Dire Grove 2 - Sacred Grove

It’s the week before Thanksgiving in the USA and so we get a new Mystery Case Files game. To be honest, after several dupes in a row, starting with the abysmal “13th Skull,” I wasn’t really hyped any longer, even though the very first HOG I ever played was an MCF game: “Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst.” By now, the series has redeemed itself in my eyes and the newest one, out today, has even endeared it to me again.

A little MCF history first, even though I’m not going to go into details. “Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove” was the first Collector’s Edition BFG ever did. It wasn’t like the ones you get today, with bonus game-play and additional stuff, it had one extra area and two extra hidden object games so you got what you needed to get there. Most people were not impressed, but it obviously sold well enough to make BFG produce more CEs and make all following MCF games CEs first, too. A lot of people complained about the production costs for the videos with real people in the game (not realizing that there had been such videos in the one before, “Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst,” too). Apart from that, though, the game was very good. It had a haunting atmosphere, good puzzles, a good story. As a matter of fact, I played it again a couple of months ago and enjoyed it as much as the first time I ever played it a long while ago, when it came out.

Two years ago, BFG decided to get rid of their own game developing and so they needed a new studio to make their MCF games (the only series BFG had been doing themselves). They decided on Elephant Games, luckily. The first game from the new developer was “Mystery Case Files: Fate’s Carnival,” a sequel of sorts to “Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate.” Fate’s Carnival was a good game overall, it only suffered from one big problem: it was too long. Just like a movie that would be perfect, if it took 70 minutes to watch, but was artificially blown up to last 120 minutes, just because ‘that’s how long movies take these days.’ There was a huge map with loads of locations and quite often you had to move from one end to the other for the next step. There were times when you had to go from location to location to find ‘x of something.’ The game wasn’t bad overall, but like its predecessor, it was just too long and felt like it.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to try out a survey version of the new MCF, Dire Grove 2, and realized soon that this time Elephant Games had found their feet with the new series they were making. Since then, I have been looking forward to the new game.

Today, it was released, on the Tuesday before US Thanksgiving, just as every MCF game in the MCF history. And I grabbed it immediately and played it in one afternoon, which should show just how much I enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, I might just start over again later and play it once more right away. They have toned down on hidden object scenes (I do play IHOGs for the adventure part, the puzzles and the item-usage, not for the hidden object searching as a such) and made them quite diverse. They have incorporated nice dialogue. They have incorporated the Rube Goldberg puzzles which made Ravenhearst such a great game. (Admittedly, those have been in Fate’s Carnival, too.) They have a wonderful art that makes you shiver with the unusual cold that has come over Dire Grove (again) and make you want to take a holiday there, nevertheless. They have a good bonus game, too. They have added loads of achievements and a lot of stuff to pick up, which means I will have to play again, since I’m still missing some miniature houses and puzzle parts.

It’s been a while since I really enjoyed a HOG, I’ve been a bit tired of them recently. But both the newest Dark Parables (“Dark Parables: The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide,” not a HOG, but a FROG) and Dire Grove 2 were fun to play, so perhaps I’m over that now. I had a wonderful afternoon with Dire Grove 2, enjoying my return to the place (with that ‘oh, I know that place, it still looks the same’ feeling) and enjoying the new stuff they have incorporated. I enjoyed the story, enjoyed walking the snow-covered place. I liked the diverse hidden object scenes and the puzzles. I liked the dialogue and finding clues to find out what was going on.

I fully approve of this Mystery Case File and it makes me hopeful for next year’s episode. Only one thing is clear: if Dalimar is in it again, I will take something heavy and beat him - ghost, spirit, non-human being, whatever - into bloody pulp. I’m so tired of that guy by now, I don’t have any words left for that.

Goodbye Warehouse 13

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for TV series that were somewhere beside the norm, the little gems that might never get major screen time on the big stations, but that make you turn in again and again - or spend whole days on a weekend or a vacation watching the DVDs. Several years ago, I picked up the first season of a little series I’d never had heard about before … it was the first season of “Warehouse 13.” And I was hooked, by the stories, by the characters, by the looks.

