Chimeras 1: Tune of Revenge

Chimeras: Tune of Revenge
by Elephant Games - February, 2013

Series links:  Chimeras 1: Tune of Revenge, Chimeras 2: The Signs of Prophecy, Chimeras 3: Cursed and Forgotten, Chimeras 4: Mortal Medicine, Chimeras 5: Mark of Death

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



During a celebration, a mysterious organ grinder appears, selling fortune cards for a penny. When the first victim falls prey to a mysterious beast, you rush to discover who this organ grinder is and what he wants. He claims revenge for the death of an innocent man, but what really happened on that day thirteen years ago? And who is trying to cover it up? A web of lies and deceit await you in this darkened city that was once so full of happiness. Uncover the truth and unmask the true villain in Chimeras: Tune of Revenge, a thrilling Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game.

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Integrated Strategy Guide
  
• Bonus chapter featuring the organ grinder's fate
  
• Collectable curse cards and supernatural pets
  
• Downloadable wallpapers, art and soundtrack
  
• Additional mini-game
  

For the Standard Edition:

• Walkthrough
  
• Strategy Guide (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
__

A lot of folks at Big Fish are wanting the organ grinder music from the opening menu of this game, but can't figure out how to get it.

If you have the CE, you can easily save the tracks to your computer. In the Bonus Section, click on Music, select the track(s) you want to save, then at the bottom, click on the Save button There are only 4 tracks, though, and I don't think that the organ grinder music is there...


I did, however, find where the music files are stored on your computer!

C:\Program Files\Chimeras - Tune of Revenge Collector's Edition\assets\level\common\audio

There are 224 tracks in there!

The track you're looking for is called ad_maintheme_mus.ogg, so if you know how to search your system, it might be easier to just pull it up that way. When you're listening to it, be sure to listen on a loop (put it on repeat), as it has a very abrupt ending if you don't

Be sure that you don't MOVE or change the file name in the original folder, or you won't hear the music in the game anymore... and may cause a glitch in your game. Instead, COPY the file elsewhere, then you can change the name.

If you simply can't figure it out, let me know and I'll post a yousendit link here for you to download.

Chimeras: Tune of Revenge CE (AHOG)
February, 2013 review updated in May, 2019 after replaying the game

What a delightful adventure game this is! There are hidden object scenes, but they are widely spaced, and do NOT repeat.  You must complete some kind of action to access the HOS, and there is light interaction on each scene.

Backing up now... *beep beep beep* XD

Options include four separate sliders for sound, gamma, full-screen/widescreen, special effects and  custom cursor.

Choice of Casual, Advanced or Hardcore mode, and you can adjust the difficulty at any time.  In Advanced/Hardcore mode there are NO sparkles, not even to indicate hidden object scenes.  In THIS game it isn't a problem not being able to see where the HOS are, since you always have to complete an action to view them in the first place.

Story:

A mysterious organ grinder has appeared, bringing misfortune with his cursed cards.  What could these people have done to deserve their terrible fates, and will you be able to stop him?  Face mythical beasts and overcome a myriad of obstacles in your quest to save the town and its people.

The story progresses through a series of frequent, short cutscenes.  There are notes that we find periodically, as well as cursed cards that we collect.  The cards can be accessed like a journal would be, with each having a blurb of extra story in the description.  Clicking on a card will replay the narrative cutscene describing the curse.

HINTS are refillable (assuming you're not on Hardcore mode), and there is no misclick penalty.  Using a hint during the adventure portion of the game will get you a bit of text telling you exactly what to do next, so if you don't want to know, don't click!  No directional hints available.

The story is intriguing, the graphics are great and the gameplay is quite fun.  There is an interactive MAP, which not only shows you where there are currently actions to be completed, but also shows you a small pop-up of what the location looks like, and (if applicable) what long-term task you need to accomplish in that particular place (ie. find a way to put out the fire.)  There is a LOT of to-ing and fro-ing, but the map has insta-transport, so that cuts down on travel time a lot.

I am SO pleased with the way the devs handled the "I JUST had that a second ago - what's wrong with the one I just used??" syndrome.  Example:  Early on we used a screwdriver, then it disappeared from our inventory, per usual.  Later we needed a screwdriver, and just when I was about to *face palm* because I'd just had one, I realized that the one we had wouldn't have worked!  In one case we needed a hex wrench, and in the other, a triangular-shaped screwdriver.  Nicely done, devs!

A few of the mini-games were insultingly easy, but others were inventive and a proper difficulty level.

CE Content:

• 10 Lost pets (they appear and disappear - kind of like morphing objects)
  
• Bonus chapter (which shows us the fate of one of the characters)
  
• 7 Wallpapers (only one of which is from gameplay -- the rest are originals)
  
• 4 Downloadable music files
  
• Bestiary - 9 mosaic-like puzzles to do along with information about each mythical creature you are reassembling
  
• Extra Minigame - putting together the organ in three different ways in order to hear songs in a music-box style
  

In the BONUS chapter:

There are 10 locations in the bonus chapter, none of which looks like it did in the main game, and much of the artwork is totally new!  The gameplay is excellent -- I enjoyed it just as much as (or more than!) the main game.  The bonus is not necessary to wrap up the original story, but it sure does add to it nicely, tying up some loose ends we didn't realize were there.

