Twilight Phenomena: The Lodgers of House 13 Collector's Edition

[b]Twilight Phenomena 1: The Lodgers of House 13[/b] (Adventure-lite) Options include separate sliders for Music, Sound and Voice, Full-screen, Custom Cursor and Maintain Aspect Ratio. The game actually ran in borderless-windowed mode automatically. Choice of Casual, Advanced or Hard mode (can be changed at any time). [b]Story[/b]: You jump at the opportunity to live in a beautiful mansion at an incredible price, but it soon becomes apparent that this place is not the bargain you'd hoped for. Unease quickly becomes alarm, and there is no easy escape from this nightmare! Despite the storyline, there is really nothing scary about the game. Sure, you run into some disturbing sights, but somehow it never translates to anything more than, "Huh, that's weird..." [b]Journal[/b] entries are semi-frequent, but short, so it's easy to stay on top of the story as you play. [b]Gameplay[/b]: This title is an adventure-lite, meaning that it's everything you would expect from an IHOG, but without hidden object scenes. I always expect to do some illogical tasks, but this game takes you from "Yeah, that would never work," to "Are you frickin' kidding me?" I therefore recommend putting aside all thoughts of reality before starting this game ;) We have a little friend, of sorts, and while I don't want to spoil it by explaining, it's certainly a different take on animal helpers! There is no [b]MAP,[/b] nor any kind of fast-travel, but early on there are only a few locations. Later you'll have a larger area you can explore, but there's a natural flow that introduces new areas only when you've finished with the current ones, so you won't actually have to do a lot of backtracking. [b]HINTS[/b] will either direct you to an area on the screen, or tell you that there's nothing to do there at the moment. There is no directional hint. The [b]Mini-games[/b] are - for the most part - very easy. Most of the puzzles lack any kind of real depth, so are easily-completed. [b]Sights and Sounds[/b]: There are some really pretty graphics in the game, and indeed, perhaps that contributed to the feeling that [i]Lodgers[/i] isn't all that creepy. I like the character design, the voices are pretty good, and the music/sfx were also nice. [b]CE Content[/b]: [list] [*]Integrated Strategy Guide [*]Bonus Chapter [*]30 Mini-games [*]4 downloadable Music Tracks [*]3 Screensavers [*]6 Wallpapers [*]13 Concept Art [*]8 rewatchable cutscenes [/list] [b]Bonus Chapter[/b]: The extra chapter picks up right where the main story left off, and is the true ending of the game. The gameplay remains what you would expect, but I think that I enjoyed it more than the main story. I didn't time it, but can say that the full game + bonus took me about 4 hours to finish. [b]Verdict[/b]: This is a pretty undemanding adventure-lite, so I would recommend it to those new to the genre, and/or people who are looking for a more easygoing experience. I highly suggest putting all logic aside before you start, as you'll enjoy it a lot more that way.

[b][u]Game Information[/u][/b] "Twilight Phenomena: The Lodgers of House 13" Collector's Edition is a Adventure game. The game was developed by ERS Game Studio and published by Big Fish Games Studio. "The Lodgers of House 13" is the first episode of "Twilight Phenomena." Since this is a collector's edition, 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 in 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 difficulty game modes to choose from: Casual; Advanced; Hard and Custom. The notebook keeps track of progression in the game. Such as story events and clues. There is no map in this game. The player has to remember where to go in the game. There is a padlock feature that is available to lock the inventory panel in place to make it stationary. There are interactive items in the game. Some of these interactive items may require extra components before they can be interacted with. The puzzles are fairly easy to solve without having the need to skip any of them. Since this is a collector's edition, there is a bonus chapter, but it can be accessed only after the main story is completed. There are thirteen 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. These achievements are in-game only. Miscellaneous There are extra features in the game: Bonus Chapter; Soundtracks; Concept Art; Wallpapers; Screen Saver; Cinematic Scenes and Game's Strategy Guide. Most of these extra features can be accessed only after the entire game is completed. 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.