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    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story

    genkicoll
    genkicoll


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

    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Empty Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story

    Post by genkicoll Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:52 am

    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story
    by Alawar Friday's Games

    Available at:
    Alawar as Collector's Edition
    Big Fish Collector's Edition for PC and Mac
    Big Fish Standard Editon for PC and Mac
    Wildtangent

    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Stray-souls-dollhouse-story-collectors-edition-logo

    Welcome to a town where something that should not exist runs free; where a desperate wife will risk her beating heart to find her husband; and where a terrible secret lies buried behind an orphanage.  Search for  clues, solve puzzles, and unlock new areas as you visit spine-chilling  locations, play stimulating mini-games and locate hidden objects.  

    The  Collector's Edition of Stray Souls comes with concept art, music,  deleted scenes, desktop wallpapers and a shocking prequel chapter!

    • 12 main chapters
    • Bonus prequel chapter
    • 50 game locations
    • 20 hidden object scenes
    • Unlockable bonus content
    • Blog Walkthrough (Big Fish)

    Click images to enlarge
    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Th_screen1  Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Th_screen2  Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Th_screen3


    Last edited by genkicoll on Sat Jan 20, 2018 11:22 pm; edited 3 times in total
    genkicoll
    genkicoll


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

    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Empty Re: Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story

    Post by genkicoll Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:16 pm

    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story (IHOG)

    Stray Souls is made by Alawar, the same folks that brought us House of 1000 Doors, The Treasures of Mystery Island series, the Vampire Saga series, and Sacra Terra. Like in Sacra Terra, there are "Beyond" items - aka morphing items - to find scattered throughout the game.

    There are separate sliders for sound and music, plus options for custom cursor and full screen. Once you're through the opening scene, you have an option for casual or expert mode. It very clearly tells you the difference between the two, which is always nice. The tutorial can also be skipped, if you wish.

    I chose casual to begin with, and the sparkles were so fast and furious that I immediately restarted the game, two minute recharge on the HINTS be darned! Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story 3286387481

    The cutscenes can be skipped, and there are no voice overs. Music is appropriately dark and dramatic, without being annoying. It nicely suits the atmosphere that the devs were trying to create.

    This is not a "pretty" game. Don't get me wrong, the graphics are very well done, it's just that they're meant to be dark & eerie, and that they are! The hidden object scenes are junk-piley, occasionally overwhelmingly so. This messiness just adds to the creep-factor - nicely done Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story 1404866550

    Speaking of HO scenes, you cannot exit back to the adventure-gameplay until you finish finding the hidden objects. There is a mis-click penalty, albeit relatively short. During the adventure scenes, the HINT button will show you which direction to go in without using up your hint. Always nice.

    Gameplay has a similarity to both Sacra Terra and Twisted Lands: Origin, as well as an aspect from Secrets of the Dark: Temple of Night, but I'd be ruining it for you if I told you how, so I'll just let you figure that part out for yourselves Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story 3286387481 hehe There was one very cool Ravenhearst/Madame Fate-esque door puzzle to do, which I really enjoyed figuring out.

    Story-wise, the game is definitely creepy. Something that happened early on in the game actually startled the heck out of me! Happy day that no one ruined that for me, and I'll return the favor by keeping my mouth shut! Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story 580207494 Our lovely journal records our story, and contains a bit of extra story (no hints! Happy day!), as well as a MAP (which I never used.)

    The ending of the game was non-predictable, and very satisfying for me. Very well done on that, Alawar!

    WARNING for the arachnophobes: Big, huge, GIANT spider in terrifying detail. I'm not generally afraid of spiders, but this one is not only a whopper, but gross-looking, to boot.

    Overall, this is a very solid, enjoyable game, and one that I would definitely recommend to any IHOG-lover that enjoys creepy games Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story 3026146359
    JustTheFacts
    JustTheFacts


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

    Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Empty Re: Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story

    Post by JustTheFacts Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:52 pm

    Classic Horror HOPA*****

    BASED ON COMPLETED GAME

    It’s been quite a while since I played Dollhouse Story, and it’s a delightful surprise to rediscover it.

    It’s a true horror game, and much of it is a little disturbing, but the story grabs you from the beginning and will still have you holding your breath to the very end.

    While the game starts as many do with the husband mysteriously disappearing, before you even leave the house, it gets different. You are confronted with a creepy voodoo doll who talks, and says he is here to help. Even when he perched up on the hint button, I had my doubts!

    Once we get to the town of hubbie’s childhood, we get the second item that makes this game unique. It’s a dollhouse, which, when you place dolls in it, tells a little of the backstory. Very intriguing. The final 30 mins of this game are an emotional rollercoaster and it is one of the best endings I’ve seen.

    That’s all you’ll get from me about the story. But, clearly the game sets you up well for the bonus prequel.

    The game plays very smoothly, you are kept constantly doing things. There are a lot of HOs in this one, more than there are puzzles, and you visit each twice, but you have so much to do outside the HOs, it doesn’t feel at all HO heavy.

    Graphics are a little fuzzy (this game is over 2 years old), but you don’t notice for long, and it doesn’t interfere with your ability to find objects. You also have 36 morphing objects to find, and these are mostly hidden well.

    There are rumours of a sequel, and I am sure I will not be the only one happily awaiting it.

    Bonus content, apart from the prequel, is the standard wallpapers and other art. Artistically, I think this game does really well, so if you’re into that side of things, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

    I recommend this game!

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