The Other Side: Tower of Souls

The Other Side: Tower of Souls
by Tiki's Lab - July, 2014

Available at:
Alawar
Big Fish
GameHouse
iWin



A little sibling rivalry can be healthy - except when the fate of the world hangs in the balance! Can you resolve a family squabble before the gates to the realm of the dead swing open and horrors beyond imagination pour into this world?

Beatrice and Lily might look like any other pair of sisters, but they have a dark secret: Hidden from human eyes is a magic tower that contains a portal to the Other Side. One sister wants to open the gateway to gain knowledge and power, regardless of the consequences; the other sister wants to stop her. But which one is good and which one is evil? Step into the shoes of a detective who must decide!

As you make your way to the portal, you'll interact with Beatrice and Lily, both of whom warn you to not trust the other one. The suspense about who to believe will grow with each passing moment as you search for the items that can open new levels of the tower, solve simple puzzles, and play fun mini-games. You'll also enjoy stunning artwork, dramatic story scenes, and music and vocal performances you'll never forget.

Which sister wins in the end? Play The Other Side: Tower of Souls to find out!

• Captivating story of magic and suspense
  
• Stunning artwork, story scenes, and music
  
• Simple and fun puzzles and mini-games
  
• Clever and original hidden object hunts
  
• A learn-as-you-play tutorial
  

Click images to enlarge
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I LOVE THIS GAME! *****

BASED ON DEMO

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
When I played the beta of this game, I liked it but felt it needed work. Well, the developers have clearly put in the work, because this game is sensational! The opening is delightful. Not dramatic, but interesting, great to look at, and informative. It sets the scene nicely for the action that follows.

The story allows for a choice of endings. Two sisters, both apparently endowed with magic powers, are in conflict about opening a portal to the “Other Side”. Doing so will give great knowledge and power to humanity, but also much death. You are a supernatural detective, and you have been lured here by one of the sisters to help stop the other, who is trying to open the gate. The other sister says you were lured here as the next sacrifice needed to keep the door shut. You have to decide whom you should trust.

This game is primarily HOPs, there are lots and lots of them, and they are far better fun than the usual word list. There are many portions of it that are progressive – “find this to find that”, and they are all quite different. The graphics are colourful and very well done, with some great surreal artwork, and the music is delightful though a bit repetitive. So far, there hasn’t been much of the gross stuff I saw in the beta, but I am sure it’s coming – they kept the ‘catching spiders with a frog’ mini-game, after all, and it was quite a bit icky creepy! So be prepared for disembodied hands conducting surgery on various non-human (thank goodness) body parts.

The puzzles are not hard, and entertaining, although there was a reversi game. I am absolutely appalling at that sort of thing, and after many attempts had to skip. The frog game required a little dexterity and good timing. So, a bit of everything in the mini-games as well. There is a journal with info, and history as found (in books as you make your way through the tower), and objectives.

There are two levels of difficulty, a hint (Boris the very cheeky cat) who is as likely to scoff at you as be helpful, but will do so eventually *grin*. The map is rudimentary to say the least, it consists of a sketch in the journal showing which floor you are on.

BLING!
Yup! A stand alone standard edition with bling! There are 100 collectible cat’s paws, which can be found in both the locations and the HOP scenes, or anywhere else for that matter. They are not always depicted as coins. Any image of paw prints will do, so keep your eyes peeled. Including places that you must unlock after finding clues or inventory items to get at them. There are no hints for these, so if you can’t find a code for example, you’ve missed out. They can be used to accessorise the cat. It might be worth doing, just to see his reaction. The accessories are power ups. You can use them to decrease hint refill time, for instance. There are also achievements, both story and performance ones.

COMBINED IMPACT
I really loved this new updated game. It is great to look at, entertaining to play, and I am in love with Boris the cat. I am looking forward to more dealings with Boris, and seeing what the other floors of the tower have to offer. Enough that I might even, for the first time in months, buy this game without waiting until Monday!

I recommend this game!

Available at Big Fish for $3.49 today using the code DEAL.

Hey Justie - does this sequel have anything to do with the first game?  I liked that game pretty well.

It's weird, pippi. That question cannot be answered by lower mortals such as I... maybe genki knows?

It was first released as a beta called "Spirit Seasons: The Tower". The original Spirit Seasons was about a feisty little girl ghost that conned you into helping her, and this game has this same plot at its beginning too, so, despite how long ago the first game came out, I thought it was a fair sequel.

Then, the second beta came out under the name "The Other Side: Tower of Souls". Now, "The Otherside: Eons something or other" was similar in that it had very similar graphics, the concept kinda had a familiar feel like this too. So I thought, maybe it's THAT one's sequel. Now, having played the demo, I doubt that it is meant to be any game's sequel, they were just trying to use the "franchise" title.

Would love to know the truth behind that one - then we would be the ultimate cool kids!!   

That's good information Justie!  Thanks.

I almost succumbed to the BF sale today but realized I have all those credits to use.  Why spend money when I don't have to!  (Since I already spent game money today.  And yesterday.  And ... ... )