Hey gamers! It's me, Anne, again. If you are wondering why you haven't heard from Lucy in a really long time, well, she's been really busy with school. She sends her regrets - sarcastically, of course - but says she, "unlike some of us in the house," does not have time to be playing games, writing guides, and pleasing the public. I personally think she's just really stressed over final exams, final papers, and realizing she's moving back to Pennsylvania to live with her parents full-time for the first time in years. Who am I to say though, I'm not a psych student. Since I am one of those people in the house who can play games, really I'm just putting off the inevitable; I bring you The Secrets of Arcelia Island.
Hey gamers! It's me, Anne, again. If you are wondering why you haven't heard from Lucy in a really long time, well, she's been really busy with school. She sends her regrets - sarcastically, of course - but says she, "unlike some of us in the house," does not have time to be playing games, writing guides, and pleasing the public. I personally think she's just really stressed over final exams, final papers, and realizing she's moving back to Pennsylvania to live with her parents full-time for the first time in years. Who am I to say though, I'm not a psych student. Since I am one of those people in the house who can play games, really I'm just putting off the inevitable; I bring you The Secrets of Arcelia Island.The Secrets of Arcelia Island is an all-around great game. Let me tell you a little story... once upon a time, a ship wrecked upon the shores of Arcelia Island. The entire crew was lost, seemingly, except you. You find your way to the shores of Arcelia Island, which you thought was a fairy tale your whole life, and find your father alive... but not very well. He tells you, you must find the four cursed pearls and destroy them, because they are slowly destroying Arcelia Island. Then, you encounter an evil sorceress, who warns you to leave the island or you'll die a horrible death. Well, you have to save your father, so you start to explore the island and learn its secrets. I won't tell you any more than that, because the storyline is very involved and you'll want to learn it all for yourself.
As I just mentioned, the plot is great. Very well done, and it’s almost like reading a really good novel. This is quite refreshing after so many creepy, gloomy tales of death, despair, insane asylums, and other factors of weirdness. I do enjoy a good fantasy story.
The graphics are quite pleasing, and I really felt immersed in the game. Some of the still pictures of the characters were stunning. I particularly liked the fairies. There was great detail put into the graphics of this game. The hidden object games, of which there are only 18, tended to be on the easy side, but I am an expert, after all!
The puzzles were few, but the ones you do encounter are fun and interesting. You don't have your basic puzzles like sliders or string puzzles (thank goodness - another refreshing point about this game. They were not extremely hard either, but I did include detailed instructions, screenshots, and a few videos for you.
There was another aspect to the game that I haven't seen in other hidden object/adventure games. You can choose to (you don't have to) find 42 story pieces, which at the end of the game, you can put together in your journal like jigsaw puzzles and read more about the story behind Arcelia. It's a nice touch and adds a little more flare to the game. It was not easy finding all 42 pieces either, but I have noted every single one and included a complete list of where they are located in case you find you are missing a few.
The only thing that took away from the game was an occasional typo. Near the beginning, your character discovers the body of a crew member - don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything - and she calls him "Hank." However, when I opened up the journal to read more about "Hank," he was suddenly being called "Tank." Now, I may be overly picky because I'm a word geek, but really, you couldn't proofread your game?
I had a few other minor problems with the game. There were no voiceovers! Not one! I really wanted to hear what her father sounded like, or the Elf, or the Fairies, or the Satyr... you get the idea. This game could have been phenomenal with voiceovers, as there was quite a bit of dialogue in the game. There was a lot of going back and forth through the locales in order to complete tasks. There were occasions when I wasn't quite sure what to do next, which meant wandering about until I found a hidden object area, someone to talk to, or that I simply realized what I had in my inventory could be used in a certain spot. Speaking of inventory items, sometimes what you thought you should be using, you couldn't and when you could use it, it seemed a little farfetched.
Those minor complaints aside, I really did enjoy this game. I would highly recommend it - just for the story alone. Yes, there is going to be a sequel! Here's a little peak at the game:
