Awakening 5: The Sunhook Spire

Awakening: The Sunhook Spire
by Boomzap Entertainment - August, 2013

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 as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Steam as Collector's Edition



Long ago, a kingdom was cast into darkness. Its king and queen were cursed to a deep sleep. Their daughter, Princess Sophia, ascended the throne and brought hope to the kingdom. In her quest to awaken her parents from their slumber, Sophia learned of a powerful Enchantress who could undo the spell. Alas! On her way to the Enchantress' lair at Sunhook Spire, she was beset by treacherous mercenaries. Can the young Queen escape the mercenaries and get to Sunhook Spire safely? After a thousand years of separation, will Sophia finally meet her parents? Scale the heights of Sunhook Spire, rescue the Enchantress and uncover the tower's mysteries in this epic journey!

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Collectible morphing objects
  
• Unlockable achievements
  
• Strategy Guide
  
• Soundtrack, Concept Art & Wallpaper
  
• Bonus Chapter: Sophia's friends turn against her
  

For the Standard Edition

• Walkthrough
  
• Strategy Guide (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
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Still The Best?
    

BASED ON DEMO

For years now the Awakening series has pretty much cornered the market on seriously beautiful and cute. Lately, of course, there has been some awesome inroads into their area of expertise. So I’ve been looking forward to seeing how they will handle the competition.

Well, not at all as I expected. The graphics are still gorgeous, very pretty, but not state-of-the-art. The cute offsiders are still cute (who can resist a pocket dragon? And I love the mermaid), but not exceptionally so. The puzzles are once again dazzlingly original and inventive. But they have brought back HO scenes (admittedly with unique twists), after practically abandoning them in The Skyward Castle. And the ominous feel that game had is gone.

The beginning of this series introduced us to a fairy tale world in which a beautiful princess awoke after 100 years of sleep, to discover she is the only human left. But she does have delightful companions to assist her, as she tries to discover what has happened to the rest of her race. We have followed her since this very pleasant but simple start to her adventure through 4 lands and have watched her grow and mature as her world expanded. Now, perhaps, she will finally meet the parents who so long ago left her in the Dreamless Castle, and settle down with her own people.

But this game is still pitched to grownups, and as with the story, so with the gameplay. It is logical but imaginative, and the puzzles are complex and challenging. The introduction of totally unique HO puzzles follows in the tradition of this series, which is always one step ahead of us. Also, there are still beautiful multiples of, matching pairs and other pictorial puzzles of amazing beauty. These are more difficult than those in the earlier games and also harder than the puzzles offered by games of a similar style.

It has a minimalistic jump map (no helpful information like pinpointing active areas), and a very helpful hint system in the person of a wise and knowledgeable owl.

In terms of the CE extras, we have the usual gallery items, plus achievements and morphing collectibles. The bonus chapter has the disconcerting title: “Sophia’s Friends Turn Against Her”, which is unthinkable even for a cynic like me! There is also a locked section called “Glass Works” that sounds promising.

Still the best in cute? No, I don't think so, but...  

I recommend this game!

I finally finished this game in Dreadmyre mode.   Did not get all the trophies,  but I tried.
The one thing that really irritated me was the pickiness of where to place things.
If you don't get it just so,  it will say something like "I must think of another solution".
Which can be frustrating as at first--not knowing of it finickiness-- I wasted time trying
to figure out what to do when I had it right the first time.  After awhile,  I just persisted until
I got the placement right. 
Other than that,  I enjoyed it--tho I had to take a break and do a D & E.    
It looks like there will be another Awakening in the future.
I had to admit,  I was a little confused at the ending of the Bonus when it mentioned what
she was going after,   as that item had already been in my inventory and I had used it.
Maybe someone who played it can explain it to me.    :Huh:

Awakening 5: The Sunhook Spire (IHOG)
This is the beginning of a new storyline

Options include Full-screen, Custom Cursor, Achievements Notifications and separate sliders for Sound, Music and Voiceovers.  Choice of Relaxed, Normal or Dreadmyre! mode.  The Steam overlay does not work with this title.