I didn’t expect all that much from the DVD set, to be honest. I know most TV series from the US have around 20 episodes for a full season, so I was sure this one with its 13 episodes was a mid-season replacement (and, statistically, only very few of those ever make it to a second season). But I didn’t really mind that, I’ve never had the majority’s taste in my life. I started watching and pulled through with all episodes on the same day. I was hooked, I was researching, and I was seeing talk of one more season online. I got the second DVD set and watched those as well.

The third season I bought from iTunes later on, also going through it at high speed. There was a little break afterwards, from my point of view, season three might just be the weakest (but weakest in a great series still is good, mind you). Yesterday, I got my hands on Season 4, buying another DVD set. It was one of the best seasons of any TV series I have ever watched. The only season with full 20 episodes (Season 1 to 3 have 13 episodes) reminded me of why I loved the other seasons so much. The twists, the turns, the great stories. The character development and the relationships between the characters. The many amazing artefacts stored in the warehouse. Mrs. Frederic. Mrs. Frederic alone is worth watching the whole series, believe me. She’s amazing.

So today I got myself an iTunes prepaid card (filling my iTunes account with enough money for the season pass for season 5, which only has 6 episodes) and bought the last few episodes as well. I bought them in the late afternoon and now, at quarter to eleven pm, I’ve finished watching all of the episodes. I loved every one of them.

So, what do I like about the series? I’ve already listed it above, but now have a little look at the details, shall we?

I was first pulled in by the basic premise of the series, by the principle of the artefacts and hunting them down. It was a nice twist, combining fantasy and science-fiction elements very well. The idea that many people over time have created artefacts in times of extreme circumstances left an open field for stories. I also liked the idea that every artefact would also have a dark side, a price to pay for the powers it could give you. You can’t just take, you also have to give so there’s a balance. It might sometimes be worth it, but in the end it make clear why those artefacts were taken into custody and hidden from the world. They were dangerous, they needed to be kept from those who might use them for their own purposes, sharing the price with the rest of the world. What that might mean shows clearly, especially in the final episodes of the seasons, when the writers were preparing for a possible end every time and pulled out the really good stuff to play with and create a possible end of the world - or at least the warehouse.

But the artefacts, as amazing as they were, weren’t the only reason for watching. With the artefacts alone, “Warehouse 13” could easily have been one of those ‘monster of the week’ series, which present you stories that have nothing or little to do with each other. Great artefacts and nice effects (especially for a TV series, we’re not talking about a Hollywood movie budget here, after all), but no substance underneath. Without the characters, that might have happened, but the writers knew that, too, obviously. So they presented the viewers with a host of interesting and layered characters. Characters that clearly had a life before they came to the warehouse (or the warehouse caught them, depending on how you want to see it), characters that had their weak spots, their strengths, their history. Relationships between the characters were important to the writers as well. The agents of the warehouse became a family over time, with Artie and, to a certain degree, Mrs. Frederic as the parents and the rest as the children. The family grew from season to season. The pasts of the characters had an impact on their present, they triggered events, they became important in the stories. It wasn’t just the typical ‘that’s your new case’ series, it was a series in which, sometimes, the cool artefacts even seemed to take the back seat and let the other parts play out.

Another thing that caught me from the first episode was the look of the series. At the time I watched the first season, I knew little to nothing about Steampunk (although I was reading “Girl Genius” already). That is precisely the style of the warehouse, though. The perfect mix between modern (in some cases hyper-modern) technology and an old, comfortable look. I liked the style from the very beginning, it was something that touched me in a way.

On one hand, I’m sorry “Warehouse 13” has ended. On the other hand, I have seen too many promising series go down after a while, because sooner or later there’s a decline in quality. Those 65 episodes overall are good, more than good. The series has a wonderful, touching, perfect ending. It spends the entire last season tying up the loose threads, the writers didn’t just say ‘what the heck, it’s over anyway,’ they rather decided ‘if we’re going, then let’s make it great, let’s go out in style.’ I also liked actors that I knew before and that turned up as guest stars, in some cases as recurring guest stars. (I especially liked both James Marsters and Anthony Head making an appearance in Season 4 - not together, but overlapping with Brent Spinner.)

If you like science-fiction, fantasy, Steampunk, or just good TV entertainment, take a look at “Warehouse 13.” Enjoy good stories, interesting people, and a not-so-common style.

