Riddles of Fate 1: Wild Hunt (IHOG)
The hunt for the Child of Fate has begun.
Options include four separate sliders for sounds, a Brightness slider and buttons for Special Effects, Full-screen, Widescreen and Custom Cursor. Choice of Casual, Advanced or Hardcore Mode, which can be changed at any time.
Story:
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse have sent their ghostly legion to ravage the city of Osville in search of the Child of Fate. A citizen has implored you to come and investigate, in hopes that you can also save her sister and mother. Only one man has the knowledge to defeat these spirits, but first you'll have to free him from where he has been jailed.
Besides cutscenes, the story progresses through the many notes that we find as we explore. We don't have a
Journal, but there is a task list available.
Gameplay:
Be on the lookout for
collectible, ghostly statues. You can access these through the Crystal Ball in your toolbar, and when you've collected a set, a glowing sphere will appear and give you a bit of extra story to read through.
We soon meet a helpful bat, who will stay in our inventory for most of the game, and whose comical voice and presence seems unsuited to the story at hand.
Our insta-transport
MAP can be interactive, but they show every location with Objectives that are unmet, whether you have the ability to complete that objective or not. Using a
HINT will not give you a direction to go, but it will pop up a text box that tells you what you should do next.
Hidden Object Scenes are the standard lists with a few interactive items per scene. The
Mini-games were sometimes fun, but oft-times felt tedious.
This is one of those games where you see things that you know you'll need, but you won't find the means to collect them 'til later on. This happens over and over again throughout the game, meaning that you're going to be doing a lot of backtracking.
Someone on the production team is obviously a Harry Potter fan, as they utilized not one, but three of JK's ideas in the game: The "vortex of memories" (a pensieve, which is used as a major plot vehicle), a "rattling willow", and... something else which I forgot to write down. lol~
I have to say that I was super-irritated whilst playing this game due to the rampant "game logic". For instance, I JUST had a dagger in my hands, why in the world is it gone now, leaving me to use broken glass to cut things??
Sights and Sounds:
This game has the number one WORST voiceover I've ever heard in a game. It was one of the four horsemen, who was trying way too hard to sound notable, but ended up being nothing short of awful. I've already mentioned that the cutesy bat's voice seemed out-of-place, and the person doing the prisoner's voice sounded like he was trying to do an impression of Batman. The rest of the voices were okay-ish.
Graphically there were too many details warring with one another, making the scenery feel cluttered and uncomfortable for me. Still, there were some scenes that I enjoyed, and I really liked the character design.
CE Content:
- Integrated Strategy Guide
- Bonus Chapter
- 15 Collectible Statues
- In-game Achievements
- 8 Wallpapers
- 8 Concept Art
- Screen Saver
- 4 Music Tracks (can be saved)
- Secret Room
Bonus Chapter:
Where to begin? The storyline is very confusing if you've paid any attention to it at all, not the least of which is the use of the name "The Bone Queen"... She has absolutely no relation to the Bone King whom we learn about in the main game. You don't even learn that they're not related until you've collected the last three statues (in the bonus) and look at the info in your crystal ball!
On the plus side, the story ended the way I thought it should, but on the down side, we once again have backtracking-for-items to deal with.
Secret Room:
There's a mini-storyline involved in this series of 7 doors. Each doorway contains one mini-game and one HOS that you can replay, and you will end up with the item needed to unlock the next door. When you complete the final area, you get just a tidbit of extra story, which is something I was happy that they addressed.
Verdict:
My irritation with the game logic, coupled with my dislike for the graphics made it less enjoyable than it should have been, but the story kept me playing. I think that this is a well-made game that most people would really like, so I will give it my recommendation... Just maybe not for those like myself who are overly-logic-oriented. ;)
<sigh>
