someguyinahat
Member
After playing and reviewing the first one in the series, decided, hey I've got the sequel in my library, might as well! Some impressions for the bundle-tastic House of 1000 Doors: Palm of Zoroaster:
The story: Kate Reed, the novelist and now part-time protagonist, hears reports of some strange goings-on in New Jersey and decides to investigate. Sure enough, something's afoot at the House of 1000 Doors, and you have to stop this entity from setting everything on fire, people included. The bonus chapter involves the current owner of the house, Gabriel, as he's being subjected to an aging curse and tries to pass the house on to you. Both stories flesh out the plot through found books, and some of the characters make small references to the previous game, which is always nice. There is, however, one serious flaw with both the main game and the bonus chapter.
THERE IS NO DENOUEMENT.
Ever watched an action movie where, as soon as the bad guy dies, the credits roll? Nobody thanks the heroes, the guy doesn't kiss the girl or ride off into the sunset, no set-up for a sequel with some other sinister guy waiting in the shadows? Just...it's over? Yeah. Both the main game and the bonus chapter ended with a climactic cutscene, then...that's it. Which is weird because I thought the first game had a pretty good ending. Cmon, developers, storytelling 101.
The graphics: the resolution maxes out at 1280x960. So...yeah. It's pretty much identical to the first one; that is, pretty good as far as a hidden object game goes. The only thing I had an issue with was a certain picture puzzle was very dark, and it was hard to figure out which mostly-black-with-some-dark-grey piece goes where. Apart from that, for a bundle game it's just fine.
The puzzles and gameplay: the conveyance is much better in this one. Very few instances where you could use pretty much anything to solve a task, but only one is accepted. Only two bits of bullshit: one being a Layton-style sliding puzzle - marking the first time EVER that I have skipped a puzzle in a hidden object game (and if this game had achievements I might actually have tried, but it doesn't, so fuck that) and one where they had ladder rungs all over the place, but you couldn't pick them up until you found the ladder stilts. Stop teasing me, game, let me just pick things up and figure out what to do with them later. That's the hallmark of an adventure game!
The music and audio: Not terribly bad. The game centers around an organ, so it would have been cool to have more tracks feature some of that, but it seems they just recycled a lot of the tracks from the first game. Still, it's okay.
The length: 4 hours. So, less than the first one. It's easier, but then again I skipped the sliding puzzle. It's above average for the genre.
The verdict: This game has better gameplay than Family Secrets, but the lack of proper endings really hurts it. It does have more hidden object scene than adventure game, so if that's the puzzle you're into, and you don't care about the story, this would be one to pick up. If story is important to you, it would be safe to pass on this one.
The story: Kate Reed, the novelist and now part-time protagonist, hears reports of some strange goings-on in New Jersey and decides to investigate. Sure enough, something's afoot at the House of 1000 Doors, and you have to stop this entity from setting everything on fire, people included. The bonus chapter involves the current owner of the house, Gabriel, as he's being subjected to an aging curse and tries to pass the house on to you. Both stories flesh out the plot through found books, and some of the characters make small references to the previous game, which is always nice. There is, however, one serious flaw with both the main game and the bonus chapter.
THERE IS NO DENOUEMENT.
Ever watched an action movie where, as soon as the bad guy dies, the credits roll? Nobody thanks the heroes, the guy doesn't kiss the girl or ride off into the sunset, no set-up for a sequel with some other sinister guy waiting in the shadows? Just...it's over? Yeah. Both the main game and the bonus chapter ended with a climactic cutscene, then...that's it. Which is weird because I thought the first game had a pretty good ending. Cmon, developers, storytelling 101.
The graphics: the resolution maxes out at 1280x960. So...yeah. It's pretty much identical to the first one; that is, pretty good as far as a hidden object game goes. The only thing I had an issue with was a certain picture puzzle was very dark, and it was hard to figure out which mostly-black-with-some-dark-grey piece goes where. Apart from that, for a bundle game it's just fine.
The puzzles and gameplay: the conveyance is much better in this one. Very few instances where you could use pretty much anything to solve a task, but only one is accepted. Only two bits of bullshit: one being a Layton-style sliding puzzle - marking the first time EVER that I have skipped a puzzle in a hidden object game (and if this game had achievements I might actually have tried, but it doesn't, so fuck that) and one where they had ladder rungs all over the place, but you couldn't pick them up until you found the ladder stilts. Stop teasing me, game, let me just pick things up and figure out what to do with them later. That's the hallmark of an adventure game!
The music and audio: Not terribly bad. The game centers around an organ, so it would have been cool to have more tracks feature some of that, but it seems they just recycled a lot of the tracks from the first game. Still, it's okay.
The length: 4 hours. So, less than the first one. It's easier, but then again I skipped the sliding puzzle. It's above average for the genre.
The verdict: This game has better gameplay than Family Secrets, but the lack of proper endings really hurts it. It does have more hidden object scene than adventure game, so if that's the puzzle you're into, and you don't care about the story, this would be one to pick up. If story is important to you, it would be safe to pass on this one.