Gaming Binge

I’ve actually been doing some binge playing lately … I finished a couple of old TMs I had in my ‘games’ folder. Especially, I finished “Viking Saga 2” after “Viking Saga 3” came out, figuring I shouldn’t finish part 3 before finishing part 2. Then I went on with other TMs, which is quite a good feeling overall, let me tell you. And now, I’ve gone on binge playing adventures with Nancy Drew.

I’ve gotten my email and download link for “Nancy Drew - The Shattered Medallion” (game #30) on Wednesday, since I had pre-ordered it in April. Then I realized I’m way behind with my Nancy Drew games, so I figured I should play some of the older ones before I tackle the newest. I started with “Nancy Drew - Ghost of Thornton Hall” (#28) since it was a) on my HD already and b) a scary one (I love those). I went through it in one feverish afternoon, as it were. And I will definitely play it again in a little while. Actually, right now it ranks up right beside my other two ND favourites: “Nancy Drew - Shadow at Water’s Edge” (#23 and set in Japan) and “Nancy Drew - The Captive Curse” (#24 and the only one set in Germany). All of them, as you can see from the titles, are on the scary side. I continue with the next one in the series, “Nancy Drew - The Silent Spy” (#29), which is not scary, but was very interesting to play, so I played most right after finishing #28 and only had about 1/3 to play today. I will definitely play that one again in a while, too.

“Nancy Drew - The Shattered Medallion” is next on my list, then I will go back with “Nancy Drew - The Deadly Device” (#27) and “Nancy Drew - Tomb of the Lost Queen” (#26). Afterwards? Believe me, if I combine the ND games I have from Steam, from HerInteractive, and from BFG, I have most of the series still to play. I have only finished a very few ND games so far (another I finished is “Nancy Drew - The Haunting of Castle Malloy”). I have a great many of the newer games (engine 2) and all of the newest (engine 3). I’m quite sure I will also buy the next in the series, once it comes out at HerInteractive.

It might surprise you, if you haven’t grown up in Germany, that Nancy Drew as a such is next to unknown over here. A couple of the novels have been translated over the last few years, but while I was still a teen (and would have loved a female detective who was not just part of a bigger group), there was no Nancy Drew book to be found over here. My first real contact with the character therefore was the first ND game I ever bought (which was, I think, “The Secret of the Old Clock” which is still on my to-do list). Over the next few years (yes, it’s actually been that long), I bought a couple of the games, either because the title sounded interesting, because there were sales during which I got them for a good price, or just because others recommended them to me. I hardly managed to finish them, however, since I’m possessed by a terrible ‘oh, shiny!’ reflex that cuts in whenever I find another game to play.

Lately, though, my urge to get new games has settled down considerably. I have ended my memberships at BFG and GH (those that cost, that is, I’m still a registered user at both sides) and instead started to buy games from the developers directly (in my case, as I prefer TM games, mostly from Alawar, Playrix, or Realore). It might now be the right time to actually play all those games I have bought and not finished so far. As if that is ever going to happen…

Adventures are among the first games I really played after discovering computer gaming. I remember fondly spending a lot of time with classics like “Zak McCracken and the Alien Mindblenders” or “Manic Mansion.” I even remember fondly - today, that is - playing old Sierra Games and dying regularly. It’s no surprise I was far more fond of LucasArts (Lucasfilm Games, as they were still called at that time), since you couldn’t die in those. I enjoyed “Day of the Tentacle” and played it until I could play the game in under two hours, since I knew precisely what to do next. Unfortunately, YouTube was not up and about then and I had no internet, so there is no proof of that.

I strayed to other genres over time, I had my brush with FTS games, I played strategy games, I discovered the joy of playing RPGs. I plunged head-first into the casual market and got caught by HOGs and TMs. I like the occasional Match-3 game. I became much better at simulations, especially at business and life simulations (patience comes with age, it’s true).

But all the time, I’ve never completely lost sight of the genre which I’ve always loved most, the adventure, the novel you can play. And, luckily, I live in a place where there’s still quite some being produced (German developers like Deck 13 still do a lot of 2.5D games).

I think I will continue to binge-play Nancy Drew a bit longer … I could also finally do “Nancy Drew - Legend of the Crystal Skull” (#17), which I always wanted to finish, but somehow never did finish. Not to mention all the ND games I have from BFG … I will be well-entertained (and probably dying from bad choices) for quite a while.

