Good music. Lovely art. I enjoyed this game quite a bit. Overly-challenging collectibles (I thought the snowflakes in the previous game were a problem, but the acorns / seeds of life were truly frustrating). That said this game has an *excellent* after-game extras menu in order to fill in missing bits and pieces (and achievements). Despite a few irritants, highly recommended. 9 or 9.5/10

Best of the Dark Parables I played. Wonderful presentation, added extras and a story that's much more sreamlined than the previous offerings. Compared with the previous (final cinderella & little mermaid) this one ramped up the difficulty significantly. Puzzles are not the usual standard hog fare but quite inventive. Also, typical of dark parables the hidden objects are never silly items but rather pieces of items you need to find. Coupled with the arrival of achievements & cards, the Dark Parables got serious and if you like hogs, you definately should try this one if you haven't allready.