Story:

In the previous game, Sofia completed her journey at long last, and reunited with her people. Her parents were cursed in the process of helping her, making Sofia queen of the kingdom.  Tirelessly, she searches for a cure, but is beset upon by brigands as she begins her new quest.

The story progresses via short cutscenes, memory basins and books/diaries that you discover as we progress.

NOTE: The game's store page description says it's been 1000 years of separation, but - based on the previous games in the series - it's actually been 100.

Our Journal has a new tab in it this time, giving us a tab for Goals, Story and Collectibles.  If you hover your mouse over one of the symbols on the Collectibles page, it will show you where you found that collectible... Provided that you've found it, of course ;)

There's not a whole lot of story added to the Journal, although the early pages will give us an overview of the first four games.  In this game the Goals tab gives us more story and fewer hints than in previous installments.

Gameplay:

Be on the lookout for "strange bells".  These morphing items can be found on each scene.

Our MAP offers us instant-transport, but each chapter is confined to a small enough area that "hoofing it" is not a big deal... Besides, it gives us an extra chance to look at all of the lovely scenery!

Using a HINT during the adventure portion of the game will either pinpoint something or give us specific instructions from our Owl companion (aka hint button).  There is no directional hint. 

Speaking of companions, our lovely little pocket dragon is once again along for the ride, and he even gets an upgrade of sorts.  I'll leave it at that, since I don't want to add any spoilers. ;)

The Hidden Object Scenes are beautifully-varied, ranging from slightly to very interactive.  The first one that you do is placing items back in the scene, but with a twist... I enjoyed figuring out what I needed to do.  Other HO types include find-by-list, solving riddles and more!

The Mini-games were almost all interesting and fun to do... I think that I only skipped one in the whole game, and that one was because I got pulled away from the computer.

My one and only gripe with the game is that it is sometimes a bit finicky with the placement of items, so if you think you've got the right solution, just try again!

Sights and Sounds:

Where to start... ? The cutscenes and narrator are just as good as in the previous games, the voice-overs are almost all very good and the SFX/Music are excellent.

The graphics are gorgeous, immersing you in a lovely world that is nonetheless fraught with peril.  I loved the colorful cast of characters and their design as well.

CE Content:

• Integrated Strategy Guide (Accessible via the Menu button)
  
• Bonus Chapter
  
• 47 Morphing Items (one at each location)
  
• 15 Achievements
  
• 15 Cutscenes
  
• 7 Wallpapers
  
• 6 Music Tracks
  
• 6 Concept Art, which change as you mouse-over
  
• 10 Glassworks
  

The Glassworks are stained glass-type puzzles, and you'll do some of this type during the main game, as well.  These are absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoyed them.  I'd buy a game just of these glassworks... Oh wait, I already did!  It's called Glass Masquerade!  The difference is that the glassworks are less complex, and you will only be able to see three pieces to place at any given time.  Less complex, but no less fun!

Bonus Chapter:

The Bonus Chapter is a great big setup for the next game in the series, The Redleaf Forest.  It's just as lovely as the rest of the game, and I'd say a bit more difficult during the adventure portion, due to the nature of the environment that you're in (no spoilers!)  The gameplay is just as good and just as fun as in the main game.

Although this is a new storyline, there are a few moments - especially in the bonus chapter - that it will help if you've played the previous games in the series.

Verdict:

Awakening is an absolutely delightful series to play, with beautifully-balanced gameplay, great audio and visuals, and above all else, truly fun gameplay. The Sunhook Spire is no exception, and is highly-recommended along with the rest of the series!