My favorite parts of Tune of Revenge are the immersive environment and the antagonist, the organ grinder.  His character is so very rich in detail -- both literally and figuratively -- that I couldn't help but like him.  The frequent cutscenes just *worked*, and helped draw me in, even though I hadn't planned to play this all the way through again. lol~

This is a beautifully-made game all the way around, and I enjoyed it just as much today as I did when I first played it in 2013. Definitely recommended!  

I picked this one up about a week ago, awesome game. I've been busy so not all the way through it yet. As I play these games I'm finding the HOGs and their variants are the games I most enjoy. Thank you for all of your hard work here. It's been fun for me as I delve into these.

A Captivating Tale Told Beautifully    
    

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME PLAYED MANY TIMES

By the time we’d got through the intro to the first game page, I was already sold. It’s not just the nice dramatic atmosphere of a medieval fair and fireworks. Nor its main character, the organ grinder, with his creepy trappings and his oh so eerie Poe-like rhyme – though I absolutely adore this rarely seen technique of having a real song playing on the play page.

It’s not even the beautifully macabre graphics, which capture both the colour and the darkness of the game and help create an atmosphere both deliciously chilling and light-hearted. It’s the very idea of dishing out fiendishly appropriate fates, based on the legends and myths that have troubled the human imagination since forever that tickled my fancy, and the game lived up to my expectations.

Having played the game back to back now, I can say I honestly can’t remember a game I have enjoyed more. It is not a difficult game, and the focus is on HOs and adventure lite, so it’s relaxing. The scenes are very well drawn and the HOs are interactive. The puzzles can’t have been too hard because I only skipped a couple.

There are 13 cursed cards to collect, but they are necessary to the game play, so they’re not really collectibles. Actually, considering the developer, there is surprisingly little bling. Maybe it was all in the CE. There is a map, interactive and teleporting. Very helpful, but oddly no journal of any kind. Still, I rarely noticed its absence. The final confrontation was fun, but ran a little slow for a climactic finish.

Despite less spectacle than we are getting used to, this is my new favourite game – at least until the next one.

I recommend this game!

I Had To Upgrade! BONUS CONTENT REVIEW    
    

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME

This game has me spellbound. The ORGAN GRINDER, drawn beautifully with MACABRE GRAPHICS both COLOURFUL & DARK, weaved his enchantment upon me, and the STANDARD EDITION just wasn’t enough. The haunting lyrics of “LENORE” stayed with me for days, as did the story of dishing out fiendishly APPROPRIATE fates, using BEASTS from legends and myths, to those who deserve it. (For more detail on the main game, see my review of SE game).

BONUS CHAPTER

The MAIN GAME finished CONCLUSIVELY, and the extra chapter picks up where it stopped. With an UNEXPECTED TWIST. It took me a bit over an hour to finish. It has the same ATMOSPHERE as the rest of the story, and a SIMILAR FEEL to the GAMEPLAY.

There are both NEW & OLD LOCATIONS in this part of the story, although the OLD ONES are transformed into a SURREAL version of themselves. The HO SCENES & PUZZLES are ALL new. The PRODUCTION QUALITY and the MYSTERY is as good as the MAIN game. There is no sense of this being ‘tacked on’. It does move a little FASTER and there is a greater sense of URGENCY to this tale.

STRATEGY GUIDE

This is not an overly challenging game. I only used the SG twice, to help with PUZZLES I couldn’t do. Unfortunately, they were ones that the guide couldn’t help me with (multiple correct answers/ random factors). It is however well set out with info on next moves and most puzzles, if needed.

WALLPAPER, CONCEPT ART, MUSIC

Well, the MUSIC is sensational! The WALLPAPER looks spectacular on my desktop, CLEAR & DETAILED, but a bit busy for my taste. I like to be able to see the few icons I have on there!

BESTIARY

This is great FUN, and almost constitutes a GAME in itself. The 9 BEASTS used in the game are here in JIGSAW form, but the jigsaws are TRICKY. Also, there is a brief description of the myth surrounding the creature. I WISH we had THESE shots available as WALLPAPER. They are the best of the game – except for the ORGAN GRINDER himself who we do have on wallpaper.

LOST PETS

There are 10 of these to be found throughout the game. They are NOT HARD to FIND, because they shimmer. Some PETS are only accessible from the BONUS CHAPTER. They are gorgeous mythical creatures, and again, I wish we could have their ‘page’ in the bonus content as a WALLPAPER.

CURSED CARDS

There are 13 cursed cards, but they are necessary to the game play, so they’re not really collectibles. They are NOT available as a COLLECTION in the SE. They give the story from our point of view as it is played out, and act the part of a journal within the game. Again, beautifully drawn images of beasties.

EXTRA MINI-GAME

Not exactly a game. We get 3 records and 3 cylinders for the ORGAN, and we can mix and match to CREATE DIFFERENT TUNES. Fun!

I recommend this game!