Gamer Chick and Mom. Games are My Passion, and Here You'll Find Gaming Reviews & Info, plus Talk about Books, Movies, Music and More!


3 posters

    Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    genkicoll
    genkicoll


    Posts : 8426
    Join date : 2011-12-28
    Age : 50
    Location : Pacific Northwest

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by genkicoll Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:46 am

    Awakening: The Skyward Castle
    by Boomzap - September, 2012

    Series links: Awakening 1: The Dreamless Castle, Awakening 2: Moonfell Wood, Awakening 3: The Goblin Kingdom, Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle, Awakening 5: The Sunhook Spire, Awakening Kingdoms "Free-to-Play", Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest, Awakening 7: The Golden Age

    Available at:
    Big Fish for PC as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
    Big Fish for Mac as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
    iWin as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
    Steam as Collector's Edition

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Awakening-the-skyward-castle-ce_feature

    Awakening: The Skyward Castle tells the tale of young Princess Sophia, who awakens from a magical century-long slumber into a land threatened by an ancient evil. Braving the dangers of an unfamiliar world, Princess Sophia has traveled far to discover the fate of her exiled kingdom. Having no magic of her own in a land built with living magic, she must overcome the many foes, perils and obstacles with her wit, skill and allies. Can Princess Sophia lift the curse that plagues her people? Find out in this epic conclusion!

    The Collector’s Edition includes:

    • Integrated strategy guide
    • Bonus gameplay
    • Beautiful concept art
    • Wallpapers

    For the Standard Edition:

    Click images to enlarge
    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Th_screen1_awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Th_screen2_awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Th_screen3


    Last edited by genkicoll on Wed May 22, 2019 12:09 am; edited 9 times in total
    avatar
    bribling


    Posts : 102
    Join date : 2012-01-23

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Re: Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by bribling Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:50 am

    I love this series! I purchased this edition at the BFG Labor Day Sale. Great Graphics and good gameplay. The Princess is still seeking her parents. It includes a Map which gives you a fast trip to any location you have been to before. The minis are good and not too difficult. I don't think it has many, if any, standard HOS but it does have plenty of puzzles and items to find.

    I have a problem with this game which I have not seen in the Tech Forum so it is probably due to something in my personal setup. Everything loads exceedingly slow. When I click on a puzzle or the next location I have a wait of as much as 10 secs. This is tiresome and I would not have purchased if I did not love the series so much. It is very annoying and I can only play maybe 20 min. or so before I have to take a break. But, I am addicted to this series and love the game despite the "lag".
    genkicoll
    genkicoll


    Posts : 8426
    Join date : 2011-12-28
    Age : 50
    Location : Pacific Northwest

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Re: Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by genkicoll Sat Sep 01, 2012 3:40 pm

    Brib, you should send an e-mail to CS. I don't know what would be causing your trouble, although restarting your computer and opening ONLY the game might help. Wish I could be of more help!
    avatar
    bribling


    Posts : 102
    Join date : 2012-01-23

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Re: Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by bribling Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:51 am

    CS isn't what it used to be and I have found it difficult to get any useful suggestions from them lately. They always tell me to do what you can easily find in the Help articles. I do those things before ever contacting CS. yes, my software is all updated, yes, the folder exists and I am the Admin for it, etc., etc. No other game has this problem. I have recently sent two Dr. Felix reports and even a screen shot for one game and still cannot get any real help with the problems. I have even disabled everything else including the AV but have no improvement in the lag of this game (and only this game). So, I keep playing it bits at a time until I get too tired of waiting for loads. Without the Map which gives "fast" access to locations I don't think I could stand to play at all. Again, I have not seen this problem in the Tech thread of the Forum.
    JustTheFacts
    JustTheFacts


    Posts : 5142
    Join date : 2013-09-01
    Age : 61
    Location : Western Australia

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Re: Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by JustTheFacts Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:26 pm


    Beautiful Of Course, But No Longer A True HOPA

    Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny 

    BASED ON COMPLETED GAME
     

    Yes, this latest in the Awakening series is all you could ask for in visuals, music and originality. Something I’ve not mentioned before in my reviews of other games in this series – there is always a large number of original and creative variations of both hidden object games and puzzles. And this is true in particular of Skyward Castle. But the emphasis has finally shifted so far away from common HOs that it’s no longer a game I would recommend to HO fans. This is a puzzle adventure.

