I have 5 punches on my card and 1 pcc, so I am good this month.  What to get with my pcc though?  I leaning towards Lost Legends: The Weeping Woman or The Others that stusue recommends so highly.  I have a feeling though that both of these games will be coming out on the Mystery Masters CD later on and should I just wait and get it then when I buy the Mystery Masters CD.

I enjoy Manor Memoirs.  It is one of those games I play for a bit inbetween the other more adventury ones.  Some of the decor choices are pretty horrific. lol the green carpet!  I don't think I would pay 13.99 for it.  I picked it up on sale at Playrix a few weeks ago for 5.99.

oscar66 wrote:

I wish I had The Other Side Tower of Souls as a CE now after reading what Stusue wrote

Oscar, The Other Side: Tower of  Souls is a straight SE; there's no CE.  It has all the bells and whistles of a CE minus a WT and bonus chapter.  But at 7 hours it's longer than most CEs, including their bonus chapters!  How cool is that?

One thing I forgot to mention about Tower of Souls is that there are only 2 difficulty modes, which aren't named.  You simply choose one side or the other.  I loved the setup of the choice as there are little icons as well as words, which I found very original and which I loved.

The easier choice:

    *    Sparkles provide hints
    *    Quick Hints
    *    Easy Minigames
    *    Easy HOPs

The harder choice:

    *    No Sparkles
    *    Slow Hints
    *    Hard Minigames
    *    Well Hidden Objects

I chose the harder option and wow, some of the minigames were easy but most were hard!  Several I had to do several times to complete.  There are several arcade-type ones and in one you have to move one object around, bumping into an object with the colour it changes into.  Every time I couldn't avoid bumping into another colour, all the objects returned without a break and I had to virtually start from scratch.  That took about 4 or 5 goes until I managed to get all the colours.  You also play Reversi and there's an achievement for not being beaten by the game.  Well, I certainly didn't get that achievement as I got beaten 3 or 4 times until I finally managed to get into a corner and win.  Phew. 

I haven't tried the easier mode but the puzzles lend themselves to having an easy mode.  So perfect for both gamers who'd prefer easier puzzles and those who love harder ones.  Each puzzle has a Skip but no Reset button, not that you really need it.  The only other games I've seen with a choice of harder or easy puzzles are some of ERS' games but there's not that much difference and the harder option still isn't hard.  But in this game Hard really means Hard.  Not impossible, just much harder than normal and they take a lot longer and require more thought than the usual puzzles, especially the latest trend of really making games simple with simple puzzles. 

The HOPs in the harder mode are also hard!  And they take a long time.  I imagine the difference is that in the harder mode the interactive objects aren't highlighted.  So you don't know which ones you have to find and which ones you'll have to search for - eg. you might have to find lots of different keys to open lots of little doors to find more keys for the other doors, etc.  Or you might have to pull on a lever several times as it keeps on turning to another door, or whatever.  You might also have to open lots of things.  I absolutely loved every HOP.  Even though they were all straight lists with no variety, they were so much fun that I loved it every time I came across one.  They're highly interactive and so much fun!

There are 24 HOPs but, unfortunately, only 12 minigames, although it felt like there were a lot more.  Perhaps because they took so long to do and weren't simple ones that were over in a few minutes, especially the ones that I had to play several times.  Of the 12 minigames, I noted one as Easy Peasy, one as Easy, 2 as Medium, and 6 as Hard (but not impossible, just thinky or hard arcade ones).  Some of them were original, whereas others were harder versions of old minigames.  This is the only game that I really, really wish offered replayable minigames, I found them that much fun.

There's no map but you don't need one as the whole game is firstly getting into a tower and then you simply go from one level up to the next.  Each level only has a few different rooms and the object is to get past the barrier that's stopping you from getting to the next level.  It sounds simple but, believe me, it isn't.  There also aren't any BBTs as if you click on your cat sidekick - snarky and very sarcastic but funny - you get hints, sometimes a lot more than I liked, though, as speech from him (very, very good voiceovers but no lip-syncing that I recall).

But playing the game 3 times to get each ending????  It's the only game I can imgaine replaying straight away as it was that good and I know that it wouldn't take 7 hours the second and third times through, especially if I played in the easier mode, but still, 3 times????  You have a choice right at the end of how you want it to all end.  Choosing each one gives you a different ending.  In my choice ** I died to save the world **.  However, if you choose the other option you ** play a game with the protagonist and if you win or lose ** you apparently get 2 different endings.  And no one's mentioned the different endings in the forums, other than discussing how many there are.  Bummer, as I have so many unplayed games that I really don't think I should replay this long one.

I missed 5 of the achievements - the Reversi one as I've already mentioned; one for completing the game without using the Hint or Skip buttons (I accidentally hit the Hint button instead of the shopping trolley to go to the Upgrade Shop, as they're right next to each other, so missed that achievement); one for collecting all the evidence (you have an evidence board next to the journal pages but I have no idea how I could have missed any!); one for not finding every page from Beatrice's journal (once again, I thought I'd clicked on every piece of paper I found); and obviously the one for earning every achievement.

ETA:  There are some misnamed or weird-looking objects in the HOPs.  For example, in 2 HOPs near the end you have to find molds and they're simply glass or white cubes (?).  Also, a coin purse is actually a wallet; 2 honeycombs are actually one comb and one brush; a soccer ball is a baseball; a brooch is a scorpion brooch (sneaky!); a horn is one beetle's horn (sneaky); 2 baits are actually 2 fish keyrings.
 

Last edited by stusue (August 25, 2014 5:18 pm)

stusue -- Thanks for your long description of THE OTHER SIDE:  TOWER OF SOULS.  You make me feel as though I might be able to do this game. 

And I just finished reading the loooong post in your demo review thread!