Awakening 5: The Sunhook Spire (IHOG)
This is the beginning of a new storyline

Options include Full-screen, Custom Cursor, Achievements Notifications and separate sliders for Sound, Music and Voiceovers.  Choice of Relaxed, Normal or Dreadmyre! mode.  The Steam overlay does not work with this title.

Story:

In the previous game, Sofia completed her journey at long last, and reunited with her people. Her parents were cursed in the process of helping her, making Sofia queen of the kingdom.  Tirelessly, she searches for a cure, but is beset upon by brigands as she begins her new quest.

NOTE: The game's store page description says it's been 1000 years of separation, but - based on the previous games in the series - it's actually been 100.

The story progresses via short cutscenes, memory basins and books/diaries that you discover as you progress.

Our Journal has a new tab in it this time, giving us tabs for Goals, Story and Collectibles.  If you hover your mouse over one of the symbols on the Collectibles page, it will show you where you found that collectible... Provided that you've found it, of course ;)

There's not a whole lot of story added to the Journal, although the early pages will give us an overview of the first four games.  In this game the Goals tab gives us more story and fewer hints than in previous installments.

Gameplay:

Be on the lookout for "strange bells".  These morphing items can be found on each scene.

Our MAP offers us instant-transport, but each chapter is confined to a small enough area that "hoofing it" is not a big deal... Besides, it gives us an extra chance to look at all of the lovely scenery!

Using a HINT during the adventure portion of the game will either pinpoint something or give us specific instructions from our Owl companion (aka hint button).  There is no directional hint. 

Speaking of companions, our lovely little pocket dragon is once again along for the ride, and he even gets an upgrade of sorts.  I'll leave it at that, since I don't want to add any spoilers. ;)

The Hidden Object Scenes are beautifully-varied, ranging from slightly to very interactive.  The first one that you do is placing items back in the scene, but with a twist... I enjoyed figuring out what I needed to do.  Other HO types include find-by-list, solving riddles and more!

The Mini-games were interesting and fun to do... I think that I only skipped one in the whole game, and that one was because I got pulled away from the computer.  There are very few "been there, done that" puzzles.

My one and only gripe with the game is that it is sometimes a bit finicky with the placement of items, so if you think you've got the right solution, just try again!

Sights and Sounds:

Where to start... ? The cutscenes and narrator are just as good as in the previous games, the voice-overs are very good and the SFX/Music are excellent.

The graphics are gorgeous, immersing you in a lovely world that is nonetheless fraught with peril.  I loved the colorful cast of characters and their design as well.  I'd love to have a wallpaper of just the people that you meet as you play (except for the antagonists - I can do without them. lol~)

CE Content:

• Integrated Strategy Guide (Accessible via the Menu button)
  
• Bonus Chapter
  
• 47 Morphing Items (one at each location)
  
• 15 Achievements
  
• 15 Cutscenes
  
• 7 Wallpapers
  
• 6 Music Tracks
  
• 6 Concept Art, which change as you mouse-over
  
• 10 Glassworks
  

The Glassworks are stained glass-type puzzles, and you'll do some of this type during the main game, as well.  These are absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoyed them.  I'd buy a game just of these glassworks... Oh wait, I already did!  It's called Glass Masquerade!  The difference is that the glassworks are less complex, and you will only be able to see three pieces to place at any given time.  Less complex, but no less fun!

Bonus Chapter:

The Bonus Chapter is a great big setup for the next game in the series, The Redleaf Forest.  It's just as lovely as the rest of the game, and I'd say a bit more difficult during the adventure portion, due to the nature of the environment that you're in (no spoilers!)  The gameplay is just as good and just as fun as in the main game, and I think it took me an hour and a half to complete.

Although this is a new storyline, there are a few moments - especially in the bonus chapter - that it will help if you've played the previous games in the series.

Verdict:

Awakening is an absolutely delightful series to play, with beautifully-balanced gameplay, great audio and visuals, and above all else, truly fun gameplay. The Sunhook Spire is no exception, and is highly-recommended along with the rest of the series!