The feeder bands have arrived, bringing rain.

It's going to be bad, but I'm 5 miles inland, just north of Boca Raton.   The video and photos the media will be showing will all be from areas on the ocean or the Intercoastal waterway.  Those are mandatory evacuation areas.

We're safe.  The worst of it remained offshore and damage in my neighborhood is minimal.

SO pleased you're OK, TiramaSue

Tirama, I'm also really glad you're safe!  
 

Even though I've been as sick as a dog, I did manage to play:

Nevertales: Hidden Doorway  by Mad Head Games

I don't feel up to typing a review at the moment but suffice to say, I definitely recommend the SE and the CE if you like one easy collectible (not in your face but you can find almost all of them with a bit of looking) but lots of extras.

My 4 important criteria:

Touch - double click, so had to use mouse
Contextual Icon Changes - couldn't turn them off but used system icons, so small
Black Bar Tips - couldn't turn them off but not too bad
Plus Item Indicators - could only choose not to show when active

So, this game had none of my 4 main important criteria but the game was so innovative and fun that I wanted to play the game, regardless.  And it was a lot of fun, changing reality through changing stories in books.  So it wasn't so bad, having to use the mouse, seeing contextual icon changes (although, using the system cursor, it was so small that I could avoid seeing it most of the time), having BBTs (although they weren't too bad), and having all the plus items indicated (although not when they were active).

Main game was fairly short, taking me just under 4 hours.  However, the bonus game took me 90 mins and was just as good as the main game.  The main game ends conclusively and the bonus is just that, a bonus, continuing on from the end of the main game.

I loved the HOPs (16 in the game, 4 extra in Nostalgia in Extras), which were really innovative.  One had 4 levels and the morphing object is in the last one, and each level was really, really busy, so that one took ages to play.  I had to check in the forums to find that last morphing object as it was really hard to spot!  None were terribly difficult but all were fun!

I can't remember much about the minigames, except that none were particularly hard.  I also think there were a lot more of them than HOPs.  I can't remember them being as much fun as the HOPs, though, although nor can I remember myself being bored by them or not liking them, or thinking I'd played them all many times before.  I just wish you could replay them in Extras.

Extras: 

Bonus chapter
One collectible - once you've got them all you can do a jigsaw puzzle
Treasure Hunt - once you've done the jigsaw puzzle you can do the treasure hunt
Morphing objects in every HOP - you have to replay all in Extras to access all bonus content
Nostalgia - 4 HOPs from previous games - you have to replay all to access all bonus content
Gardening Puzzle - you have to play all 10 (?) levels straight through to access all bonus content
Defense Puzzle - you have to get a certain no. of points to access all bonus content
Gallery - concept art, music, wallpapers, HOPs, avatars ...
HOPs - must replay all to access all bonus content
           - you can get 3 stars and find any MOs you missed in the game
Avatars - 6 lots of 5 (?) avatars - 2 lots from this game, 4 from the previous games
             - you have to complete all bonus content to get all 6 sets of avatars
Achievements - lots! - Gold, Silver and Bronze - each with 9 = 27
                        - some gameplay but most earned
                        - including playing the entire game without using a single hint
                        - including some different - eg. escape basement in less then 8 mins!

The only things in Extras that you can play again once you've played them are:

All HOPs - both those from the game and the 4 extra ones in Nostalgia
Gardening Puzzle
Defense Puzzle - it's neverending - you keep going until it gets too hard and you lose

Once you've collected all the collectibles and played the jigsaw puzzle you can't access them again.  Nor can you access the Treasure Hunt.  The treasures (or souvenirs) you collect aren't stored in a room that you can view at any time (as in Eipix games).  You collect them and that's it.

I really wish you could replay the jigsaw puzzle and especially the treausure hunt, which is something I wish all games allowed you to do.

Recommendation:  Definitely SE but I think with all the extras the CE is also a good buy (on sale, naturally!)



Okay, so even when I'm as sick as a dog I can't write a short review.



Back to lying down for me!  Now, what movie do I want to watch ...