Mystery Case Files: Moths to a Flame Collector's Edition

[b]Mystery Case Files 19: Moths to a Flame [/b](IHOG) [i]Game provided for Curator review[/i] Options include separate sliders for Music, SFX, Voices and Cutscene Music, Custom Cursor, Subtitles, Full-screen and Popups. There are three pre-set difficulties, or you can fully-customize your options. Can be changed at any time during gameplay. [b]Sights and Sounds[/b]: The voice-overs were well-done, the sfx were appropriate, and the music was repetitive (if you look below, you'll see that the music tracks weren't offered as bonus content this time around.) Visually the game is very nice, but nothing [i]really[/i] striking. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1863660340 [b]Story[/b]: Some files have gone missing from MCF headquarters, and you've been sent to the Zenith Museum of Oddities to retrieve them. A new foe with an axe to grind has prepared a very special reception for you, but the question is, can you survive long enough to defeat him! The [b]Journal[/b] contains extra story, but there are also spoilers for previous cases, especially for #14, [i]The Broken Hour[/i]. Gameplay has spoilers for #12, [i]Key to Ravenhearst[/i]. [b]Gameplay[/b]: Be on the lookout for [b]collectible stamps[/b] (the kind you have to ink, not postage stamps); one at each location. The [b]MAP[/b] can be interactive, and has instant-transport for unlocked areas. Directional [b]HINTS[/b] are also available. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1864645722 Most of the Hidden Object Scenes are your typical MCF, lightly-interactive junkpiles, but there are a few other types, including riddles and silhouettes. There is one [b]morphing item[/b] per HOS that you visit. Mini-games vary from pretty easy to "YES! MCF-style, truly imaginative puzzles!" These door-lock-type puzzles are tiered, where you can skip just the part you're having trouble with (if needed) and continue with the rest of the mini. IMO, these were the best part of the game! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1864645704 [b]CE Content[/b]: [list] [*]Integrated Strategy Guide [*]Bonus Chapter [*]In-game Achievements [*]40 Collectible Stamps (indicator in toolbar, bottom right). CAN go back in to get those that you missed from the Extras area. [*]Morphing items, one in each HOS (indicator in toolbar, bottom right) [*]8 Wallpapers (four dimensions to choose from, 1024x768 up to 1920x1080) [*]8 Concept Art [*]6 Cutscenes [*]25 Mini-games [*]19 Hidden Object Scenes (with scoring for time and accuracy - can get any morphing items you missed here) [*]10 Souveniers (revisit 10 locations to find a collectible on each) [/list] [b]Bonus Chapter[/b]: Although the ending of the main game feels complete, it has a visual that leaves you with a lingering question. We won't have any answers until a future game, though, as the bonus chapter does not address it! What we do have is one last hostage to save. A nice addition to the story. [b]Verdict[/b]: I highly recommend making yourself familiar with the MCF series before tackling [i]Moths to a Flame[/i], especially the games that deal with [i]Ravenhearst[/i], [i]Madame Fate[/i] and [i]The Broken Hour[/i] (don't read the journal if you skip [i]The Broken Hour[/i]!) You can find a rundown of the series, with a brief synopsis for each game [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Case_Files]HERE[/url]. Going into this game without playing the previous installments is okay, as it's a pretty good game in its own right, but I think you'll enjoy it more if you know the background info.

MCF has a long history with me before I even owned a steam account, the series is my childhood my favorite being MCF Diregrove. This one is a very interesting take and is like a tribute to some of the past games paying honours to other detectives. MCF classics like Ravenhearst and Madam Fate is embedded into the game and imo it's better to play them beforehand to truly experience this one. You play as the master detective who seems to be well the best of them all, the antagonist had kidnapped the other detectives so he can steal the title and it's your job to help them. The puzzles are okay and the HOG scenes are cool, like the theater like experience in some HOG scenes. The music is also good, the art as usual is super great. Wish the game had steam achievements but you can still attempt the ingame ones. There are side quest of collecting stamps and morphing objects. Also enjoyed most of the extra content like getting the gold trophies for the HOG puzzles it was fun! I wish i can use the same profile to collect the 40 stamps but that is not allowed, otherwise I really did enjoy the game!

