Drawn series

Drawn: Dark Flight

Operating System: PC/Mac
Website: Official Website
Rating: 3.5/5
Comments: Following on from Drawn: The Painted Tower, this was still fantastic. The artwork is spectacular, I love the characters and the nice backgrounds that flow along as you progress through the game. Sometimes it was hard to know exactly you were doing, but I managed all the same. The puzzles are relatively easy, with the last few becoming harder for me at least. This was more like an adventure game than a HOG and that makes it all the more fun for me.

Drawn: Trail of Shadows

Operating System: PC/Mac
Website: Wikipedia page
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: This one was FANTASTIC! I am totally in love with this series of games, there is nothing like them out there and that makes these the best since MCF:Return to Revenhearst and the first Dream Chronicles. The only reason this one looses that .5 was mainly the movement. It kinda bugged me when you could move your mouse to the screen edge and it showed more of the scene. That's just annoying. And it took forever to get from one place to the other sometimes (but you didn't need to do it that often).

The artwork, as usual, was so beautiful. It's about a boy (most likely a young Franklin) that can paint magical worlds but gets captured by one of his own paintings: an evil Katsuka... I mean magician! He then is forced to paint worlds filled with darkness until you go to save him.

I also liked that through the whole game there was only 3 HO scenes, the rest is interactive adventure. Nice. The puzzles were also pretty good too, not too hard, not too easy. There were a lot of them but not excessive like Awakening. Enough to make it a game. lol. The achievements were also fun, I like extras like that. I tried hard to get them all but hey, wasn't really ever gonna happen when I actually looked and saw what they were.

Dracula Origin

Dracula: Origin

Operating System: PC
Website: Official Website
Rating: 3/5
Comments: Abraham Van Helsing yet again on the hunt for Count Dracula to stop Mina Harker from turning into one of the undead. This was a vampire game that I approve of. Dracula actually looks good, much to my surprise, and I'm starting to wonder if they're actually going to make the second one or not.

The controls are pretty standard: point and click. The puzzles in the castle however were hair-tearingly HARD (walkthrough time!) but it didn't take away from the game for me. Sure most of the hardships were my fault, like having to re-patrol the graveyard because I forgot to write down dates and such or sitting in the coach house for hours because I couldn't find a plank of wood. It's a good game though, it doesn't drag along.

Reading the Dead

Reading the Dead

Operating System: PC
Website: BigFish page
Rating: 2/5
Comments: This game was not what I expected. It sounds exciting, a homicide detective that can see the past of dead people. The reality was terrible.

The plot is boring a shit. The hidden object scenes are ridiculously hard AND there are no bonus achievements/ bonus chapters to unlock. What a waste of time.

Kilari - Become a Star

Kilari: Become a Star

Operating System: Nintendo DS
Website: JP Website
Rating: 3/5
Comments: I wasn't expecting this game to be good. Most DS games I get are abysmal... but this one was was one of those that make you want to keep playing.

There's so many clothes to buy for both Kilari and her cat companion, Na-san. The graphics are like a typical shoujo anime style, very cutesy. There's also several skills to master, each one giving you a different ending scene. There's also the option of continuing to play even once you've finished, which is good for me as I'm still trying to get all the clothes!

The mini games started to get annoying, especially the one with the singing where you have to blow into the mic... not so co-ordinated on that one. No siree!

Reincarnations - Uncover the Past

Reincarnations: Uncover the Past

Operating System: PC
Website: BigFish page
Rating: 2.5/5
Comments: This one isn't too bad but it's not all that memorable either. I didn't care much for the plot once I started playing and found myself skipping past the dialogue, which is never a good sign. This does mean that I won't be giving any crit about the plot because it was just too boring to keep me interested.

The images are pretty good quality, but I've never been all that keen about 3D graphics. I don't have much else to say about this one. It's not going to be very memorable, but it's better than some that I've played.

Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age: Origins

Operating System: PC/Mac/Xbox/PS
Website: Official Website
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: Excellent game recommendation by my friend. While I like fantasy games, I do tend to stick to strategy or turn-based games so that I have more control, but this is neither of those. I didn't find it too difficult to pick up though, and soon was caught up in the action. There's a lot to find, secret quests, achievements, different classes, downloadable content. So much.

The character interaction is hilarious, specially Ohgren and Morrigan. In fact, most of the interactions, and subsequent relationships, were amusing to say the least. Although trying to hook up with Morrigan while keeping Sten in your party was ridiculous. You have no idea how many times I would pick something, trying to impress the witch, and end up making Sten hate me more. Good thing I knew how to bribe the sucker.

Surprisingly hard to get good screenshots though... maybe if I spent less time dying and more time playing...

Dark Parables 2: The Exiled Prince

Dark Parables 2: The Exiled Prince

Operating System: PC/Mac
Website: Official Website
Rating: 4/5
Comments: This game follows on from Dark Parables: Curse of Briar Rose which also has stunning artwork and clever puzzles. I loved this game because it reminded me of Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst (best hidden object game of all time! OF ALL TIME!). While I dislike hidden objects where the scenes make you find an object that is in pieces, I did find it a lot better than most HOGs that have the most random, ugly pictures marring an otherwise beautiful background. I was totally sucked in the minute I saw the intro to this, and further still when I realised there were morphing items in the game that you had to find (must go back and find them all! D:).

Sure there were times when I had NO idea what I was doing next but it wasn't too hard to figure out, specially since there was an in-game strategy guide to help you along. Great game, can't wait for the Snow Queen one coming up next.