    It is also very difficult to play. The puzzles and mini-games have become so hard there were some I had to skip simply because I couldn’t understand the instructions. In fact, I skipped more than I completed. That detracts greatly from my enjoyment of the game.

    So, while again this is oh so much more than its predecessors, I actually prefer the earlier Awakenings.

    I recommend this game!
    genkicoll
    genkicoll


    Posts : 8426
    Join date : 2011-12-28
    Age : 50
    Location : Pacific Northwest

    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Re: Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by genkicoll Wed May 22, 2019 12:06 am

    Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle (IHOG)

    Princess Sophia is nearing the end of her journey, at last, but dark shadows block her every move on her quest to rejoin her people.

    Options include Full-screen, Custom Cursor, Achievements Notifications and separate sliders for Sound and Music.  Choice of Relaxed, Normal or Dreadmyre! mode.

    NOTE: The Steam interface does not work with this title.

    Story:

    Our friendly guide owl is back, as is the ever-helpful pocket dragon.  The game's intro gives an overview, but the journal gives a more detailed account of the past three games.

    In The Skyward Castle, we will see our nemesis for the first time.  Although this definitely adds to the element of danger, there is still nothing dark and eerie about the game.

    Our Journal will make note of important story points, but it's really the Goals tab that gives us little snippets of extra story.  Still, the actual Goals list contains mini-spoilers, so keep that in mind.  Puzzle hints will be recorded in the Journal portion.

    Gameplay:

    Some changes to the usual Awakening formula have been made as of this game.  We still have a nice balance of adventuring, puzzles and Hidden Object Scenes, but the HOS themselves are MUCH more interactive than in previous games.  Hidden Object types include find-by-list, hidden object puzzles, finding pairs, find x-number of items... The list goes on and on, and ALL of them are interactive in some way.

    The Mini-games are widely-varied, and though there is still some theming to the puzzles, the way that they're presented is so very different from one another that you might not even realize that it's the same kind of mini.  There are at least 40 puzzles to work through, and while some of them are super-easy, I had to skip a few because I didn't understand the instructions.  HINTS are available during these minis, which is definitely a bonus!

    Speaking of HINTS, they are refillable, and there is no directional arrow available.  If you are zoomed in on something when you hit the button (aka the owl), you'll get very specific instructions.  Otherwise, you'll get a general, "We should go do x-action," type of hint.

    The MAP offers fast-travel, but is not otherwise interactive.  There are four chapters to the main game, each having its own map with quite a few locations.

    CE Content:

    • Integrated Strategy Guide (access via Menu button)
    • Bonus Chapter
    • 19 Nonograms
    • 18 Rewatchable Cutscenes
    • 7 Wallpapers
    • 6 Concept Art (mouse-over to see finalized artwork)
    • 6 Music Tracks (cannot be saved to computer
    • 43 in-game Achievements

    Bonus Chapter:

    The Epilogue gives us a little bit of extra information beyond the main game's ending, but it mostly sets us up for the next game in the series, The Sunhook Spire.  The chapter's gameplay is a bit more like in the previous Awakening games, with the puzzles being more obviously themed than in the main game.  The bonus took me about an hour to complete.

    Verdict:

    This fourth game in the series feels heavier on the adventure than the previous games did, with highly-interactive hidden object scenes of mixed types.  The graphics are as beautiful as you would expect them to be, the music an old friend, and the gameplay in general fun and interesting.  Recommended!

    Sponsored content


    awakening - Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle Empty Re: Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle

    Post by Sponsored content


      Current date/time is Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:00 am