[contains spoilers] As a longtime fan of the MCF series, this game was.... kind of a letdown from all angles. While I've enjoyed the plots of some of the more recent games, the gameplay has been dropping in quality for awhile and this one is one of the worst examples thus far. Many of the HOPs were boring and lackluster, if not an absolute mess (I've always disliked HOPs that require you to find dialogue cues, and this one had far too many of those). The puzzles were often just sequential fetchquests with a slight rearranging of the pieces, and many of them dropped multiple items (sometimes in completely different spots), which means that if the player doesn't notice at first, the gameplay stumbles to a halt until they figure out what they missed. There's even a glitch because of this that locks players in an inescapable room if they missed one crucial item. The plot wasn't even close to enjoyable; I'd really hoped after the conclusion of the Ravenhearst arc that we would stop getting villains whose main trait is mentally ill, but this game seemed to latch onto that and forget that the main appeal of the series has always been supernatural elements. While I did enjoy the throwback to older games, and learning more about the background operation of the MCF organization, the villain was cartoonishly out of touch and spent the entire game mocking the master detective for imagined failings, which made absolutely no sense and really ruined the gameplay. The finale of the game wasn't even close to satisfying after all of the grief he put the characters through. The bonus story wasn't much better; I had hoped it would be from one of the captured agents' perspectives, as most bonus stories take place before the events of the game, but it was set after and was just a continuation of the villain harassing the master detective postmortem. Overall, 3/10, would not recommend unless you need to kill 5 hours in as frustrating a way as possible.

Все игры Eipix за редким исключением, к сожалению, выглядят совершенно одинаково: - Совершенно тривиальный и мало реальный "детективный" сюжет, который сводится к решению десятков головоломок на предметы. - Сами эти головоломки, совершенно нелогично размещённые (впрочем, в последних двух играх их "обосновали" тем, что их специально расставили для нас!), и зачастую совершенно не решающиеся без подсказок - и тривиальные, если подсказки включить. (Ну, как вы догадаетесь, что для извлечения механизма из статуи её надо облить кислотой? Нет, давать подсказку "Это хрупкий металл, который разрушается от кислоты" - плохое решение!) - Куча зон на поиск скрытых предметов, неизменно выглядящие как плохая свалка чего попало неизвестно зачем. И нет, их наличие никогда не объясняется. Эта игра, к сожалению, исключением не стала. Впрочем, если ко всему этому привыкнуть, в принципе, в их игры вполне можно играть, и даже получать некоторое удовольствие. Ну, если заняться больше нечем. Я вот раз в пару месяцев запускаю. Нет, не рекомендуется никому, кого описание выше не заинтересовало. P.S. В середине игры она заглючила: лифт, который должен был привезти меня на следующую локацию, тупо больше не активируется после загрузки. Ну, и фиг с ним. Лучше игра дальше точно не станет. Найду другую жвачку.

Very good game, I thought. I give it a 7 or 8/10. The mini-puzzles were not the same ol', same ol' (though some were a bit too difficult for my tastes). The hidden object scenes themselves were pretty basic, but still fun. Some Mystery Case Files are all hidden object scenes and no wandering about. I don't like those (though some people seem to like it). This one was more of what I consider a standard hidden object game. You navigate around, collect items and use them. And then there are some hidden object scenes and some mini-puzzles. That is the type I like. I don't understand why some Mystery Case File games are so horrible and some are so good, but I'm not going to play another one unless it's at a real steep discount, but this one was good.

I quite enjoy this entry, because unlike the previous games it doesn't have a horror setting. Which feels rather refreshing and fun to play. Gameplaywise It's not that much different compared to the other mystery case files games.

Nice thing they did reminding us about previous titles

Pretty good! much better than expected! it starts off very poorly but once you get towards the middle it really picks up and gets much more exciting, fun, and challenging. Puzzles are neither too difficult or too easy and there were SO MANY! which is perfect! i would have liked more item searches though, i think thats my only real complaint for this one! It kinda took the core concept of rewind but put it in their modern format, which I also liked. Rewind is good, but the way Moths to a Flame revisits cases is much more fun than just reusing the old format and characters. very great game

This is a great game. The puzzles are good and somewhat challenging. I recommend this game. Many hours of great playing!

I have played all of the MCF games and this is by far my favorite one. It has good puzzles and a compelling story, as well as callbacks to previous games in the series.