[b]Echoes of the Past 3: The Citadels of Time[/b] (IHOG)
Options include separate sliders for Music and Sound, Full-screen, Widescreen and Custom Cursor. Choice of Regular or Advanced Mode. The Steam overlay does not work with this title.
[b]Story:[/b]
It's been too many years since I played the first two games in the series, so I don't remember our history with the witch, but here's what you'll find when you start the game: An evil witch has trapped you - and the kingdom of Orion - in a time vortex, and there is only one way out. Repair the past and the present to free the kingdom and return to your own time.
We have a magic mirror that functions as both our hint button and presentient companion.
Our [b]journal[/b] documents every last word uttered to us in cutscenes, so if you would rather read than listen, you have that option. There is some extra story in there, and puzzle hints will be added there, as well.
[b]Gameplay:[/b]
The game is adventure-heavy, and we'll visit multiple time-frames and environments as we explore.
There are two types of hidden object scenes: First is find-by-list, with items in red needing some kind of interaction before you can locate them. The second is items to place where they belong in the scene, but there's a catch... The items that you're placing are ones that you found on a previous HO scene. These scenes have a puzzle element to them, as sometimes you can't see where an item goes until you've placed one of the other objects.
HOS do repeat - sometimes more than once - but they're nicely-spaced with the adventure portion of the game. We have no [b]MAP[/b], nor is there a directional hint. Luckily, sections that we've finished will become closed off, meaning less to-ing and fro-ing.
Using a [b]HINT[/b] during a mini-game will give you instructions for the puzzle, and these are [b]SKIPPABLE[/b].
[b]Sights and Sounds:[/b]
The first thing I noticed is that the task bar is at the top of the page, which took a bit of getting used to.
The graphics are... different. I'm not sure how to feel about them. Sometimes they're beautifully-detailed, sometimes there's just too much going on, and at other times scenes seem to be lacking substance. Everything still feels like it should go together, but I do wish the artists had been a little more consistent with their work.
The voice overs are surprisingly good for a casual game. The music is environmental, though the tracks seem to be on a loop, rather than area-specific. The way the tracks loop makes the music seem out-of-place at times.
[b]NOTE[/b]: If the screen turns black towards the very end and you can only see your task bar, just exit the game and re-enter.
[b]CE Content:[/b]
[list]
[*]Integrated Strategy Guide
[*]Bonus Chapter
[*]12 Mini-games (there were a lot more than 12 in the game, these are just the replayable ones)
[*]10 Wallpapers
[/list]
[b]Bonus Chapter[/b]:
In the extra chapter you are trying to prevent the pieces of the machine that caused the time vortex from falling into the wrong hands. It screams of paradox, the ending is abrupt (and foolish, truth be told) and the gameplay more what you would expect from an IHOG, with less adventure and more hidden objects.
[b]Verdict[/b]:
The main game clocked in (heh heh) at almost five hours for me, and the bonus took an additional 1+ hour to complete.
Part of that time would be my propensity towards missing the obvious... Sadly I had to reference the Strategy Guide more often than I'd like to admit
Despite not being totally in love with the graphics, this is a solid adventure, not too heavy on the HOS, and a nice mix of puzzle types to keep things fresh. I definitely enjoyed my time in the game, and recommend it to those who enjoy this genre... Even though I still don't know what we did to tick off the witch. lol~ ;D