Puzzle Agent

FBI special agents usually are tough guys. Nelson Tethers isn’t. He’s with the FBI, he’s a special agent (there are not other agents in the FBI), but he’s no tough guy, he’s a geek, in a way.

I have waited for this game to be published by TellTale Games for a whole month. They promised to publish it in June – and did so at the very last day, late enough for me, as an inhabitant of Europe, to get it on the first of July instead.

Apart from providing me with pictures of snowy landscapes (a good thing throughout the heat wave we’ve been experiencing here for the last couple of days), it also does provide me with a lot of puzzles to solve. It does so, because it’s some kind of “Dr. Kawashima” with a story and without an analysis of my brain power beforehand.

Nelson Tethers is working in the puzzle department. One day he has a vision which leaves a mark on his daily crossword puzzle. It’s just one word: “Scoggins”. Scoggins, it turns out, is a small town and the site of the Scoggins Eraser Factory, the only factory that supplies the White House with erasers. Now the factory has been closed and all agents looking for the reason have disappeared. So it’s time for Nelson to solve the puzzles in Scoggins and find out what has happened there.

Even though Nelson travels from one area to the other, as people do in an adventure, even though he talks to people, the game is mainly about the puzzles various people in the town give him. There’s a large variety of those, all kinds of puzzles.

The graphics are a bit crude when you look at them for the first time, but that’s the designer’s style. The way all characters were drawn actually grew on my quickly.

The story around the puzzles also is quite interesting. There’s strange red gnomes running around in Scoggins, there’s a light in the eraser factory and a complicated lock outside. In addition, it’s freezing cold and everyone seems to be thinking only of puzzles.

The game could be a bit longer, but considering it only costs 9.99 $, the price is okay. There might be some new cases for Mr. Tethers ahead, after all.

Once you’re through with the story, you can replay the puzzles you’ve solved already and you can play the puzzles you might have missed (you do not have to play all puzzles in the game to solve it).

So, if you’re looking for an interesting game that supplies a collection of puzzles with a story that’s interesting, but weird, “Puzzle Agent” might be something to check out.

Deep in the Caribbean

It’s the one line old gamers like me see in front of the lovely night skyline of Melee Island and immediately relax. And I did relax, once I found the Special Edition of “The Secret of Monkey Island” and installed it.

Monkey Island, as we used to call it when I was still at school and playing it for the first time (really a looooong time ago), is one of the first adventures LucasArts (then Lucasfilm Games) created. It features a young man who wants to be a pirate and still (after four regular games and five chapters of “Tales of Monkey Island”) can’t get people to remember his name correctly: Guybrush Threepwood. And Guybrush would still be a nobody if it weren’t for the dreadful, un-dead pirate LeChuck. At first a ghost pirate, he is called a demon pirate by now – although technically speaking he’s more of a zombie pirate.

But back to the nightly skyline of the beautiful Melee Island. The words “Deep in the Caribbean” and some nice reggae music are among the first things people see and hear when the game starts up (in the original and the SE version). Then we meet Guybrush Threepwood who wants to be a pirate and thus embarks on an adventure that will lead him into the depths beneath the mysterious, legendary Monkey Island, into the very lair of the ghost pirate LeChuck and his crew of scary spectres.

On his way, he meets the female governor of Melee (and a few other islands): Elaine Marley. And he falls in love with her – which makes LeChuck very angry, as he wants Elaine to be his ghostly queen when ruling the Caribbean.

The first Monkey Island keeps firmly in mind, because it features some quite strange humour. For instance, Guybrush has to defeat the swordmaster of Melee Island. To do so, he needs to learn about the fine points of swordfight: the right way of insulting your enemy while fighting. Guybrush also isn’t very worried about being underwater, he claims he’s able to hold his breath for ten minutes. (In a classical LucasArts adventure, you can’t die and thus lose the game, no matter what strange things you do.)

In the latest instalment of the series, “Tales of Monkey Island”, Guybrush has been married to Elaine for quite a while (they marry at the end of the third game) and is still after LeChuck (who, in turn, is still after Elaine). He’s still quite clumsy, too. But that’s the point. Otherwise he wouldn’t, for instance, lose an important ingredients for a voodoo recipe and have to improvise...

Deep in the Caribbean ... aaaah, pure bliss.