[u]Recommendation[/u]: A solid (but low-res) hidden object game that is elevated by the presence of puzzles that I haven't seen in any other such game.
[u]Critique[/u]: My biggest problem with this game is that it is old. That's no fault of the game, of course, but it means that it doesn't have any way to scale the graphics. The result, for me, was that I had to play the game in a teeny-tiny window (about 1/4 of the available screen), leaning forward and squinting at the screen. That was after changing my OS screen resolution to its lowest settings; without changing the resolution, the game displays about half that size and is completely unplayable. There are also the usual grammar and spelling errors that show up in hidden object games (though fewer here than in many other games).
But aside from those things, this game is a delight. Yes, the character models are all goofy, but there's no attempt to animate them, so this hidden object game is the rare one that doesn't suffer from uncanny valley horrors of trying to animate 3D humanoid figures. The voice acting is good, albeit occasionally repetitive (most of the recorded lines are for the little pixie/fairy character who functions as your hands in the game, and she says the same things for the same actions). But the place the game really shines is in the puzzles. There are hidden object games with much less ambiguity as to what you're trying to find (no "cloth" or "container" prompts in this game!), and the climax of the game is the most exciting and tense experience I've had in a hidden object game so far. But in addition to that, there are also other puzzles...and some of those puzzles [u]I've never seen in another hidden object game[/u]. One is a variant of a familiar puzzle - you click a spot, and that toggles all the spots adjacent to it - but formatted in a way completely unique to this game. But the other is magnificent for me, a fan of 3D spatial games: it's a puzzle where you're moving 3D oblong blocks around to fit in particular places. It's great, and I'd love to see more of this kind of puzzle in hidden object games everywhere.
Note: this game has a sequence with [b]real-time elements[/b]: you have to find the items within a very short time limit. If that sound too stressful to you - or just isn't what you want in a hidden-object game - then you should stay away from this. Me? I LOVE it.
[u]Review[/u]: [spoiler]You are Princess Isabella, betrothed to a Prince. But when you arrive at the castle, you find that the wedding plans have been interrupted....because dark magic has whisked all of your household into magic mirrors, and those mirrors have been broken. You need to find all the pieces of each mirror, then reassemble them to free the person imprisoned within. All this is explained to you by a talkative fairy who becomes your servant.[/spoiler] As you explore locations of the castle, you find shards, and you find puzzles. As you complete puzzles, you find shards and other objects. You use those other objects to solve puzzles in each room to break the curse on each location. Once the curse is lifted, you play through a "light" version of that location. One of the objects you find is the Queen Mother's diary (bits of story with voiced dialogue). More story is revealed each time you collect enough mirror shards to rebuild a magic mirror and free its prisoner. Through these story bits, you discover that [spoiler]you have a sister, Rose, who was an unruly terror as a child. As a result of her brattiness, your royal parents brought in a strict nanny to take care of Rose in isolation. But that nanny was actually a witch who took control of Rose's mind and stole her away. Having raised Rose to adulthood as a thrall, the witch is now using her (and her mystical, innate connection to the family) to get around the castle's defenses and enact punishment on the royal family. In the end, you manage to free all the imprisoned castle residents (including your parents), and you complete a Zuma-like puzzle to open the door to the witch's secret sanctum. There, you battle the witch in multiple rounds of real-time hidden object puzzles, where you race the computer player (the witch) in finding the ingredients for your "good" spell before the witch can complete her "evil" spell. Each time you complete a list of hidden objects, your spell does damage to the witch, and every time the witch finds an item, her spell does damage to Isabella...so time is of the essence! Winning the battle kills the witch, and Rose is freed from her mind control. The royal family is reunited, and you begin the process of getting to know the adult sister you never knew you had.
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